Are you looking for a definitive list of the best of the best science fiction films? This small, illustrated tome claims to be just what you’re looking for.
Stats
Title: 101 Sci-Fi Movies You Must See Before You Die
Editor: Steven Jay Schneider
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Apple Press (October 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1845436555
ISBN-13: 978-1845436551
Summary
This book is small but mighty. General editor Steven Jay Schneider pulls together a fairly comprehensive list of science fiction films from around the world, covering cinema from the 1900s through the 2000s (the last entry is from 2013). Each entry is illustrated with stills from the film, as well as the occasional theater poster. Each entry has two pages of text and two images. Text includes film stats – Director, producer, screenplay, cinematography, music (for sound films) and cast – as well as a synopsis and commentary about each film.
What Worked for Me
The book is beautiful — vivid colors, easy-to-read typeface. The text is written in a conversational style, also easy to read. The films listed in the book that I’ve seen, I’d agree that they should be on the list. And those I haven’t seen yet? Most of them are on my movie bucket list! Perhaps I’ll use this book as a guide to watch may way through SF film history!
What Didn’t Work for Me
The size of the book, which makes its portable, also makes it hard to read without fear of breaking the binding. The pages are thick — the better to reproduce luxurious color photos — and hard to turn from one to the other because they are so small. If I had been designing the book, I’d either opt for a larger book size … or lower quality paper.
Conclusion:
This is an excellent book for the shelves a science fiction film buff! And probably would make a really nice gift for the cinephile on your list.
Score: 4 Palm Trees Out of 5 Possible
NOTE: Although I received this book free to review, that did not affect my opinion of the book. Read past reviews of books I’ve received for free and you’ll know I don’t hold my punches.
