'EPISODE III' AT TWENTY: GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM!

Multi-saber murderer!

No longer the coward, the evil General Grievous decides to stand and fight, putting his unique and lethal lightsaber skills to bear against his ongoing enemy Obi-Wan Kenobi, whilst the environs of the sinkhole city of Utapau now resound to the fire of warfare with the newly arrived Clone Troopers. Another great moment for the cyborg villain in his final scenes during Episode III.

Obi-Wan proves a match for the Droid General.

"Since Dooku gets killed off early, I needed to have a villain besides the Emperor, who is the ultimate villain, the real key villain. I needed another person. A MacGuffin for the Jedi to go chasing around the universe. I also wanted to foreshadow what was going to happen to Anakin. So here we have an alien who's been put into a droid suit, he's a half-alien, half-droid. I wanted him to be quite a lot different from Darth Vader. Dooku was foreshadowing the idea that the Emperor would take a disgruntled Jedi and turn him into a Sith Lord. So with each film we kind of foretell a little of what is going to happen with Anakin. In this case, Grievous is that mechanism."

George Lucas - Empire magazine - June 2005

An Ode to Grievous | StarWars.com

A close-in shot of the malevolent alien/droid warlord.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: THE HUTT RETINUE!

When it comes to star power in launching the Boonta Eve Classic, there's surely no one greater or more powerful on Tatooine than the Hutt clan, and especially their main planetary resident, the repulsive Jabba, seen here with his 'Major Domo' in Bib Fortuna, clearly enjoying the crowd adulation whilst the female Gardulla the Hutt lurks in the background. As with his cameo appearance in the 1997 Special Edition of A New Hope, Jabba would be CGI rendered for his few scenes in EPISODE I, though looking much better here thanks to technological improvements in ILM creature-making several years on.

A longer view of Jabba's retinue, which includes several well known ILM staffers in the background.

CGI render of Jabba with snack!

Resident Lucasfilm employee Matthew Wood, a sound designer who started off as a games tester for the company, played Fortuna for this sequence, shot at ILM. Originally, Fortuna was played by Alan Ruscoe in UK scenes linked to the later set in the film Republic senate, but those never made the final cut and Fortuna instead returned to Jabba on Tatooine.

Danny Wagner and colleague go to work on Wood's transformation at ILM. Note the earlier British made facial appliance of Alan Ruscoe's face mould as Fortuna in the right corner.

Wood hams it up in this fun behind the scenes image.

Matthew Wood Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Wb9lHDSgw

THE CLONE WARS: A DIFFERENT KIND OF COMBAT!

Pathetic and incompetent aliens the Gungan peoples of Naboo are certainly not, as General Grievous discovers to his surprise and cost in battle against them, during events within the intriguing The Clone Wars animated series Season Four episode, Shadow Warrior.

Looking meaner than ever in the Battlefront II game.

It's nice to see the gruesome Prequel saga villain make an impressive recent comeback:

https://www.starwars.com/news/matthew-wood-general-grievous-star-wars-battlefront-ii

https://www.starwars.com/news/general-grievous-star-wars-battlefront-ii

THE 'SITH' AT TEN: SCOURGE OF THE SEPARATISTS!

The cowardly Jedi killer General Grievous makes for an intriguing and villainous cover star to a 2005 issue of the French LUCASFILM magazine.

“I was involved in the sound processing of Grievous’ voice, which we had to do before we even picked an actor. So myself and Chris Scarabosio were asked to come up with a process. Rick McCallum put out a casting package in L.A., Sydney, and London, and we were asked to apply the process to each candidate’s audition, which involved pitch and ring modulation.

So I had been processing theses voices involving the same scene-the one on the bridge with Anakin, Obi-Wan and R2-and Chris encouraged me to give it a shot myself. After I did one, I used an anonymous name and sent it with the rest of the auditions. George picked it.  I knew George would hear it (the accent) so I wanted it to be good. I had done some voice work at ACT, and I had just spent some time on vacation going to Prague and also Moscow and St. Petersburg, I liked that accent. George also mentioned when he was talking about the character that (he) was slightly vampiric, so I kind of went for that. There’s some Bela Lugosi in (there for good measure).

MATTHEW WOOD - ONLINE HYPERSPACE INTERVIEW (2006)

CLASSIC IMAGE: MEETING 'JEDI SCUM!'

