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Far and Away: The Illustrated Story of a Journey from Ireland to America in the 1890s
Includes the story of the movie, commentary from the cast and crew, historical accounts, and production notes
147 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 19, 2018
I have loved the film of Far & Away for years and got the giggles at work one day when myself and an ex-colleague suddenly starting reciting the “tell me you like my hat” scene to each other. Every time I hear that line now, I think of her! I was amazed when I found the novelization (by Sonja Massie) and it is hands down, one of my favourite novelizations.
This? This pales in comparison.
What I thought I was buying, was a making of book. Much like the Terminator books that are out there, or the Disney/Pixar expensive hardback books, all about the making of the film.
This is pretty much a waste of paper. I was expecting a handful of pages, with a BRIEF retelling of the story, before launching into the directors/cast/crew thoughts and perhaps some storyboards, or scenes which they thought would have been in the film.
Instead, 90% of the book is a retelling of the story, which, if you know the film off by heart, and have read the novelization (highly recommended), is totally unnecessary. The book starts off with filming the final scenes of the movie and a rather terrifying account of a helicopter crash. This was what I wanted from the book. More of this. But what I got was thrown together excerpts, of life on set, brief thoughts from the cast/crew/director, some historical photos and a story about Ron Howard’s family connection and his dad appearing in the film.
There are a mixture of full colour and black and white photos, with some double page spreads. Disappointingly, some of these are straight up screen captures/still shots from the movie, as can be seen by the grainy image quality. (No hi-definition here.) There are some on set photos, which are much better quality, and a couple of story boards towards the end of the book.
Overall, I would recommend the novelization of this, unless you’re interested in reading what is pretty much the screenplay of the film, interspersed with some average photos. And don’t spend a lot of money on this. It’s not worth more than £5 at the very most.
This? This pales in comparison.
What I thought I was buying, was a making of book. Much like the Terminator books that are out there, or the Disney/Pixar expensive hardback books, all about the making of the film.
This is pretty much a waste of paper. I was expecting a handful of pages, with a BRIEF retelling of the story, before launching into the directors/cast/crew thoughts and perhaps some storyboards, or scenes which they thought would have been in the film.
Instead, 90% of the book is a retelling of the story, which, if you know the film off by heart, and have read the novelization (highly recommended), is totally unnecessary. The book starts off with filming the final scenes of the movie and a rather terrifying account of a helicopter crash. This was what I wanted from the book. More of this. But what I got was thrown together excerpts, of life on set, brief thoughts from the cast/crew/director, some historical photos and a story about Ron Howard’s family connection and his dad appearing in the film.
There are a mixture of full colour and black and white photos, with some double page spreads. Disappointingly, some of these are straight up screen captures/still shots from the movie, as can be seen by the grainy image quality. (No hi-definition here.) There are some on set photos, which are much better quality, and a couple of story boards towards the end of the book.
Overall, I would recommend the novelization of this, unless you’re interested in reading what is pretty much the screenplay of the film, interspersed with some average photos. And don’t spend a lot of money on this. It’s not worth more than £5 at the very most.
Displaying 1 of 1 review