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Watching Skies: Star Wars, Spielberg and Us
Watching Skies is a timely, personal and sharply observed reappraisal of the wave of late 70s/early 80s Hollywood movies that redefined the movie-going experience for Mark O’Connell and his generation of young cinephiles. From the untold magic (and fear) of an uncle’s VHS recording of Close Encounters of The Third Kind to childhood crushes on Christopher Reeve, bedroom remakes of Return of The Jedi, meeting Darth Vader in a department store, the profound trauma of losing every Star Wars figure on the island of Crete, and the terror of watching Poltergeist way too young, Watching Skies is about how Hollywood helped a kid from the frozen planet of Britain come to terms with a broken home and a lack of siblings, and how that 1980s Californian galaxy of BMX bikes, M&Ms, Atari arcade games and a backyard full of Star Wars toys was ultimately just too far, far away…
- GenresNonfiction
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 29, 2018
Were you a child of the 70’s or 80’s? If so, the chances are you grew up with men like Steven Spielberg or George Lucas in your lives with almost the potency of your own parents. Watching Skies: Star Wars, Spielberg and Us, from author Mark O’Connell, serves as a love letter to a youth driven by a new kind of cinema: the blockbuster.
O’Connell came to prominence thanks to his first book, Catching Bullets, which captured his youthful, teenage into adulthood obsession with the James Bond franchise thanks in no small part to his personal connection to the material – his grandfather who acted as chauffeur to the man behind the movies for decades. Watching Skies doesn’t quite have that same connective tissue but it certainly has the personal angle; O’Connell discusses a range of pictures which define cinematic Americana from Jaws all the way through to roughly Ghostbusters through the lens, and eyes, of his pre-teen self discovering cinema and the wonders of storytelling through these transformative, and landscape transforming, pictures.
It is easy to forget how much cinema changed at the tail end of the 70’s into the 80’s, with the New Hollywood wave of creatives divorced from the aged studio system themselves helping to, if unexpectedly, bear populist, franchise-baiting cinematic experiences; Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman, all of them bursting from a 70’s which had suffered a shattering blow to the ideals of the American Dream thanks to traumas such as Watergate and Vietnam, plus a downturning economy. O’Connell neatly draws these conclusions in his analysis – reminding us just how much Spielberg, George Lucas, Richard Donner and a whole host of new auteurs brought hope, joy and especially toys back into the arms of a post-Baby Boomer youth.
Watching Skies emerges as much more than a dry text revising facts, figures and analyses by virtue of how O’Connell manages to retain these explorations into the cultural and political tides behind these pictures—always with a hugely readable style and flourish to his prose—while wrapping them up inside personal recollections, childhood experiences and an underlying, almost character-journey for his childhood self, exploring these cinematic treats while riding the wave of parents separating, moving across the country to start a new life, emerging realisations about sexuality and the childhood difficulty as an only child (to which I can relate) in finding your place in the world. For O’Connell, it was these movies and gleeful childhood experiences which helped shape who he is today.
All in all, Watching Skies is a book full of joy, admiration and respect. It manages to both be an insightful, fascinating analysis of one of the most interesting points in American cinema and culture of the 20th century while at the same time feeling at times almost like a personalised diary, a stroll through the life and memories of a burgeoning cinephile and geek. For anyone who grew up in this era, with all its unique quirks (particularly as a Brit) and trends, Watching Skies will feel like you’ve been transported back to the era of Spandau Ballet, the Test Card Girl shutting you down at night, and E.T phoning home. Embrace it.
O’Connell came to prominence thanks to his first book, Catching Bullets, which captured his youthful, teenage into adulthood obsession with the James Bond franchise thanks in no small part to his personal connection to the material – his grandfather who acted as chauffeur to the man behind the movies for decades. Watching Skies doesn’t quite have that same connective tissue but it certainly has the personal angle; O’Connell discusses a range of pictures which define cinematic Americana from Jaws all the way through to roughly Ghostbusters through the lens, and eyes, of his pre-teen self discovering cinema and the wonders of storytelling through these transformative, and landscape transforming, pictures.