Anakin Skywalker "meets" General Grievous for the first time, on the bridge of the Invisible Hand, during the epic opening scenes of REVENGE OF THE SITH.

AFICIONADO REVIEW: 'STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS'

Earth's darkest hour. John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) takes STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. Images: PARAMOUNT.

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Benedict Cumberbatch

Written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof

Directed by J.J. Abrams

A PARAMOUNT PICTURES release, showing in UK cinemas in 2D, 3D and IMAX from May 9^th 2013

Reviewed by Scott Weller

NOTE: If you haven't seen the first three trailers for the film, this review contains mild but potential SPOILERS.

“At the end of the universe lies the beginning of vengeance.”

Okay, so it’s the legendary tag line for the original, mighty STAR TREK movie series blood and guts adventures that was 1982’s iconic THE WRATH OF KHAN, but that films words of drama and exciting promise also prove relevant and prescient to the plot and characters in the intense but fun thrill ride that is J.J. Abrams latest warp speed exploration- nay, re-imagining- into Gene Roddenberry’s world audience popular universe, grabbing us by the lapels and thrusting into the unstable wormhole that is INTO DARKNESS!

Star Trek Into Darkness - Official Trailer #3 (HD) Benedict Cumberbatch - YouTube

Starting off on the kind of fun note that was prevalent in their debut film of 2009, the heroic and determined crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise begin their second digital spectacle with an Indiana Jones-esque race against time to save an alien populace from the fiery destructive core of an exploding volcano. But Kirk soon finds himself in deep trouble with his superiors at Star Fleet Command after making a critical decision gone bad, basically overriding the galaxy-spanning law that is the Prime Directive (a rule we all know Kirk often liked to bend or break to his own viewpoint in the original series). But when a devastating attack threatens the well-being of the Federation, from a mysterious, highly-placed terrorist known as John Harrison, our heroes are soon engaged in a deadly, high-stakes cat and mouse pursuit against a foe that seemingly knows their every move…

Federation's finest! Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Kirk (Chris Pine) are back.

Trying to keep some of the Roddenberry-esque influences that made the original series and films so notable, fan boy writers Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof carve out a story relevant to humanity and the times we live in. With a plot that could genuinely have been pulled from todays headlines with regards to the war on terror in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, the feel of INTO DARKNESS definitely corresponds to the often dangerous and unsettled life and times we’ve been thrust into, especially linked to the American superpower of the Barack Obama administration and its inherited war on terror (in the 23^rd Century we see techno-warfare equivalents to drone weapons, whilst the films middle act has the techno baddie Harrison sheltering in hard to reach territory-definitely shades of the US’s determined hunt for Bin Laden in the films middle act). The original sixties show ultimately echoed the bold, intelligent, inquisitive hopes and dreams of the Kennedy era. Some of that positive idealism can still be found in Abrams imagining, but less so than that was seen in his first breakout TREK adventure.

Changing time-lines. John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a villain by any other name.

Taking place a year or so after the events of the Romulan Nero’s time travelling havoc, the writers enjoy their crafting of the new TREK universe, and all of them know its history, celebrating it. There are some nice references to previous STAR TREK TV series (most notably DEEP SPACE NINE- linked to the kind of conspiracy plot that should have been seen on a big scale in one of the previous TREK movies: Insurrection), and a surprise from a familiar face that will most definitely warm the cockles of your heart. Watch out too for another iconic TREK alien whose usefulness proves all-important to the plot and one of our heroes.

The continuity and timelines of the original series, now evaporated into a separate parallel era, are further played about with, and positively stretched in and out, by the trio. Their deconstruction and inversion of THE WRATH OF KHAN, still the unbeaten TREK movie in my opinion, is clever, but perhaps too clever for its own good, notably in the final act, with so much going on that the film starts to suffer in its pacing structure as its breathlessly moves towards that big finish-perhaps hampering the overall emotional impact of the story and characters on our mindset. Such is the curse of all modern blockbusters.

As darker storytelling times unfold at the cinemas, we need our shining STAR TREK heroes more than ever to light the way-this movie continuing to explore the diversely fascinating group “family” exploring the galaxy, and protecting us, from their glistening bridge on the Enterprise. They’re not quite the effective team that was seen in the classic series, but this new film series is gradually working towards it, building and keeping character interest at the same time.

