Art of The Last Jedi

The Art of Star Wars:The Last Jedi Book Review

The Art of The Last Jedi was published by Abrams books and written by Phil Szostak. Rian Johnson, The director of Star Wars: The a Last Jedi, wrote a forward in this book. He expresses his fascination with the design of the film, from the 2D art to 3D models.

This book was released alongside the theatrical release of The Last Jedi. Now that the film can be watched in your living room, this book will serve as an awesome companion piece.

There are awesome little canon nuggets throughout, like a map of the island on Ahch-To! I love maps! it’s cool to see where events took place on the Island. The caretakers were designed to look like “fish-people.” The lady caretakers that we see in the film had originally had companions that looked very decorative, with face paint and color clothing.

The scene in the film when one Porg is looking at the lightsaber while the other is stomping on it… the concept art depicts a different scene! And it doesn’t end well for one of the Porgs!

The art is absolutely incredible. We get glimpses of how things changed throughout the process such as designs, names, and more. For example one of my favorite pieces of art, shows that the Falcon crash landed in the sea on Ahch-To in front of a massive ancient Jedi temple, with Rey standing on top of the ship. It’s so awesome!

We learn that George Lucas was involved with some of the material, which was a nice surprise. I never knew just how active he was in continuously pushing for more Star Wars material.

Do I recommend you pick up The Art of The Last Jedi? Yes! It’s an awesome, beautiful book.

See the video for visuals!

Star Wars: On The Front Lines

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars: On The Front Lines

Star Wars: On The Front Lines was written by Daniel Wallace. It was published by Titan Books. This reference book acts as history book, exploring the most essential battles in the galaxy. From the front lines of war at the battle of Naboo, to the the vast wastelands of Jakku we get a neat summary of what exactly happened. The book gets into the details; what caused the conflict? where did the battle take place? who was there? We even get eye witness accounts from opposing sides, giving their take on the battle. The art within is neatly done. We get visuals on the weaponry used, the soldiers armor, and a look at the key players in each conflict. This is a cool book to keep around when you want to look back at the battles in Star Wars. A nice reference book to dive directly into what happened and why it happened. Do I recommend you pick up Star Wars: On The Front Lines? Yes. Especially if you’re a collector.

Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia is written byTricia Barr, Adam Bray, and Cole Horton. It was published by DK Publishing. There is a forward by Dennis Muren, the Senior Creator and Director at Industrial Light and Magic.

This Visual Encyclopedia is loaded with amazing images and information. On the opening pages you’ll find the contents, which will show you how the book is organized. There are five sections: Geography, Nature, History, Culture, and finally Science and Technology. The history section would be my favorite. There’s a breakdown of the timeline, deep explanations of the galactic politics, and a who’s who in the Jedi Order and the Sith. It’s insane how much this book covers! helmets, clothing, accessories, pod-racers, furniture,and even food!

If you like Star Wars, you’re going to love this book. It’s a great reference while reading the novels, some characters and planets appear in this book. I think this is a must have for any Star Wars fan.

Star Wars Book Review: Rogue One Ultimate Visual Guide

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide was written by Pablo Hidalgo with illustrations by Kemp Remillard and a foreword by John Knoll, the Executive Producer & Visual Effects Supervisor for Rogue One. The book was released by DK Publishing.

In the Forward, John Knoll expresses his praise for Star Wars, released in 1977. He was amazed at the design and high quality execution of the film. He admits that the film is what set him on the path to a career in entertainment.

Rogue One was an epic film! I could even argue that the novelization by Alexander Freed was even better! I have enjoyed all the extra material that surrounds Rogue One and can’t wait for more stories focused on the new characters we were introduced to.

This visual guide is pretty much an encyclopedia for the film. It has so much detail about every little thing. First thing I’d like to mention, is that it has the updated galaxy map with all the new planets from the film. I love maps, and it excites me that these books are staying up to date with the films.

On characters, we get some awesome details about the characters seen in Rogue One. One of my favorites is Admerial Raddus – we get to know more about where he came from, his personality, even his height! There is so much information with photos of characters I didn’t even notice in the film! The Death Troopers are intimidating warriors, we get close up visuals of the weaponry and armor with information on what the equipment is capable of.

This book is loaded with cool stuff! If you love Rogue One like I do, or just have to have all the details on pretty much every character that man an apperance in the film… get this book.

Star Wars : The Art of Rogue One

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars: The Art of Rogue One was written by Josh Kushin and released by Abrams Books.

The Art of Rogue one starts off with forwards by Doug Chiang, Neil Lamont, and Gareth Edwards. Doug Chiang is the Lucasfilm VP creative director and Co-production designer, Neil Lamont is a Co-producer, and Gareth Edwards is the Director.

When I first heard the news about Rogue One, I thought… why this story? why the Death Star? We’ve been there. they came, they saw, they blew it up! After seeing the film four times in theater, I can say it’s one of my top three Star Wars films. I believe the novel, Catalyst, enhanced the film even more so. Rogue One and tie in material, expanded on the Lore of Star Wars and the mythology of the force.

The creators of Rogue One had a daunting task, to design a film so close in the canon timeline of A New Hope, released in 1977. The look had to be familiar but it also had to be something fresh. To accomplish such a task, several concept artist would put their pen/paint/pencil to paper or canvas, and let there imaginations run wild… but not too wild. That “Star Wars look” is important.
The Art of Rogue One is gorgeous. It’s more than just beautiful pictures of the wonderful concept art. The written words beside the pictures are definitely worth reading, a wonderful look behind the scenes. It’s amazing how a design can change the story, or the story can change the design, how many variations a character would be drawn before the final product.

So much time and effort was spent on bringing the best, familiar, fresh design from paper to the screen. Bringing imaginary places and characters to life.

Star Wars Year by Year: Visual History

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual History

This book, from DK Publishing, is a true work of art. It’s written by a handful of writers: Ryder Windham, Daniel Wallace, and the canon/legends lore keeper, Pablo Hidalgo.

This book dives deep into the past. Way back to when the creator of Star Wars was born. George Lucas Jr. was born in 1944. He was like many of us, a nerd who loved comics, tv, sci-fi and radio dramas. We learn a lot of about Mr. Lucas and what it was that inspired and influenced him to create his legacy, Star Wars. This book contains a lot of interesting material, a unique look at historical events that took place during or share some correlation to the creation of Star Wars. What we learn about the beginning of Lucas’s career is amazing, from the projects he was working on to the supreme talent he was surrounding himself with.

A little knowledge nugget: After the huge success of the original film, we learn a lot about what took place behind the scenes. For example, someone else wrote the first draft to the sequel of Star Wars, and George wasn’t pleased with it at all!

Parts of the book I couldn’t wait to get to were mentioned in the Author’s Note by Ryder Windham: “We would also include occasional inconsistencies between the movies, novels, comics, and merchandise.” I found that to be extremely interesting and exciting!

Many Star Wars fans love the EU. I’ve learned that the birth of the EU was Sept 1977, Star Wars Marvel comic issue #7. Although the legends canon and new canon don’t mix well, each stand on their own and are both fun to read. Before the EU most of know today, the first sequel to the hit film Star Wars, was Splinter of the Minds Eye and comics that had stories going beyond the film. Some fans argue about all canon having contradictions… true or not, fans noticed the obvious one in the early EU when a character trait was switched!

This history book is loaded with historical content, the ultimate coffee table book! From front to back, every page has several images with descriptions and the facts of the times. At the end of the book we’re reminded of how fast time sneaks past us. There is so much more history to be written already. New material is published every month, new shows, new movies… history is always in the making.

GO GET THIS BOOK!