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ahomelibrary's review
If you’re looking for a somewhat last minute gift for a Star Wars fan, I’d suggest “Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars” by Edward Gross & Mark Altman. As of right now, it’s the first and only comprehensive oral history of the Star Wars movie franchise.
Categories — Pop Culture / Film, Sci-fi, Movies/Film Studies, Oral History
Currently has a 3.78 review average on Goodreads. Published in 2021 by @stmartinspress
Quick Summary — An oral history (interviews, clips, quotes etc) of the entire Star Wars franchise. Featuring the commentaries of hundreds of actors and filmmakers involved with and impacted by Star Wars, as well as writers, commentators, critics, executives, authors, film historians, toy experts and many more.
Some of the highly recognizable names found within — George Lucas, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels and many more.
The format is basically thematic chapters with snippets from recognizable names associated with Star Wars franchise. Some of the topics covered include all the movies of course, visual effects, marketing Star Wars, merchandising SW, the holiday special, the prequels and sequels, future of SW including the television series that are made and potentials in the future, actors + staff views, etc.
It’s a hefty book undertaking a seriously impressive scope of over 50 years of Star Wars content. It’s been broken down into thematic chunks, so it’s not overwhelming, and in fact is an easy read due to the nature of oral histories (imo) not being so much as detail oriented as they are conversational.
I’ve seen this at @barnesandnoble and @booksamillion recently, so still time to pop in and find it
Categories — Pop Culture / Film, Sci-fi, Movies/Film Studies, Oral History
Currently has a 3.78 review average on Goodreads. Published in 2021 by @stmartinspress
Quick Summary — An oral history (interviews, clips, quotes etc) of the entire Star Wars franchise. Featuring the commentaries of hundreds of actors and filmmakers involved with and impacted by Star Wars, as well as writers, commentators, critics, executives, authors, film historians, toy experts and many more.
Some of the highly recognizable names found within — George Lucas, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels and many more.
The format is basically thematic chapters with snippets from recognizable names associated with Star Wars franchise. Some of the topics covered include all the movies of course, visual effects, marketing Star Wars, merchandising SW, the holiday special, the prequels and sequels, future of SW including the television series that are made and potentials in the future, actors + staff views, etc.
It’s a hefty book undertaking a seriously impressive scope of over 50 years of Star Wars content. It’s been broken down into thematic chunks, so it’s not overwhelming, and in fact is an easy read due to the nature of oral histories (imo) not being so much as detail oriented as they are conversational.
I’ve seen this at @barnesandnoble and @booksamillion recently, so still time to pop in and find it
balderromey's review
3.0
It was alright. The early stories were fascinating, but the closer you got to present day, the less candid people seemed. Also pretty much every movie after Empire got ripped apart. The bias was extremely present in the compilation of this book. As a casual Star Wars fan, it was a good, quick read.
pio_near's review
3.0
3.5...
This would be higher, but it is highly subjective and editorialized! Too be fair, in most cases there are quotes from interviews on both sides of opinions... but if you are looking for a clean, just the facts sir or ma'am, this is not it.
That being said, ANY fan of the Wars would love this book, as it really does walk you thru the complete history of Star Wars... from George Lucas growing up loving Flash Gordon, to the upcoming (hopefully sensational) Book of Boba. For me, it was absolutely a walk thru my childhood, and will give me at least a week of rights to geek out to my family. So, win for me (for them, not so much...)!
This would be higher, but it is highly subjective and editorialized! Too be fair, in most cases there are quotes from interviews on both sides of opinions... but if you are looking for a clean, just the facts sir or ma'am, this is not it.
That being said, ANY fan of the Wars would love this book, as it really does walk you thru the complete history of Star Wars... from George Lucas growing up loving Flash Gordon, to the upcoming (hopefully sensational) Book of Boba. For me, it was absolutely a walk thru my childhood, and will give me at least a week of rights to geek out to my family. So, win for me (for them, not so much...)!
neilrcoulter's review
3.0
I’ve given up reading Star Wars novels, because they are terrible. With just a few exceptions (mostly by Alexander Freed), over the past five years Disney has yet to figure out how to do something worthwhile with the world Lucas imagined. In fact, most of what Disney has done with Star Wars, across all media, has been a disappointment. It’s been hard to accept that I am no longer a Star Wars fan; I’m just a guy who loves four Star Wars movies and one TV series. But the more movies and series are made, the smaller the percentage of SW content I enjoy.
