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Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: A Visual Archive
Celebrating the original trilogy's iconic conclusion and its indelible influence on a galaxy far, far away.
- GenresStar WarsNonfiction
306 pages, Hardcover
Published April 23, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 11, 2024
I love how incredible the photography is. I'm going to love diving into this and exploring the different inserts and foldout pages.
May 18, 2024
Much has been written about Return of the Jedi over the last 41 years. What, then, does Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: A Visual Archive offer that's new? I think the answer is that it's a celebration of Return of the Jedi the likes of which we haven't seen before. (I received a copy of the book through Goodreads' Giveaways in exchange for this review.)
Before people hated on the sequel trilogy, before people hated on the prequel trilogy, they hated on Return of the Jedi. A Visual Archive is an active participant in the reassessment of Return of the Jedi, inviting readers to appreciate everything that's wonderful about the movie. The book goes through the film chronologically, with an appealing mix of text and photos/artwork making it a breezy read. Occasional gatefolds and inserts add a degree of interactivity and fun.
While A Visual Archive contains plenty of behind-the-scenes information, there's already a definitive book for that, J.W. Rinzler's The Making of Return of the Jedi. A Visual Archive pulls from Rinzler's book and an impressive array of other sources to tell the story how Return of the Jedi was made, but the scope of this book is greater.
A major advantage A Visual Archive has over any other book or periodical written about Return of the Jedi is four decades of perspective. Throughout the book, the authors show how ideas introduced in Return of the Jedi have become foundational to the Star Wars franchise. Over and over again, they spotlight how the movie's characters, aliens, spacecraft and themes have been reintroduced (and sometimes reinvisioned) in later stories. This is often accompanied by quotes from the creatives who have built on what was established in Return of the Jedi, effectively demonstrating how the film has left a broad legacy.
The book also includes a sizeable section on various merchandise and other tie-in products. Return of the Jedi was more than a movie--it was an unprecedented licensing event. The action figures, books, comics, Ewok TV productions and so much more were as important to that era of Star Wars fandom as the film itself. I'm glad those aspects were included in this retrospective.
Before people hated on the sequel trilogy, before people hated on the prequel trilogy, they hated on Return of the Jedi. A Visual Archive is an active participant in the reassessment of Return of the Jedi, inviting readers to appreciate everything that's wonderful about the movie. The book goes through the film chronologically, with an appealing mix of text and photos/artwork making it a breezy read. Occasional gatefolds and inserts add a degree of interactivity and fun.
While A Visual Archive contains plenty of behind-the-scenes information, there's already a definitive book for that, J.W. Rinzler's The Making of Return of the Jedi. A Visual Archive pulls from Rinzler's book and an impressive array of other sources to tell the story how Return of the Jedi was made, but the scope of this book is greater.
A major advantage A Visual Archive has over any other book or periodical written about Return of the Jedi is four decades of perspective. Throughout the book, the authors show how ideas introduced in Return of the Jedi have become foundational to the Star Wars franchise. Over and over again, they spotlight how the movie's characters, aliens, spacecraft and themes have been reintroduced (and sometimes reinvisioned) in later stories. This is often accompanied by quotes from the creatives who have built on what was established in Return of the Jedi, effectively demonstrating how the film has left a broad legacy.
The book also includes a sizeable section on various merchandise and other tie-in products. Return of the Jedi was more than a movie--it was an unprecedented licensing event. The action figures, books, comics, Ewok TV productions and so much more were as important to that era of Star Wars fandom as the film itself. I'm glad those aspects were included in this retrospective.
May 14, 2024
A beautiful book that digs into several aspects of the movie. Contains a lot of photos, artwork, hidden pages and additional extras. It also has info about the Ewok movies, Ewok cartoons and merchandising regarding Episode VI. I don't think it reveals truly new info (no new source for certain), but I enjoyed it a lot. The double cover artwork is stunning.
June 9, 2024
The photography in the book is beautiful. I saw the movie as a child and the book gave different points of view and made me rethink a lot. I watched it again as an adult and was able to capture so much more. It was excellently written and again the photography was phenomenal.
May 9, 2024
Awesome book !
December 5, 2025
Brilliant book loads of information and great photos throughout an essential read!
October 2, 2024
Thank You to Goodreads for choosing me as one of the winner for this amazing book. I know a lot of work went into this book and they did an amazing job. Especially the photos and the photography in this book were amazing, even the interactive parts of this book were great. I did give this book to one of my students because I know that he would enjoy this book more than I would and he would read it more. I did skim this book before giving it to him and this book was amazing. The time and patience that went into this book is just amazing. I love that I could give this book to someone that would enjoy it more than I would have. I do love giving books to people that will enjoy them and actually read them if I don't.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews