The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Enhanced Edition)

By J.W. Rinzler

The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Enhanced Edition) - J.W. Rinzler
  • Release Date: 2013-10-22
  • Genre: Film
Score: 4
4
From 52 Ratings

Description

This enhanced multi-touch eBook made specially for iBooks transforms The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi into an immersive multimedia experience worthy of the original film. It features exclusive content pulled from the Lucasfilm archives by author J. W. Rinzler:

– 27 minutes of rare behind-the-scenes video
– 20 minutes of rare audio interviews with the cast and crew
– New bonus photos and artwork not found in the print edition

Just as Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi completed the most successful cinematic trilogy of its generation, perhaps of all time, this splendid thirtieth-anniversary tribute completes New York Times bestselling author J. W. Rinzler’s trio of fascinating behind-the-scenes books celebrating George Lucas’s classic films.

Once again, the author’s unprecedented access to the formidable Lucasfilm Archives has yielded a mother lode of extremely informative, vastly entertaining, and often unexpected stories, anecdotes, recollections, and revelations straight from the closely guarded set of a big-screen blockbuster in the making. Brimming with previously unpublished photos, production artwork, script excerpts, exclusive intel, vintage on-set interviews, and present-day commentary, The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi chronicles “how George Lucas and his crew of extroverted artists, misfits, and expert craftspeople roused themselves to great heights for a third time” to create the next unforgettable chapter in one of the most beloved sagas of all time. Get up close to the action and feel like a studio insider as

– creator George Lucas, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and director Richard Marquand huddle in a script conference to debate the destinies of iconic Star Wars characters, as well as plot twists and turns for the epic final showdown between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire
– artists and craftspeople at the groundbreaking Industrial Light & Magic facility top their own revolutionary innovations—despite the infamous Black Friday—with boundary-pushing new analog visual effects
– a crack team of sculptors, puppeteers, actors, and “monster-makers” bring Jabba the Hutt and his cohorts to startling, slobbering life from the inside out
– a who’s who of heavyweight directors—from such films as Superman, Gremlins, Halloween, Dune, Scanners, and Time Bandits—are considered for the coveted job of bringing a new Star Wars adventure to the silver screen
– actors and crew race to the finish line at Elstree Studios, in a fiery desert, and beneath the trees of a dense redwood forest—before money runs out—to answer the questions that audiences had waited three years to find out: Is Darth Vader really Luke’s father, who is the “other”—and who or what is the Emperor?

Star Wars’ stars from both sides of the camera—including Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Alec Guinness, director Richard Marquand, producer Howard Kazanjian, Ralph McQuarrie, Joe Johnston, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, and mastermind George Lucas—weigh in with candid insights on everything from technical challenges, character design, Ewoks, the Empire’s galactic city planet, and the ultimate challenge of bringing the phenomenal space fantasy to a dramatic close. The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi gives a spectacular subject its just due, with more than five hundred images and many, many new interviews.

Reviews

  • Jedi's COMPLETE Origins

    5
    By Revan97ofSWAT
    Wow! What a great ending to the Star Wars "Making of" trilogy. Just as "The Making of Star Wars" and "The Making of The Empire Strikes Back" chronicled everything I ever knew about the making of the movies and heaps more, so "The Making of Return of the Jedi" contains all the SW insider info that I could ever dream of. This complete volume completes the complete Star Wars "Making of" trilogy in completely the right fashion. As is the case with the previous two books, if you want to learn all there is to learn about the origins of Star Wars, here is your source.
  • Very interesting book, perfect format

    5
    By Lieutenant Beefheart
    This is a great look into the nitty gritty details behind the production of the 3rd Star Wars film. The physical version is a huge coffee-table volume, but so cumbersome to handle that this iPad version is a must-have companion if you actually want to read the text. The illustrations and photos also look great on the iPad, and the multimedia additions are welcome and informative, though not crucial. [update—I've read through much of this book at this point—and it's fascinating—but it could really use another pass by an editor; there are duplicated text blocks, missing text and mislabeled photos. Yet, even with a few distracting errors, it is a totally worthwhile read.]
  • Just...wow!

    5
    By Iscariot666
    As skeptical as I was initially regarding an iPad version, within moments of looking at the sample I was happily throwing the pittance of money asked at the screen in order to have this incredible experience in my hands. Bought all three books and have had no regrets.