A couple months ago I got an e-mail from David Moore asking me if I would be interested in reviewing his soon-to-be-released book World Gone Wild. We exchanged a couple of e-mails, geeked out about movies a little, and then I forgot all about the book.It arrived in the mail Monday afternoon. It's a large, heavy, hardbound book. Clearly this book is meant to be displayed prominently and lovingly on a coffee table. The font used for the title immediately called to mind the knock-off straight-to-videos that once populated the video store down the street from my house when I was a teenager.
When I opened the cover I was met with a poster-sized two page inner cover. I knew I was in for something truly remarkable. I flipped through it and looked for titles that I expected to find. I enjoyed the writing style Moore used in the reviews for the movies. And yes ... this isn't a simple listing of different movies but, rather, he actually watched all of them.A careful reader will instantly know what he thought of the movie. Most reviews are short and to the point. Each gives a short synopsis of the film and ends with his opinion about it's watchability, and sometimes other movies like it you might enjoy.
One small item that I really enjoyed; Moore invented a rating scale. So if you are in a hurry or think that the review might be a little spoilery (and some of them are very spoilery), the icon accompanying the title will let you know if it's a must watch ("The Bomb") or if you'll be in for a video rodeo as you attempt to keep your seat and continue watching ("Toxic").
I was interested in seeing how movies that I had in my top ten fared in his system. Here's how it matches up:
1. The Quiet Earth (Safe Zone)
2. Mad Max (all of them but Beyond Thunderdome in particular) (The Bomb)
3. Miracle Mile (The Bomb)
4. Last Night (The Bomb)
5. The Day After (The Bomb)
6. 12 Monkeys (Safe Zone)
7. Ever Since The World Ended (Safe Zone)
8. A Boy and His Dog (The Bomb)
9 Carriers (Go At Your Own Risk)
10. Hardware (The Bomb)
And a look at the other end of my spectrum .... the unwatchable or those that I nearly lost the Video Rodeo to:
Autumn (Toxic)
Def-Con 4 (Toxic)
Epidemic (Not Reviewed)
The Happening (Gold For Some, Useless To Others)
The Sacrifice (Gold For Some, Useless To Others)
It looks to me as though we mostly line up. With that in mind I'll trust his reviews and rating system as I hunt down movies that I'd never heard of. It is of note that he did leave a couple movies out, he either forgot to include them or hadn't watched them yet. Most notibly (for me) is the exclusion of The Last Mimzy. This film plays out like a children's version of 12 Monkeys where a ruined future sends stuffs back to the past in an attempt to fix itself.
The book has several other features though besides just movie reviews. There are many quality interviews with actors and directors of some of my most favorite PA movies. Some of these interviews even contain Easter Eggs for upcoming titles such as Mad Max Fury Road. The end of the book features a listing of all the movies reviewed (800+), as well the movies placed into individual and very handy Sub Genres. Among these are: Aliens, Creatures, etc., Animated, Astronauts Return, Bomb Shelters, Comedies, Mad Max Riffs, Last People on Earth, Nuclear, OK For the Kids, Biggest Most Badass Trucks, and on and on ...
Lastly, when I first got the e-mail for Moore I thought about the website It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Max World. I was mistaken. It's far superior to that site. My highest recommendation. Order it here through the publisher, Schiffer Publishing. You'll be glad you did.
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