Hardcover: 162 pages- Publisher: Titan Books; Film tie-in edition edition (November 17, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1848566204
- ISBN-13: 978-1848566200
To coincide with the release of J.J. Abrams STAR TREK on DVD and Blu-Ray, Titan Books has published “Star Trek: The Art of the Film“, a visual companion to the film written by Mark Cotta Vaz. Thanks to our good friends over at Titan Books we were fortunate enough to obtain a preview copy and it is a visually triumphant tome.
“Star Trek: The Art of the Film” is 162 glossy pages of hardcover awesomeness, filled to the brim with fantastic images and a wealth of information about the film. The book includes behind the scenes shots, costume and character designs (both used in the film, as well as some that were left out), conceptual art sketches and paintings and stills from the actual film. Some of the paintings are actually so large that they span and entire page or two and are works of art in the truest sense, so much so that you will almost want to remove them from the book and frame them for display.
The book starts with a foreword by J.J. Abrams himself, where he gives high praise to those who worked with him on STAR TREK and gives them all due credit for his own fearlessness in approaching the legendary franchise. Following the Foreword, we delve into “The Future Begins”. This chapter is where you find the bulk of the text within the book and it provides an in-depth look into the background of the film and charts the process that paved the way through the making of the film, touching on elements of the production process, as well as quotes from the main cast from the film.
After the foreward and introductory chapter, the remainder of the book devotes each chapter to a specific subject pertaining to Abram’s own Star Trek universe. These range from each of Star Trek’s fictional planets and their respective inhabitants, as well as future Earth. It is very nicely laid out in that each planet, each Starship, Starfleet Academy, and even The Kobayashi Maru, are all given their own chapter and are chock full of richly detailed concept art, photos and sketches. Among the most interesting of these chapters is one dedicated to the proposed designs of the new U.S.S. Enterprise with sketches and concept art that truly shows the progression of design.
The book rounds out its artful endeavors with some amazing but ultimately rejected poster designs for the film (which I’d like full size versions of for my own walls).
“Star Trek: The Art of the Film” was written by Mark Cotta Vaz, who’s previous books include “From Star Wars to Indiana Jones: The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives”, “The Complete Star Wars Trilogy Scrapbook”,”Behind the Mask of Spider-Man”, and “The Art of Batman Begins” to name just a few.
“Star Trek: The Art of the Film” is the perfect companion to sit along side your copy of the DVD or Blu-Ray of Abram’s epic film, as it is essentially a more in-depth form of Special Feature, in a glossy, full color hardcover format. So, if you liked the new movie, you will definitely enjoy the full-color pages of this over-sized hardcover book that gives you an insiders view of J.J. Abrams latest version of the Star Trek universe.
I Give “Star Trek: The Art of the Film” Four Out of Five Stars
You can pick up your own copy of Star Trek: The Art of the Film right HERE or head over to Titan Books website for more information.
