Traffic: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script Series) [Hardcover]

Stephen Gaghan (Author), Steven Soderbergh (Author)

Book Description

Series: Newmarket Shooting Script | Publication Date: March 22, 2001

Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Director (Steven Soderburgh), Best Supporting Actor (Benicio Del Toro), Adapted Screenplay, and Editing. Winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.

In the Newmarket Shooting Script® format, the only tie-in to the new film by Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Out of Sight), a contemporary thriller set in the world of drug trafficking starring an ensemble cast that includes Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Albert Finney, and Don Cheadle—from USA Films.

From a border policeman in Mexico caught in a web of corruption, to the conservative judge appointed by the President as the new anti-drug czar, to undercover DEA agents fighting a drug cartel, to the wife of a drug baron and the judge's drug-addicted teenage daughter, Traffic evokes the high stakes and high risks of the drug trade, as seen through a series of interrelated stories, some of which are highly personal and some of which are filled with intrigue and danger.

The Newmarket book includes the complete shooting script, an introduction in the form of a conversation between Steven Soderbergh and Stephen Gaghan written especially for this edition, 30 b/w film stills, and the complete credits.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Emmy Award-winning writer Gaghan recently added another trophy to his mantel with his Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for Traffic. The amorphous and morally ambivalent North American drug trade is the tapestry into which three seemingly disconnected stories are woven, involving Mexican border police, the new U.S. drug czar and his teenage daughter, and dedicated DEA agents. Drugs taint everyone, and no character escapes unscathed. Director Steven Soderbergh, who contributes to the introduction, is the frontrunner for the director's Oscar; he's nominated for both Traffic and Erin Brockovich. Production stills and cast and crew production credits are provided. With its significant box office appeal, treatment of large cultural issues, and awards attention (it's nominated for a total of four Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay), this belongs in all popular film collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Stephen Gaghan wrote the screenplay for Rules of Engagement and teleplays for TV's The Practice, American Gothic, and NYPD Blue, for which he won the 1997 Emmy for Best Dramatic Writing. His short fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review. He lives in Los Angeles. Steven Soderbergh also directed Eric Brockovich, Out of Sight, Gray's Anatomy, The Limey, Schizopolis, The Underneath, King of the Hill, Kafka, and sex, lies, and videotape for which he won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Soderbergh's Out of Sight received Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Newmarket Press; 1 edition (March 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557044821
• ISBN-13: 978-1557044822
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,412,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great education tool, January 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Traffic: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script Series) (Paperback)

This edition of the screenplay to "Traffic" is great for a number of reasons. One of which is that they have kept the edition in its shooting draft format, instead of doctoring it to match the version that ended up in the movie theaters. So some scenes are not arranged in the chronology that they appear in the finished film, which is a good insight into the filmmakers' process in putting the film together in the editing room. Another reason is the actual physical formatting of the text, which they have left alone in the standard script format with the courier new font. The conversation between the writer and the director in the introduction of the book reveals how the project originated and their reaction to critics' responses to the film. My only minor complaint is the fact that they did not publish the earlier draft of the screenplay; they have omitted the scenes that did not make it into the shooting draft. For educational purposes it would have been better had they included the omitted scenes, and simply note that they were taken out of the shooting draft (preferably with some explanation as to why they did so, but mere inclusion would have sufficed).

Over all this is a great edition but I would wait to get the early draft which will inevitably become available on the Internet in the months to come.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very realistic!, January 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Traffic: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script Series) (Paperback)

The movie looked more like a docudrama or a special report than a fictitious thriller. Traffic is very realistic. Soderbergh, the cast and the film crew did an excellent job. To have the shooting script is another advantage and for film aficionados and film students this screenplay is a "Must" in their collection and valuable resource material. Another powerful thriller that I've recently come across and I very much recommend as the scenes come alive from the written page with one scene after the other like in a movie, is the very realistic and edgy thriller THE CONSULTANT by Alec Donzi.