George Lucas spent nearly ten years bringing his dream project to life a ground-breaking space fantasy movie It would be a swashbuckling sci-fi saga inspired by vintage Flash Gordon serials classic American westerns & mythological heroes Its original title The Star Wars The rest is history Yet its production is a story as entertaining & exciting as the film itself Now recounted in the words of those who were there it is finally being told for the first time During the years 1975 to 1978 over fifty interviews were conducted with key members of the cast & crew Remarkably these interviews have sat undisturbed in the Lucasfilm Archives for three decades Until now The interviews are fresh candid &
- above all
- more accurate than many other reported accounts George Lucas Mark Hamill Harrison Ford Carrie Fisher Anthony Daniels composer John Williams legendary production designer John Barry & a host of others share their fascinating tales of overcoming obstacles
- storms crises technical limitations high stress & bitter disappointment
- while displaying real ingenuity heroism & creativity Using his unprecedented access to the Lucasfilm Archives & this trove of never-before-published 'lost' interviews photographs production notes factoids & anecdotes J W Rinzler hurtles readers back in time for a definitive look at the making of Star Wars For the first time it's all here The evolution of the now-classic story & characters
- including ' Annikin Starkiller' & a 'huge green-skinned monster with no nose & 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 revolutionised Hollywood film-making The studio-hopping & budget battles that nearly derailed the entire project The director's early casting saga The gruelling nearly catastrophic location shoot in Tunisia & the following breakneck dash to Elstree Studios in London Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of images spanning the creation of the film The Making of Star Wars is a piece of cinema history It is the true story of human endeavour & creativity that led to the production of one of the most outstanding & innovative movies of all time