Empire Strikes Back "Making of" book!

[artyjeffrey 20]

Truly, last night I was looking through my copy of "The Making of Star Wars" by J.W. Rinzler, and I thought to myself, "What a cool book this was. This year's the 30th Anniversary of ESB. Man, it would be awesome if they did a book like this but for Empire."

I go out to my mailbox, pull out my wife's issue of Entertainment Weekly, and see the cover has Chewbacca holding Princess Leia in a candid shot during shooting of ESB. And then I look inside and see this:

Now I have to wait until OCTOBER! Guess I know what I want for Christmas!

[Dole 17]

Great! I just finished reading the "Making of Star Wars" book yesterday and thought how nice it would be to have similar books for the other two OT films.

[Jay 37,364]

I've heard good things about that Star Wars book

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Cannot. Freaking. Wait.

[crocodile 8,012]

Heard about this a couple months ago, when it was still July release (I guess it's not anymore). I will most certainly buy this. The first one was probably the most thorough I've read about any movie. Very dense and informative. The book about ROTS is fine too, but I find it puzzling no one bothered to put "the final chapter" back into the book. Maybe it wasn't a strong seller...

I'm am not a fan of the Indy book. The section about Raiders is good, but the rest... Most of the material comes from Bouzereau's DVD documentaries. Disappointing.

Karol

[skyy38 21]

Gee,only $85.

Wonder how much THIS book will crib from the original?

[Demondm810 399]

The Making of Star Wars is brilliant. This should be even better!

[King Mark 3,631]

Is that the same Dalton Ross who writes the survivor recaps at EW.com? Or he just wrote an article about the book?

[artyjeffrey 20]

Rinzler's the author, Ross writes for EW.

It's promising that the same author who wrote "The Making of Star Wars" is also authoring this one. I really don't want to see it smaller than the first book. ESB was so awesome, it deserves just as much attention.

This book should come with a complimentary man-sized bib, maybe with Darth Vader or Boba Fett screen-printed on it, so readers can drool uncontrollably while looking at all of the amazing photos inside.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Way too much money.

Any idea whether it will be objective or basically a Lucas ass-kissing fest?

Seeing as so much of the score was rejected, you would assume that would be addressed. Also some coverage of Mark Hamill's shattered face, plastic surgery and whether that whole ice monster scene where Luke's face is mauled was written in as a result.

[artyjeffrey 20]

You'll really know if it's honest if they mention Hamill hurting his thumb in a fall, and being disgruntled that a stuntman wasn't used for the shot.

Way too much money.

Any idea whether it will be objective or basically a Lucas ass-kissing fest?

Seeing as so much of the score was rejected, you would assume that would be addressed. Also some coverage of Mark Hamill's shattered face, plastic surgery and whether that whole ice monster scene where Luke's face is mauled was written in as a result.

This might be more along the lines of what you're looking for. Unauthorized books are so naughty.

[MissPadmé 17]

dammit - this was pushed back too! I thought only the release in germany.

The last time I read about it , it was set to be released in may

EDIT- ahh, it still says July the 20th on amazon.de, must be wrong I guess...

[Andy 4,127]

I loves me some rare SW photos. This is a must buy. The first book was great.

[artyjeffrey 20]

And those of you who look at that $85 price tag and balk, just remember that there'll be a softcover edition for considerably less. There might be some little spec of text or pics missing from it, but it'll still mostly be there.

The book's length, according to Amazon, is pretty much exactly the same as the Star Wars book was, which is REALLY exciting.

[Red 75]

Nice.

[indy4 155]

Any idea whether it will be objective or basically a Lucas ass-kissing fest?

I'd guess it'll be somewhat objective, since Lucas has said that he doesn't think ESB is as great as people say it is, and this book seems to think otherwise.

[Andy 4,127]

It's likely to be as objective as this kind of thing can get. Rinzler's Star Wars book was comprised not of new interviews, but old interviews, notes, and documents from when the first film was made. I would expect this to follow suit, as an attempt to capture a snapshot of what the thinking process was before and during production. These books are top shelf stuff. Plus, there is a massive discount on Amazon. It's only $53... a steal for a coffee table volume like this.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I wonder if it'll have much of Leigh Brackett's draft. I'd love to read that.

[Uni 306]

I've got a paperback book written years ago journaling the making of Empire. It's detailed, day-by-day stuff. I doubt there'll be much more info in this new book (although the pictures will make it worth the purchase, I'm sure).

- Scott

[Charlie Brigden 7]

There have been some great books on the subject. The Annotated Screenplays were great (although not sure if they were repeated for the brilliant interactive script feature on the Behind The Magic CD ROM), but my favourite is still Star Wars Chronicles. It's huge, it's expensive, but I love it to bits. Great resource for Halloween costumes, too.

[Andy 4,127]

I've got a paperback book written years ago journaling the making of Empire. It's detailed, day-by-day stuff. I doubt there'll be much more info in this new book (although the pictures will make it worth the purchase, I'm sure).

- Scott

That is a great book indeed. I bet there will be plenty of surprises in this book. Rinzler had unprecedented access to stuff that was locked in vaults and drawers for years. I imagine there will be some gems discovered.

[soundwave 0]

I'm am not a fan of the Indy book. The section about Raiders is good, but the rest... Most of the material comes from Bouzereau's DVD documentaries. Disappointing.

Karol

I enjoyed reading the book, alothough it seems that he spent alot of time discussing the making of Raiders and then floored the gas pedal when discussing the rest of the films.

[Laserschwert 475]

I enjoyed reading the book, alothough it seems that he spent alot of time discussing the making of Raiders and then floored the gas pedal when discussing the rest of the films.