Chris Pine shines brighter than ever as James Tiberius Kirk, cementing himself as a worthy successor to the iconic William Shatner. He’s still the bed-hopping ladies man of the last film, charmingly brash and impulsive, with that twinkle in his eye that Shatner often brought to his character in the original series. But Pine isn’t a caricature of The Shat or Kirk-bringing his own edge and style to the role. There’s some nice character moments here where his ego has to be reined in and tempered by the return of his mentor, Captain Christopher Pike- another fine supporting turn from Bruce Greenwood.

Captain Kirk is up to his neck in danger- again!

This time out, Kirk’s confidence and belief in himself is tested to the limit during his event packed first year commanding the Enterprise, some of his decision making and risk-taking getting him into trouble as he is forced into questioning and re-evaluating his capabilities and instincts. The winds of destructive change, however, soon sees him undertake his deadliest mission yet when the horrific attack on Star Fleet’s top brass is initiated by Harrison, sending send him out on a perilous, personal vendetta quest to capture the self-outcast, laying in wait in the ruins of a wrecked city on the hostile planet of the Klingons: Kronos.

On that journey, INTO DARKNESS is clearly Kirk’s true courage under fire test. In this dangerous game, has he overreached himself? The Kobayashi Maru test that Kirk never liked to lose, and which he always treated as a game, becomes very real for our hero in the spectacular final act.

Spock has a cool-down moment.

The yang to Kirk’s yin, Zachary Quinto once again plays Vulcan First Officer Spock with integrity and respect to Leonard Nimoy, whilst adding his own unique flourishes, and aggression, to the character. His head may be based in logic but his heart remains humanly fragile - just as rash and impulsive as Kirk in many scenarios, but using the veil of his intelligent reasoning to justify his actions against his Captain, unable to stretch to his rules, and the sometimes unorthodox but clever command decisions he reaches. They’re not thumping each other’s brains in like the last film, but the bond between Kirk and Spock, so important in the original series, hasn’t yet happened as the film starts. Though the turn of events witnessed by them during its exhilarating end will surely change things for the better. Spock’s idealism, loyalty and courage will be just as supremely tested as Kirk’s when they encounter John Harrison for the first time.

A ship needs its Captain, but a Captain also needs his crew. And Kirk’s got the best in Star Fleet. All of our iconic supporting cast have moments in the sun, but they’re sadly all too brief. Karl Urban’s Dr. McCoy continues to be a fun tribute to the talents of the late, much-missed DeForest Kelly, but, against expectations, he’s yet to form his part of the all-important troika with Kirk and Spock that became so standout in the original series. Perhaps they’ll be a better chance of that with the next film.

A danger-ready Uhura (Zoe Saldana) takes on a mighty foe.

John Cho as Hikaru Sulu and Anton Yelchin as whizz-kid Pavel Chekov get little screen time, whilst Zoe Saldana is mostly wasted as Uhura after such a good entrance and early character development in the first movie. INTO DARKNESS shows her in an on/off moody state over her relationship with Spock. Though its good to see her out and about on away team missions, as Nichelle Nichols interpretation should have been back in the sixties, this talented and beautiful actress deserves better. I don’t want these guys ending up the way the original supporting cast were- basically neglected- in the later eighties TREK films.

And though he has a reasonably good side-plot here, I’m sorry to say that I’m still not a fan of Simon Pegg’s playing of Scotty, making it even more of a stereotype than the stalwart Jimmy Doohan ever did in the series (or even the later movies). And can we please make Scotty a little less of a whinge bag next time, and a bit braver- Jimmy Doohan’s portrayal wasn’t afraid to get stuck into the action when he had to!

With equal and opposite reaction, there has to be a dastardly villain, and the idea of resurrecting and reimagining a classic baddie from the original and legendary film and TV series must surely have proved too irresistible to let go by both PARAMOUNT and the writers. But it also proves a poison chalice in some respects, as their choice of antagonist has a lot to live up to-not only in his villainous interplay with Kirk, but also in having to sustain himself on-screen without coming across as a rehash of the past.

