The Making of Star Wars
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- Create Date：2021-09-15 09:55:29
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：J.W. Rinzler
- ISBN：1781311900
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Summary
After the 1973 success of American Graffiti， filmmaker George Lucas made the fateful decision to pursue a longtime dream project: a space fantasy movie unlike any ever produced。 Lucas envisioned a swashbuckling SF saga inspired by the Flash Gordon serials classic American westerns， the epic cinema of Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa， and mythological heroes。 Its original title: The Star Wars。 The rest is history， and how it was made is a story as entertaining and exciting as the movie that has enthralled millions for thirty years–a story that has never been told as it was meant to be。 Until now。
Using his unprecedented access to the Lucasfilm Archives and its trove of never-before-published “lost” interviews， photos， production notes， factoids， and anecdotes， Star Wars scholar J。 W。 Rinzler hurtles readers back in time for a one-of-a-kind behind-the-scenes look at the nearly decade-long quest of George Lucas and his key collaborators to make the “little” movie that became a phenomenon。 For the first time， it’s all here:
• the evolution of the now-classic story and characters–including “Annikin Starkiller” and “a huge green-skinned monster with no nose and large gills” named Han Solo
• excerpts from George Lucas’s numerous， ever-morphing script drafts
• the birth of Industrial Light & Magic， the special-effects company that revolutionized Hollywood filmmaking
• the studio-hopping and budget battles that nearly scuttled the entire project
• the director’s early casting saga， which might have led to a film spoken mostly in Japanese–including the intensive auditions that won the cast members their roles and made them legends
• the grueling， nearly catastrophic location shoot in Tunisia and the subsequent breakneck dash at Elstree Studios in London
• the who’s who of young film rebels who pitched in to help–including Francis Ford Coppola， Steven Spielberg， and Brian DePalma
But perhaps most exciting， and rarest of all， are the interviews conducted before and during production and immediately after the release of Star Wars–in which George Lucas， Mark Hamill， Harrison Ford， Carrie Fisher， Sir Alec Guinness， Anthony Daniels， composer John Williams， effects masters Dennis Muren， Richard Edlund， and John Dykstra， Phil Tippett， Rick Baker， legendary production designer John Barry， and a host of others share their fascinating tales from the trenches and candid opinions of the film that would ultimately change their lives。
No matter how you view the spectrum of this thirty-year phenomenon， The Making of Star Wars stands as a crucial document–rich in fascination and revelation–of a genuine cinematic and cultural touchstone。
Using his unprecedented access to the Lucasfilm Archives and its trove of never-before-published “lost” interviews， photos， production notes， factoids， and anecdotes， Star Wars scholar J。 W。 Rinzler hurtles readers back in time for a one-of-a-kind behind-the-scenes look at the nearly decade-long quest of George Lucas and his key collaborators to make the “little” movie that became a phenomenon。 For the first time， it’s all here:
• the evolution of the now-classic story and characters–including “Annikin Starkiller” and “a huge green-skinned monster with no nose and large gills” named Han Solo
• excerpts from George Lucas’s numerous， ever-morphing script drafts
• the birth of Industrial Light & Magic， the special-effects company that revolutionized Hollywood filmmaking
• the studio-hopping and budget battles that nearly scuttled the entire project
• the director’s early casting saga， which might have led to a film spoken mostly in Japanese–including the intensive auditions that won the cast members their roles and made them legends
• the grueling， nearly catastrophic location shoot in Tunisia and the subsequent breakneck dash at Elstree Studios in London
• the who’s who of young film rebels who pitched in to help–including Francis Ford Coppola， Steven Spielberg， and Brian DePalma
But perhaps most exciting， and rarest of all， are the interviews conducted before and during production and immediately after the release of Star Wars–in which George Lucas， Mark Hamill， Harrison Ford， Carrie Fisher， Sir Alec Guinness， Anthony Daniels， composer John Williams， effects masters Dennis Muren， Richard Edlund， and John Dykstra， Phil Tippett， Rick Baker， legendary production designer John Barry， and a host of others share their fascinating tales from the trenches and candid opinions of the film that would ultimately change their lives。
