Abrams Books is unleashing books regarding Star Wars that you would swear weigh more than a dozen angry Wookies soaking wet. But if you’re hardcore about the series, you might want to check these out (or consider them for Xmas for family and friends–nothing says I love you like a book that will stop a bullet).
First up, there’s The Cinema of George Lucas. And yes, it’s not just Star Wars. You…do know he made other films before Star Wars, right? Anyway, it takes you all the way from when he was knee-high to a Jawa through his school days and on to films like the bizarre Pre-Lynchian sci-fi epic THX 1138 and American “Whattaya mean there’s no starships in it?” Graffiti and such. Then you go into plenty of George’s Star Wars stuff to please any geek. Heft: 4+ lbs.
Then you’ve got John Knoll’s book, Creating the Worlds of Star Wars: 365 Days, which is like the bonus features on a DVD…only skip the DVD part. Knoll was the chief burrito of FX at ILM and so he brings a slew of behind the scenes photos of models, props, scenery–the whole nine yards, including never before seen material that spans all six current films of Star Wars. And it that wasn’t enough, it comes with a bonus CD-ROM featuring QT 360-degree pans of sets and whatnot. Again, will blow the minds of anybody who can name all the background characters in a given scene. Heft: 4+ lbs.
Last but not least is a book that we can all agree is worth cracking open: Trish Biggar’s Dressing a Galaxy, which covers the costuming of the current two trilogies. And when we say cover, we’re not punning around: from preliminary sketches to the final product, a veritable crapload of costumes from the films are on display here. Some are simple, some are downright crazed (can’t wait to check out Natalie Portman’s thoughts on wearing those whacked out get-ups), but they’re all unique and extremely well-executed. Heft: 4+ lbs.
That’s right. Read them, look at the pretty pictures, geek out and then you can do some arm workouts with them. They’re books that serve multiple purposes, just like we like em.
Buy Cinema of George Lucas from Amazon.
Buy Creating the Worlds of Star Wars: 365 Days from Amazon.
Buy Dressing a Galaxy from Amazon.