His US fame launched by Spielberg, Brit star made good Benedict Cumberbatch may at first have seemed an unusual choice of villain, but his casting proves wise the moment you see him on screen. Hollywood loves our British thesps too much to not have them play to the dark side, and Cumberbatch’s confident presence as the nexus for INTO DARKNESS is better than I expected- at his finest in the film’s first half when he’s “John Harrison”, as it all builds towards his confrontation with Kirk and co. Cumberbatch spars particularly well with Chris Pine. But who has “the superior intellect”?

A one-man army. The hunted Harrison fights back!

Possessing the impressive, haunting and menacing voice required for the role, Cumberbatch also has a top notch physical frame to back his character up- the terrorist leader with a dangerous secret showing his martial arts training to the fullest during an effective fight sequence against the Klingons (seen in the teaser trailers)- finally getting their brief but memorable time in the sun after their prior deleted participation from Abrams first TREK.

Harrison’s physical strength also shows in an exciting fight between him and Spock, the two opponents possessing similar abilities, in a crowd-pleasing hand to hand sequence whose original green screen filming had previously been leaked out to the world and annoyed JJ Abrams.

Lovers-to-be? Carol Marcus (Aliced Eve) and Kirk.

Rounding out a fine guest cast, Ex-Robocop hero/legend Peter Weller has a bigger part in the film than I anticipated as Admiral Marcus - which is great, whilst British actress Alice Eve plays his daughter, scientist Carol (another deliberate link to THE WRATH OF KHAN), giving a solid and cute performance, though the anticipated romance between her and Kirk fails to materialize – perhaps being saved for another film. Oh, and she’s got a great figure, too.

Keeping the British end up, watch out for a brief but important cameo from DOCTOR WHO’s Noel Clarke as a family man whose worries for his wife and sick child lead to devastating consequences. Finally, in nice continuity to the previous adventure, it’s fun to have Deep Roy back for the ride as Scotty’s little alien helper in engineering, Keenser.

Deliberately keeping a lot of the film Earthbound so as not to alienate general audiences (who, watching a sci-fi film, can’t seem to take in sci-fi environments-explain that to me?!), we get to see a lot more drama and action within the Star Fleet confines of San Francisco, as well as London, which doesn’t have a good time of things after a section of it is blown up in John Harrison’s opening terrorist salvo.

Harrison is having a smashing time in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, on the good ship Enterprise, we notice the familiar ships bridge and a few other places getting some mild set design upgrades, and there’s some new, more expansive corridors making the Federation flagship look like a plush set of modern office corridors than a starship (or is it is vice versa, what with STAR TREK having affected and influenced so many peoples designs lives?). There’s a return to the immense metallic beer factory in Los Angeles for the ships engineering section, and the use of a real-life neutron generator as the ships warp engines, which looks intriguing, though I’d be wary of getting too close to it in real-life in case I actually was transwarped somewhere!

Lively opener aside, the film's main planetary visit beyond the confines of our solar system is the aforementioned Kronos - a dark, ash storm battered world- for the middle of the film. Interestingly, the Klingons seen here aren’t too different from what’s gone before, but at this point in TREK history they are more nomadic and have yet to become a dominant enemy force against the universe, though their first steps are causing problems for the Federation (a scenario that will likely powder keg detonate with the next film!).

Kirk, Uhura and Spock witness a change in fortunes...

A worthy continuance to all the good set-up work which the BAD ROBOT people brought to the table with their 2009 re-imagining, INTO DARKNESS is capably staged by J.J. Abrams, who brings some worthy wow moments to the table that will surely capture your attention. Early criticisms of the films have cited it as being too mechanically driven, but I disagree. It takes a person with an incredible amount of ingenuity and flair to pull off a movie as big as this, and get so much of it right.

There are shocks and surprises in store, too, that perhaps not all die-hard STAR TREK fans will like, and would most likely have made the late Roddenberry a little uncomfortable, but, in this modern movie-making entertainment climate, the series has to take risks to keep earning the box office and win over the demanding general audiences. The 3D is pleasingly achieved (looking greater in IMAX) but ultimately, the plot and characters are rightly considered the all-important reality here.

The STAR WARS-esque adrenaline flavor of the original 1977 to 83 movie series, and a touch of some of the Prequels (an air chase in and out of buildings not dissimilar to ATTACK OF THE CLONES), also feels more prevalent here than Abrams first TREK outing, especially on the action side (I was expecting some lightsabers rather than phasers to light up!)-I’m looking forward to seeing what he’ll be bringing to the George Lucas created universe in 2015 in its directing seat.

