Verdict
Summary
The Good, the Tough, and the Deadly is a massively entertaining reference book with an abundance of interviews and reviews that any self respecting action fan needs to own.
About: This massive study on action movies and stars from around the world, from the 1960s to the present, is filled with more than a thousand in-depth movie reviews that cover every action star who’s crossed over from the world of martial arts, sports, professional wrestling, and stunt work. Exploding with beautiful images, exclusive interviews, and a thorough action star index, this one-of-a-kind movie reference book and comprehensive fan guide features reviews by the author, ZackCarlson (Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film), Vern (Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal and Yippie Ki-Yay Moviegoer!), Mike McBeardo McPadden (Heavy Metal Movies and Going All the Way: The Ultimate Guide to Teen Sex Comedies of the VHS Era),and several others. It is a quintessential tribute to the men and women who have left their mark in the action and martial arts film genres.
Review: The Good, the Tough, and the Deadly: Action Movies and Stars is a must-have for anyone who grew up watching the classic action movies starring the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, JCVD, Steven Seagal, Charles Bronson and all of the legends of the genre.
It’s an exhaustive collection of reviews and interviews which is the perfect reference if you’re looking for some action but need a guidebook as to what to watch and what to avoid. The book goes all the way back to the 60’s with reviews up until present day.
There are some reviews I disagree with (didn’t like Cobra? For shaaame!) and it could maybe use a little bit more humour but the one thing I took away from reading this book is that there are a lot of action movies I’ve never seen… like, a lot.
I must tip my hat to david j. moore and all the contributors as this has clearly taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears (and possibly bullets) to put together. There are hundreds of movies that are reviewed and the brief write-ups are just the right size to give you enough info on the plot of the movie as well as whether it’s any good or not. I hate reviews that go on for ages and I’m a firm believer that if you can’t get your point across in a few paragraphs then you shouldn’t be doing reviews.
So this book is not only easy to pick up and browse through but it’s got some glossy pictures and interviews with the likes of Taimak, Carl Weathers, Art Camacho, Jesse Johnson, Jeff Speakman, Al Leong, Michael Dudikoff, Mark Dacascos and many more.
I found it a little frustrating though that there was an index of reviews but no easy way to find out where the interviews are. They are intermingled throughout the book with the reviews but it maybe would have been better to do them separately just for ease of navigation.
Overall, The Good, the Tough, and the Deadly is a massively entertaining reference book with an abundance of interviews and reviews that any self respecting action fan needs to own.