If your a fan of the filmed adaptation of Max Allan Collins' "Road To Perdition" but haven't read the graphic novel upon which the movie is based, I suggest you pick up a copy today. The story is masterfully told by Collins and features gritty, brutally realistic artwork by the great Richard Piers Rayner that effectively captures the essence of the 1930's. "On The Road To Perdition: Oasis" is the first of three new graphic novellas written by Collins that are intended to serve as a continuation of his original story and also written presumably to cash in on the popularity of the movie adaptation. Rather than serve as sequels to the story presented in both the original graphic novel and the film, the new "On The Road To Perdition" series instead features three untold tales of adventures that Michael O'Sullivan and his son had as they made their treacherous journey to Perdition, Kansas. For fans of the original, "Oasis" is a somewhat interesting affair but pales in comparison to the original story. Collins seems to be on autopilot with this one, scripting a story that feels rushed. Fans of the original graphic novel will also be disappointed to learn that Richard Piers Rayner does not return to do the artwork for this story and his presence is sorely missed. On the upside, Collins introduces three new endearing characters not previously seen in the original story and the relationship between Michael and his son is explored further with results that are quite touching. The subplot involving the three bounty hunters feels a tad redundant if your familiar with Jude Law's character in the movie (who does not appear in the original graphic novel) but it does add an interesting element to the story. All in all, this is one is for diehard fans of the original graphic novel only. It's far from terrible, but Collins should have left well enough alone.

Althogh the author professes to be a lover of this kind of moviemaking, there are racist undertones. He continually makes fun of Asian men in his books and reduces the women to the level of objects. Also, you have to wonder about a man who has actually WATCHED most of those movies....

For an introduction to the odder end of Japanese cinema this is pretty good. There are a lot of films covered, though the descriptions are somewhat sparse, and in certain cases downright misleading (ie 'Bounce Ko Gals' is described as "a respectable sex film"). Also a lot of typos and internal consistencies, and some startling omissions ('Kamikaze Taxi' and 'Tokyo Decadence' for exammple). This seems to be more of a catalogue for Weisser's own semi-legi 'Video Search of Miami' business. Also, it misses out on a lot of films which are covered in his other books, but once you've got one of these books, you're not going to want them all. The writing style is somewhat 'head-in-the-trough' and sensationalist. Similarly it is poorly laid out, though if all this sounds a little negative, it is the only conclusive coverage of Japanese cinema at its price range.

Being fairly uninformed about Japanese cinema (the vast cultural differences often make me shy away from it), I did not notice the errors (aside from the occasional typo) mentioned by other reviewers. Nor did I detect any racism or misogyny, as alleged by others.
This review guide, along with the critically-maligned ASIAN CULT CINEMA, also by Weisser, is just plain fun reading. It introduces the reader to many heretofore unheard-of films. The reviews are spirited, and the ever-popular 4-star rating system augments them. Whether one agrees with the stated opinions or not is of course entirely personal.
I must say though: Shame on the author for giving the masterpiece WOMAN IN THE DUNES (1964) only 3 and 1/2 stars.

I guess the editors decided that noir sells, the problem is there's not much noir here. Of the 30 some odd stories in this book, maybe a third of them could be considered noir. I guess the editors expanded the definition to any crime story. There are some good stories here, particularly by Carroll John Daly, Mickey Spillane, David Goodis, Max Allan Collins and Norbert Davis, but there's also a lot of mediocre stuff (most of the stories in the second half of the book range from fair to awful). Even terrific writers like Lawrence Block are represented by pretty bad stories (and as bad a Block's story is it's not even remotely noirish). I don't know, I have to think that if Spillane and Collins took this book more seriously they could have come up with a better representation of noir fiction. Even a noir master like James M. Cain is represented by a mediocre story that doesn't even classify as noir.

When a super-stealth plane called the Switchblade is stolen, the United States government will do anything to make sure the deadly weapon does not get into the hands of terrorists. When BNS's intelligence finds out that the plane is being held in Hungary by a billionaire arms dealer named Arnold Gundars, they come up with a plan. They're going to send in Alex Scott, a super special government agent, into the European lair to steal back Switchblade. And his backup is going to be none other than world boxing champion Kelly Robinson! But no two men can be more different than Scott and Robinson. Will they be able to work together to save the world from terrorist hands?

Well, I must say that I am a pretty big fan of the original 60's "I Spy" TV series starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. Terrific series with ingenious plots taken at exotic places. And the partnership between their characters of Alexander Scott and Kelly Robinson is truly admirable. But I must that besides the names of the main characters, the new upcoming movie of "I Spy" is totally different from the series. And the main difference is this. The 1960's TV series has Alex Scott as a tennis player with Kelly Robinson his trainer. Both are specially trained agents and travel around the world going undercover. The new movie has Alex Scott as an agent being fluent with languages and Kelly Robinson being a boxer and a civilian. Plus, their personalities are completely different though Owen Wilson's Alex Scott will be a bit closer to the original than Eddie Murphy's portrayal of Kelly Robinson.

