Customer Reviews

Incredible Cross-Sections of Star Wars: The Ultimate Guide to Star Wars Vehicles and Spacecraft

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Unless You are really, really obsessed with the star wars ships and other vehicles you are probably better off to purchase the visual directory by the same author. The directory has more pages and is more interesting as it looks at all the characters, creatures, weapons and everything else as well as the ships although the ships and vehicles are not in as much detail as the ones in this book.

The detail in this book is very extensive, so if you are fascinated by Star Wars vehicles then this is definitely the book for you. If you wanted a broader picture of the whole Star Wars world then get the dictionary instead. If your a huge Star Wars fan then you'll probably want both.

Even after all three prequels have had their cross section books the original is still the best. You get more details, more vehicles, more explanations of technology than in any other book. I suppose that's the way it should be considering this is the first in the series. If you are a fan of Star Wars and have any interest in knowing how the vehicles work or what's in them this is the book for you.

While this book isn't 100% comprehensive (not all the Star Wars trilogy vehicles are covered) it covers all the important ones like the X-Wing, TIE Fighter (three versions), the Millenium Falcon and much more. You not only get cut away views of these vehicles, but also some interesting information on the history of the ship as well as how they work. The detail that goes into these ships is amazing. And it's not just an artist putting "busy stuff" in the hulls to look technical. A lot of care was put into this one. I would even say this book gives you better information on the ships covered than the very comprehensive Star Wars Guide to Essential Vehicles.

Only about a dozen ships are featured in this book. While that might sound small the details you get make it definitely worth it. So don't fret over the lack of quantity because it makes up for it in quality.

The book itself is definitely a coffee table type book. These Incredible Cross Sections books are the largest in my collection. It's a huge hardbound book with a dust jacket. The dust jacket and cover look identical so you don't lose too much taking out the jacket. While the book is large the number of pages is small so the book ends up really thin, but with only a small amount of vehicles covered I can understand the small number of pages.

The only drawback on this book is the lack of other ships in the trilogy that could really use some exposure like the A-Wing and B-Wing fighters, the Mon Calimari ships and many others. Here's hoping they make a follow up to do just that. I'm guessing if you're interested in this book you either have one or more of the others or are looking to get them. I consider this one a required asset to that collection. Sure the other cross section books are pretty good, but this one is the top dog.

While the new prequel trilogy shows us the most sleek, sophisticated, and mind-boggling ships in the Star Wars universe, the ships of the original trilogy are like cars from the 1950s...they'll always remain loved. Sure the Millennium Falcon doesn't look as dignified as Episode 1's Republic Cruiser or as stylish as Padme's yacht in Episode 2, but you don't exactly get a regular chance to see the insides of the Death Star, do you? Although there are probably a few people out there that like this book because the Empire's hardware is disected, I enjoyed this because of the more personalized craft such as the Millennium Falcon, the original Slave 1, and Jabba the Hutt's sail barge, as well as more industrialized vehicles like the Jawa Sandcrawler. I'm just one man, but it gives me a smile twelve parsecs wide to go through this book and think "Now if I owned this ship..." Han Solo always bragged about how much he modified his ship. Well, now you can check out just how screwed up the Millennium Falcon really is! Or if you ever wondered how Jabba the Hutt managed to get his greasy butt onto his sail barge then you'll want to at least glance through this book.

Where do I start? This book is amazing! I am a full fledged Star Wars fan, but since I don't own Fort Knox, I can't afford to buy all of the merchandise. As a result I have to be extremely picky about which items I purchase. I had only to see the Millennium Falcon drawing on the cover, and I was hooked!

I have read The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, but I found the information contradictory to previously published material, and a bit amateurish. Incredible Cross Sections does such a well-thought-out job, and is worded so well, that you almost forget these things don't exist! The gate-fold spread of the Death Star is absolutely incredible! The detail is also carefully executed, right down to the gold-foil insulation on the air ducts in the Millennium Falcon. Everything a Star Wars Technophile could want is in this book. I highly recommend buying the companion book as well: The Star Wars Visual Dictionary.

All I can say is, More! I would love to see another edition of this book containing some of the other vehicles.

Highly Recommended!

