Star Wars: Episode I - Incredible Cross-Sections

Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections #2

by David West Reynolds, Richard Chasemore (Illustrator), Hans Jenssen (Illustrator)

Experience the Star Wars saga through the vision of DK's cross-section illustration techniques and the magic of the imagineers at Lucasfilm. All of the vehicles and space craft found in Star Wars: Episode I will be explored in precise detail. Cutaways are accompanied by informative text to not only reveal the armaments, defense capabilities, propulsion systems and all other key technological aspects of these vehicles but also give you insights into the culture of their creators. See why the Sith Infiltrator is the most dreaded craft in the Universe. Discover how many droids can be carried on a Droid Control Ship. Learn how the Naboo Queen's Starship is designed to conform to the Naboo philosophy of peaceful existence. Explore the weaponry of the Droid Starfighter and much, much more. Together with the Star Wars Episode I Visual Dictionary, these books create the definitive Star Wars Episode I reference library.

14 unbelievebly detailed cross-section artworks, including a magnificent gatefold cutaway of the heart of the Trade Federation Invasion Fleet, as well as encyclopedic text provide the ultimate reference resource for the craft of Star Wars Episode 1. Watch the fastest Podracers in the galaxy compete for their lives, the golden Naboo N-1 Starfighter in Battle-action, the Trade Federation Landing Ship disgorging its unstoppable cargo and the awesome weaponry of the secret army's armored fighting vehicles. Discover the lethal secrets of the stealthy Sith Infiltrator, how a Gungan survives in the treacherous core of Naboo, and the eerie internal workings of the droid starfighter. Then explore the graceful aesthetics of the Naboo Queen's Royal Starship and the hidden control centers of the Trade Federation invasion fleet! Discover the real secrets of Star Wars Episode 1 in this new Incredible Cross-Sections book. Here the inner workings of its key vehicles and spacecraft are vividly revealed. In search of utter authenticity, DK flew their top cross-section artists to the Lucasfilm headquarters at Skywalker Ranch where they worked in the film production art department. There the DK team was able to map out the anatomy of each craft as it was created, using the original designs as a reference. David West Reynolds is the foremost authority on Star Wars and the author of previous titles in this series. He was given unrestricted access to Episode 1 film sets, prop-makers, costume designers, and scriptwriters. Reynolds, who holds a Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Michigan, spent many months researching the extensive Lucasfilm archive at Skywalker Ranch in California. Hans Jenssen specializes in technical art, particularly in machines, and has illustrated several DK books, including Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections with Richard Cashemore. He lives in England but spends his vacations on Tatooine engaged in moderately disreputable pursuits. Richard Cashemore has worked as an illustrator in the US and Europe on a great variety of projects. He enjoys perilous sports involving boards and high velocities.

Genres: Star Wars, Reference, Science Fiction, Fiction, Art, Childrens, Collections

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Dr. David West Reynolds earned his Ph.D. in archeology at the University of Michigan. A lecturer, veteran of field expeditions on three continents and author of scientific archeological publications, Reynolds has also written X-Wing: A Pocket Manual, Tie Fighter: A Pocket Manual, and various Star Wars articles. He approaches the world of Star Wars like ancient Rome or Egypt, considering it a culture from another time and place to explore. Reynolds lives in Marin County, California.

Reviews

[Graham Barrett]

(Review from 2024)

To a young Star Wars fans in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Visual Dictionaries and Incredible Cross section books were fantastic. The former gave you all the cool in-universe details about the main characters and their costumes/props and made background characters feel all the more real now that you were getting more details about them. The later just made those wonderful vehicles feel all the more real and you imagine them being real and pilotable because of the fantastical engineering inside.

Maybe the Phantom Menace books weren't as good as those made for the Original Trilogy maybe not, they were just fun for 8 year old me. It didn't matter if it was in-universe details that most audiences would care about, they were just fun books to expand on the movies.

[Jeffrey]

As a kid, these books were awesome. As an adult, they’re still so cool!

The illustrations are so well done, and the creativity and imagination to draw the internal workings of these various spacecraft and vehicles in a way that is consistent with both the movies and (Star Wars) physics is truly incredible. I always thought the craft from the Phantom Menace were the coolest, and I felt very affirmed in that belief after reading this.

[Alyce Caswell]

As a child, I easily spent up to 2 hours at a time poring over these cross-sections and pretending that I was inside them. They are so incredibly detailed and nearly everything is labelled. The accompanying writing is just enough, illuminating the reader rather than being distracting. As an adult, I'm still very impressed with this book.

[J.B. Mathias]

Really enjoyed these books as kid, the illustrations are cool and seeing inside the vehicles was interesting. However as an adult it also strikes me as a lot of useless information. I can just look at these things and accept that they work the way they do because it's cool and that's what works for the story, I don't need the details explained like as though it's real science.

[Ruppert Baird]

This, like most other books of the genre, is just a fun read. The incredible artwork make it so.

[Barbara Brabiner]

great description of these amazing images

[Daniel]

A book i've owned since 1999, that I finally got around to reading.
All of the ships that are in The Phantom Menace, explaining them in almost unnecessary detail and over a rather large book, that's rather short in length.
Honestly, despite the level of detail in what you get here, the book is quite a hard read, the information that is getting presented to you is far too vast to really get your head around everything as you're going through it. That doesn't really change as it goes on, and it's not like there's any plot or anything. There is some great illustrations though, of course, so in terms of content and pictures, yeah it's great, but as a read i'm just not a fan.

[Andrew]

Even though the page count to these books are in the 30s you can spend hours looking at them and not seeing everything first time around - they are amazing books and the quality and detail of the art just makes me jealous of their skill. I know that a lot of the world of star wars is seen as fantasy but these books give a realism to their world - ok their machinery that for me at least makes it all a little more realistic

[Matt]

This is, as it states, an encyclopaedia that visualises and details the schematics of the spacecraft seen in Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace. It is highly detailed and researched, and a great read for a Star Wars fan.

[Stephen Heverin]

Incredible Cross-sections of Star Wars, Episode I - The Phantom Menace: The Definitive Guide to the Craft by David Reynolds (1999)

[.]

I didn't like it. It was kind of boring

[Diane]

These are incredibly detailed photos and information of the ships in Episode I

[Charlie Fischer]

Loved this when I was a kid!

[Paul]

big schip

[Theresa]

large fold out pictures