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Product Description
In this lavish thirtieth-anniversary tribute to the blockbuster film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, New York Times bestselling author J. W. Rinzler draws back the curtain to reveal the intense drama and magnificent wizardry behind the hit movie—arguably the fan favorite of the Star Wars Saga.Following his The Making of Star Wars, the author has once again made use of his unlimited access to the Lucasfilm Archives and its hidden treasures of previously unpublished interviews, photos, artwork, and production mementos. The result is a comprehensive behind-the-scenes, up-close-and-personal look at the trials and triumphs, risks and close calls, inspiration, perspiration, and imagination that went into every facet of this cinematic masterpiece. Here’s the inside scoop on:
• the evolution of the script, from story conference and treatment to fifth draft, as conceived, written, and rewritten by George Lucas, famed science-fiction author Leigh Brackett, and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan
• the development of new key characters, including roguish hero Lando Calrissian, sinister bounty hunter Boba Fett, and iconic Jedi Master Yoda
• the challenges of shooting the epic ice planet battle in the frozen reaches of Norway and of conjuring up convincing creatures and craft—from tauntauns and snowspeeders to Imperial walkers
• the construction of a life-sized Millennium Falcon and the swamp planet Dagobah inside a specially built soundstage in Elstree Studios
• the technique behind master Muppeteer Frank Oz’s breathing life into the breakthrough character Yoda
• the creation of the new, improved Industrial Light & Magic visual effects facility and the founding of the now-legendary Skywalker Ranch
In addition, of course, are rare on-the-scene interviews with all the major players: actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and David Prowse; director Irvin Kershner; producer Gary Kurtz; effects specialists Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett; composer John Williams; and many others. Punctuating the epic account is a bounty of drawings, storyboards, and paintings by Ralph McQuarrie, Joe Johnston, and Ivor Beddoes, along with classic and rare production photos. An added bonus is a Foreword by acclaimed director Ridley Scott.
The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a fittingly glorious celebration of an undisputed space-fantasy movie milestone. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
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Customer Reviews
2010-10-14
By Kenneth Kraly Jr. (Elyria, Ohio USA)
The making of The Empire Strike Back book is a great book on the making of The Empire Strikes Back. It has lots of photos , storys etc in the book. A great book and J.W. Rinzler again has written another good star wars book here.
2010-10-14
By Mr. Eddie (New York, NY)
You poor guys do not need to be spending $50 on a book like this.You are adults. Buy your wife a nice dinner instead. I'll let you know what you need to know:
Do you hate the prequels? Wonder how in the world you ever were a Star Wars fan given what we now know about George Lucas? Look no further than the story detailed in this book. What made Empire great were the screenwriters, the actors, John Williams, the brilliant artists at ILM, and most importantly the outstanding directing of Irvin Kershner. Lucas certainly had his hand in the cookie jar, and it was his story and baby in the end -- but the film that you see was not crafted by the same man who directed "Attack of the Clones."
This book goes into A LOT detail about all aspects of a production that you'll never be a part of no matter how long you live. It talks about how differently Kershner worked with actors, set up his shots, and handled the stresses of such a gargantuan and trouble-prone shoot. On this level, it actually is quite a good text for any aspiring director who wants to understand the dynamics on a big production. Lots of anecdotes about the actors; their challenges and different personalities -- hey, you're a member of the crew now, fanboy! Want to get Miss Fischer a cup of coffee? Find out how cranky Harrison Ford was! For the more technically-minded, you will feel like you were a member of ILM in its heyday, watching dailies, slaving hours upon hours to color-correct a "pink" transport ship against the glaring white background plates and other mind-numbing tedium. Afterwards, you can go on the starwars.com Web site and buy yourself a facsimile of the "Late Shift" ILM shirt that Ken Ralston drew.
This book is almost an antidote to the horrible experiences I had watching the prequels -- but not completely. Mr. Rinzler's book is meant to capitalize on and rekindle the reservoir and good will that many still have for the original films, and as such is a fascinating and bloated relic. I also thought the foreword by Ridley Scott was quite shallow and pompous, and the overall design of the book a bit slapdash with some poor typesetting. We all need to move on. Buy yourself a new shirt, get a better haircut. Don't spend $50 (or $85!) on this. Do something creative yourself. Or go and buy a couple of the outstanding Criterion Blu-Rays that have come out in the past year that I bet you have not seen.
2010-10-13
By Rob Keil (San Francisco)
Having purchased the Making of Star Wars book when it was first released, my expectations were high for this Empire Strikes Back edition. But Jonathan Rinzler has again delivered an account of the making of the film that is way, way beyond anything that has been done before. The book contains literally hundreds of photos I've never seen before, facts I have never heard, and behind-the scenes insights that are priceless. All this is new to me even though I already have just about every Empire Strikes Back book ever published.
This book focuses less on the evolution of the Star Wars universe and characters, as this was well covered in the Star Wars book, so there is more room for what I find most compelling - the story of the actual artwork creation, production and post-production. I think this book is a little stronger in that respect than the previous one. I found the sketches of Darth Vader's castle (yes) particularly fascinating. Beautifully printed, well laid out and expertly researched, this is a must-own for the serious Star Wars fan or those interested in the business and process of filmmaking in general. The cover price of $85 is admittedly very steep, but the Amazon price (as of this writing) is more like $50, making it well worth it.
In short a massive undertaking and a beautiful book. A Making of Return of the Jedi book of similar quality is hopefully in development, and I eagerly await the results.
2010-10-12
By AnnoyedGamer
The book arrived this morning and I have been pouring through it ever since. The book is a delight for those of us who grew up on the Original Trilogy. Amazing anecdotes, beautiful art work and behind the scenes photos make this a must have for anyone who has an interest in what is in my opinion, the best Star Wars movie.
2010-10-12
By Parka (Singapore)
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R17COCFMAI2D36 This book is finally out after being postponed for a few times. It's actually 362 pages, slightly thicker than the previous book, The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film, which is already a massive book. It seems that no paperback edition is available yet at the launch.
Once again, I'm marveled by the amount of information packed into the book by author J.W. Rinzler. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of research and effort is needed to put everything together, after the movie was screened 30 years ago.
The book details the arduous journey in the making of the film from the first story conference up to screening, and to the film awards won after that. The writing is excellent, filled with all sorts of stories and quotes. You get to read about the technical aspect of creating the movie, the little tricks used to create something believable on screen - see how they use fiber optics for lighting spaceships, painting the backgrounds, fixing up Yoda, and much more including production diaries of how they shoot.
The pages are also loaded with concept art, sketches, storyboards, memos, film stills and photos. All well reproduced, very detailed. There are lots of fun stuff happening behind the scenes captured on camera.
While the book is pricey, yes, it's well worth the money. With so much material, it will take more than one sitting to go through them.
Definitely a "must have" for Star Wars fans.
Note that in the previous book, they took out some content from the paperback edition. Not sure if it's going to happen here again.
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