It's Enterprise's David versus the Vengeance dreadnought's Goliath in a thrilling space battle.

Spectacular second unit work from Roger Guyett adds to the palette, alongside ILM’s supreme computer generated imagery. The shots of the crippled Enterprise crashing through the Earth’s atmosphere, and the WRATH OF KHAN-esque homage to the Enterprise and Reliant space dogfight fight, the latter a prototype Vengeance-class destroyer (used so evocatively in the newly released teaser poster for the film) are impressively staged. Kudos also to the return of sound veteran Ben Burtt, his ears and microphones attuned anew, along with Matthew Wood, giving their all for the project. And we like that!

Composer Michael Giacchino reprises his majestic score/main title from the first film in several key scenes, alongside the classic TREK theme composed by Alexander Courage, but a lot of his new music ultimately gets lost amongst the visual eye candy and explosions.

So, a success on so many levels, but with a few flaws in its story structure, INTO DARKNESS nonetheless has what it takes to be a box office champ. Abrams and his sterling teams work will keep the TREK flame alive for a few more live long and prosper years to come…

The lovely individual character posters for INTO DARKNESS.

AFICIONADO RATING: Firing its phaser banks to the full, INTO DARKNESS isn’t quite THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK of the new TREK franchise that we were all hoping for, nor does it bring as much creative freshness as we expected. Pretty much an equal-perhaps slightly better- to Abrams first re-imagined adventure, it has a lot of heart and holds itself up high as a spirited summer holiday blockbuster that’s well worth spending two hours plus on. 4 out of 5.

CLASSIC REVIEW: 'THE SOUNDS OF STAR WARS' BOOK

THE SOUNDS OF STAR WARS

By J.W. Rinzler 


Foreword by Ben Burtt

Published by SIMON & SCHUSTER

Reviewed by Scott Weller

Years ago, Steven Spielberg stated in a BBC TV interview that when watching a first cut of a film without music it was “dead”. I think that he also meant the same things with regards to a film without any sound design. And when it comes to the sound design for STAR WARS, then the relationship that has to be established between the two states has never been more important, having to work symbiotically to convey the sense of a galaxy far, far away to audiences. From the first films original release in the breakthrough DOLBY STEREO in May 1977 to the release of the final film in 2007, and beyond, these films have been both pioneering and iconic in the way we have heard them. And its all thanks to their equally legendary Sound Designer, Ben Burtt, that we, now, as modern audiences, take the way we listen to a film or television shows soundtrack to a more serious level, appreciating how its complexity and atmosphere can add much to our enjoyment in enhancing the unfolding drama, in a state of accelerated development now going beyond its use in cinemas and entering the confines of our own home cinema sound systems. No longer restricted to the old Mono systems of our youths, modern entertainment requirements both respect and demand great sound!

And as for STAR WARS, can you imagine that incredible universe without the mighty overhead rumbles and laser blasts of the descending Imperial Star Destroyer as it fires down on its Rebel Blockade Runner prey? Or the twang, twang blasts from Imperial Stormtrooper guns, the emotionally attuned baby-like bleep bleep bleeps of Astro Droid Artoo Detoo, the growls and emotionally resonant mumbles from Chewbacca the Wookiee, or the distinctive quietly powerful hum and slashing movements of the lightsabers as they spring into action? And what about those exciting sounds of the X-wing fighters as they blast down to the Death Star surface.

Ben Burtt in his original sound design basement room at George Lucas's Park Way, for the original STAR WARS.

Ben Burtt’s incredible contributions to all six STAR WARS movies haven’t just been linked to sound, either. He’s also worked on the films in numerous positions for LUCASFILM over thirty odd years, from his main job he would in early days assist ILM’s various departments and finding computer graphics artists, then to effects photographer and second unit director, and evolve from being a writer to an editor, and pretty much one of the few people around throughout the sagas genesis and production inception from 1975, so his knowledge of their making, and all the amazing stories and anecdotes he’s been a part of, are not only invaluable but many of them have also never been told to the fans, especially in relation to the important development of his own unique audio creations.