No matter how you view the spectrum of this thirty-year phenomenon， The Making of Star Wars stands as a crucial document–rich in fascination and revelation–of a genuine cinematic and cultural touchstone。
Reviews
I。D。
，
An exhaustive and fascinating look at the making of the movie with interviews from the time and loads of behind the scenes tidbits they will give you a new abs greater appreciation for the movie。 Highly recommended even if you don’t care for Star Wars。 Seeing the evolution of the drafts alone is worth it。
Patrick Lum
，
An absolutely incredible book， a nearly day-by-day look at the development， filming and behind-the-scenes drama that proved the foundation stones for a cinematic classic。 Not just a window into Star Wars， but a window into film production of the 70s， special effects， and studio culture， captured by contemporaneous interviews with many of the cast and crew intercut with the contextual information necessary to understand just how dramatic and revolutionary this seemingly simple children's fable wa An absolutely incredible book， a nearly day-by-day look at the development， filming and behind-the-scenes drama that proved the foundation stones for a cinematic classic。 Not just a window into Star Wars， but a window into film production of the 70s， special effects， and studio culture， captured by contemporaneous interviews with many of the cast and crew intercut with the contextual information necessary to understand just how dramatic and revolutionary this seemingly simple children's fable was at the time。 。。。more
Andy Connell
，
Amazing。If you can get the enhanced ebook as well as the beautiful hardcover。
Sarah
，
Exhaustive and beautiful。 Easy to return to。 Heavy for a coffee table book but fans won't have any regrets。 Exhaustive and beautiful。 Easy to return to。 Heavy for a coffee table book but fans won't have any regrets。 。。。more
Keith
，
This book was completely fascinating but is definitely too much for a casual Stars Wars fan。 I would recommend this to people who love Star Wars or are into the process of making a movie。 This book took me about 3 weeks to get through because it is pretty dense and you don't feel like you are really making progress until you get to the portion of the book describing the actual filming。 I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to watch Star Wars movies in the same way again because I'll be notic This book was completely fascinating but is definitely too much for a casual Stars Wars fan。 I would recommend this to people who love Star Wars or are into the process of making a movie。 This book took me about 3 weeks to get through because it is pretty dense and you don't feel like you are really making progress until you get to the portion of the book describing the actual filming。 I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to watch Star Wars movies in the same way again because I'll be noticing all of the little details or stories behind certain scenes instead of just enjoying it。 After reading this， it seems like a complete miracle that the movie was made。The most interesting part of this book is seeing how drastically the story of Star Wars changed and the reasons for those changes。 The weakness of this book is definitely describing the special effects process。 I often had to google different techniques that the author was describing （or sometimes not describing） to even have something of an idea of what was being discussed。 Some of the interesting tidbits that stuck in my memory:They struggled to make the nose of the X-Wings not look phallic。A ton of the story from early scripts， particularly names， were used in the prequels like the planet Utapau。At the very end of the book， Lucas gave a breakdown explaining certain things so that other writers for things like comics could have an understanding of the galaxy。 Many of them were completely changed， but some of them were incredibly accurate to what ended up being included in the prequels。 One interesting one was how C-3PO was assembled by a boy working for a junk dealer。Lucas had one quote towards the end of the process saying how he didn't want to be a slave to technology。 Pretty sad after seeing the complete takeover of green screen filming for the prequels。 。。。more
William Hyland
，
An amazingly comprehensive look at the making of the original film。 Featuring great stuff from the cast， the crew and an extremely compelling portrait of George Lucas as a tenacious， totally insane visionary who makes his film happen through sheer force of will。
romney
，
