Rinzler's THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Book Is As Cool As You'd Want It To Be!!

Merrick here... I had to break a kid's nose to see THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK on opening day. In April and May 1980, I was in middle school and struggling with one particular class. As a result, my overall grades were wavering that semester and getting my parents' permission to miss school to see TESB...on the first feature of its first day on screens...was a nearly indefensible notion in their eyes. It didn't matter that I'd been waiting for the picture to arrive since I first heard it was coming in late 1977. It didn't matter that I'd already seen its progenitor film well over twenty times and owned every SW-related toy that could be had. It didn't matter that I'd paid to watch films I would never have gone to otherwise just to see trailers for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. I was having trouble in school that semester...my mom and dad were scared shitless about what that meant in the bigger picture...and EMPIRE was a dramatically rescinded priority in their eyes. After all, there was a future to consider. I sometimes wonder: if my parents could've looked forward through the years, and anticipated sites like this and the army of Geeks like me who scour the Internet every day looking to share news with the masses...in the same way I used to spend hours looking through Starlogs so that I could gossip about already outdated news with friends..would their answer have been different? Would my missing the opening day of EMPIRE have been in any way acceptable, or conceivable? It probably wouldn't have been. But there I was...failing a class, slogging through others, and I wasn't going. Then came a fateful exam. I don't even recall what class it was anymore - funny how details that seem so significant at a given moment erode into utter irrelevance over time. But I think it was biology. I'd worked my ass off prepping for an exam, felt I'd done pretty well on it when taking it, but ended up failing that test. Badly. When the teacher put it in my hands I was heartbroken - what the hell? What was it going to take? I glumly pushed through the over-institutionalized corridors of my school to head to choir class. I had a lower position on the bleachers in choir, and throughout the semester this arrogant, smarmy little asshole spent choir class after choir class thumping the back of the neck with spitballs he was blasting through a straw from his higher vantage point. I moved to my place, still fuming from the abysmal results of that bio test, and thump. One spitball on the back of the neck. Thump. Another - and he was a good shot. Thump. A third. I turned around, pushed through the people immediately behind me, climbed to his riser, made a fist, and punched that fucker square in the face. Blood flew everywhere - his nose split open as he toppled off the bleacher and back into a pile of chairs. My hand swelled up - it looked like Chris Pine's hand in Abrams' STAR TREK movie. Off to the nurse we went, before our inevitable visit to the principal's office. Turns out I'd broken my hand on that little turd's face. I got to PE the next day, my hand now fully encased with a cast. The school's main coach pulled me aside to ask what had happened. I explained the matter truthfully. The coach after explained that how I handled the matter was "wrong" (whatever)...but admitted that he knew the dude and felt he had it coming. Then he told me he was disappointed in me. Not because I'd gotten into a fight, but because "Sports Day" had just been scheduled for May 21, 1980. Sports Day" was an all day affair in which students in certain grade levels spent the whole day in athletic activities with other kids in the school district. It was like an in-district Olympics - an Olympics I didn't give two shits about. With that cast on my hand, the coach felt I was useless - they couldn't put me on the field. "You can come if you want to - to support your classmates. Otherwise, you might as well not even show up." And there it was...my opening. Sports Day - May 21, 1980. Also THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK's opening day. And my coach had basically given me permission to miss school that day, because the plaster encompassing my battle damage had rendered me even more invaluable to the athletics department than I already was. With this ammunition, I was finally able to convince my parents that seeing TESB first screening, first day wasn't altogether irresponsible. Apparently caught up in my enthusiasm, my father...a university professor...canceled a class so that he could take me to the movie. A gesture, and a moment, that was more meaningful than I could express then...or now. His official cover story was that class was canceled for 'research purposes' - wonder how that played with his students, most of whom were waiting in line with us that morning and came up to say "hi." They also came up to express their appreciation for not having class, which gave them the chance to be part of something truly special. In my mind, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was the greatest of the STAR WARS films - it will most likely remain so forever. Perhaps, someday, someone will conjure a better installment - but such a notion seems highly improbable at best. EMPIRE married the magic of