Star Wars Art: Posters (Star Wars Art Series)

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." "Star Wars Art: Posters" is the fifth book in a series of special art books published by Abrams Books. Each book in the collection is devoted to a specific area of the ever expanding universe that is the art of "Star Wars." The previous volumes of this collection include: Star Wars Visions Star Wars Art: Comics Star Wars Art: Illustration Star Wars Art: Concept (Star Wars Art Series) This particular tome provides a distintive presentation of artwork designed to promote the various cinematic tales of the beloved "Star Wars" Saga created by George Lucas. Unlike its predecessors, "Star Wars Art: Posters" is not just part of an ongoing book project devoted to "Star Wars" art; it can also be considered a companion volume to another book, The Star Wars Poster Book by Stephen J. Sansweet and Peter Vilmur, published by Chronicle Books in 2005. While the great earlier book should be considered the more all-encompassing of its subject, this 2014 publication offers artistic treasures of its own which help make it a worthy addition to any "Star Wars" fan's library. Artist Drew Struzan has written the forward to this collection in which he recounts the creation of his special contributions to this unique "Star Wars" art genre. Among them are the 1978 "Circus" rerelease poster (an all-time favorite of George Lucas), his "Special Edition" posters for the Original Trilogy, and his Prequel Trilogy posters, which are beautifully reproduced in an enchanting gate-fold section of the book. Mr. Struzan's wonderful work is just an example of the stunning recreations printed throughout this volume. One of the most rewarding aspects of the book is the fact that the majority of the posters featured within this collection are displayed without the accompanying text or even the famous "Star Wars" logo emblazened over the illustrations. These more pure, unadorned reproductions of "Star Wars" promotional artwork help distinguish this book from its predecessor of almost a decade ago. The reader can thus take in the full impact of the posters advertising the latest film or TV adventure in that fabled "galaxy far, far away." Posters for the "Star Wars" Saga have always been more memorable than other contemporary film posters because of George Lucas' appreciation for the Hollywood tradition of creating artwork to promote movies rather than just photograhic portraits of stars or scenes from the films themselves. Mr. Lucas always favored an artist's interpretation of his films and a striking image or collage that would invoke the message and vision of his celluloid tale. While photos are utilized in some of the posters, like the 1982 prerelease "Revenge of the Jedi" poster also by Drew Struzan, which is featured on the book's dustjacket cover, it is used minimally. "Star Wars" posters were primarily works of old school illustrative art. "Star Wars Art: Poster" showcases the history of the unfolding space fantasy epic; from the early days of the Saga, as represented by the influential work of Ralph McQuarrie, the poster rendered by comic artist Howard Chaykin, which was first released to the public at the San Diego Comic Convention in 1976, the sweeping posters of Tom Jung, and the strikingly impressionistic paintings of John Berkley. A very disappointing omission of poster art from this exciting time was the book's exclusion of the famous painting richly illustrated by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, also known as the Brothers Hildebrandt. This was a particular favorite poster of this reviewer and I had it displayed in my bedroom for many years. The art and posters imagined for "The Empire Strikes Back," which culminated in the lush, romantic official poster created by Roger Castel, are notable for the absence of a most important character in the Saga; Master Yoda. For younger fans of "Star Wars," perhaps raised on the Prequel Trilogy or "The Clone Wars" TV series, this seeming neglect of the Jedi Master can be explained by the desire of Mr. Lucas, "Empire" director Irvin Kirschner, and the other makers of the film to keep the character's diminuitive appearence a secret from the eager audience awaiting the movie's premiere in 1980. The posters and preliminary illustrations produced during the lead up to "Return of the Jedi" are famous (and infamous) for the movie being initially titled "Revenge of the Sith." But the changing title also made them highly prized on the collector's market. In this section of the book, the reader will also discover what are described as "black and white concept treatments" impressively drawn by veteran illustrator John Alvin which evolved into the wellknown "lightsaber" theatrical poster for "Return of the Jedi" painted by Tim Reamer. With contents that cover the Saga from the innocent days before the premiere of the first film "adventure of Luke Skywalker," the further fables of the brave Wicket the Ewok in the youth oriented Ewok Adenture films of the 1980s, to the computer animation era of "The Clone Wars" and "Star Wars: Rebels," the next century in galactic storytelling, "Star Wars Art: Posters" offers another book collection of the wonderful universe of "Star Wars" art. It is highly recommended.