Now, THE SOUNDS OF STAR WARS, written by J.W. Rinzler, finally tells that deserved to be told story, chronicling not only Burtt and STAR WARS, but the things before, between and beyond it that have influenced his love and work within the sound industry. It’s an ambitious, nicely written, informative, and almost definitive work on the subject. Rinzler’s continued eloquent prose nicely accompanies Burtt’s reminisces, the pair successfully telling the story of how the legendary sounds came together for a landmark book in which STAR WARS fans of all ages can now enjoy and fully immerse themselves into Burtt’s unique sound creations- via some unique accompanying technology- any time and anywhere they want to.

In Los Angeles, recording potential blaster twangs.

Starting off with a nice little family history of Burtt and how sound and sound design became an integral part of his life, we then see the genesis of his own desires in creating sound design geared towards a more organic and believable nature, mixing the familiar with the not so familiar. In those important formative years he talks about the sounds he liked to listen to in his favourite movies and pays special nostalgic tributes to those amazing sound designers of yesteryear and the classic films they worked on that would inspire him. The book follows his love of the medium to the point where he decides to pursue it at USC, and then the breakthrough: starting work for George Lucas on a little film then called THE STAR WARS, as Burtt tells of the build up of tension, anxiety and excitement in the wake of its making and release, linked with further great mentions of other classic sound men working in the industry as he was starting out (like acclaimed film-maker Walter Murch) or following in his footsteps, like the sterling sound entrepreneurs that are David Accord and Matthew Wood, who are now continuing his Burtt’s tradition and maintaining his unique universe of sound continuity with THE CLONE WARS TV series.

Wonderfully nostalgic in places, Burtt’s love of movies, science fiction, and action adventure in and out of STAR WARS is clear to see. The camaraderie and team spirit working in post production on STAR WARS continues, which was then very much “X-the unknown” with regards to whether the film and its numerous ingredients would be a success and strike a chord with audiences, and whose quick success no one truly predicted, though Burtt recalls being enthused with what continuing footage he was seeing and adding sounds to.

From that early first work on the sounds of the lovable Wookiee Chewbacca in 1975 onwards, the challenges and often great difficulties of creating a unique and distinctive sound mix on the original film is well documented here, like Burtt’s clashes with the film’s experienced sound mixer Stan Shaw and his equally veteran team to not use stock sound effects used in other films and TV programmes. To create something totally unique but accessible for the film without being too distracting rather than using existing old sounds that would take the viewer completely out of the fresh cinematic experience.

Two of the interior spreads for the new book.

Then, with the sequels, beginning with 1980’s THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, the inevitable and unenviable challenge of living up to the expectations of the first film and deliver the goods each time, not just with the Classic Trilogy but with the Prequels, which eventually arrived from 1999 onwards, comes to the forefront. And it’s not just the challenge of the advancing expectations of the films and how to top them, either. There’s also the ever evolving and improving technology itself (presented in fine detail for all budding sound designers and editors to find out about), which was being used to record the sounds, which often provided their own challenges and complexities.

As we follow the greatest assembly of STAR WARS sounds ever in one publication, we can hear how the use of old and new in an organically recognizable but still fantasy environment, has been achieved in a meticulous and thoughtful way by its originator, of which more than one element has often been uniquely combined, and often from the most unexpected and also unlikely of sources, which ultimately prove perfect when used in the films. It’s a pot pourri that readers of all ages will enjoy hearing, Many hundreds of classic sounds from the films and animated series are included, intriguingly not all of which made it into the finished movies or in their full durations (loved Bossk’s talking!), including some variations on classic sounds, and others that didn’t make the final film cuts, mostly collected from the original recorded sources but some from archived time coded DVD copies for the best quality possible.

Delving into the books unique but easy to use sound play system, it must have been so much fun for Burtt to work from scratch in building the important background environment noises to alien worlds, with evocative locations like the swamp world of Dagobah or the Forest Moon of Endor, as well as the voices of the many languages from creatures like Jabba the Hutt, Greedo and others.

Burtt adds the sounds to the classic lightsaber duel from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

And, as well as ancillary, but equally important, sounds linked to the backgrounds of scenes, there’s also the great sounds rarely heard in the films, like Vader’s damaged TIE fighter from STAR WARS, with its dorsal fins and engines spinning out of control, plus intriguing creations like EMPIRE’s Imperial Probots. There’s also some of my favourite sound effects, old and new, large and small, from the saga within the books pages, including the Emperors death scream, Nien Nunb talking, and the lightsaber deflection (all three from JEDI) and subtle but funny little things like Jabba the Hutt at the Pod Race flicking over a poor little Nuna bug (from THE PHANTOM MENACE)!

