It is definitely interesting, but (thus far) I've read much better by the same author. In fact, the 1977 original is still my absolute favorite of the entire franchise, which has unfortunately gone disastrously off the rails since Papa George foolishly sold his multi-billion dollar baby to what nowadays passes for Disney.
I know it's been said ad infinitum (and isn't particularly pleasant to hear, let alone contemplate), but Walt really must be turning handsprings in his grave, the poor man. Actually, I think all that's left is his head, believe it or not, because, oddly enough, he was one of the first people to become a candidate for eventual resuscitation/resurrection should the technology ever become available. What a way to go (or rather, to never truly ever be allowed to rest in peace), indeed.
At any rate, J.W. Rinzler (who, sadly, passed away in 2020, as a result of pancreatic cancer) was a superb film historian and author. I highly recommend his 'The Making of Planet of the Apes' and 'The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,' just for starters.
I think the reason why I'm finding this particular volume to be a bit of a tedious slog so far is that the first 1/5 of the book is mainly an exhaustive account of all of the mostly disjointed and not yet fully fleshed out or realized screenplays that Lucas laboriously penned before finally getting it right after the film went into production.
Doubtless, Lucas would be the first to admit that he has never enjoyed writing, and judging by his early drafts of "The Star Wars," it seriously shows. So, I can't wait to get to Rinzler's description of the actual production stage of the seminal first film in the original trilogy, which is still, most diehard fans would readily agree, hands down, the very best of the entire multi-generational franchise.
Granted, I love classic Star Wars, so it's all arguably "interesting," of course, but Marvel Comics actually adapted one of Lucas's early drafts few years ago, and published it under the original title, "The Star Wars," but honestly, and I hate to sound ungrateful or nerdy style nitpicky, but that was one of THE worst graphic novels that I've personally ever wasted my precious time reading. Somehow, mostly one-dimensional characters like "Deak Starkiller" just don't cut it in lieu of the infinitely more suitable and now iconic hero, Luke Skywalker, that Papa George eventually settled on. Thank God that his hard work and diligence paid off when he eventually cracked Joseph Campbell's myth-based legendary code, or the past several decades of cinematic and western pop cultural history would most likely have been dramatically different.
I know it's been said ad infinitum (and isn't particularly pleasant to hear, let alone contemplate), but Walt really must be turning handsprings in his grave, the poor man. Actually, I think all that's left is his head, believe it or not, because, oddly enough, he was one of the first people to become a candidate for eventual resuscitation/resurrection should the technology ever become available. What a way to go (or rather, to never truly ever be allowed to rest in peace), indeed.
At any rate, J.W. Rinzler (who, sadly, passed away in 2020, as a result of pancreatic cancer) was a superb film historian and author. I highly recommend his 'The Making of Planet of the Apes' and 'The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,' just for starters.
I think the reason why I'm finding this particular volume to be a bit of a tedious slog so far is that the first 1/5 of the book is mainly an exhaustive account of all of the mostly disjointed and not yet fully fleshed out or realized screenplays that Lucas laboriously penned before finally getting it right after the film went into production.
Doubtless, Lucas would be the first to admit that he has never enjoyed writing, and judging by his early drafts of "The Star Wars," it seriously shows. So, I can't wait to get to Rinzler's description of the actual production stage of the seminal first film in the original trilogy, which is still, most diehard fans would readily agree, hands down, the very best of the entire multi-generational franchise.
Granted, I love classic Star Wars, so it's all arguably "interesting," of course, but Marvel Comics actually adapted one of Lucas's early drafts few years ago, and published it under the original title, "The Star Wars," but honestly, and I hate to sound ungrateful or nerdy style nitpicky, but that was one of THE worst graphic novels that I've personally ever wasted my precious time reading. Somehow, mostly one-dimensional characters like "Deak Starkiller" just don't cut it in lieu of the infinitely more suitable and now iconic hero, Luke Skywalker, that Papa George eventually settled on. Thank God that his hard work and diligence paid off when he eventually cracked Joseph Campbell's myth-based legendary code, or the past several decades of cinematic and western pop cultural history would most likely have been dramatically different.