The Movie Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained (DK Big Ideas)

I am a film student (minor) so I KNOW that Birth of a Nation is a MAJOR film in the history of film but it isn't even mentioned. Everyone knows that having a film where the KKK is the good guys is a shocker but that film was the first film ever that was 2+ hours long and made 2 million dollars, a nickel at a time. When I noticed Intolerance being mentioned, I looked in the index for Birth of a Nation and no where in the book is it mentioned. This is clearly an act of militant political correctness. You CANNOT delete history to fit your agenda. 100% of every film student will know of Birth.... so censoring it out of the book made this book a little less. For that intellectual crime, it lost two stars. I wonder how many 'Big Ideas Simply Explained' books also censor facts they don't like.

When I bought this book I saw that it was a series, and after reading this book, I'm sold. This book is so well set up that it's easy to go from movie to movie, starting with the 1902-1931 visionary movies. I have to admit that I haven't seen many of these but they are laid out on a time line that shows how the movies slowly built from a 46 second short to movies with talking in them, though the last movie of this series is the Charlie Chaplin hit silent movie City Lights.

Each movie is broken down to in context which gives you the genre, director, writers, stars and then some movies that have either come before, or after the title movie. There's a box where you learn a little something about the director and other movies he also directed. In large block letters above the title of the movie, there is whatever saying the movie might be famous for.

The book is broken up into these sections.
Visionaries 1902-1931
A Golden Age In Black And White 1931-1949
Fear And Wonder 1950-1959
Rebel Rebel 1960-1974
Angels And Monsters 1975-1991
Small World 1992-Present

There were many movies I'd never seen, yet with this book, I feel as if I can get the main theme of the movie, who was in it, who directed and why it's significant. There are even gems like Travis Bickle's(Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver) transformation, something you might not have realized or seen drawn out so clearly. With it's wonderful movie photos, this book reminds me of the books I used to buy for the kids(the Ripley's believe it or not). I really enjoyed this book and will be looking for other books in the series that have a subject that sparks my interest.

The problem with any book of movie history is the question of which movies to include and which to leave out. The authors acknowledge this, stating in the introduction “this book chooses its movies as an atlas of influence, a collection of landmarks, and the hope is that … there will be at least one movie that readers will choose to watch for the first time.” Which seems odd, because there are many movies here (especially those covered in only one page) that don’t give any explanation as to why they were deemed worthy of knocking other, more well-deserving films off the list. It is hard to believe anyone would approach an encyclopedia of “landmark” films and choose to leave out “The French Connection,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Halloween,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Ghostbusters,” “Die Hard,” “Basic Instinct,” “Silence of the Lambs,” “Seven,” and every James Bond movie ever made. It seems hard to believe that a book alleging to include “influential” films would give “Star Wars” only 182 words (about the length of this paragraph) in a 350-page book.

There is little “behind the scenes” material here. Regarding “Nosferatu,” we are told simply that it was “nearly destroyed following a lawsuit” and that’s it – just that sentence. This is not a book about moviemaking, it is an encyclopedia of movies that have been made. Each one includes a footnote called “What Else to Watch” which unfortunately includes not only movies that aren’t clearly obvious why they are relevant to the movie being discussed, but also includes some movies so bad they should never be recommended at all. As an example of the former, the “Star Wars” entry says to also watch “The Hidden Fortress” but doesn’t tell you WHY. (Film buffs, of course, will already know why.) As an example of the latter, no one should ever bother to waste their time with the ludicrous horror movie “It Follows.”

A few entries include timestrips called “Minute by Minute,” which show you how many minutes into the film certain plot events happen. There really doesn’t seem to be any point in including these other than as an excuse to create some kind of visual infographic to help fill the page. It’s odd that a book about a visual medium like film would be that desperate trying to come up with something visual to show.

The final chapter is called “Directory” and lists an additional 88 movies that “came close to being included in the main section, but did not quite make the final cut.” These films – like “The Jazz Singer,” “Psycho,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “E.T.” – are mentioned in passing, with a paragraph of approximately 75 words each, which certainly does not do them justice given the alleged context of the book.

“Big Ideas Simply Explained” is a nice idea for a book series, and a big book of movies is a nice idea for a book, but unfortunately this book too often picks the wrong ones to include. If you want a good encyclopedia of “landmark” and “influential” films, start elsewhere.

Did not like the format. Only describes a few movies selected by the author. I was hoping for a more complete anthology. I would have preferred different choices.

I ordered this book as a gift for someone. The first time it came in, the cover was ripped and worn down around the edges. I got it replaced, and the second one came in looking pretty much the same. A little less wear on the cover, but still not looking brand new like it should. But I'm over it. I can't keep replacing books so I guess I have to give it as a gift. Awesome. Glad I played so much money for a book that looks like it's been used.

Just when you think you know all the facts, you don't. Made a great christmas gift for my brother who loves to view and critique films! This helped him learn a lot about the behind the scenes and in the making of many films!

Not the best DK book I've bought, surprisingly basic content and poorly organized layout. Not a purchase I'm happy with.

This book series is very interesting. This is why I bought the movie version as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately this specific book gives little more than general information about each movie. I guess I was expecting more

Gave this as a gift to a College film student/ screen play writer. He loved it. Thank yhou.

As usual another awesome book from DK. Lots of cool information on some pretty classic movies. No, not every single movie ever made is in it(A book that size would probably weigh 1000 lbs) and there are going to be some left out that you wish were in there, but overall this is a great read if you are a fan of film. No complaints.