However—I do still enjoy reading about Star Wars, which was a brilliant creation despite what it’s become currently. Books like Chris Taylor’s How Star Wars Conquered the Universe, Mateusz Machaj’s The Rise and Fall of the First Galactic Empire, and Cass Sunstein’s The World According to Star Wars demonstrate how much there is to ponder in SW, as a film, a mythology, and a cultural phenomenon. And the “Art of” books about the making of the films are fascinating, even for the films I don’t particularly like.
Into that mix comes Edward Gross and Mark Altman’s 550-page oral history of Star Wars, from its origins through about 2020. Any book like this would be advised not to promise as much as this book’s subtitle does: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars. “Complete” is obviously untrue, because many more than 550 pages have already been written about this. “Uncensored” is an odd choice, as there’s little in this book that hasn’t been officially published elsewhere, and I can’t imagine Disney or Lucas would be offended by what’s presented here. “Unauthorized” makes me wonder how reliable the information is. And “Oral History” is an intriguing idea, but this is a print book, and nowhere do the authors cite where any of this content comes from. Most of it seems to be from places I’ve already read, but was any of it collected by the authors themselves, especially for this book? Who knows.
Whatever the case, there are no “Secrets” here; every story in this book has been told numerous times before. People want new trivia about the making of the original Star Wars trilogy, but there’s not an endless fount of information. The only thing that could potentially add more to the story is if Marcia Lucas ever chooses to tell her perspective on her years with George; but I respect her for not getting involved.
So the book is just a repackaging of the “Creation of Star Wars” mythology—which is always interesting, even if it’s not new. It’s a quick, entertaining read. The story proceeds chronologically, and each chapter is constructed of bits of interviews and other commentary from people who (mostly) were involved in the making of each era of Star Wars. The narrative tends to be dominated by two voices. One is George Lucas (whose presence brings a very “authorized” sense, and sometimes hinders the story, because we’ve all already heard what he has to say about his creation). The other is Ray Morton, who is identified as the senior editor of Script magazine. I found his constant presence confusing. He had nothing to do with creating Star Wars; he’s a person who comments on stories. His commentary is mostly interesting, but why is he here? A lot of people have opinions about Star Wars, but a book like this should foreground the people who made it. Enough with these opinions from “pop culture commentators.” It feels like padding, in a book that already feels like a retread of other material.
The authors/compilers make no apology for privileging the original trilogy over everything else. Details about the making of the original Star Wars cover the first 134 pages (with more pages covering the distribution and merchandising, and even a chapter about the Holiday Special). Because The Phantom Menace was the restart of theatrical Star Wars after some years away, its chapter is 67 pages. By the end of the book, it’s obvious that the authors would rather do anything other than talk about the sequel trilogy—and who can blame them? No one is ever going to care about those movies—and so The Rise of Skywalker is covered in a 24-page chapter, most of which is a discussion of how Colin Trevorrow’s Duel of the Fates script would have been a superior movie. The final chapter in the book is about the recent Star Wars TV series. It’s quick and perfunctory—and again, it’s not like anyone is very interested in all that stuff anyway. The main interest will always be the original trilogy, and all of that material is already available, and has been for years.
Secrets of the Force is not a bad way to relive the history of Star Wars, but if you’ve ever read anything at all about the making of the films, and especially the first film, then there won’t be anything new here.
However—I do still enjoy reading about Star Wars, which was a brilliant creation despite what it’s become currently. Books like Chris Taylor’s How Star Wars Conquered the Universe, Mateusz Machaj’s The Rise and Fall of the First Galactic Empire, and Cass Sunstein’s The World According to Star Wars demonstrate how much there is to ponder in SW, as a film, a mythology, and a cultural phenomenon. And the “Art of” books about the making of the films are fascinating, even for the films I don’t particularly like.
Into that mix comes Edward Gross and Mark Altman’s 550-page oral history of Star Wars, from its origins through about 2020. Any book like this would be advised not to promise as much as this book’s subtitle does: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars. “Complete” is obviously untrue, because many more than 550 pages have already been written about this. “Uncensored” is an odd choice, as there’s little in this book that hasn’t been officially published elsewhere, and I can’t imagine Disney or Lucas would be offended by what’s presented here. “Unauthorized” makes me wonder how reliable the information is. And “Oral History” is an intriguing idea, but this is a print book, and nowhere do the authors cite where any of this content comes from. Most of it seems to be from places I’ve already read, but was any of it collected by the authors themselves, especially for this book? Who knows.
Whatever the case, there are no “Secrets” here; every story in this book has been told numerous times before. People want new trivia about the making of the original Star Wars trilogy, but there’s not an endless fount of information. The only thing that could potentially add more to the story is if Marcia Lucas ever chooses to tell her perspective on her years with George; but I respect her for not getting involved.
