Rating: 
Summary: Success Story
Review: On the surface, Robert Mckee appears to be one of those slick Hollywood types who trounces across the globe, charging hundreds of dollars a ticket for his seminars and rousing the masses into thinking that yes, they too can sell the next million dollar screenplay. I don't like those types.Fortunately, I suspended my judgement long enough to read Robert Mckee's "Story," and I realized that this guy really seems to know his stuff. Moreover, I got the impression that he was holding nothing back in his attempt to help me, the reader, to write a better screenplay. "I've written Story," Mckee says, "to free you to express an original vision of life." The book goes a long way toward fulfilling this promise. I've read several other screenplay books (Linda Seger, Lew Hunter, Ronald Tobias), and this is the clearest, most complete screenwriting guide that I've found. Unlike many of the others, this one spends the most time answering that most difficult question, "What makes a good story?"--and it answers it in ways that are entertaining and easy to follow. You may be wary of the length (at 400+ pages, it's a hefty tome to lug), but I assure you--the length is a good thing. Mckee uses the space to explain each concept in great detail (the list of films he uses as examples takes up 33 pages at the end of the book), and in many cases this extra explanation makes a big difference. I had more "Ah-ha!" moments of understanding in this book than I've had in all other film books I've read combined.
Rating:
Summary: A treasure trove of information
Review: I have found Robert Mckee's insights to be immensely helpful and would highly recommend this book to anyone who is seriously interested in a screenwriting or other literary career. It certainly is not the kind of book that can be polished off over the course of a couple of subway rides. The material is actually pretty cumbersome in places requiring paragraphs to be re-read several times in some instances, but the information is invaluable. It also might be more meaningful for the novice writer to complete a first draft of a screenplay utilizing some of the other books available such as Syd Field's "Screenplay", etc. before reading Robert McKee. The information may be easier to digest after having acquired some knowledge of screenplay writing and applied to the re-write, but the material is definitely well worth reading. I know it has made a tremendous difference in my writing. And as for those who claim this book was of no use to them--I wonder where all the antagonism comes from....nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head forcing them to buy the book or attend the seminars! McKee's "greed"??? I'm grateful to Robert McKee for sharing his knowledge and insight with those who wish to benefit from it, and at the reasonable cost of a hardcover book that will certainly remain a reference book on the writer's shelf, right next to the Thesaurus. I say, buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable advice on the core of writing
Review: I approached Story with caution. Some early browses were inconclusive. Once I got it home, all that changed. No book will make you a doctor. Or a writer. But along the way we need to be shocked out of self-created conventions and McKee does that. He offers paradigms that make real achievement possible. His discussion of the goals and values of writing are nearly Shakespearian in their command. I'll return to enumerate some of them, but for now let me assure you that Story offers a vision available nowhere else.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable must-have "bible" for any story writer/teller-
Review: I bought this book at the suggestion of a friend who recently signed a six figure book contract. He told me he's taken McKee's workshop three times. I've made my living as a full time writer for national publications, and now write part time. This book is a world treasure. McKee should get a combination Nobel and Pulitzer-- a Nobel, because he has elucidated a science of story creation. A Pulitzer, because it is a literary work with the potential to influence so many. It not only serves as a tremendous help to the story teller, but I detect in it deep insights into the human condition that could be used as the foundations for new models of psychology and philosophy. This man is deep, yet so plain speaking, the book reads very smoothly. My copy is marked up with tons of notes, underlines and asterisks in the columns. It's one book I know I will be referring back to again and again. I bought it with the hopes of moving past a plateau I had reached on a novel I started 10 years ago. As I read on, page after page, chapter after chapter I kept saying to myself "Omigod," as his observations and rules led me to new insights into how to improve my story, my characters, my scenes, settings, and so much more. By the time I'd finished the book I knew I could finish my story. I don't have the story climax yet, but I know, that by using his techniques, it will come to me. And I know that my story, which already passed his most important test, is 1000% better.
Rating:
Summary: A Screen Writer's Bible!