Alexander Scott, called Alex by all of his friends, is an incredibly cool agent (obviously my favorite character, plus he'll be played by one of my favorite actors of all time). He loves his job and he loves his country. He has a very positive view on the world and has a very funny, sarcastic, and witty kind of humor. He has this very cute school-boy crush on fellow agent Rachel Wright. I hope they put a bit more of her character in the movie. ;) But in the book the romance only seems to be a subplot. Plus he has some pretty cool skills, including a flair for languages. The first chapter is one of the best parts of the book, telling about Alex infiltrating a prison. Kelly Robinson is a superstar boxer who loves being 'the man', who loves all the ladies, who loves to refer to himself in a 'third person' way, and most of all... loves himself (obviously, this character can only be played by Eddie Murphy). His character is a bit annoying though you get a bit used to him as you read along.

Now I'd like to tell you about the 'bad points' of the book. I know this movie is going to be rated PG-13 for "action violence, some sexual content, and language." But I must say this book was a bit too foul in language for me. In movies I can try to withstand and ignore the language while it's very difficult to do so when reading. I hope the movie will be at least a bit tamer than the book, I really hope so. As for the action/violence, the ending of the book is a bit graphic though nothing too bad. And as for sexual innuendos, too too much. It's not to graphic but as I said, they're 'innuendos'... you get the message though nothing explicit is said.

So putting it all together, I can only give this book 2 stars. Don't get me wrong, the whole idea of the "I Spy" is great and I thought the plot was extremely fun and interesting (especially as I said the first part). Plus some of the humor is very funny (especially the beginning where Alex gets a call...). But now I'm a bit apprehensive on watching the movie after reading this book. I do hope that the movie is an improvement over the book. My advice is, if you're looking forward to the movie, I think it'd be better to wait out on reading this book. But if you'd like to read it, I strongly recommend the book only for older teens and adults. I'm sure parents will disapprove young children reading "I Spy", the novelization. But I still can't wait till the movie is out!

Starring in the upcoming film will be (including my favorite movies in which they've played in): Owen Wilson as Alexander Scott ("Shanghai Noon", "Behind Enemy Lines"), Eddie Murphy as Kelly Robinson ("Shrek"), Famke Janssen as Rachel Wright ("X-Men: The Movie"), Malcolm MdDowell as Gundars ("Mr. Magoo"), and more.

I would not recommend this book to someone looking for a balanced introductory guide to Hong Kong films. For one, there are a lot of factual errors. Titles, release years, stars, and plots are often mixed up and inaccurate. The author also seems to have a "more exploitative & trashy, the better" attitude--so maybe if your idea of an excellent film is the kind that would be perfect on "Mystery Science Theater 3000", you would like this book. Lots of great films are omitted, and his personal bias against some stars (like Chow Sing Chi) totally color his reviews. Don't get this one unless you're a completist for volumes on HK cinema and already have much better books like "Hollywood East".

Being an obcessive fan and collector of HK film, I too found plenty of errors in this text. And yes, he does review almost completely on his own opinion...however, isn't that his right? Isn't that what a review is? I can't think of any other film guide that isn't just as opinionated. Has anyone ever read Leon Maltin's video guide? Just because you don't agree with his opinion doesn't mean he's being overly subjective. Anyways, the errors can be quite frustrating, but the book is still worthwhile. The amount of films he covers in the text is vast and he should be commended for going beyond the usual overview of mainstream HK cinema usually found in books of this sort. Previous reviewers have compared this book to other similar texts...such as Sex and Zen and a Bullet in the Head. While it may be better written and contain less errors, Sex and Zen... is just as opinionated and, I would say, covers only about half of what Weisser's does. Quanity vs. quality; it just depends on what you are looking for. To summarize, it's really not that bad. And since most people see HK film as either Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, or generic Chinese guys jumping around, you should at least give the guy credit for trying to serve the genre's true fans.

The book provides an extensive list of movies for the Hong Kong enthusist. Complete from front to back with movies most Americans never even consider seeing. I take this book with me to the video store when I want to see something good. So far, Thomas Weisser has not steered me wrong.

This is a graphic novel, not graphic meaning explicit, but meaning it looks like a comic strip. The main character is a woman, Ms. Tree. She's a private investigator looking into some violence against abortion clinics.

I didn't like the format, I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the plot. But hey, you may love it. It's just not the sort of mystery I like at all.