The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film Author: Visit Amazon's J.W. Rinzler Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0345477618 | Format: EPUB
The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film Description
Review
"For anyone who has the Force with them, this is a gift from heaven" The Times "Majestic... truly indispensable" Total Film "A book like this simply blows everything else out of the water... For Star Wars fans, this truly will be the Holy Grail, and even obsessives who think they know everything about the movie should prepare to be astounded. As a 30th anniversary tribute, this could not be bettered" Film Review "Terrific behind-the-scenes study ... a detailed, sensible but compelling account of the film's creation, minus the hype ... Combining the access of an authorised account with the edge of great stroytelling, the making of a 30 year-old movie has never felt more alive" Empire
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
J. W. Rinzler, executive editor at Lucasfilm Ltd., is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, as well as The Art of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, The Art and Making of Monster House, and Creating the Worlds of Star Wars, which he co-authored with visual-effects supervisor John Knoll. J. W. Rinzler now lives in Petaluma, California.
- Series: Star Wars
- Paperback: 324 pages
- Publisher: LucasBooks (April 24, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345477618
- ISBN-13: 978-0345477613
- Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 11.4 x 1.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film (Star Wars)
I was four years old when the original "Star Wars" was released, and like so many kids of that generation, that film and its two sequels defined an enormous part of my childhood. Even though I didn't know it at the time, it introduced me to the "best bits" of classical mythology, while being a visual catalyst for my imagination (and years of subsequent role-play, particularly in Upstate New York, where re-enacting ice planet Hoth after "Empire" came out was all too easy...).
As I grew older (I hesitate to use the phrase "grew up," as I'm not sure it's happened yet), I came to appreciate more than just the adventure and dynamic visuals that "Star Wars" represented; it was my "gateway drug" into wanting to learn more about how movies were made. I remember all of the TV specials of that era that pulled back the curtain on the filmmaking process, particularly with regard to the original "Star Wars" trilogy, and I couldn't get enough information. That hunger became the same kind of obsession that's typically associated with "Star Wars" fans, and I absorbed every scrap of detail I could find, from Ralph McQuarrie's concept art, to model photos, to script pages, and even before the Internet made it only a matter of a few clicks to access such information, there was a wealth of it, when it came to "Star Wars."
Fast forward to 2007; "Star Wars" is 30 years old, a whole separate trilogy has come and gone, and my own children are budding "Star Wars" fans for their own reasons. I figured I knew pretty much all there was to know about this film.
Overview
This is a fantastic work, which spans the origins and creation of the film and includes insights into nearly every aspect of the filmmaking process. A true archive of both information and visuals, it is, in my opinion, a book that should be in the collection of every fan of the film. Highest recommendation.
This review is broken down by the following group areas - Written Content, Visual Collateral, Presentation/Quality, and Overall Value - focuses on the perspective of the original prop hobbyist, in that sometimes we are looking for photos pertaining to real, original props and editorial content is of less interest; other times, in performing research, we may be seeking information more so than photos, etc.
Written Content (10/10)
This is, quite frankly, the most impressive and comprehensive Star Wars resource I have ever laid hands on. Whereas the legendary Star Wars Chronicles set the mark some time ago, in my opinion, in terms of visual collateral and photos, it had little by way of actual written content - just remarks about the stunning photography and images.
This book matches the visual collateral in quality (though not sheer quantity) but far exceeds in the realm of pure information, narrative, background, insights, opinions, and more. You truly can't appreciate it until you begin flipping through this book - it's just astounding.
If anything, the reader gains an appreciation for how impossible it seems to be that the final product is what it is, in that it was such a collaborative process that underwent constant change and alteration, and it had so much stacked against it throughout the creation of the film.
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