The book is exhaustive but a lot of it is quite boring unless you're into the minutae of film production finances。 Every now and then there's a gem like at one point George was thinking of making Star Wars in Japanese， or with African-Americans in all the main roles or maybe little people。 Then you're back to logistics。 If you're totally obsessed with Star Wars or really into film production in general then this is great。 If not， flick through the pictures and dip into the text when it looks int The book is exhaustive but a lot of it is quite boring unless you're into the minutae of film production finances。 Every now and then there's a gem like at one point George was thinking of making Star Wars in Japanese， or with African-Americans in all the main roles or maybe little people。 Then you're back to logistics。 If you're totally obsessed with Star Wars or really into film production in general then this is great。 If not， flick through the pictures and dip into the text when it looks interesting。 。。。more
Ed Dougherty
，
This was my daily B reading book for a week or so。 I had heard for years it was great， but thought I had had enough of Star Wars。 Well it was great！ Now I’ll probably read the rest of them。 Dammit
Wes Thompson
，
This was an amazing read。 Required reading for anyone interested in the history of SW or moviemaking in general。 I have a much better understanding and appreciation for George Lucas after finishing this book。
Scott MacBurnie
，
It is an exceptionally good book about the making of the original film， and by using quotes and interviews that were conducted at the time - it eludes the pitfall of having people （much later） remembering the moments through the sort of "of course we always knew that we were making a masterpiece" self-congratulatory tripe that sometimes colors books about famous films。 It is made exceptionally clear， here， just how big of a gamble （and how likely a failure） the film really was， and how close to It is an exceptionally good book about the making of the original film， and by using quotes and interviews that were conducted at the time - it eludes the pitfall of having people （much later） remembering the moments through the sort of "of course we always knew that we were making a masterpiece" self-congratulatory tripe that sometimes colors books about famous films。 It is made exceptionally clear， here， just how big of a gamble （and how likely a failure） the film really was， and how close to disaster the whole enterprise really was， most of the time。Of course， it did turn out well， and it did become a phenomenon - but the struggle to get anything at all onscreen （along with the cascade of compromises and practical failures of the process） is told in a very involving， dramatic， and suspenseful manner。 Even knowing "how the story ends" does not entirely undercut the occasional sense of hopelessness that pervades the process of getting the film financed， and ultimately， made。 Of course， for "Star Wars" fans， some of the information is scarcely new， and yet for even the most rabid of us （I have lived and breathed "Star Wars" since I was 5 years old） there are things here to be discovered - both in terms of the production of the first film， and in terms of story beats and plot points that resurface in the sequels and prequels， in some cases decades later。It is also a beautiful book to look at， being filled with storyboards， sketches， production paintings， poster art， and photos from the production。 While many of these have appeared elsewhere over the years， it is a delight to see them gathered together in such a handsome， well produced volume。 。。。more
Antonio Repiso Moreno
，
Aún siendo muy fan （enfermizo diría yo） me ha sorprendido gratamente como Lucas evolucionó sus ideas poco a poco。。。 Una mente que espero herede Dave Finoli。
Daniel Folk
，
If you are interested in Star Wars， and/or film production， this is a perfect film for you。 The book likes to show some of the warts encountered on production of this classic movie。
Michael Legge
，
Shame he dies in the end。
Doug Penikas
，
Loved it。 Truly fascinating what George Lucas went through to get the film made。
David Halford
，
Wow。 This book was recommended by a friend as “the ultimate history book for you” （meaning me） and he was right。 It’s incredibly detailed and gives a lot of insight into how Star Wars went from an idea to a movie， and it’s a fun read。 I read the digital special edition which has a bunch of video and audio added to it， from early dailies to voiceover recordings of Alec Guinness telling Luke to use the Force， and giving me goosebumps in the process。 If you are at al interested in Star Wars above t Wow。 This book was recommended by a friend as “the ultimate history book for you” （meaning me） and he was right。 It’s incredibly detailed and gives a lot of insight into how Star Wars went from an idea to a movie， and it’s a fun read。 I read the digital special edition which has a bunch of video and audio added to it， from early dailies to voiceover recordings of Alec Guinness telling Luke to use the Force， and giving me goosebumps in the process。 If you are at al interested in Star Wars above the “I’ve seen them once and that’s enough”-level; this book is for you。 。。。more
