• Inside the Star Wars Empire

  • A Memoir
  • By: Bill Kimberlin
  • Narrated by: Johnny Heller
  • Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (24 ratings)

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Inside the Star Wars Empire

By: Bill Kimberlin
Narrated by: Johnny Heller
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Publisher's summary

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

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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1 person found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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

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