"Making Of" Books

[Blu-Benny]

There's obviously the making of documentaries on blu-rays but does anyone out there enjoy the "Making Of" books for their favorite movies??

They are big and full of fantastic pictures of the production. I've got a couple myself, they sit on top of my subwoofer in my HT.

I can't post any pictures from here @ work, but here are a couple of links showing what I'm talking about:

Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey

[url="http://www.amazon.com/The-Making-Star-Wars-Definitive/dp/0345494768?tag=blurayforum-20"]The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film[/ur]

What are some of your favorite "Making Of" books??

And....does anyone have any suggestions on a "Making Of" book for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy??

[Michael24]

Before the advent of DVDs with their bonus features (my family never had Laserdisc), I always enjoyed picked up "Making Of" books for my favorite films or those "The Official Magazine of..." publications. Even nowadays, I still enjoy them.

Two of my favorites are Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner (I was obsessed with the movie in high school and carried this book around with me like a bible) and Once Upon A Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of the Empire Strikes Back, a small paperback, but a great account covering the production and filled with wonderful cast/crew interviews.

Also love J.W. Rinzler's The Complete Making of Indiana Jones, The Making of Star Wars and The Making of the Empire Strikes Back. Haven't gotten The Making of Return of the Jedi yet. They are a tad pricey for me.

I like Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th, although I would have preferred a more traditional format as opposed to basically a long series of interview snippets chronicling all the films.

[wonkavision]

I love this Coppola's Dracula book.

[LuckyDragon]

This one is amazing:



Don't be fooled by the title. It's a complete making-of book, not just artwork.

I've got a ton of other film books that aren't strictly making-of books but do feature substantial sections covering production, including:

Addams Chronicles: An Altogether Ooky Look at the Addams Family
Combat! A Viewer's Companion to the WWII TV Series
Counterfeit Worlds: Philip K. Dick on Film
Future Imperfect: Philip K. Dick at the Movies
The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier
The Lurker in the Lobby: The Guide to Lovecraftian Cinema
The Hammer Story
Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror
Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946
Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage to Screen
Sherlock Holmes On Screen: The Complete Film and TV History
Starring Sherlock Holmes: A Century of the Master Detective on Screen
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Shooting Diary
Star Trek: The Original Series 365
The Star Trek Compendium
King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson
Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration

[Moviefan2k4]

I have all seven companion books for "Smallville", three of which have been signed by various cast members. My most recent purchase is "Terminator Vault" by Ian Nathan; waiting for it to arrive from Amazon. I'm also looking forward to David Cohen's "Resetting the Future", about the production of "Genisys". Here's a list of my other similar books...

The Crow: The Movie - Jeff Connor & Robert Zuckerman
Forever Liesl: A Memoir of "The Sound of Music" - Charmian Carr
A Matter of Time: The Unofficial "Back to the Future" Lexicon - Rich Handley
Once Upon A Time: Behind the Magic - Titan Books
Smallville: The Visual Guide - Craig Byrne
Superman vs. Hollywood - Jake Rossen

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by LuckyDragon

Can't believe I forgot about this one. I've got it along with Alien Vault. Both are superb.

Yeah, I got so pissed at my local Half-Price Books today, since they had a copy of it for $10, and Amazon charged me $17 plus shipping.

I decided to swallow my pride though, since returning it to Amazon would be more of a hassle without an honest excuse. Mentally, I just reminded myself of something I usually practice: "always check Half-Price first".

Back on topic, I also want to get J.W. Rinzler's hardcover volumes, on the making of the original "Star Wars" trilogy.

[ChainsawJedi]

I can't endorse J.W. Rinzler's books on the making of the Star Wars films (he's written four of them - only The Phantom Menace and Attack of The Clones were by other writers) enough. They are the definitive word on the making of the films, excellently written and with full access to cast and crew (and in the case of his book on Revenge of the Sith, compiled during the making of the film rather than after the event).

There's a lot of dodgy, unofficial stuff out there on the making of the Star Wars films and with regards to the films' creator. Save your money, ignore them all and get the books by J.W. Rinzler.

[OceanBlue]

I have posted about this in a North America thread about an old US Blu-ray release of The Towering Inferno last week, but I did also want to post about it in the Books sub-forum. Could swear there was an existing thread called 'Film and TV reference books'. Did a Books sub-forum search and found this thread.

While checking on Amazon UK earlier last week for forthcoming film and TV reference books from BearManor Media, saw a pre-order listing for a paperback version of a book about The Towering Inferno, called More Fire! The Building of The Towering Inferno: A 50th Anniversary Explosion.

The release date stated on the Amazon UK pre-order listing page for the paperback version is Wednesday 15th March, 2023. The hardback version was released on Tuesday 28th February, 2023.