Review of Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy

I’m a big fan of behind the scenes look at movies. It gives me a new angle on how a scene was performed and discussed and brought to life. I am also a big fan of concept artwork. The intense details and vision that directors and production teams come up with to tell a story on a page are extremely gifted. With Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy I get the best of both worlds. This clean, crisp, publication is a must have for any Star Wars fan that enjoys production pieces and concepts, not to mention a visualization as to how the original trilogy was envisioned to be captured for the silver screen.

Legendary artist Joe Johnson’s art graces the high quality pages with slick visualization and style. I can almost hear George leaning over his shoulder with comments and suggestions directing his vision. The drawings and concepts are high in detail and artistry with such fine artists as Alex Tavoularis for Episode V, Ivor Beddoes, rare boards by Roy Carnon, and Ralph McQuarrie’s never-before-seen boards for Episode V. In my opinion, anything that gives us new art from McQuarrie is a must have. I’d also recommend this collection to budding filmmakers as an inside look at what brought Star Wars to life and with 1,200 storyboards packed inside, it’s any artist’s dream to have this at their fingertips.

Art in my definition is the portrayal of communication or feelings translated without words. Within these pages you can see by the shading, colorization, and dynamic figures that every piece was given care and filled with electricity to jump right off the page.

First we were treated to Star Wars: Frames, a photo journey hand picked by Lucas himself, and now we get to see how those photos made it to the screen. Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy is an excellent side by side companion piece to Frames and even the films themselves. Storyboards is a great collection to have on your shelf as you get to relive every great moment from the original trilogy as it was in its infant stages of development; a real treat as we discover even more in the ever growing in-depth creation that became Star Wars! 

Thanks to Abram Books for the review copy.