Lucas' introductory SW film with a maturity and depth the first movie never quite attained, resulting in a kind of magic that just doesn't come around too often. And so it was with great anticipation that I awaited the arrival of J. W. Rinzler's THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - because, as much as I thought I knew about how the STAR WARS films were made, there had to be more to the process than I could ever have imagined. And I wanted to know it all. Rinzler had done such amazing work with his MAKING OF STAR WARS book (available HERE), which I personally regard as (probably) the finest "Making of..." book ever released. How could subject matter as Geekasmically awesome as EMPIRE be anything less than stellar? And it is stellar. THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is an astonishing accomplishment in many regards. It's "Everything I'd Always Wanted To Know About EMPIRE But Never Would've Thought To Ask." I'd have to look through it again to determine if this bests its MAKING OF STAR WARS predecessor, but it's way high up there...and at the very least equal to it. One important thing to consider before reading this book: it is dense, it is substantive, it is decidedly not frothy, and it is deliberately hardcore. This is not a breezy expose chronicling the creation of what many consider to be one of the greatest SF films of all time - this is steeped in a level of insight and detail that is almost dizzying at times. What follows are a only a few points of interest, which by no means represent the enormity of complex detail you'll find in this 349+ page book (which is rich in rare photos and production art, and sporting rather small print). ** A Foreward by Sir Ridley Scott... ** Not surprisingly, the widely reviled and frequently overlooked STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL - which aired on television between STAR WARS and EMPIRE and introduced us to Boba Fett - is touched on only cursorily here. But it is referenced and discussed briefly... ** Extensive notes illustrating the development of the film. Once considered for appearance in EMPIRE: Darth Vader's metallic castle in the snow (think the buildings of Cloud City - metal-hued - sticking out of a snow scape), a "Water Planet", a "Bog Planet", a "City Planet", the Wookie home world, etc. Many of the environments considered would appear in later films/permutations of STAR WARS. ** LUCAS: "The film was originally set up as a spooky movie, a horror kind of film..." ** The perils of financing the movie in the way it was financed... ** In early development, Yoda's first name was "Minch"... ** Side-by-side comparisons of scenes as written by Lucas -vs- the same movements as adjusted by Lawrence Kasdan.... **Multiple stills of the deleted Wampa attack on the Rebel Base (Hoth)... ***Large quantities of illustrations, storyboards, design progressions, behind the scenes machinations, and images of on-set production. One of my favorite shots is a full body shot of a Wampa ice creature, holding his paws over his private parts like he's shy... ** "Kersh asked me why I didn't direct EMPIRE myself," Lucas says. "You'll see..." I said. ** Fascinating word-for-word transcripts of on-set discussions between director Irvin Kershner, Harrison Ford, 1st Assistant Director David Tomblin, Director of Photography Peter Suschitzky, Carrie Fisher, etc. illustrating both the collaborative process and on-set interactions and tensions... ** Extensive assessment of visual effects approach and development (work began before shooting) - like the complexities of realizing ship motion, many illustrations address model work and matte painting. One section is called "Matte-Line Madness"... **Harrison Ford's deal was only for EMPIRE. Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher's contracts had them not only for EMPIRE, but a third and fourth film. I wonder what that fourth film would've been in a different reality...and how things might be different had it happened... ** ADR notes... ** Development of promotional art up through final product... ** Development of title designs... And so, so much more. While its content may be a tad overwhelming to those not deeply steeped in (or intrigued by) the intricacies of massive film production, and may not be fully appreciated by someone who isn't deeply devoted to STAR WARS, THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is an important work whose insight and attention to minutiae will resonate for many years to come. If you've ever wondered what it would've been like to be involved in the creation of this movie - there will be few better opportunities to get a sense of having "been there." I'm assuming, and hoping, Rinzler will next turn his sights on RETURN OF THE JEDI. As we learned from THIS INTERVIEW with one time Lucas collaborator Gary Kurtz (producer of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, STAR WARS and EMPIRE) - many behind-the-scenes changes on that picture profoundly impacted not only the ROTJ we ended up seeing, but the course of Lucas' film making future. With such mindbending attention to detail, that tale could be pretty wonderful as well. You can learn more about Rinzler's THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK HERE. It should be in-stores right about now, and is also orderable HERE. Enjoy.


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