Craig
，
Any Star Wars fan will love the photos in this coffee table book。But if you decide to read the story of how the film was made you may feel bogged down。All the important people who made the film are mentioned but since I’m not a Hollywood insider， and very little time is spent with each of them， I found it difficult to remember who was who。 If you are not familiar with film production then the description of how the special effects and camera work were made is difficult to follow。 I did enjoy th Any Star Wars fan will love the photos in this coffee table book。But if you decide to read the story of how the film was made you may feel bogged down。All the important people who made the film are mentioned but since I’m not a Hollywood insider， and very little time is spent with each of them， I found it difficult to remember who was who。 If you are not familiar with film production then the description of how the special effects and camera work were made is difficult to follow。 I did enjoy the chapters on the casting of the film and the comments from Mark Hamill， Carrie Fisher， Harrison Ford， Alec Guinness， and Peter Cushing as the film was being made。What makes this 'making-of' book unique is the lost interviews that marketing director Charles Lippincott did just after the movie was made。 The comments from George Lucas， the cast and crew about how they felt immediately after making the movie is very enlightening and more revealing than interviews done years later after everyone had time to reflect。I’d say twenty-five percent of the text was interesting so as a Star Wars fan it was worth reading。 。。。more
Albert Chessa
，
The be-all-end-all source of information on Star Wars， the 1977 film。 Excellent book。
Aaron W。 Roberts
，
Giving this five stars for sheer quantity of info and pictures， however， for readability I'd give this four stars。 It was a bit of a tough slog early （lots of lawyers doing lawyer stuff）， but after about 100 pages it is quite riveting。 Making films is such a massive collaborative undertaking and this book shines best in showing that process。 Giving this five stars for sheer quantity of info and pictures， however， for readability I'd give this four stars。 It was a bit of a tough slog early （lots of lawyers doing lawyer stuff）， but after about 100 pages it is quite riveting。 Making films is such a massive collaborative undertaking and this book shines best in showing that process。 。。。more
Caleb Sommerville
，
An absolutely exhaustive collection of literally everything to do with the production of 1977's Star Wars。 And when I say exhaustive， I mean actor interviews， journals， paperwork， Polaroids， accounting documents， storyboards， anecdotes， studio political intrigue， internal memos， and so forth。 It took me quite a long time to read half because of its。。。well， dryness （but that's the whole point of the book， so I can't fault it for being academic） and it's physical size。This is a biiiig book。Plus， n An absolutely exhaustive collection of literally everything to do with the production of 1977's Star Wars。 And when I say exhaustive， I mean actor interviews， journals， paperwork， Polaroids， accounting documents， storyboards， anecdotes， studio political intrigue， internal memos， and so forth。 It took me quite a long time to read half because of its。。。well， dryness （but that's the whole point of the book， so I can't fault it for being academic） and it's physical size。This is a biiiig book。Plus， now I know that George Lucas was 1。 a madman capable of working insane hours 2。 a genius and 3。 thinking about midichlorians in 1978。 。。。more
Stu
，
4。5★
NickM
，
So we'll just get this bit out of the way now: if you're a Star Wars fan that loves knowing behind the scenes stuff， then this is the book to read。 It's cobbled together from Lucasfilm archives， and thank the gods someone had the foresight to store these things away or some elements of the story would have been lost forever。This book is a trove of information that， I personally at least， didn't know all of from the numerous making ofs that I've seen of the original film over the years。 You get a So we'll just get this bit out of the way now: if you're a Star Wars fan that loves knowing behind the scenes stuff， then this is the book to read。 It's cobbled together from Lucasfilm archives， and thank the gods someone had the foresight to store these things away or some elements of the story would have been lost forever。This book is a trove of information that， I personally at least， didn't know all of from the numerous making ofs that I've seen of the original film over the years。 