So the book is just a repackaging of the “Creation of Star Wars” mythology—which is always interesting, even if it’s not new. It’s a quick, entertaining read. The story proceeds chronologically, and each chapter is constructed of bits of interviews and other commentary from people who (mostly) were involved in the making of each era of Star Wars. The narrative tends to be dominated by two voices. One is George Lucas (whose presence brings a very “authorized” sense, and sometimes hinders the story, because we’ve all already heard what he has to say about his creation). The other is Ray Morton, who is identified as the senior editor of Script magazine. I found his constant presence confusing. He had nothing to do with creating Star Wars; he’s a person who comments on stories. His commentary is mostly interesting, but why is he here? A lot of people have opinions about Star Wars, but a book like this should foreground the people who made it. Enough with these opinions from “pop culture commentators.” It feels like padding, in a book that already feels like a retread of other material.
The authors/compilers make no apology for privileging the original trilogy over everything else. Details about the making of the original Star Wars cover the first 134 pages (with more pages covering the distribution and merchandising, and even a chapter about the Holiday Special). Because The Phantom Menace was the restart of theatrical Star Wars after some years away, its chapter is 67 pages. By the end of the book, it’s obvious that the authors would rather do anything other than talk about the sequel trilogy—and who can blame them? No one is ever going to care about those movies—and so The Rise of Skywalker is covered in a 24-page chapter, most of which is a discussion of how Colin Trevorrow’s Duel of the Fates script would have been a superior movie. The final chapter in the book is about the recent Star Wars TV series. It’s quick and perfunctory—and again, it’s not like anyone is very interested in all that stuff anyway. The main interest will always be the original trilogy, and all of that material is already available, and has been for years.
Secrets of the Force is not a bad way to relive the history of Star Wars, but if you’ve ever read anything at all about the making of the films, and especially the first film, then there won’t be anything new here.
foreveralways3's review
5.0
I haven't read this book yet but I just got it in the mail today omg I cant wait to read it
mandler_'s review
3.0
I love reading about the cultural and historical contexts in which certain films were being made and what led to the creation of the great movies of history. That was probably the most interesting part to me. I enjoyed reading the work that went in to each and every Star Wars project and really put into perspective how I, as a younger fan, take for granted certain pieces of knowledge--that Darth Vader is Luke's father, for example. The book really put it in perspective of how new and shocking that piece of information was to original audiences.
I also loved learning about why such a vast and explorative extended universe exists in comic books, novels, roleplaying games, etc. I forget the the world was not used to sequels and remakes like they are now or even long-form story-telling to the level of Star Wars or more so, Marvel now.
The book is not perfect and I'm sure there is bias in its telling of George Lucas. However, it is an interesting read about the history of Star Wars.
I also loved learning about why such a vast and explorative extended universe exists in comic books, novels, roleplaying games, etc. I forget the the world was not used to sequels and remakes like they are now or even long-form story-telling to the level of Star Wars or more so, Marvel now.
The book is not perfect and I'm sure there is bias in its telling of George Lucas. However, it is an interesting read about the history of Star Wars.
rogue_leader's review
2.0
While I very much enjoyed the commentary from the people who make and have made Star Wars I found the interviews from the fans featured here to be grating. As other reviewers have pointed out, they seemed to hate everything post Empire Strikes Back. It's fine to not enjoy things but I find it odd that they took so much time making this book to bash a series they supposedly love. This would get a much higher rating if it kept to the history of the people who were there.
andrewgraphics's review
3.0
Okay entry in Oral History books, but easily over half of the book is spent quoting fans and critics rather than the people who were actually involved with the making of these films; and even then, very little info about the actual making, but the impact of the series on culture.
One major plus is it does quote George Lucas throughout, at key points.
One major plus is it does quote George Lucas throughout, at key points.
jackiepreston's review
I'm just not in the right mood to read this. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.
soulkissed2003's review
3.0
This book is set up, not as a narrative, but as a loooonnnng collection of thoughts of various folks who have been involved in the Star Wars saga over the decades. It does follow a timeline, from the initial ideas about the first movie (which we know now as Episode IV), right up to the Mandalorian and new Boba Fett series coming out.
Since this book is what I like to call a "doorstopper" (very long), and I really didn't need to know what each of these people were thinking, I skimmed it. It still took awhile to get through. I think the most interesting parts were the thoughts from the actors and actresses who took part over the years.
Since this book is what I like to call a "doorstopper" (very long), and I really didn't need to know what each of these people were thinking, I skimmed it. It still took awhile to get through. I think the most interesting parts were the thoughts from the actors and actresses who took part over the years.