The " Star Wars" Archives: Props, Costumes, Models and Artworks from "Star Wars"

by Mark Gotta, Shinji Hata

George Lucas has produced some of the most popular movies ever, including the "Star Wars" and Indiana Jones trilogies. The "Star Wars" phenomenon has grown into an international, multi-million dollar business, with bestselling licensed novels and computer games. This book features a tour of Lucasfilm Archives' collection of costumes, props, puppets, models and matte paintings used in the making of these films. The reader can see for themselves how the science fiction classic that spawned a world-wide industry was created. The book presents some of the best of Lucasfilm's enduring creations, from Yoda and R2-D2 to the Ark of the Convenant and the Holy Grail. It includes an array of behind-the-scenes production illustrations, storyboards and prototypes. Also featured are the secrets of the veterans of the first industrial Light and Magic effects team that created "Stars Wars".

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

Hardcover

First published September 21, 1995

Reviews

[Michael Rudzki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take a trip through some of the most important parts of the archives of Lucasfilm!

This superb book contains a plethora of images of props, design sketches, matte paintings, costumes, and more featured in the original trilogies of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, many of which haven't been reproduced elsewhere.

The images are an excellent resource for fans who love the craftsmanship of the artists of Industrial Light and Magic. There are a lot of close-up photos of models of the Millenium Falcon, Star Destroyers, TIE fighters, Rebel starfighters, and many more, which would be very useful for those who want to paint their models to be as close to the screen-used models as possible.

Also fascinating are the many drawings and mockups that show the evolution of the designs of the various ships, from the original models created by Colin Cantwell through the work of Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie.

This is well worth picking up for any fan of the movies!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is possibly a bit dated now as it only deals with the original Star Wars trilogy movies. Looking at the cover you'd think this is only a Star Wars book, but fully half the book is devoted to Indiana Jones props and for me that was the real find here. It's still an essential book for anybody interested in props from Indiana Jones even now if only because of all the rare images and information supplied by Lucasfilm.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully produced book, this charts the formation of the Lucasfilm archives and features highlights from it - models, storyboards, production paintings and costume designs - along with story run downs and key information. Starting with “Star Wars” (though there are a couple of posters from “THX”) and finishing with “The Last Crusade” (with a couple of images from “Willow” and “Howard The Duck”) this is a thorough trawl, with a goldmine of great pictures and information and - as a massive fan of the films and behind-the-scenes stuff - I lapped it up. Published before the original trilogy re-issues (which aren’t mentioned) and the prequels (which are alluded to) this is a book that thoroughly deserves an updated edition and stands as a testament to the skill of special effects artisans who created something out of nothing and didn’t have to sit painting onto a computer to do so. Highly recommended.