It is easy to forget how much cinema changed at the tail end of the 70’s into the 80’s, with the New Hollywood wave of creatives divorced from the aged studio system themselves helping to, if unexpectedly, bear populist, franchise-baiting cinematic experiences; Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman, all of them bursting from a 70’s which had suffered a shattering blow to the ideals of the American Dream thanks to traumas such as Watergate and Vietnam, plus a downturning economy. O’Connell neatly draws these conclusions in his analysis – reminding us just how much Spielberg, George Lucas, Richard Donner and a whole host of new auteurs brought hope, joy and especially toys back into the arms of a post-Baby Boomer youth.
Watching Skies emerges as much more than a dry text revising facts, figures and analyses by virtue of how O’Connell manages to retain these explorations into the cultural and political tides behind these pictures—always with a hugely readable style and flourish to his prose—while wrapping them up inside personal recollections, childhood experiences and an underlying, almost character-journey for his childhood self, exploring these cinematic treats while riding the wave of parents separating, moving across the country to start a new life, emerging realisations about sexuality and the childhood difficulty as an only child (to which I can relate) in finding your place in the world. For O’Connell, it was these movies and gleeful childhood experiences which helped shape who he is today.
All in all, Watching Skies is a book full of joy, admiration and respect. It manages to both be an insightful, fascinating analysis of one of the most interesting points in American cinema and culture of the 20th century while at the same time feeling at times almost like a personalised diary, a stroll through the life and memories of a burgeoning cinephile and geek. For anyone who grew up in this era, with all its unique quirks (particularly as a Brit) and trends, Watching Skies will feel like you’ve been transported back to the era of Spandau Ballet, the Test Card Girl shutting you down at night, and E.T phoning home. Embrace it.
December 31, 2018
Another great gem to be beside CATCHING BULLETS the author's personal journey with the 007 films. Nostalgic, identifying, optimistic, funny, sad, and always full of alliteration, metaphors and passion. O'Connell takes the reader through his childhood into his adult years and still enthralled, enraptured, and full of never dying joy of the movies. That magic is mostly touched upon him like a magic wand by the works of Spielberg, Lucas, and the other makers, creators, writers of sci-fi, action, fantasy films of the late 70s through the 80s. and beyond. He takes you through his fascination with the movies including toys, action figures, lunch boxes, and makeshift light sabers. AS an adult he visits the studios and places of the original filming. There's so much here to relate to if you are a movie lover. O'Connell's joy is on every page. Often, his exuberance is stuffed with lots of movie metaphors and cascading alliteration. It's a rollercoaster of grammar twists and turns and often British references to things this reader had to look up via Google, but the time taken to do so just made the stay with this book a little longer and clouded the mind with happiness.
December 28, 2018
Mark O’Connell and I both belong to a small, strange little generation. We were born about six weeks apart in 1975, at the bottom of a demographic dip as gen X tailed out and millennials’ parents were just finishing their drinks. Our micro-generation hasn’t really been properly defined. I suggested “disco babies” as a name for us, and now O’Connell has nominated another moniker: “sky kids.”
In Watching Skies, O'Connell suggests that our generation is defined, in pop-culture terms, as the first crew of kids to grow up not knowing a world without Star Wars. Or Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Jaws. We were a little too young to catch The Empire Strikes Back in theaters, but the arrival of Return of the Jedi was a wildly-anticipated event. We were exactly the right age to be piqued when our parents refused to let us see Gremlins, which was marketed straight to kids despite being…yeah, probably not appropriate for an eight-year-old.
To our generation those movies were larger than life, blazing with energy and effects. There’s a lot to like, even to love, about Watching Skies. Unfortunately, the overlong book needed a much stronger editorial hand than it seems to have received. I reviewed Watching Skies for The Tangential.
