Customer Reviews

George Lucas

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This book is the antithesis of the usual sycophantic, revering style biographies of living people is written in. Clocking in at 406 pages, it includes history and facts, but also much to my chagrin, frequent analysises of the subject's character, almost all of them devastatingly negative. The authors view on whether Lucas created the blockbuster mentality or not, should have been included in a book of its own. Baxter seems to have gone in writing with the presupposition that Lucas is a cold-hearted money-hound and written the book from there. No chapter fails to mention either his greed, antisocial traits or lack of emotion. I have no trouble with honest biographies, but this one seemed a little bit much.

For all its faults, though, it's an intriguing read, with lots of gossip, industry insider information and explanations of special effects. There are many pictures, most of them good, and they really flesh out the book.

It's one thing to chronicle a man's life clearly (and a biographer of any notable subject ought to have the professional courtesy to address the notions out there about his subject, then dispassionately analyze and either support or reject them) and another to set out to prove a set of pre-conceived notions. Baxter, much as he did with his Kubrick biography, already decided that Lucas was a cold-hearted [...] who took credit for everyone else's work and from a few cliche'd ideas, made a fortune.

Notwithstanding that this is precisely what a producer's job is, Baxter focuses on every negative aspect of Lucas, Coppola and Spielberg's lives. There is more than a sense of professional jealousy/envy at work here. It seems as if Baxter has decided that he is going to "out" the hack that is Lucas and prove that his wife, his producer and his special effects technicians should all be given credit over Lucas for Star Wars' conception.

As another review has cited here, the book is crisply written and entertaining, but one does weary of Baxter's negative view after awhile.

Baxter's book is a worthy read, establishing some of the major episodes of Lucas life, without any glamorizing comments about it. There is quite a bit on the making of Lucas' films, not much about his person or his religious views (though some). Overall I think Baxter captures at least one acceptably critical view of Lucas' life, and is worth the read as a balance to the Dale Pollock biography. I would agree with the other reviewers that there is an unnecessary level of critical commentary here. I don't think it went to quite the extent the other reviewers (to date) have made out. Baxter's portrayal of Lucas life covers most of the same events as the Dale Pollock biography, and I really didn't think the book became too critical of Lucas until Chapter 16 (of 26 chapters), which he titled "Twerp Cinema" (Copolla's offhand remark). Why choose for this chapter title the offhand remarks of Coppola over the praise of any one of his fans? Thereafter the criticism does increase, but is not incessant, but does seem to belittle what major accomplishes Lucas has made. So critical yes, but the bias does not seem to skew or distort the major facts of journey of Lucas life, and has some interesting commentary about his personal and business relationships and competition with such figures as Coppola and Spielberg. If you are not expecting a hagiography, you should be satisfied enough with this book.