The book is packed with beautiful posters from cover to cover. A great visual chronicle of the history of star wars movie posters from the very first one sheets to Star Wars here and now. The book is very high quality and every page including some fold-outs look amazing . I was very happy to get this as a gift and I love the big hard cover edition. Highly recommend this to any star wars fan or movie poster enthusiast.

Star Wars Art : Posters is another amazing volume to the Star Wars Art Series. Art Posters is the 5th book in the series but this time it does focus on Star Wars Poster designs. From Drew Struzan to other poster artist like Tom Jung , John Alvin , Roger Kastel , John Berkey and many others Star Wars Poster Artwork has captured our imagination and has been a big part in selling the Star Wars Films , TV Shows like The Clone Wars and now Rebels. The Art Posters book features many different and amazing Star Wars Poster Artwork from the 1st 6 films , to the videogames , the animated show Star Wars The Clone Wars , and even some from the new Disney XD animated series Star Wars Rebels as well as the early concepts of the different posters before the designers and Lucasfilm selected the final poster image. The posters that are shown in the book are the full painted artwork without the lettering and they look stunning. The book also features a forward by Drew Struzan and an introduction by Roger Kastel. If your a fan of Star Wars movie posters or film posters in general Star Wars Art : Posters is the book you are looking for. MTFBWY Always.

Nice oversize format and high-quality presentation makes this a very nice book to have or to give as a gift. There are many posters I had never seen before. It's a nice history of the Star Wars movies and their impact on the movie industry. Some of the foreign posters are the most interesting as they use unique art and are much different from the USA edition. I highly recommend this book for all Star Wars fans to have in their library.

High quality book with beautiful glossy poster pics, plus a fold-out of the original 9 movie posters. Gave as a gift and everyone is extremely happy.

it was cool to see all the Star Wars history up close.

Purchased this as a Christmas gift, and it is really a cool collection of world wide movie posters and art. A must have for Star War fans!

This book is better than I ever expected. A wonderful collection of art that any Star Wars enthusiast or even art lover should enjoy!!! You won't regret this purchase!

Não costumo parar para avaliar um produto, salvo se o produto for muito bom ou muito ruim. No caso deste livro fiz de parar para escrever uma análise porque o livro é excelente. Contempla todos os posteres imagináveis da trilogia clássica, prequels e ainda inclui posteres das séries animadas, videogames entre outros. O material é espetacular, papel de primeira e impressões de altíssima qualidade. Possui uma capa "guarda pó" para preservar a capa original do livro. O preço está ótimo também, paguei menos do que teria pago caso tivesse comprado pela Amazon dos US. Se você que está lendo esse review tinha alguma dúvida sobre comprar ou não, compre que garanto que não vais se arrepender.

This is a gorgeous book. As others have said, the whole 'Star Wars Art' series of books are very good, but this is the one that will perhaps have the widest appeal. If you already own and like any of the other books in the series this is pretty much essential. There have been many Star Wars books that have featured some of the posters in this one, but even if you own those I would still consider getting this one too - it really is beautifully presented and (at least at the time of writing, in late November 2014) it's very good value.

Da possedere nella collezione

I rate 5/5 - I'm very pleased both with the quality and the time of order arrival. I would definitely recommend it to others. Thanks.

Un très beau livre d`affiches de Star Wars.Très agréable à regarder et de belle finition.Tout est sur papier glacé, ce qui en fait un bel objet.