1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

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.

The edition I received was from 2003. Except for the paper cover which was torn up badly it seems in good shape and doesn't smell of smoke. Over the years I've had several editions of this book. Just a little disappointed that is is 21 years old.

I am very impressed. The appearance of the book I received is a little different as shown in the picture, the fore-edges of the book are gold, which gives it a wonderful impression, on the contrary I love it very much. The inside of the front and back covers have a high quality finish and are truly exquisite. The inside of the book is also beautiful. This will be a treasure for life. Thank you, good product.

As a film student I found this book very interesting. It was pretty cool to read alot of the movies talked about in lecture. Although, I now realize how many movies I have to watch. After reading this book, I fell like I have seen nonthing! Great buy!

It doesn't miss many U.S. titles, but it has many classics of which nowadays remakes have succeeded... It should have considered more non-U.S. titles...

EXCELLANT

First of all let me begin by stating that I've put off reviewing this canon for some time. I see no justification to review a book like this until one has consumed most of it. At present I have seen 823 of these films and feel now that a review is justified. I believe that of all the books in this series this is the strongest entry although not gospel. This canon or list of films is an excellent introduction to cinema, it gives you the basics to develop a well rounded appreciation of all cinema beginning in 1902 with George Melies' "Le Voyage Dans La Lune" right up to the present day. As would be expected in concentrates a lot on American cinema when it was a force to reckoned with. It does not overlook all the important movements like German expressionism(1920s), Socialist realism (1920s), French poetic realism(1930s), Italian neo-realism(late40s-early50s), Film Noir and all the New Wave movements in the 1960s from Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Eastern Europe. It continues in the 1970s where there is a lot of attention to New Hollywood directors as well as New German cinema which were making a massive impact at the time. After that it moves into blockbuster territory in the 1980s which is to be expected. It was a period which is not held in much regard by cineastes but is a part of cinema's development. From the 1990s onward one begins to notice how important films seem to come from all over the world and not concentrated in one area. As would be expected the last few years are open to debate, evidence of which can be seen in the fact that every time the book is revised it's those last few years that are shuffled around. So what you got is a skeletal view of cinema which allows you to flesh it out. This book is the introduction to cinema, the yellow brick road to the Emerald city if you will, to becoming a film buff. Once you've seen 50% of these you'll already be an above average film fan. After you've completed this list it's time to move onto the Jonathan Rosenbaum 1000 which I believe will take you way way beyond. There is however one serious flaw with the book in that it is jam packed with spoilers. So proceed with caution.

great book!