GEORGE LUCAS INTERVIEWS book review

"George Lucas: Interviews"
Edited by Sally Kline
A+
 
BOOK REVIEW
 
By Michael Knox
www.modernfilmfest.net
 
George Lucas' career has both impressed me and aggravated me, with me growing up on the first three "Star Wars" movies and the "Indiana Jones" franchise.

I loved most of those movies (lets face it, "Return of the Jedi" and "Temple of Doom" are watchable, but the weakest of the bunch) and yet I am frustrated with his additional work on his movies.
 
The first chink in the armor of a man I grew up admiring was the reissue of the "Star Wars" movies, which on the one hand added some great scenes, but on the other had Han Solo shoot Greedo only after Greedo pulled the trigger first. That re-imagining of film history sucks because it looks horribly stupid the way it was added in and just seems out of character and not in the old west theme the movie first came out in,
 
So I am conflicted on the man's career. But despite that I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, George Lucas: Interviews" which collects many of the individual articles written for various publications, such as American Cinematagrapher, Starlog and Rolling Stone. Edited by Sally Kline, the book is a wealth of information on Lucas and the film industry at the time of each interview.
 
The first two articles republished are from 1971 when Lucas released the movie, "THX 1138" and then the next article jumps up to the filming of, "American Graffiti," with a republished article from 1974. It is an interesting book because of the various voices that chime in on Lucas' career over the years. With a different reporter from each publication interviewing Lucas at a different point in his career we get an interesting collage of the man who gave us the gift of, "Star Wars" and at the same time delivered us, "Howard the Duck."
 
The book goes through Lucas' career, collecting interviews published along the way ending with a republished article from the Los Angeles Times from 1999. That article focused on the release of, "Star Wars: Episode I."
 
An excellent read, in part because the articles were culled from some of the best interviews around, the book is also a good text book for filmmakers. For instance, reading the book I learned that the uber sci-fi environment created in, "THX 1138" was actually created by carefully selecting real locations.The interviews give details that let a filmmaker realize they can get a great look by picking locations, just as Luca did, selecting locations such as the Oakland Coliseum, the San Francisco Pacific Gas and Electric Building and the tunnels from the Bay Area Rapid Transit system.
 
Whether you love George Lucas or not the book is a great read for film fans and a bonus for filmmakers.