Making Movie Magic: A Lifetime Creating Special Effects for James Bond, Harry Potter, Superman and More

by John Richardson

JOHN RICHARDSON is an Oscar-winning special effects supervisor and designer, who has been involved in over 100 movies, including nine James Bond adventures, all eight Harry Potter films, Aliens, Superman, A Bridge Too Far, Straw Dogs, The Omen, Cliffhanger, Far and Away, Willow . . . and many, many more. In creating the magic that flows through these films – by creating huge explosions, beheading people, producing futuristic gadgets, making a man fly or breathing life into creatures that amaze and haunt us – Richardson has come to hold a unique place in cinema history.The son of pioneering FX technician Cliff Richardson, he learned his trade at the feet of a master of the craft. With over five decades of adventures under his belt, and a vast photographic collection of unseen pictures, Richardson now lifts the lid on his exciting and fascinating career of making movie magic.

Genres: Film

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain multiple authors.

See also:

John Richardson - Coffee and golf

John Richardson (1796-1852) - Canadian novelist

John Richardson (1787-1865) - Arctic explorer

John Richardson (1924-2019) - Art historian and Picasso biographer

John Richardson - Illustrator

John Richardson (1951-present) - Professor of Philosophy

John Richardson (1937-present) - History, fiction, photography

John Richardson (1740/1741-1795) - Orientalist

John Richardson (1667-1753)

John Richardson (1964-present) - Music and audio

John Richardson - Shelter from the Devil (Goodreads Author)

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although John Richardson has supplied special effects for over 100 films the main reason I bought this book was for his involvement with some of the James Bond films, from Moonraker (1979) to Die Another Day (2002) & even the 1967 spoof of Casino Royale. However, there was plenty more to enjoy in this hugely entertaining biography.
Richardson opens the story with tales of his father's work in the early days of special efects. His dad, Cliff, worked on many films including The African Queen & Lawrence of Arabia & taught John much of what he knows.
Before Bond beckoned John Richardson tells many great stories of his earlier films including stints on Ken Russell's The Devils, Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, Fred Zinnermann's The Day of the Jackal & Richard Donner's The Omen & Superman.
Richardson may not be a familiar name to many people, but the films he's worked on (from 007 to Superman to Harry Potter) have been huge successes at the box office. It's hardly surprising when asked if he could be 16 years old & start again what would he do......& he says he would do exactly what he's done for the last fifty-plus years all over again.

[Kath · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read a sample. Quite a 'blokey' book and it maybe gets better when talking about more recent films. I didn't feel interested enough to buy the full version.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richardson is an Oscar and Bafta-winning special effects supervisor and designer, who’s been involved in more than 100 films, including nine James Bonds, Aliens, Superman, The Omen and the Harry Potter series. From creating explosions to beheading David Warner, from creating futuristic gadgets and helping make a man fly, Richardson holds a unique place in cinema history, learning his trade from his dad, pioneering FX technician Cliff Richardson.
As a life-long fan of special effects - and behind-the-scenes books - I was looking forward to reading this, especially since Richardson was involved in some films that form part of my formative viewing years (especially Warlords Of Atlantis!). It reads as if you were sitting down and chatting with him so it wasn’t a surprise to see Gareth Owen (manager for the late, great Sir Roger Moore and on-stage interviewer for his brilliant theatre shows) thanked in the acknowledgements. Running through his career in general - with very few biographical details - it takes in the big films, the surprising entries in his filmography (Straw Dogs, for me) and all points between, a combination of techniques, ideas and the fun to be had working as part of a big film crew (there are plenty of practical jokes). Thoroughly entertaining (the final section is a filmography and a display of posters for his films), my only real issue would be the lack of photo captions (probably 95% of the pictures are unidentified and even if you can work out for yourself who and what you’re looking at, it’s not always clear). That aside, this is great fun and well worth the read. Recommended.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many things in this world that intrigue me and I guess one of the bigger ones is film special effects ever since I got my hands on the first Industrial Light and Magic book I have been entranced by the hayday of film special effects. Before the world of CGI took over and make everything possible at the click of a button (and massive amounts of computing power).

SO when I saw this title I knew I had to learn more - and now the "however" this is a light autobiography with a lot of film title and special effects name dropping. There are I will give you some insight in to how special special effects were made but not in any great detail - it is rather the adventures of the author John Richardson in his adventures as a special effects coordinator and more.

So for the movie fans I am sure this will be a brilliant book full of insights and revalations however if you wanted to know more of the details of how a specific effect was created this book is rather light,.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and enjoyable read from one of the legends of UK Special Effects. Some fantastic behind the scenes and front of the camera anecdotes and photos. My only criticism was that a lot of the photos were lacking captions which could have been useful to know what the reader was looking at. Apart from that, a great look back at amazing career told by John himself in a very easy going and readable style.

[Mark Clarkson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting behind the scenes read