The Art of Star Wars, Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Primarily, this book is rather disappointing. The pictures, and artwork are great, and I must say it is quite amazing to see the matte paintings that were used in the film. The book contains numerous paintings, sketches, and pictures, but they are very poorly organized. I often found that if I saw a picture I liked and wanted to look at it again, I would have to literally flip through almost every page to find it again. The pictures aren't organized into "sections" as were the ones in THE ART OF THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. But that is because the script for the movie is included in this book.

The script takes up a lot of space, but is often spaced apart by maybe 2-3 pages of artwork. So for example, once you're done reading the portion of script on page 9, you'd have to skip up to page 12 to continue reading it. It ruins the continuity of the script, but that is not that much of a deal. The script is nice to have, but then again, why would you really want the script? And besides that, why would you find a script in an art book to begin with?

Returning to the pictures, the main disappointment is the lack of descriptions for the artwork. They have little sentences like: ABOVE RIGHT, painting done by Ralph McQuarrie, and so on, but I had expected more descriptions, and rightfully so because this is an art book...isn't it?

If you are interested in the art AND the script, then you should get it. But keep in mind that there aren't many descriptions for the pictures. In my opinion, this book is a clash of script and fabulous art, and the script doesn't allow for the splendour of the artwork to come out in its full "capacity". But I don't regret getting this book simply because of the artwork, and really, this is the only book out there that has THE ART OF RETURN OF THE JEDI.


Good, but lack of descriptions disappointing   February 19, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is a great book, but it doesn't have the descriptions for the artwork that the Episode 1 edition had. Putting the script in no doubt took up the space required to have the descriptions in. Still, the art is amazing and I am overwhelmed every time I look at one of these books. If you are a die-hard Star Wars fan, or are even curious about these movies, the "Art of.." series is great and a must-have.


WOW   November 23, 1999
 4 out of 18 found this review helpful

This was an awesome book if you have any arguments shove it up your @$


not nearly as good as the Empire "Art of"   November 2, 1999
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

In brief, this is NOT an "Art of" book. It's a script with a lot of pretty pictures. I can buy the script in several other different formats, but this is the only chance for me to find anything out about the artwork, and this book simply does not do it. Lucasfilm seems to alternate between so-called "Art of" books with the script shoved in (New Hope, Jedi), and actual, quality ART books (Phantom Menace, Empire) that recognize that the script can be found elsewhere. Hopefully the remaining books in the series will leave the script OUT.


A must for fans of the original triolgy   July 29, 1999
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

If you enjoy seeing how the classic stories developed, this is definately going to be a book you wont regret getting, and is a MUST for your collection, allong with the other two art books.