The Art of Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope

The Art of Star Wars

by Carol Titelman (Editor)

A NEW HOPE was part of the original title of the movie that became STAR WARS, the ultimate movie entertainment experience of the 1970s that lives on as one of the most-loved movies of all time. THE ART OF STAR A NEW HOPE contains the complete script by George Lucas of the first movie, beautifully illustrated with the movie's fantastic works of art. In this unique compilation of all the imagination and beauty that went into the beginning of the film trilogy, the magic of STAR WARS lives on.

Genres: Star Wars, Art, Nonfiction, Film, Reference, Media Tie In

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cool! I loved the artwork, and how they incorporated the script.

[Brad B · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the good old days before George Lucas sabotaged his own franchise.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to start with this book. first off you understand that this is not just simply worshipping star wars - don't get me wrong it was the first movie I saw at the cinema - it scare the hell out of me (I was 5 do the maths) but this means something more. My brother was fascinated with the film and was just getting in to graphic desgin - and he was lucky enough to borrow the original artwork books (circa 1979) now these were fabulously rare and expensive and equally poorly bound - so they were worshipped and i was never really allowed to look at them (grubby finger prints and the inability to respect books?) - well here we are with the titan reprints - now with added material from the special editions.
Ok the book itself - one thing you have to respect about the films - was that they took great lengths to give them a timeless appeal and appearance - there is nothing there that dates the film - think of some films where vehicles, music styles, costumes give the era away that it was filmed it - this gives nothing away and part of that is down to the care and attention given to its designers including the legendary Ralph McQuarrie. These are sumptuous books (there was one for each film) show casing the creative process and progress to the images you see in the film today. They set the way for many other artwork "from the film of..." and to me set the standard for what you should expect

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

The visuals that go by the scripts are mainly storyboards and character sketches. There are not too much ship drawings. Full colour paintings are few also. Well, this is the first art book for the first Star Wars movie.

[Hank Stuever · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the one hand, a complete geek-out on the thing that held us all in its Vader-like grip.

But on the other hand, a great primer on process, visualization, collaboration. My first dawning that all those names on the credits have something important to do, some small piece of a major project. That's a real lesson when you're 12 or so.

[Phil Giunta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reference book for preliminary conceptual artwork, final production paintings, costumes, ships, vehicles, landscapes, movie poster art, and screenplay from A New Hope. The final chapter is dedicated to fan art, cartoons, and parodies of Star Wars.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a neat take on the story that I've seen and read a number of times.

[Shane Amazon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Art of Star Wars, Episode IV - A New Hope builds upon the images originally released in the book called The Art of Star Wars in 1979. It does so by adding hundreds of new images from costume designs, production paintings, matte paintings, blueprints, sketches and storyboards. The most interesting images I found in the book are the early character and droid sketches and how they evolved to what we came to see on the screen. This book goes far beyond what some other ART books contain by giving the reader descriptions and stories that go along with the image on the page. The vast majority of the artwork in the book is from the mind and talents of Ralph McQuarrie. Mr. McQuarrie is best known for his work on the Star Wars Trilogy and his later work on Star Wars Omnibus: Shadows of the Empire and the artwork in the bible at the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. His work earned him a cameo in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back as General Pharl McQuarrie.

As noted by some other reviewers the book does have some binding issues. When the book is opened widely you can hear the glue cracking which over time may cause some pages to come unattached. Over all this book is an outstanding production. Recommended.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going through and re-reading books from my childhood and I'm starting with The Art of Star Wars books. I bought these when they came out and have fond memories of them. The book is two parts: the movie script and the art. As I read through The Art of Star Wars again, I really enjoyed the storyboards, concept art, models used in the movie, and other pieces of art that was produced before the actual movie was shot. It is interesting to see what ideas were kept and rejected for the movie itself. Surprisingly, I also really enjoyed the end section about the Special Edition. It gives a little background info on why the changes were made and before and after frames. Since I practically grew up with the Special Edition versions, a reminder of what is new and old is appreciated. This is definitely for serious fans of Star Wars, but I'm glad my warm nostalgia for this book was well-placed.

[Luis F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

No es que aporte demasiado: Básicamente es la transcripción de la versión beta del guión de Star Wars Episodio 4, que no difiere mucho de lo que conocemos, así como una recopilación de bocetos y arte conceptual, así como posters e ilustraciones promocionales de La Guerra de las Galaxias , publicados en la fecha de su estreno en distintos paises.

Aún así, sólo por disfrutar de algunas ilustraciones, en especial las de Ralph McQuarrie, ya es una gozada para los fans de Star Wars :-)

[Matthias Noch · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book contains a lot of drawings and drafts, it provides absolutely no info on the background of these illustrations, how the art-process was working, why some drafts were picked and others not. The text you will find in this book is the script of the movie, what is nice, but not related to the art of SW. It appears that this book is just a mix of graphics and text that was at hand, but together by somebody without any insight into the decision-making regarding the art in SW.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully informed, funny, and disgusting commentary of various current and past wars. It's a collection of his columns from the Exile, a Russian expat paper, and even when you don't agree with his point of view, you'll enjoy the War Nerd's writing.

[Phylicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know if it's because that I've seen the movie 100000000 times that I can compare it, but I don't like it
Like a lot of books vs movies, there's a LOT of different parts that can be deleted, or things are changed, or dialogue is different.
So many other things, but yeah...annoying

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isn't it great when your favorite movie is suddenly your favorite book? I think that's great.

[Curtiss · Rating 2 out of 5]

An artwork collection/movie script tie-in to the Star Wars phenomenon

[Mark Matzke · Rating 5 out of 5]

clearly, Ralph Mcquarrie is the reason Star Wars looks like it does--this is the imaginative landscape of my childhood

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 down 2 to go

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book to see the effort that went into making the look of Star Wars.

[Kevin Crow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book for Star Wars fans and those interested in the history of motion picture special effects.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having owned this series since childhood, these were a huge inspiration to the budding side of my early storytelling.