Inside the Star Wars Empire

A Memoir

De: Bill Kimberlin

Narrado por: Johnny Heller

Bill Kimberlin may refer to himself as "one of those names on the endless list of credits at the close of blockbuster movies." In reality though, he's a true insider on some of the most celebrated and popular movies and franchises of the past century.

Jurassic Park. Star Trek. Jumanji. Schindler's List. Saving Private Ryan. Even Forrest Gump. And perhaps most notably, Star Wars.

Inside the Star Wars Empire is the very funny and insightful tell-all about the two decades Kimberlin spent as a department director at LucasFilm Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), the special effects studio founded by the legendary filmmaker George Lucas.

©2018 Bill Kimberlin (P)2018 Tantor

Minor memoir

I will listen to almost any title on any topic read by this narrator.

Author was a technical creative professional in the earliest days of Industrial Light and Motion, ILM.

His memoir has plenty of details and trivia that will tickle Star Wars and George Lucas fans or nerds.

It’s rich on the perks and benefits of company benefits and cutting edge innovations. But on the whole it fails to offer a deeper assessment of the digital and commercial revolutions implied by the ascent of ILM.

A valuable documentary of an interesting career

I found this story very insightful into the business of movie making and how SFX have changed over the years.

Not entirely Star Wars, but is about his life

You should know that this is not completely about the movie. He strays into philosophy, the origins of his life, upbringing, his jobs at all other places. The parts about working at ILM are usually nonspecific. The book does give an interesting picture of what it is like to live in California. It does satisfy a lot of curiosities about the movie-making business. The end of it is sort of a commercial for a drag racing documentary movie he made called American Nitro, which I will be buying online very soon.

Rich with stories

Great account of a point of view of filmmaking other books don’t cover. Such a bonus to hear about some very interesting California history.h of

Author Bio-Memories of Lucasfilm

Being a Star Wars fan, I had to listen to this book. The author worked at Lucasfilm for over 19 years. This is more of an author bio with some memories of Lucasfilm. When it does focus on the behind the scenes at Lucasfilm, it is riveting. It is interesting to learn about people who worked there and how some things were done. It is also interesting to note how Lucasfilm the company was run before it was sold to Disney. The author also relates family history besides his story and film interests. Worth it for the behind the scenes tales. Narration by Johnny Heller was great and fit this title.

1 part interesting, 1 part self indulgent, 1 part insufferable.

I appreciate the details of what is was like to work for Lucas during the heyday of Lucasfilm and am respectful of the personal narrative of Mr. Kimberlin within the context of the business but the interwoven stories about family history are out of character with the rest of the book and come off as filler.