Review: This book is by far the best of its kind, and is also more useful to me than the many writing courses I've taken over the years. It's truly extraordinary how McKee is able to distill universal forms and principles from a huge variety of narrative writing. One would think such an approach would be quite restrictive, but the opposie is true: by helping the reader understand why and how effective narratives work, and how a writer should approach the creation of a screenplay, a universe of possibilities emerges. The main problem with writing workshops is that their negative approach focuses on a student's work and what's wrong with it. A support group, as the positive counterpart rarely results in genuine improvement. As McKee notes, a lot of writers go through endless revision cycles in the hope of salvaging what's good in their work. When a story is committed to novel or screenplay form, the battle to forge this elemental structure is almost lost. McKee teaches the principles that writers should follow in this critical pre-writing stage as they develop the progression of their narrative. Contrary to some teachings out there, narrative writing can be taught, and the effectiveness of a gifted writer can be improved on. "Story" is a sound investment for any aspiring writer. I can recommend this book without reservations.*****
Rating:
Summary: Learn from the Master
Review: If you look at Robert McKee's list of who has taken his course, it reads like a Hollywood Who's Who. I have both the book and the audio cassette and I have read an abundance of books on screenwriting. This book is the best. Fledgling screenwriters need three tools only - a decent screenwriting software package, determination to tell a decent story and this book. McKee is the best there is, and it is no wonder that this is required reading at most film schools.
Rating:
Summary: Read the Book Skip the Seminar
Review: As a novelist, I long resisted the suggestion of a film director friend to read this book. After all, what could a screenwriting book tell me about the novel form? Well...I was wrong. Story offers sound concepts that can save any storyteller hours of frustration. Story is simply first rate as a tool for diagnosing that horrible sinking feeling we all get when we know something isn't quite right with our tale...but we just can't figure out what. I was so impressed with the book, I signed up for the seminar. McKee is entertaining, sure. But as I sat there with my well-marked copy of the book in hand (shocked, by the way, at how few others had bothered to read the [$$$] book before forking over at least ten times more for the seminar...I mean these are writers, right...and writers supposedly read?), it became painfully clear that McKee was simply marching through the text, page by page, using exactly the same examples, usually verbatim. If you are intelligent enough and sufficiently committed to your craft to read Story closely (and I mean closely, with a pen and highlighter), the seminar is a waste of time and money. Other than a scene-by-scene analysis of Casablanca and McKee's personal thoughts on politics and religion, it simply does not go beyond the book in any meaningful way.
Rating:
Summary: All you need.
Review: In my opinion, with any art form being taught, a teacher can only take a student to a certain level, where, once reached, it is up to the student's creativity and talent to judge if he or she will be successful. As far as screenwriting goes, McKee's book, on its own, will take you to that level. I honestly feel that this book, coupled with The Screenwriter's Bible (because of its great section on formatting), is all you need to be a professional, paid, successful, and downright good screenwriter. I read the book twice through, highlighted the important information the second time, and now I read through the book once a week storing the highlights to memory. McKee doesn't teach you formula, instead he tells you and analyzes what makes a story a story. Going further with that, he then teaches you what makes a great story. Some may think that this is formulaic, but it isn't. McKee has simply stated the similiarities between all the great stories, not just movies, throughout history, and your knowledge of this will help you in crafting your own great piece. I would write even more, but if you have read more reviews than this, what I have written is surely redundant. But I'll say it, is as they all have, this book is all you need.
Rating:
Summary: The encyclopedia of screenwriting
Review: I've taken screenwriting courses and seminars, been to a university for film and creative writing, and I can safely say McKee's book is the purest form of breaking down screenwriting I've ever read. From stem to stern, the book is a road map to developing your screenplay in a systematic, thorough and fleshed out manner, leaving no major stone unturned, revealing all the working parts. If you are a beginner or well rounded writer, there is plenty to be gained by McKee's perspective. Some of the material in here has been glanced or appropriated by other screenwriting books, but none do the in depth look like 'story' does. 'Story' can at time be a very mechanical read, simply because of the vast amounts of information he is delivering. The book is also (thankfully) not going to tell you where to find material to write about, or suggest what kind of material to develop. This book illuminates the conventions of screenwriting, so having a working knowledge of structure is a bonus in pushing you through the book. Regardless, the book can be inspiring and empowering, giving you insight into potential holes in your craft or literating concepts that are elusive.
Rating: 
Summary: Bold and Spicy like steak sauce
Review: Aside from learning the mechanics of writing, read this book to appreciate the great purism and passion that Robert Mckee holds for the craft. McKee pulls out all the stops here, especially with regards to genre and characterization. Good Stuff.
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