Booklist
Here's a book to get strictly for the pictures. Science fiction films span movie history, beginning no later than George Melies' 1902 adaptation of Verne's From the Earth to the Moon that ends with the space capsule poking the man in the moon in the eye. Moviemakers have labored hard to produce images as memorable as that one, and if they have frequently failed, the artists who publicize their wares have usually succeeded. The couple hundred posters presented here are stunners, reproduced sharply and in brilliant color from mint- and near-mint-condition prints. But coeditor Nourmand and Alison Aitchison's text, while okay (though it includes two glaring inaccuracies), is haphazardly organized. Instead of proceeding chronologically or presenting the posters by style or nationality, and expanding on the artwork's formal distinctions, Nourmand and Aitchison hop back and forth in time, summarize plots, and barely notice how most of the posters look. Fortunately, they often group posters from thematically similar films together. And the excellent reproductions carry all before them. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
The Bloomsbury Review
“These are colorful, exciting images that will enhance any movie–lover's fascination with the major art form of the 20th century.”
