Rating: 
Summary: A comprehensive cross-section of the art for Episode II
Review: "The Art of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" would be worth it just for providing the complete shooting script, altered to match the dialog of the final cut. That said, it's valuable for much, much more. Mark Cotta Vaz has compiled a diverse sampling of the hundreds and hundreds of drawings/paintings/sculptures created for designing the latest entry of the Star Wars saga. All five planets from the film - Coruscant, Kamino, Naboo, Tatooine, and Geonosis - are featured prominently from character designs, to location designs, to costume designs to lighting designs. A notable addition since Episode I is Dermot Power, noted for his work on Judge Dredd and Batman, whose comic book style contributions will make this book valuable to comic fans as well.In addition to the script and the varied high-res artwork, Cotta Vaz fills the remaining space with blurbs detailing the production from start to finish. Many quotes from the artists themselves are featured. As has been mentioned, the hardcover version serves as an elegant coffee table book as well.
Rating:
Summary: A keyhole to the Star Wars Universe expanded
Review: 'The Art of Star Wars' uses some of the best representations of the world that has become the Star Wars Universe: images. The 224 pages are packed with fantastic scenes with everything from ocean cities architecture to Padme's dresses. My interests in engineering and structural design were captivated by the detailed sketches as well as emotionally rich painted scenes. A great find for any Star Wars enthusiast who fancies an expanded look into the styles and genius behind the Universe.
Rating: 
Summary: Missed opportunities.
Review: After having seen a lot of the work for the film and seeing what has made it into this title, I think that a lot of Star Wars, Effects Art Direction and Design fans and students should think they've been let down. It's hard to believe that the group put together to continue the work of Phantom Menace has produced work that's all over the place in terms of quality and effect. Some pieces are staggering; solid designs beautifully drawn and painted with great direction. Others are as simple and cheesy and poorly done as the schlock era of SF illustration and comics. And I'm sorry, but 'poorly derivative' comes to mind a lot... too much. Granted, it's tough to say what stage all of the work here represents in the design process, but if anyone were to tell me all of the sketches and drawings were considered complete before they were put up for review, I'd laugh. The talent of the group in the Art Dept at the Ranch and in support of the film is undeniable, but to see this as the cumulative, public face of their output is sad. Decent book if you want to study what to avoid as well as where to aim. The inclusion of the script isn't necessary, and perhaps would have been better as an Illustrated/Storyboarded screenplay in its own title.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the Episode I book...
Review: As excited as I was about getting this book, I ended up being a bit disappointed in it. I'd recently purchased the "Art of Episode I", and, based on the reviews posted here, I was expecting more of the same. Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. Most of the artwork in this Episode II book is final production art, showing only the *last* piece of concept art, as it was approved by George Lucas. I've seen the film, I didn't need to see drawings of those same characters. Rather, I wanted to see the *concept* art, leading up to the final designs. Does Cotta Vaz expect me to believe they drew only ONE picture of Dexter Jettster, and George approved it? The Episode I book had an entire chapter devoted to the development of the Gungans, but here we get only a page or two per character/location/ship. There are only a few instances in the book where we actually see concept art that differs from what was shown in the film. Comparing the two, there's a lot more writing in this one, interviews with the artists, etc. This takes up quite a bit of space that could better be used for more artwork. As for the artwork itself, I was quite impressed. The drawings maintain the same high level of professionalism and detail I came to expect. I wasn't too impressed with the digital paintings, I would have preferred more concept work. The script in the back of the book certainly takes up space. I've seen the film, and I have the novelization, I don't need the script, especially in a book that's not about the script. In answer to the observation below about how this script is different from the film, well of course it is. The shooting script NEVER matches what's on-screen, it just doesn't happen. In regards to the Original Trilogy scripts, those are reverse-written based on the films themselves, that's why they match perfectly. From Lucas' own mouth, he's said that some of the lines in ROTJ were improvised right on-set, so how could they be in the shooting script? Anyway, to close about this book, I guess I was spoiled by the Episode I book. I expected more of the same, which is exactly what I wanted. Folks' reviews here indicated I would get even more, but I found I got a lot less. It seems another example of the publisher assuming that they know what the audience wants to see.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not that good.
Review: Beautiful illustrations rendered in marker and wonderful costume sketches. A very interesting read, but for the amount of money i paid for it, i expected more. It could have done with some fullblown, full colour screenshots (the final effect after all the study work) and i wished more attention was paid to the panorama of the planets. Coruscant, Naoboo and Tatooine would have been lovely to see; their screenshots taken aerially and spanned over a page. I expected at least some screenshots, sadly there are none. But that aside, everything proved to be a wonderfully 'read'.
Rating:
Summary: Where it all began
Review: From paper to "digital film", this book shows the reader how early concepts develop into what we see on screen. Amazing drawings by Doug Chiang and his desgin team leave you breathless. From the deep levels of Coruscant to the beatufil Naboo plains; from the Jedi outfits to the Superbattledroids, you'll learn how all characters and locales came to be in the new movie of the SW Saga, showing the progress in art and effects. Detailed explanations of each drawing add to the experience. A must for Star wars fans and art aficionadoes.
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars freaks will love this book.
Review: great book for previz artists and star wars freaks like me. includes script with deleted scenes
Rating:
Summary: A must-have for any SW fan
Review: Having a previous background in computer graphics (CG), I really enjoyed the level of artwork that will be shown in this movie. The artists at ILM and Lucasfilm are some of the best in the world, and the work shown in this book verifies that statement. I've only gone through the first 20 or so pages, and the artwork is so reminiscent of the SW work done by Ralph McQuarrie, who created the original storyboards for the original SW trilogy. If the artwork is as good as the movie (and storyline) for EP:II, then this will be one of the biggest movies ever.
Rating:
Summary: great for computer graphics/art students
Review: I been wanting this book since it came out and yesterday my mom bought it for me. It is a great book with tons of ilstrations and paintings, if you liked the art of the lion king or the pearl harbor book last year you will like this. The only thing I don't like is I think they should have given us more art instead of the screenplay word for word, I already have the novel and find this kind of pointless unless you plan on putting on play of the movie, like you really could for something like this. Still I highly suggest this book ...
Rating:
Summary: a must buy
Review: I debated on whether to buy the hardcover or wait until the paperback came out. I was more interested in the clothes designs than anything else. I'm glad I didn't wait! I loved all of it. The art work alone is worth the money for the book. I loved how they talked about the development of the designs from the sets to characters. This is a book worth buying and the hardcover will last a lot longer than the paperback book.
| 
