This stuff was so amazing when it came out, I remember most of these pics from the novel that I got in spring 77, before the movie came out. It was so completely fantastic, different from anything else, and frankly a lot different than how it developed over the films. That mystery back then was part of what made it all SO cool!
I always loved Star Wars 1977 so much. Star Wars 1977 along with Raiders of the Lost Ark are both my absolute favorite Lucasfilm movies, it had great direction by George Lucas, and Star Wars 1977 is the all time best film of Star Wars. Star Wars 1977 was the big film that came out six months after Rocky with Sylvester Stallone and King Kong 1976 with Jeff Bridges in May 1977, I also really like both Rocky and King Kong from 1976, and Rocky was Sylvester Stallone's best film. I always had a soft spot for King Kong 1976, King Kong 1976 was a pretty good film, and the absolute best things about King Kong 1976 were Jeff Bridges's performance, the John Barry music score, and Rich Baker as King Kong.
This is awesome. I love the old font, and those are cool photos. I've been watching old sitcoms, and Laverne and Shirley (massive fan) has some subtle similarities with 77 Star Wars, but it came out in 76. Rocky also is from 76 (and Taxi Driver). Godfather 1 and 2, Mean Streets, American Graffiti, All in the Family (earliest) and other sitcoms were earlier though. (It's interesting Lynch in Dune 84 (misunderstood and underrated) tried to do retro 60s and serious but failed, while 77 SW was contemporary and only subtlely retro and fun. I think Lucas tried to do his Dune in the prequels.)
I first started seeing these images when I was 4 or 5 years old. However, even after all these decades, they still inspire the same sense of excitement and wonder as they did in the 1970s.
Back round 1987, I bought this book and several lobby cards and a Lucite paperweight from Gary Kurtz himself! See, Starlog magazine ran an ad where he was selling off the bulk of his SW collection and you would order a booklet and bid on what was left. He already auctioned off all his cool stuff, so all was left was like paper goods. Gosh, I wish I had all that stuff now! I had piles of drafts and files!! Ugh!!!
@@Sci-Fi-Mike the one I have came with a paper cover or a thicker-paper cover with a a textures imbose. I got the textured one. I saw a box of 20 of them on ebay about 20 years ago for 40 bucks. I should have bought them.
This is really cool. This would be great to go with the Star Wars soundtrack. The Princess Leia with Darth Vader's picture probably from general photography. I like that photo, I've never seen that one before. Thanks for showing this. Thanks for the video
I've never seen this before! I used to have one of the promo books. They sold at the theaters for $1.50 during the initial release in 77. It has a lot of the same pic & probably text. The 2nd printincg of the novel, & the Time magazine review (which called it ,"The Best Film Of The Year!") do as well. My guess is that Lippincott was given a limited set or stills & the McQuarie paintings for promotional purposes in those early days... By August, it would explode! Damn near EVERY shot was available! Both Starlog & Famous Monsters released special issues entirely focused on Star Wars! I miss those days...
Very cool book! Most of the images were reused for the blue & red Star Wars bubble gum cards. The last x-wing tie-fighter picture was one of the red cards I think, it was cropped vertically with an upside down Death Star above them!
They made 3 different versions of this booklet the textured version is a reprint from late 70’s because they ran out that’s why some pages have the pink overtone and there’s even a prototype on sale online for 50 grand
I actually have a version of that with a different cover. I got it back in '77 when I went to see the movie. The one your showing is probably the first edition, but it's essentially the same.
They have a lot of Star Wars music on Archive... And I remember seeing a black and white version of that Princess Leia with Darth Vader in an back issue of Starlog I believe. I set myself up early (to not being able to enjoy anything) because I wanted to know absolutely everything that I could about Star Wars when I was a kid and I got no answers until the nineties. Didn't they count like 30 or 40 Rebel ships versus how many of the ships were actually shown destroyed in the movie.
