The Making of the Empire Strikes Back: The Definitive Story (Star Wars (Del Rey)) [Hardcover]

Just received this from Amazon. This is a very detailed look into the making of this great movie. I think it would be fair to split a review of this book into two parts; the first concentrating on the contents, the second about its presentation...

The content is simply superb. It offers a wonderfully detailed accounts of the pre-production, production and post-production phases, interspersed with the development of major parts of the script. Having seen the film many many times (yes, I am a bit of a fan), I was amazed to see how much of the original ideas changed into the dialogue we know and love. I'll not spoil anything by giving away the details, but there were several revisions of the script, and many of the familiar characters changed along the way. The book provides the details of all of this concept work, through to the design of droids, ships, creatures, costumes, props, landscapes and indoor environments - everything is described in exquisite detail. Indeed, the book provides a great insight into how concepts are developed - useful for animators, film-makers and game developers anywhere. The original concepts by Ralph McQuarrie (RIP) are simply wonderful, but sometimes surprisingly miles away from the on-screen results. But the book isn't just a collection of excerpts and pictures; these elements are bound together by the story of the making of the film. This is THE detailed account of just how ESB was made, and it's just excellent.

The technical details of designing and shooting the film are also given, with production and shooting schedules, as well as hundreds of photographs backing this up showing the actors and production crew at work. For me, this is probably the most interesting part of the book - seeing all the familar actors interacting with each other on-set but off-screen, which is something I've never seen before. Post-production provides, again, hundreds of photos, detailing the intricacies of model making and special effects.

The presentation is lavish. The photographs are very clean, the copies of the script excerpts, schedules, memos, concepts and model designs are very clear and arranged very well. The textual content is presented in such a way as to fit in as much as possible without it being cramped or unreadable - and there is a lot of content to squeeze in. This book, and it's design, like the film itself, is a product of love. It is a quality product - the paper quality, the reproduction, the hard-cover and the bindings are simply excellent. This would make a fine gift for anyone with even a passing interest in any of the Star Wars films.

I have read some reports claiming some of the material can be seen in other publications. I don't know if this is true, but even if it is, there is so much material here and it is all presented in a way that is simply a pleasure to see. This is a great example of how this type of book should be designed and produced. Buy this. You will not be dissapointed.

Well, at the moment it's only 15 quid. When you take into account how much this huge tome must have cost to print and ship, that's practically giving it away. Frankly, it would be rude not to buy this book.

Yes, there is perhaps less for the hardcore fan to learn about the genesis of Empire than A New Hope, and fewer of the images are unfamiliar, but this is a worthwhile and important piece of movie history presented in an accessible and beautiful way. Hell, I'm even looking forward to the inevitable Jedi book. Does that make me a bad person?

I may be bias as "Empire" is my favourite film of all time so bear that in mind while reading the review.

The book was purchased for me as a gift, I already own the making of Star Wars and I'll be buying the third one. Not sure about the prequel making offs though.

This book is beautiful, it's at least twelve inches square (hardback version) and an inch and half thick. Every page is adorned with photos, artwork and reproductions of original material related to the film. I still own a lot of the original books released in the early 80's about this film but there's images in here I've never seen and some that, although I've seen them, are beautiful reproduced and printed. The candid back stage photos of the stars are fantastic to see as are the huge pictures of sets and crew working. For the photos alone, if you're fan this is a must.

As in the previous book the text tells the story of the conception, writing, production and release of "Empire", starting from immediately after the release of "A New Hope". For me the realisation of the story is the most interesting aspect of the "process" and "Empire" could have been a very different film from the original story ideas. In the book "Once Apon a time: A Journal on the Making of The Empire Strikes Back" by Arnold (1980) he attached a mike to Irvin Kershner and recorded the ongoing shooting of the carbon freezing chamber amongst other things. In this book that is greatly expanded and you get a real insight into the film making process and the technicalities and egos involved. Other great tales within the volume include the development of Yoda (a monkey...with a stick??), the thorn in the side that was "Galactica", the creation of the Walkers (the AT-ST was an after thought but so loved by the fans) and the filming of the Hoth sequences, at the back of the hotel due to the adverse conditions in Finse.

I've been a fan of the films since I was kid and I've owned a lot of books about the making of them but this book is such a fine addition to my bookshelf. It's a beauty, it truly is the "definitive" story and even if you never read it you'll just drool over the pictures, there is quite a few of the deleted scenes (wampa attack) which are great to see finally. (Although my favourite being the double page of a rebel transport and X-Wings flying past an exploding Stardestroyer.)

If you're a fan you owe to yourself to pick up this book. thinking of a gift for your favourite geek - you can't go wrong. If you're looking for a good coffee table book about film making you'll always have someone wanting to pick it up and leaf through it.

My favourite book on my shelf and my favourite film of all time.