Star Wars: Blueprints: Inside the Production Archives [Special Edition] [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

If you can afford this book, buy it.

Since STARS WARS first came out, it's produced an avalanche of licensed product taller than Jabba the Hut, including sumptuous art books. But this book, in size, towers above them all. A first-class example of book production, from its gorgeous tray case to the oversized book amply illustrated with blueprints and supportive text and photographs, this is the kind of book you'll show off to your friends and neighbors, and leaf through with a look of amazement.

In every possible way -- the oversized format, the printing on coated paper stock, the sturdy sewn signatures, the flawless reproduction, and the handsome tray case that protects the book -- this is a work of art, and for the author, a labor of love.

Limited to 5000 copies, mine was numbered in the 2000's, so based on that, the book is half sold out. (It may be that other vendors got copies with higher numbers, which suggests that readers with Jedi-like wisdom should buy sooner than later.)

At $500, it's admittedly a luxury. You can live without this, but why would your want to? At a time when trade publishers are cheapening books in every possible way, with crappy printing, glue binding, tiny type, printed on paper with the consistently of toilet paper, this book is its own best argument: Books can be, in themselves, works of art.

You don't have to be a STAR WARS fan to appreciative this massive tome. I imagine every mechanical engineer with a taste for fantasy and science fiction will find this book compulsively readable and viewable.

I should add that it comes boxed with an ingenious buffer-like cardboard insert that protects the fragile corners of the tray case from damage. On all heavy books, this should be the preferred method of cushioning to prevent damage, but it's the exception, not the rule. In this case, such packaging insured my copy arrived in mint condition.

This book goes on TOP of the shelf -- it's too large for any ordinary bookcase shelf -- and it gets handed down to the next generation. The Padawan who gets this will love it ... and may the Force be with you.

Superbly presented in a incomprehensibly large book, the blueprints are a fantastic look at how the sets were designed and constructed. However, not all of the blueprints have measurements on them. I found this to be disappointing and bizarre; how could a blueprints book not include all the measurements? Have they been erased because they don't want people to build them? It's quite odd.

Saying that, the majority do have measurements, but to fully appreciate and understand the scale it would have been nice if they all were covered.

Overall:

The presentation is second to none.

The accompanying photos are rare/interesting shots.

Obviously, with the CG fest the prequels were, there's not much there to be covered - only an eighth of the book; but who cares anyway :)

Would I buy it again knowing what I know now? Absolutely; it's stunning.

Is it perfect? No, but everyone will have their own opinion of perfect.

I work in the film industry as an art director and was fascinated to see this book on line. BUT of course when I saw the price tag I was reluctant to even consider purchasing another Star Wars book, why did I need yet another. As luck would have there was a copy on display at my favorite bookstore in NYC. I paged through it and drooled over the beautiful drawings. This was more then just another book. I had to have it! I went home and searched trying to find it at a lower cost but it costs what it does. A hefty cost but well worth it. The book is a true collector's item for anyone who loves film design and/or the Star Wars films. The draftings give you a real inside to how each set was realized. Since this sort of drafting is what I do for a living it was fascinating to see how these fine artists accomplished the look of these visually stunning films. The only fault of the book is that it is so stunning and only has certain key drawings of each set that I found myself wishing every single drafting done was in the book! Impossible I know but one can dream! I've sat night after night paging through the book (truly a coffee table book because it is way to heavy and large format to hold in your lap) looking at the beautiful draftings and reading about which every set happens to catch my fancy that night! The book arrives carefully packaged in double boxes and then the book is in a wonderful hinged slip cover. It was wondrous to open layer by layer until you finally reached the jewel of a book. A steep price but a true reward for whoever owns a copy of this limited edition book!