And let's not forget the Mynocks, Walkers, Emperor’s hologram, firing Snowspeeder tow cables and things like that-even Boba Fett’s cowboy inspired spurs!-which add to the fun completism. And, hoorah, Burtt gets some mentions in to the Lucas derided HOLIDAY SPECIAL, the STAR WARS SPECIAL EDITION releases from 1997, plus a detailed feature on the famous Wilhelm scream –its origins and its appearances in all six STAR WARS films!

Naturally, this book is about sound rather than hearing the actors voices saying classic dialogue (you can go on to STAR WARS.COM to hear all that), but its still nice to hear the occasional actors voice in the book complimenting the sound design, like Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill (screaming the now classic: “That’s not true. That’s impossible!”), Peter Cushing or Sir Alec Guinness, though there’s intriguingly very little of that with the Prequel Trilogy sections, which is a bit of a shame. The only actors voice track sound related that I would liked to have heard which isn’t in the book is Princess Leia’s full hologram speech/plea- it would have been fun to have had one of Carrie Fisher’s original and numerous dialogue takes included. 

On set at Elstree, Burtt gives the Ewok actors a listen of what the creatures voices will sound like.

One of the best sections of the book is related to the sound design during the making of RETURN OF THE JEDI. As we have not yet had the hopefully to be third book on the making of the film from Rinzler (keep on buying those copies of the MAKING OF EMPIRE, guys and gals!), there’s some excellent behind the scene information in there, linked to the studio filming and sound design, that I wasn’t previously aware of (and that Luke in the cave deleted sequence, seen at CELEBRATION V for the Blu-ray release, is also talked about. Prepare for further fan controversy!). There’s also other fascinating and intriguing bits of behind the scenes history scattered throughout that I wasn’t previously aware of, either (like how EPISODE III’s classic ORDER 66 sequence was originally planned as part of the finale of EPISODE II, with the Geonosian Arena and Jango Fett helping to initiate it), which is great to discover.

As Classic makes way to Prequel, the sounds are a bit sparser in their selection, and there’s hardly any character dialogue for them at all which is a bit of a shame, but there’s still some memorable elements in there to be enjoyed, like the classic sound section devoted to the ingenious seismic charges during the Obi-Wan/Jango Fett asteroid chase.

There’s also Burtt’s pioneering work beyond STAR WARS, too, like the Indiana Jones films, and, as a fan of STAR TREK since the early days, his sterling work combining much loved hybrid old and new sound designs for its latest re-imagining from director JJ Abrams. And, as he previously did with Artoo Detoo, how could we forget his work in providing the adorable noises and sounds to everyone’s favourite lone cleaning robot, WALL-E.

Backed up with some great rare colour and black and white imagery from all the films, some of it presumably unused material that couldn’t be crammed in to Rinzler’s first two making of books on the Classic Trilogy, its amazing to me that a project of this kind has never been done before. There have previously been a few dalliances in sounds, especially with toys, over the years, but not a proper book on the subject. Perhaps the costs and quality control are now just about right to do a project of this type in the publishing world.

With the STAR WARS sound design torch now passed onto his successors, Burtt has been deservedly a much in demand freelance within the movie industry. Fortunately, though, his new career hasn’t stopped him from taking on future LUCASFILM assignments beyond the adventures of Luke Skywalker and co. New sound horizons loom as Burtt re-teams with Lucas for the upcoming World War II movie RED TAILS, the famous true story of the Tuskagee airmen, of which we’re sure that sounds old and new will be used with the same kind of enthusiasm and dedication from Burtt that we have always expected and greatly appreciated. In the meantime, however, as we await his new accomplishments, THE SOUNDS OF STAR WARS is a fine tribute to his work, and, in a year of amazing new STAR WARS book release, this is yet another must have book for your shelves.

AFICIONADO RATING: With nearly thirty years worth of stories in the film industry and for Lucasfilm and STAR WARS, this book is a veritable gold mine of information for not only STAR WARS fans but people who are interested in the phenomenon and experience of sound and sound design full stop. It’s also just a lot of fun to hear the superb sound effects. 9 out of 10

How Ben Burtt Designed The Sounds Of Star Wars | Co.Design | business + design