From a true and original Star Wars Fan....

books:


	• The Making of " Star Wars " : The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film J.W. Rinzler Retailer-exclusive titles, 2007 average customer review:based on 55 reviews
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highly recommended

Wow

I got this for my 14 year old son and myself. I can't get over how cool this book is !! So much behind the scenes info. I worked at a theater for the initial release of Star Wars and this book gives me information about a movie that I thought I already knew everything about.
Buy it !!!

From a true and original Star Wars Fan....

Having seen all 3 original trilogy movies over a hundred times a piece, (I paid theater admission for most of those viewings, no video back then), I was and still am interested in the behind the scenes events that took place during the making of the movies.
I have read all three of the "Making Of" books about the original trilogy. This book is definitely the most thorough and indepth with the technical aspects and day to day events on set. I enjoyed the interviews with George Lucas and the other people involved in the film. On the lighter side, (Being a huge Luke/Mark Hamill fan) I really enjoyed the candid photos of Mark Hamill and the other cast members on set.
The true Star Wars fan will enjoy the unlimited access to George Lucas' earliest thoughts about the trilogy and a detailed look into his film making style. This book is a must have for all who have ever dreamed of "a galaxy far, far away....

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George Lucas' Heroic Journey

Fairy tales are usually about a young man who becomes a hero by battling the most dispicable enemies and achieving his heart's desire. In the end, despite great odds, monsters are vanquished, villainy is given the heave-ho, the princess' heart is won and great treasure is acquired far from the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service (which is how you can tell this is a fairy tale).

"The Making of Star Wars" is just such a fairy tale, but it's not about the one up on the screen. This big, beefy, bouncy delight tells in 360 eye-squinting pages of type and hundreds of photos the story of how George Lucas, armed at first with nothing more than a bare bones script and a reputation for interesting, if not money-making movies, devoted more than four years of his life, bet his precarious career, and came up with a movie that not just redefined Hollywood blockbusters, but reimagined heroism and other virtues that touched a generation made cynical by the upheavals of the `60s and `70s.

How he did it -- as described in this book -- should give all writers, artists and other dreamers pause to reflect on the value of preparation, hard work, a willingness to absorb ideas from others, and going into a project knowing that you have not only no idea how it will come out, but that bad luck will doom you no matter what you do.

It's amazing that "Star Wars" was made at all, when it becomes clear in the book that the executives in charge at 20th Century Fox were more interested in busting Lucas' chops instead of making a movie. As one of Lucas friends notes: "There was a lack of respect for George. The movie industry is a very vituperative and petty industry most of the time -- and part of the negotiations was just to see how much they could push George around because they felt like they could."After getting Lucas under contract cheap, before the success of "American Graffitti," Fox proceeded to fritter away their leverage by withholding the contract for "Star Wars." To keep the project going, Lucas was forced to invest his own money, and in the end, had to threaten to stop filming to get the contract. By that time, the project was so far along that Fox was faced with either agreeing to his demands, or letting the project go to another studio. Hence, was born the most lopsided contract in history, giving Lucas say over final cut, plus control over all sequels and merchandizing.

Considering that "The Making of Star Wars" was published nearly 30 years after the movie's stunning debut, going back and putting together this history is a major accomplishment. Fortunately, J.W. Rinzler had access to interviews conducted during the production of `Star Wars," when people were in the midst of the work and uninfluenced by its future success. This fills the book with episodes and incidents of such detail that it's possible to fall into the pages and imagine yourself, back in the mid-'70s, where hair was blow-dried, collars and pants were wide, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were atop the political pyramid -- reflect on that when you look at Obama/Clinton/McCain!

For the two weeks, I was in film geek heaven, boring my wife at lunchtime with details about alternative casting (Christopher Walken as Luke! Jodie Foster as Leia!), alternative storylines (Luke was a girl at one point and named Starkiller; the robots were originally bureaucrats working for the Empire; Lucas toyed with filming it all in Japanese, with subtitles), sources for names (Han Solo? From a brand of paper cups) and those small incidents that acquire greater meaning (an out-of-work James Earl Jones spending a day in a studio to record Darth Vader's lines for $7,500). And don't get me started on the models and special effects; we'd be here all week.

But the heart of the story is George Lucas, and while I've always respected the man, my heart went out to him once I understood the impossible odds he worked again. "Star Wars" was made because he willed it into being; he was the Jedi who rescued his movie.

Lucas created a fairy tale for our times, but his story had a fairy tale twist as well. After laboring for years, fighting the studio executives and impossible deadlines, Lucas got his movie out. But he thought he had failed: "When I saw the first cut, my only opinion was that I did a terrible job, but it works. It doesn't work very well, but it works. ... And then when I finally saw it with an audience for the first time, I realized that no matter how far short I fell and how far short all the departments fell from what I wanted, the film did work for an audience. ... They all laughed at the right place and they believed it."

So the hero wins after all, but not in the way you'd expect. That's the hallmark of all good stories.

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Reviewed as a Great Gift

I am not reviewing this book based on the content as I did not purchase it to read. I purchased it as a gift for my husband - a Star Wars fan from his youth.

I'm sure this book would make a great gift for the hardcore Star Wars fans (although I expect they would have already purchased it for themselves.) I would particularly like to recommend this book as a gift to more casual fans of Star Wars and fans of books on the film industry in general. My husband has read quite a few Star Wars books, but has said that this is among the most interesting of the non-fiction books he has read on the topic and he was constantly stopping me to read quotes from the book on various aspects of the production history.

It's a very heavy, very large book and makes great presentation on the coffee table - much too nice to be left sitting on a shelf. :)

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A treasure trove

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the making of Star Wars. The author covers all aspects of the movie and is chock full of paintings, photos, manuscript pages, and poster art. The story unfolds chronologically and after each chapter the author lists the new elements of each draft of the screenplay as it progresses toward the final version. Lots of great trivia and insight into the epic struggle to make Star Wars.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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