You get a good look at the genesis of Star Wars from it's first drafts to the shooting script and even how things were changed then。It doesn't start with the beginning of Star Wars being made so much as going back even further to when George first started developing the idea and started pitching it to studios。 Suffice to say， if it wasn't clear before， then it is clear now that it's a miracle this film was even made。At times the text is a little dry， and it's difficult to keep track of who everyone involved in Star Wars is。 Some names are more familiar， but with production staff， members of ILM and Fox it can sometimes be a little tricky。Packed with interviews， behind the scenes photos， storyboards etc， this book is a little cumbersome in size， but worth it in every sense。 。。。more
Horza
，
I was after a big excavation of the prehistory and contingencies of the beast and this has it in spades。
Megan Kammeyer
，
This is a great book， although there is apparently at least one deliberate inaccuracy in the book for an interview with Lucas， which Lucas apparently requested。 This is disturbing for the novel， but it appears that everything else with the book is alright。
David Despain
，
A
Phillip
，
ExhaustiveI found the history of George Lucas’ struggles producing the movie and getting sustained support from his studio an insightful view into just how enormous a task movie making can be- even if you have a strong vision and determination to match。 That Star Wars even came together as cohesively and wonderfully as it did makes me marvel at the amount of talent， vision， and tenacity it takes to make films- especially good ones。 I didn’t like that many of the quotes， from original sources （ie ExhaustiveI found the history of George Lucas’ struggles producing the movie and getting sustained support from his studio an insightful view into just how enormous a task movie making can be- even if you have a strong vision and determination to match。 That Star Wars even came together as cohesively and wonderfully as it did makes me marvel at the amount of talent， vision， and tenacity it takes to make films- especially good ones。 I didn’t like that many of the quotes， from original sources （ie production crew， actors， etc。）， scattered throughout the book， left me hanging- many were not followed by further explanation to provide context and relevance to the quote。 I wouldn’t recommend Rinzler’s book to a casual Star Wars fan。 The book was even a bit too exhaustive for myself at times。 Bonus- if you have the Kindle version there is some really cool bonus media， including home movie footage！ 。。。more
Trent Hutzenbuhler
，
Officially the best Star Wars "making of" book。 A must read！ Officially the best Star Wars "making of" book。 A must read！ 。。。more
Tim
，
Definitely the definite edition！ Must-read if you're a star wars fan like me。 Definitely the definite edition！ Must-read if you're a star wars fan like me。 。。。more
Luke
，
Fantastic， it was the start-up of movies and movie-making。 Amazing to read about all the hard work， detours， and battles fought to make this。 Star Wars fans or film fans should definitely check this out。 Definitive。
Paxton Holley
，
Read this over several months in between my other books。 Very good， very detailed account of the making of the first film in the trilogy。 Lots of information to process。 Lots of art and pictures。 Very good。
Tess
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Star Wars fans， just。。。。read this book。 Certainly there are some parts where the level of detail creates a Dagobah-esque thick fog to wade through， but the wading is worth it: there are facts and tidbits that give more context and richness to the film you love so well and blow your mind a little bit in the process。 Some of my favorite parts were just hearing what certain recognizable props were made out of， or imagining the madcap environment at ILM during its heyday。 For best results， read it w Star Wars fans， just。。。。read this book。 Certainly there are some parts where the level of detail creates a Dagobah-esque thick fog to wade through， but the wading is worth it: there are facts and tidbits that give more context and richness to the film you love so well and blow your mind a little bit in the process。 Some of my favorite parts were just hearing what certain recognizable props were made out of， or imagining the madcap environment at ILM during its heyday。 For best results， read it while sitting up in bed next to another Star Wars fan， blurting out interesting passages to share probably just as he was about to fall asleep， but that he's obliged to wake up and laugh about。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Making of Star Wars
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Making of Star Wars&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft