George Lucas: A Biography (Paperback)

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Amazon.co.uk Review
Among the wave of film directors who brought fresh blood and maverick sensibilities to southern California in the early 1960s--including Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius, Brian DePalma and Martin Scorsese--none could have seemed less likely than George Lucas, the short, painfully shy car nerd from Modesto, California. And yet, in a mere four appearances behind the camera over 20 years, he managed to change Hollywood and fundamentally alter the culture. In this lively and informative biography, John Baxter weaves interviews with Modesto townies and Lucas cronies into a portrait of the man as an artistically gifted loner with a grocer's feeling for budgets--an important director who was also unmanned by directing and a self-effacing man whose notes for Star Wars reveal an ambition to make an American epic on the scale of Kurosawa's samurai stories. Baxter skilfully shades in Lucas's emotionally straitened adolescence, his lack-of-anything-better-to-do enrolment in USC's film school, and his relationship with Coppola, whose operatic manoeuvrings made the small, European-ish American Graffiti possible, even as his flamboyance estranged the two. Baxter also takes Lucas to task--Lucas lied about losing his virginity in the back seat of a car, he argues--but by the end the author has been won over, appreciating Lucas's films less than he admires the basic goodness and integrity of the man who put up money for Kurosawa's Ran and Coppola's Tucker, for no other reason than because he felt that small-town boy's sense of debt to his mentors. --Lyall Bush

Amazon.co.uk Review
Among the wave of film directors who brought fresh blood and maverick sensibilities to southern California in the early 1960s--including Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius, Brian DePalma, and Martin Scorsese--none could have seemed less likely than George Lucas, the short, painfully shy car nerd from Modesto, California. And yet, in a mere four appearances behind the camera over 20 years, he managed to change Hollywood and fundamentally alter the culture. In this lively and informative biography, John Baxter weaves interviews with Modesto townies and Lucas cronies into a portrait of the man as an artistically gifted loner with a grocer's feeling for budgets--an important director who was also unmanned by directing and a self-effacing man whose notes for Star Wars reveal an ambition to make an American epic on the scale of Kurosawa's samurai stories. Baxter skilfully shades in Lucas's emotionally straitened adolescence, his lack-of-anything-better-to-do enrolment in USC's film school, and his relationship with Coppola, whose operatic manoeuvrings made the small, European-ish American Graffiti possible, even as his flamboyance estranged the two. Baxter also takes Lucas to task--Lucas lied about losing his virginity in the back seat of a car, he argues--but by the end the author has been won over, appreciating Lucas's films less than he admires the basic goodness and integrity of the man who put up money for Kurosawa's Ran and Coppola's Tucker, for no other reason than because he felt that small-town boy's sense of debt to his mentors. --Lyall Bush --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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4 Reviews 5 star:  (1) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 3.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Insight Into the man who Revolutionised Cinema, 11 Oct 2000 By  MIKE HARBY - See all my reviews On buying this book I dubious that it would be one of those biographies that continually praise and patronises the celebrity, but not so. This follows George Lucas from his youth to his Last project , The first star wars film. Warts and all, tells of his strict upbringing by a father who wanted him to inherit the family business rather than pursue his love of films, his rivalry with Francis Ford Coppolla, collaborations with Stephen Spielberg, and his sometimes stormy relationship with his wife Marcia, who it is said would have made a brilliant film director if she had made the step from brilliant film editor to film director. This book will inevitably be read by people who just want to read about the Star wars films. But to do so would be a huge mistake, missing out on so much. This is one fine film biography that stands out from the usual bunch. So much so , i read it in one sitting. A hugely addicitve read, leaving you with more admiration for the man that gave us Star Wars, arguably the film that changed the face of cinema history, but also came from a man that has directed fewer films than most directors have in making their mark on the history of cinema. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars More than just Star Wars .. read it and find out, 26 Mar 2002 By  rashyd_ullah@hotmail.com (Wednesbury) - See all my reviews Zoom, zoom, pow... The story of the man that bought you Star Wars trilogy. This is a really good book and should be read by any one interested in George Lucas. I found the book provided a good insight about him, his relationship with Marcia his wife and the strain and stresses of an up and coming director. The book is well balanced providing the right level of information on George, his family his films and about Hollywood. There are some interesting tie-ins with other Hollywood directors such as Francis Coppola and Steven Spielberg. I though the book was going to be heavily weighted towards Star Wars, but was pleasantly surprised that it covered his whole career in a levelled way. I'd recommend this book. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Nice film review, 18 Oct 1999 By  Nordie - See all my reviews This review is from: George Lucas: A Biography (Hardcover) John Baxter's primary role of film reviewer is all too evident in this biography which concentrates on the development and critique of Lucas's major films, primarily the Star Wars films, to the detriment of what i consider to be the object of a biography : the person him/herself. Lucas' early life is covered in the first few chapters and we dont even get to know what Lucas' birth date is. For an extended film review this book is fine but i fear it is lacking as an biography. To get to know more about the new Hollywood of the 70's read one on Spielberg. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 4 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 2.0 out of 5 stars Less of Biography more about his films This book provides an interesting insight into the making of American Graffiti, the Star Wars Trilogy, the early Indiana Jones and other films from the Lucas stable, such as... Read more Published 12 months ago by Jean Michel Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 4 customer reviews...

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