 | Price Comparisons: Rental | | Sorry, the textbook you were looking for is not available as Rental, at any of the stores we searched. | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | This special Fifth Anniversary Edition of the acclaimed film reference guide is packed with virtually everything movie lovers need to know about the films they simply must see. Stephen Jay Schneider and his team of writers have brought the book up to date by including the most memorable movies released during the past five years. Among their new additions are The Queen, The Lives of Others, Brokeback Mountain, and several more recent movies that have attracted worldwide attention. Covering more than a century of filmmaking and dating back to silent-era sensations such as Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery and Chaplin’s The Gold Rush, this book describes musicals, dramas, screwball comedies, experimental “New Wave” films from 1950s and ’60s Italy and France, major films noir, classic westerns, action and adventure films, and even memorable documentaries. It lists each film’s director and cast, presents a plot summary and production notes, and cites interesting, often little-known facts relating to the film’s cast, storyline, and production. For students of cinema, discerning film buffs, DVD collectors, and readers who enjoy thumbing through and reminiscing over cherished screen moments, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is the place to start reading. Filled with 800 movie still shots and actors’ photos.
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Average Customer Rating:   The other editions I have a question, since theis book is entittled 1001 movies you must see before you die. I'm just wondering what movies they cut out of the orginal book for the 5th edition? Any body know what movies they cut out?
Amy Smith WHERE IS THE GEORGE PAL CLASSIC "THE WAR OF THE WORLDS"? I love this book: the history as it follows important films year by year from the silent era to the present day; the well-written reviews even though perhaps too revealing at times; and the handy indexes by film and director.
Just about all or nearly all the landmark films ("Gone With the Wind," "Ben Hur," "Lawrence of Arabia," etc.) have been included in this book, along with some of the lesser films known for their controvery, like "Passion of the Christ" (far inferior to Zeffirelli's film-like 6-hour miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth") or their popularity, like "Top Gun." I feel sequels have been included based on their having brought something new or distinctly different to film as compared to the original (i.e., James Cameron's planetary war adventure "Aliens" that followed Ridley Scott's visually striking horror movie "Alien"; "The Empire Strikes Back" that followed the original "Star Wars"), rather than having been just more of the same (for example, "Rocky II" is excluded, being so similar to "Rocky," or "Road Warrior" is excluded in favor of the original "Mad Max"). Other cases the original does not make it in but the sequel does (i.e., "Fistful of Dollars" is missing, though the Spaghetti Western is well represented by the technically superior "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and "Once Upon a Time in America"). Some important B movies make it in, like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," and some lesser ones, like Roger Corman's "Masque of the Red Death" and Hammer Films' "Horror of Dracula" (listed as "Dracula" along with the older version starring Bela Lugosi) with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
Now here's the movie that should have made it in this book: George Pal's "THE WAR OF THE WORLDS," a classic of 1950's sci-fi with good acting, excellent special effects for the time, and a tight, harrowing story about the devastating terror and death inflicted upon all mankind by an unstoppable imperialist power -- the Martians and their awesome ships! [After all, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" makes it in, and "War of the Worlds" is as much a classic from the same period.] Surprisingly, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" makes it in, still a classic, but since a lesser classic than "War of the Worlds" or "Day the Earth Stood Still," I think George Pal's "The Time Machine" should have also been included. Also, I would have liked to see included the great Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet," arguably the best and most entertaining Shakespeare drama ever filmed, with excellent acting by the then very young actors Olivia Hussey, Leonard Whiting, and Michael York; "A Shot in the Dark" with the excellent Peter Sellers in the surest and funniest of the Pink Panther movies; the vastly entertaining and underrated musical "Oliver" from the sixties; and "The Magnificent Seven" (though of course the "The Seven Samurai" is--and should--be here in place of it).
And here's the movie that should not be in this book but is. As one reviewer here said, essentially, "WHAT IS MEL GIBSON'S APOCALYPTO DOING HERE?" It's not bad, but I can't see what relevance the story has to our lives today, and I just can't connect with it.
Among different groups of people it's debatable as to what films should be in the top 1,001, but especially with respect to films that have been in the collective conciousness for only a short time. While "Gladiator" makes it (and I think should), I'm not so sure about "The Departed" (though I really liked it). Next time will it be "Cinderella Man" that makes it in and "Independence Day" that gets left out? I guess it depends on your definition of "classic." I guess we'll just have to wait and see. THE CINEPHILE BIBLE! THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! It covers every genre, good or bad, culturally important, cinematically revolutionary, narratively stirring, and the notoriously awful movies people watch for a laugh or guilty pleasures. I never thought 1001 movies could be so limited, but the main difference, between this and other lists like AFI or IMDB top 250 is that this book was created by 30+ critics of all different walks that cover almost every year of cinema's existence worldwide. It cast such a wide swathe that noone will like or agree with every movie, but all the more fun. So yes, many of your favorites will be missing, as many of mine were, but you already found them, you shouldn't be getting the book just for confirmation but to extend that base. WARNING: EXCESSIVE MOVIE WATCHING WILL OCCUR WHEN THIS IS MIXED WITH A NETFLIX ACCOUNT. This book would work as just a casual read I guess, but this is book necessitates netflix or a four-star video heaven. The regular blockbuster store or hollywood video isn't going to cut it if you want to find most of these titles.
P.S. And if you've wondered which is better, blockbuster delivered or netflix, the answer is netflix. I've tested out both, and netflix has faster delivery, far better interface, phenomenal recommendation service, and ONLINE STREAMING to the computer or TV with any of the internet ready dvd/blu-ray players out there or the XBOX 360. (BBI just caught on and came out with their own box, but netflix has support through vizio, lg, samsung, microsoft, roku and others) Still not sure, check out their stock prices... BBI vs NFLX. Great Collectible Book! This was a well-received gift for an avid movie lover!
The only complaint I have is not about the book, but rather the packaging of it. I returned the first book I received by Amazon because it had no packaging, and the cover and first pages were torn. The replacement book was better, but the back cover was still ripped. I don't know that I'd order a collectible book from Amazon if you want it in the best condition, as they do not put any packaging around the book and they use boxes that are too big for it. Solid reference volume If you are looking for a one volume reference on movies you should see , this certainly fills the bill. Complete , concise and interesting. |  |
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