Yeah... back when Rinzler's first SW book came out, he announced that he would do the same for Empire and Jedi, and for Indy too. I assumed that meant, that each Indy movie would get its own volume. Ah well, it's still pretty good.

[artyjeffrey 20]

There have been some great books on the subject. The Annotated Screenplays were great (although not sure if they were repeated for the brilliant interactive script feature on the Behind The Magic CD ROM), but my favourite is still Star Wars Chronicles. It's huge, it's expensive, but I love it to bits. Great resource for Halloween costumes, too.

I remember being a bit disappointed with Star Wars Chronicles when I first got it. But then, after the passing of time, I began to notice that every time that I was either building a model or painting a figure, I'd have that book off the shelf. It's not a book with tons of inside info, but it's a great picture book. And PRICEY like you said.

That old ESB book "Once Upon A Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back" by Alan Arnold is indeed nifty. A few times he goes off on tangents, but there's gold in there, like the transcription from a mic'd Irvin Kershner on the Bespin freezing chamber set, getting exasperated with everything. Carrie Fisher's being a queen over line changes that he and Ford discussed but she was left out of, and he says to himself (and the microphone), "Great, now I have problems with the actors."

The EW article did feature a few pics, including one of a page from Kersh's copy of the script, completely graffited with notes.

Here's few more pics from the article, in case you missed it. The article itself didn't have much info, it was just a teaser for the book (and it obviously worked)...

Harrison Ford getting cast for his carbon-frozen-self...

...and downtime on the Falcon interior set... just look at poor Tony Daniels.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Trailer for the book:

[Naïve Old Fart 9,528]

I wonder if it'll have much of Leigh Brackett's draft. I'd love to read that.

"Why are we buying it?"

"To make us behave"...

[Faleel 5,348]

what was the music at the end of the trailer? something from the archives? or just the concert version slowed down

[artyjeffrey 20]

Pre-Ordered!

[Trent B 337]

what was the music at the end of the trailer? something from the archives? or just the concert version slowed down

I'm wondering that myself.

[Jay 37,364]

Sounded like a slowed down version of the end credits to me

[Jacob 0]

Ah hah, I've got it!

It's from The Force Unleashed. The last part of Redemption.

[Faleel 5,348]

Ah hah, I've got it!

It's from The Force Unleashed. The last part of Redemption.

i figured that out after i watched a TFU fan trailer

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I wonder if it'll have much of Leigh Brackett's draft. I'd love to read that.

do you mean you would like to read about brackett's involvement or the actual script?

Because the later surfaced few months ago...

wanna help with that?

[King Mark 3,631]

I might buy this book .It's funny that 5 years ago I would have been 10 times more excited about this.

[Jay 37,364]

Yea Brackett's script is right here

http://www.mypdfscripts.com/screenplays/star-wars-episode-v-%E2%80%93-the-empire-strikes-back-leigh-brackett-draft

[King Mark 3,631]

Well that's an interesting quote:

"Harry Potter: The Annotated Screenplays, states that Columbus disliked the direction of William Ross score and discarded it. John Williams then re-wrote the score before turning the results over to Columbus, who did not work directly with Ross score at all. It is speculation if Warner Brothers assignment of credit to Ross was a mere courtesy, a mark of respect for the work he had done during his illness, or a contractual obligation."

It's funny that "contractual obligations" leave certain aspects of films shrouded in mystery .

[Jay 37,364]

Huh?

[King Mark 3,631]

I just replaced the names in the article to a similar situation

[Jay 37,364]

Ah, haha. Nice.

[King Mark 3,631]

Could apply to Spielberg sent Tobe Hooper on a vacation from Poltergeist and directed it himself ,but never took credit to this day

[Naïve Old Fart 9,528]

Could apply to Spielberg sent Tobe Hooper on a vacation from Poltergeist and directed it himself ,but never took credit to this day

That's because he wasn't allowed to. Back in the early 80s, the DGA would not let one director direct two films at the same time, hence the "Poltergeist"/"E.T." situation. I am in no doubt that Steven Spielberg directed "Poltergeist", and used Tobe Hooper as a "front".

[mahler3 478]

Was there not some sort of apology printed in trade press from Spielberg, stating that Tobe Hooper WAS infact the director etc.?

It would be great to have some sort of retrospective documentary on the Poltergeist scenario (like the Alien 3 shambles), but clearly old wounds are still sore and no parties wish to speak about it. Shame!

- Tim

[stuttersteps 1]

Just received mine today. Beautiful and thick. Can't wait to delve in.

[Ollie 1,059]

Was there not some sort of apology printed in trade press from Spielberg, stating that Tobe Hooper WAS infact the director etc.?

It would be great to have some sort of retrospective documentary on the Poltergeist scenario (like the Alien 3 shambles), but clearly old wounds are still sore and no parties wish to speak about it. Shame!

- Tim

I believe Hooper directed the film and was probably brought on board due to his experience in the horror genre. But this film is a Spielberg film. His hand prints are all over it. Even Jerry Goldsmith mentioned he dealt with Spielberg during the scoring sessions.

Just received mine today. Beautiful and thick. Can't wait to delve in.

I'm putting one on my Christmas wish list.

[Jay 37,364]

Beautiful and thick. Can't wait to delve in.

That's what she said

[Ollie 1,059]

Let's keep this on topic.......

[filmmusic 1,829]

Does it say anything in it about Williams' music?

perhaps a whole chapter on it?

[Jay 37,364]

has this been posted yet?

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/10/10-things-empire-strikes-back/#ixzz12GNOVyLw

[fommes 153]

I would love to see the Miss Piggy version.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Phil Tippett posted a link with more photos on Twitter:

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/10/the-making-of-the-empire-strikes-back-201010?currentPage=all&ref=nf