- Hardcover: 950 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; 7Rev Ed edition (24 July 1980)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0246113065
- ISBN-13: 978-0246113061
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
2,357,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #96 in Books > Reference > Consumer Guides > Film
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
This monster is quite simply the king of movie guides. Halliwell's Film and Video Guide 2001 contains more than 23,000 entries, creating a competition for space that allows most films only a quick-and-dirty single sentence review. Which is not to say that the book is in any way less than thorough--the terse sentences manage to be enormously telling: (How I Got into College is quietly damned with the description, "Mildly amusing teenage comedy"; Rabbit Test is scorched with "Dreary and tasteless film, the nadir of comedy"; and Strictly Ballroom is lauded with "Exuberant, charming, witty romance acted and directed with style and verve".) As its tendency toward clipped writing may suggest, Halliwell's is no Santa Claus film guide--movies must earn each star awarded. Four stars go only to groundbreaking masterpieces like Rashomon, and one can flip through page after page without seeing a three-star movie. Most of the two-star films are pretty good, just not quite up to this guide's refreshingly exacting standards. For those who want only the best, Halliwell's handily provides lists of three- and four-star films, sorted by both title and year, in the back. One could get an excellent film education simply by working through both lists: the four-star category includes movies as diverse as Pelle the Conqueror, Alien and Duck Soup. Halliwell's pulls no punches with either criticism or praise. It is a must-have for movie lovers. --Ali Davis
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Halliwell's Film and Video Guide gets better with each passing year. Though original editor Leslie Halliwell died in 1989, John Walker has continued to edit the book in the Halliwell tradition. Halliwell and Walker don't comment at length upon the films, but they provide an enormous amount of indispensable information. This tome contains more than 20,000 movie reviews and provides a full list of credits for each. Running time, director, cast, and availability on video are documented, as well as the writer, photographer, studio, country of origin, film editor, production designer, and composer of music. The authors also note whether the film is suitable for family viewing and tell if it was nominated for, or if it won, an Oscar or a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award. If a film contains classic lines of dialogue, or received particularly interesting comments from the critics, Halliwell and Walker are sure to transcribe them. Halliwell's Film and Video Guide is a treasure no movie lover will want to be without.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The new halliwells - a comprehensive guide to nearly every film ever. for each film, it has information on it, cast and crew members, a rating (0 to 4 stars) and a short description of the summary. For lots of films, a quote from a review is added. A very useful guide.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
as most movie books go, this one isn't so bad. it is very comprehensive and gives plenty of info on each film it reviews. however, it does seem to be a bit harsh when rating films, so i wouldn't 'not watch' a film based on what was said. if you add an extra star onto the rating the book gives it, you get a better idea of how good the film is. not bad for the price either.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The reviews here have missed the point. Yes Halliweell is a very fussy and often mistifying guide but it is the opinion of a few as opposed to many. It is one of the few guides to give top rating's to films such as Star Wars, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Fargo and American Beauty to name a few. A good feature of Halliwell's is to offer opinions from other guides or critics below his own reviews. Where he gives a film four out of four there are usually other contradictory reviews below and vice versa where hew does not like a film. This gives one the chance to develop their own opinion and to find out that not every living and dead critic thinks or thought that (for example) Casablanca is the best film of all time. It also rates documentaries and early comedy shorts which are ignored by other guides. Having said this it is best to have another guide as well as Halliwell as no one is ever going to agree on all films. In particular the films that Halliwell gives four stars to from the 1970's are more thoughtful than most and he is not a snob as he rates 1984's This is Spinal Tap (correctly) as a Masterpiece.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Unique reference book for just one penny!
I bought this splendid reference book a few years ago, and finally have succeeded in tearing it to sheds. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Charles Paxton Martin
WELL WORTH BUYING
it might seem peverse but id give this book five stars, even though i disagree with so many of the reviews,my favorite movie of all time "the changeling " gets no stars and is... Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2005 by "tjcoaches"
A bit pants
All the information is there but the reviews are awful. Almost every review displays a I-could-do-better-attitude and shows ignorance of the film making process. Read more
Published on 27 April 2002 by Mr. A. P. Venables
Flawed but indispensable
Halliwell's is widely renowned as the King of Film Guides. The reputation is deserved insofar as it is extremely comprehensive and generally very accurate, with a user-friendly... Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2002 by g_bu
Trash
This magazine is a travesty. There is a distinct bias against european films and formally experiment cinema in general. Read more
Published on 1 Oct 2001
full of everything you need to know about any film you want
this is the latest addition in a line of brilliant film reference books. It has everything you need to know about any film you want to know about *****
Published on 7 July 2001
Flawed
A fine guide to film, notable for its extreme size - only the IMDB beats it. But it's not perfect. After reading it for a while, flicking through entries, you find an odd,... Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2001 by Mr. A. Pomeroy
This guide is invaluable
If you are an avid movie watcher, like myself, this guide is invaluable. Since Leslie Halliwell's death, the guide thankfully has not suffered. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2000 by Ms. A. F. Mackenzie
An informed one-stop film reference guide for all.
From film-noir of the 30's/40's to the blockbusters of recent years, Halliwells Guide can be relied upon to give a brief, impartial view. Read more
Published on 22 Jan 2000
The best in the business, but the print size is too small.
There is no better guide. Leslie Halliwell showed us all that only a few words, if well chosen, can convey everything we need to know. John Walker maintains the same standard. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 1999
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