Title: The Making of Star Wars
Author: J.W. Rinzler
ISBN:978-0-345-47761-3
Publisher: Ballantine
Copyright: 2007
Reviewed by Matril.
When the origins and making of the original Star Wars film have already been discussed in so many ways, is there any value to be had in yet another "making of" book, other than a collector's item to commemorate the movie's 30th anniversary? What may be surprising is that, though the making of the movie has been explored in television specials, books, Internet sites, and countless other media, there has never been an officially licensed book specifically written about the story behind the first Star Wars. The other five films have "making of" books; Episode IV, until now, did not.
What is interesting is that Rinzler, also the author of The Making of Revenge of the Sith, endeavors as much as possible to put together the book as it might have appeared thirty years ago. Though it does contain some minor references to and reflections on events that have transpired since 1977, by and large its contents are derived from archival interviews taken from before, during, or just after production of the film, as well as photographs of people, places, sets, and documents of interest. This is the next best thing to a book actually published during the seventies.
It is also an extremely in-depth look into the movie's history. Its 300 pages are filled with glossy photographs, giving it the collectible, coffee-table look, but the text is also considerable, spanning about ten years. Starting with George Lucas's early career as a filmmaker, the book explores the development of his space fantasy in all its drafts, the financial struggles he endured, being shunted from one studio to another, and undergoing the altogether hellish process of directing and editing a film that was consistently behind schedule, underfunded, disliked by most people who had the ability to pull the plug on production, and considered a likely failure by many of the people involved in its making, including Lucas himself. We've all heard of the difficulties of making Star Wars, but as it is presented in this format, it is possible to really fear its failure, to sense the palpable uncertainty that it would even make back the money spent on it. If the reader can indulge in the idea that is truly 1976 and not thirty years later, the worries of these moviemakers can conjure up real concern and sympathy. The movie's success is made all the more miraculous.
The evolution of the story is also quite illuminating. Excerpts from early drafts have been around before, but in this book Rinzler explores them thoroughly, offering quotations from each draft as well as detailed outlines. (Prequel fans might notice a number of discarded names and storylines that were revived and used in Episodes I-III.) He keeps true to the chronology, referring to the main character as "Luke Starkiller" up until the moment that Lucas decided to change the last name to Skywalker; keeping the "pirate ship" nameless until it is finally dubbed the Millennium Falcon. These are small touches, but they help to create a sense of time travel, a feeling of actually being there rather than just looking back nostalgically. For some tastes, this might seem the wrong way to commemorate a 30th anniversary, but as a way of writing the first and only official Making of Star Wars book, it seems an appropriate choice. Altogether, this book will be a value to fans of the movie, as well as those intrigued with the moviemaking process.
Note: This review concerns the paperback edition. The hardcover edition contains additional material as well as everything contained in the paperback.