You're going to ask yourself right up the front: Do I need to have another book like this? Star Wars Incredible Cross-Sections basically gives detailed information about vehicles and spacecraft in the galaxy far, far away. But don't The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, The Star Wars Encyclopedia, a Starlog blueprint magazine or two, and assorted editions of West End Games RPG sourcebooks all do that in one form or another?

Oh, yes. But not like this.

X-RAY VISION The review copy I received revealed truly "incredible," intricate drawings like in no other Star Wars book to date. Illustrators Jennsen and Chasemore (who do this type of work for jet aircraft, military vehicles and other real world machinary) put more detail into these drawings than a scanner can adequately show you.

What they've done is rip away parts of the exterior and interior of various vehicles and spacecraft to show you, from a 3/4 view, the hallways, hangers, machinary and other inner systems and components both familiar and newly-created. For example, you'll get to see the hallway from the Millennium Falcon cockpit lead to the interior where Chewbacca threatened arm-rippage and Ben patiently opened a new world for farmboy Luke Skywalker - and you can see those characters in position!

Author David West Reynolds (who also wrote Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary) has obviously spent long hours researching his topic. In these drawings, you'll find the hallway on the Tantive IV where Vader choked Captain Antilles, as well as the passageway where Princess Leia sent Artoo Detoo on his mission to find Obi-Wan Kenobi. You'll also discover an exquisite gatefold unlocking the interior mysteries of the first Death Star - including hanger bays and tractor beam stations.

From the systems of Boba Fett's Slave I to the workings and troop/storage capacity of the Imperial's All Terrain Transports, this book gives the Star Wars fan a true visual feel of how these machines would be put together.

It's almost a shame that so many of the other books I mentioned previously have already been released - many fans may feel put off buying a book of a topic that seems more than adequately covered previously. But if they don't, they'll be missing a real treat.

ECHO STATION Grade: A

A fun look inside the beloved spacecraft of the Classic Trilogy of Star Wars movies, the book delves into the histories, relationships between, and (pseudo)science behind such iconic vehicles as the Millennium Falcon, the Imperial Star Destroyer, TIE fighters, X-Wings, the Death Star, Slave 1, and so on. A book of incredibly detailed cutaways and well-considered textual notes, this collection nonetheless feels a little thin and less detailed than the companion volumes created for the Episodes I-III, which possess a more premeditated backstory and are rendered in almost exasperating detail. In fact, the volumes for the Classic Trilogy and those for Episodes I-III could be said to warrant criticisms similar to the movies themselves -- the original films/volume feature a whiz-bang melodrama with exciting places and artifacts that allude to an unseen galactic history thousands of years deep, while the new episodes/volumes display the baroque details of thousands of years of galactic history and politics without the unifying resonance of a compelling drama to bring them fully to life. However, I would recommend all the volumes for children of all ages who like to dream and marvel over how things work, or might work, on Earth or in a galaxy far, far away.

Big pictures with very fine details.

The Millenium Falcon, The Death Star, Star Destroyers etc... All are represented with some surprising details that are not represented in the Trilogy. Only one gripe is that this book covers all three Movies so a few popular items are missed (Death Star 2 etc).

This book was beutifuly mastered with clear cutaways of star wars viechles, starships, and planets. I,myself would reccomend this book to anyone interested in star wars genre.

The beautifully illustrated DK duo cover characters, costumes, and weaponry in the Visual Dictionary, while the Cross Sections book dissects vehicles and spacecraft. Want to know how a light saber really works or what the interior of an Imperial Stormtrooper's helmet looks like? It's all in here. The most remarkable thing about the books is the amount of thought that's been expelled on the workings of things that don't even exist. The DK books are seriously cool and exceedingly browsable. Though aimed at kids, don't be surprised to see plenty of adults flipping through them also.-Michael Rogers, "Library Journal"

This book has it all! I especially found the information about the Y-wing very interesting. The only problem is that I feel it excludes some very important ships, The A-wing, the TIE bomber, the "Rebel cruiser," the Mon Calamari cruiser, and the Lambda shuttle. But that is unimportant, since this is one of the best Star Wars books out there.

(By the way, they are supposed to be proton torpedoes!)