This book is a great read for the major films of Spielberg. It is done with a great deal of research by the author, who puts together a very good story line of the producer/director and how he and his films progressed over time. The author also provides excellent background information on the films, from both a technical point of view and also the creative story line. The text layout, photos, and great front and back cover photos are there to flesh out the films. It is also a fun book to read. All put together, this is a very good book to understand Spielberg, his movies, his life, and his impact on very successful creative and commercial 20th century movies.

Douglas Brode's biography of the films of Steven Spielberg is an informative and interesting book that covers the life and films of Hollywood's most commercially successful film director. From his early T.V films to Saving Private Ryan, this book covers all the facets of Spielberg's work including unknown facts about the production of his films and supplementary information. With rare color production photos and stills, this book is a must- have for any Spielberg or film enthusiast.

This series of books is always outstanding for the bunch of pictures it contents. But the text equals the image, there's a lot of research for each movie De Niro's done -critic-guru Pauline Kael's comments among others-, and a few insights on the flaws of some of his movies, that may give you the right impression that this author knows some things about craftsmanship.

I enjoyed the "Films of the Seventies" book from this series, and quite frankly I expected better from "Films of the Eighties," which I found not only riddled with typos (not to mention glaring factual errors that a single viewing of the movies in question would have corrected) but saddled with limping, uninspired prose. Pauline Kael's books or the most recent edition of VideoHound will give readers more sharply written and insightful reviews than "Films of the Eighties."

Having purchased this book in 1991, before enrolling at Syracuse University and having the pleasure of taking a class with the author, I can recommend his book independently of my admiration for Mr. Brode. It is a fun synopsis of the films of our decade of greed - you may not agree with all the picks, but you'll enjoy reading his critiques. And as for any critique that it's not Pauline Kael, well good! This book ain't for self-anointed intellectuals. It's for the average film fan, and I'd rather be in the latter group any day.

If you are looking for a definitive, "traditional" biography of Denzel Washington, this book is definately not it. Author Douglas Brode (who, it should be noted, is a well-respected writer of film and television personas) offers the reader a biographical filmography of sorts, which appeals more to film wonks and students of cinema than it does to the average Denzel fan. Strictly speaking, Brode just doesn't reveal exactly who Denzel Washington is off-screen; indeed, the first chapter, "Deconstructing Denzel," is as close as the reader gets to finding out about Denzel's past (included are brief mentionings of his youth, his pre-acting days and his time at Fordham University, where he got his first taste of "serious" acting). The rest of the book takes the film-by-film approach to Washington's career, squeezing Denzel's personal life into the extra spaces of the context in which each film is discussed. This approach becomes problematic -- and frustrating -- as the reader never really is able to fully recontstruct Denzel after the book's intro, a fact that further enhances the charismatic performer's notoriously [and ironically] enigmatic and aloof off-screen persona (anyone who's read or seen an interview of Washington knows exactly what I mean). The book, however, shines in its extensive analysis of Washington's films from a critical standpoint and enables the reader to be privy to "behind-the-scenes" information on all of his films, from the forgettable "Carbon Copy" (1981) to "Courage Under Fire" (1996), while adding an impressive technical insight not found in many mainstream bios of "celebrities." That said, it is regrettable that there is little mention of Denzel's non-cinematic successes and failures; I would have liked to have read more on his "St. Elsewhere" days as well as his early struggles as an actor on the New York theater scene. I also would have enjoyed more information on his family, particularly his wife, Pauletta, an accomplished artist (pianist, actress, songstress) in her own right. Make no mistake: despite its numerous flaws, the book is a valuable resource for Denzel fans and is especially good as a reference to supplement one's viewing experience after watching any one of Washington's powerful performances (excluding the one in the aforementioned "Carbon Copy") that prove why he remains such a widely admired [and coveted] "A-list"-actor.

---- K.J. Martin

This book is so bad, Amazon needs to come up with a NO STAR option. There are a stunning number of factual errors. Literally dozens, maybe into three digits. The author's grasp of the material is always superficial. I can't imagine a worse book on this subject. I know this sounds like hyperbole. It is not.

Read the review in the Spring 2000 issue of The Shakespeare Newsletter before purchasing this book. The review begins, "Briefly, this is so dreadfully bad a book that it, quite literally, ought to be withdrawn from publication" (18); the review amply substantiates this judgment in several thousand words quoting and describing the egregious errors in this book.

"BENEDIK AND BEATRICE GROW TEDIOUS" THUS SPAKE THE AUTHOR.

BLAME IT ON WHATSHERNAME-EMMA THOMKINS. HERE I WENT AND BOUGHT THIS STUPID DVD PLAYER AND NEW TV WITH THE S CONNECTION...AND THE STUPID DVD ITSELF.

AND I ACTUALLY ENJOYED - IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT - THE FIRST AND I AM SORRY TO CONFESS - THE LAST SCENE BETWEEN EMMA AND THE IRISH ACTOR FROM BELFAST. AND I BOUGHT THE SCREENPLAY TOO. PATHETIC.

IF I HAD BUT KNOWN. IF I HAD BUT READ THIS BOOK.