If there is a book that is essential for all action movie lovers, it is the movie"Action Film Guide" (The Action Cinema Handbook) written by Andy Johnson. It's a comprehensive and very interesting look at the best of the genre, and even a discussion of its roots. The book includes short but helpful reviews of 75 films, ranging from classics Enter the Dragon and Dirty Harry to more modern films such as Nowhere Man.
In fact, this is really the kind of book you want to have in writing. Writing style Andy is like chatting with an old friend about your favorite movies. He writes with enthusiasm and no pretentiousness, and his love for the action genre is obvious from the first page.
It's not just reviews. The book has lists of the best action scenes, chases and shootouts with some behind-the-scenes facts, in a decent amount. These are the most interesting parts of the reviews; A small tidbit of information that you may not know about the movie will keep you interested in reading if you want to know more about your favorite movies.
Particularly noteworthy are articles on key figures, from which we get interesting information about directors like John Woo and action heroes like Sylvester Stallone.
It's nice to see the book's appreciation of the film composers, with special mention being given to Jerry Goldsmith, Alan Silvestri and Basil Poledouris, who are now legends.
Having the ability to only read the PDF version of the book, it is worth saying that the only drawback is the lack of glossy photographs. Yes, the book is amazing to read without pictures, but it would be really useful to see a few stills from the films discussed, if only to simply break up the text.
Book "Action Film Guide" (The Action Cinema Handbook) should be a hit with action fans.
Posted by Eoin Friel (theactionelite.com)
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Here can be ordered. From 4 euros.