In Watching Skies, O'Connell suggests that our generation is defined, in pop-culture terms, as the first crew of kids to grow up not knowing a world without Star Wars. Or Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Jaws. We were a little too young to catch The Empire Strikes Back in theaters, but the arrival of Return of the Jedi was a wildly-anticipated event. We were exactly the right age to be piqued when our parents refused to let us see Gremlins, which was marketed straight to kids despite being…yeah, probably not appropriate for an eight-year-old.
To our generation those movies were larger than life, blazing with energy and effects. There’s a lot to like, even to love, about Watching Skies. Unfortunately, the overlong book needed a much stronger editorial hand than it seems to have received. I reviewed Watching Skies for The Tangential.
July 4, 2018
(Review from an early review copy.)
This book is a terrific look at growing up geeky, with touchstones familiar to those of us of a certain age who grew up with the original Star Wars, Spielberg movies-- you know. The good stuff.
O'Connell encapsulates the joy of encountering all that stuff at an innocent age, and better yet, makes the case for its effect on him (and our generation) as we grew up into bigger kids.
It's poignant, but also joyful. It's a cathartic look at a crazily creative time, and the author does a deep dive into the heart of geekiness.
Recommended. Right now. Have you bought it yet?
What about now?
This book is a terrific look at growing up geeky, with touchstones familiar to those of us of a certain age who grew up with the original Star Wars, Spielberg movies-- you know. The good stuff.
O'Connell encapsulates the joy of encountering all that stuff at an innocent age, and better yet, makes the case for its effect on him (and our generation) as we grew up into bigger kids.
It's poignant, but also joyful. It's a cathartic look at a crazily creative time, and the author does a deep dive into the heart of geekiness.
Recommended. Right now. Have you bought it yet?
What about now?
August 20, 2021
"Meh," but it's very much a YMMV reaction. O'Connell writes about growing up geeky (and gay) in the 1970s, watching (or trying to find) Star Wars, CE3K and the other specfic movies that came to the big screen (he was living in the UK where their arrival was more erratic and later than here).
The YMMV part is that while I loved movies and lived through this era, I'm significantly older than he is and his perspective on Star Wars, etc., just isn't mine. Not without interest, but not a lot of interest in my case.
The YMMV part is that while I loved movies and lived through this era, I'm significantly older than he is and his perspective on Star Wars, etc., just isn't mine. Not without interest, but not a lot of interest in my case.
November 11, 2024
This was a seriously detailed movie book. With names, dates and other facts simply peppered throughout. Which actually was what I struggled with most due to the endless list like form it gave in places. My favourite parts were definitely the more personal, where the author described parts of their childhood and their reactions to events and the films themselves.
Highly recommend for star Wars and Spielberg fans and just movie lovers in general.
Highly recommend for star Wars and Spielberg fans and just movie lovers in general.
July 16, 2018
Similar in tone to his “Catching Bullets”, which I loved, this takes in the cinema of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Richard Donner and those who re-invigorated films during the 70s and into the early 80s. I’m a little older than the writer but the touchstones are the same - the films themselves, the inability to catch some at the cinema, the ritual of tracking when they’d be on TV - and that makes this a very heartening read. Mixed in with the films is the memoir of Mark’s childhood, his dawning sexuality and how he dealt with it as well as the idea of wanting to recreate the lifestyle of the kids in the toy adverts for the films we both loved. Warmly nostalgic, this looks at the film with a fairly critical eye and that’s my only real gripe with the book, that it occasionally feels over-written (and sponsored by the word ‘predicated’), but it doesn’t detract too much from the joy of reading it. If you grew up in the 70s and 80s or, indeed, you simply love the cinema of that period, then this is a great read and I very much recommend it.
August 10, 2019
Mark O'Connell's Watching Skies blends personal memoir with cultural analysis. His vivid writing really takes you back to what it was like to experience these movies for any kid growing up in the 1980s. His distinct British perspective will always be of interest to American readers since movies were released at different times.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews