The Making of Alien Book Review

Titan Books has published a hardback book titled The Making of Alien available from numerous online retailers and high street book stores. Alien was revolutionary in every aspect of horror and sci-fi when it released in cinemas in 1979 and is classed by many creators within the horror and sci-fi genres as a huge inspiration, alongside being considered as one of the very greatest visionary films of any genre of all time. Alien spawned a blockbuster franchise that spanned multiple decades with such sequels as Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection; complimented by prequels including Prometheus and Alien Covenant as well as numerous videogames such as Alien: Isolation and novels. Does The Making of Alien deliver what it sets out to by producing a detailed celebration of the 40th anniversary of the original Alien film?

The Making of Alien is in incredibly experienced hands as it is written by J.W. Rinzler who was previously the executive editor of Lucasfilm for a decade and a half, although he has had just as much success as an author including New York Times bestseller The Making of Star Wars; London Times bestseller The Complete Making of Indiana Jones; and the number one bestselling graphic novel The Star Wars. Further books by J.W. Rinzler include The Making of Planet of the Apes, alongside an ambitious historical meets fiction novel centred upon the first Space Age titled ALL UP.

J.W. Rinzler’s introduction sets the tone for The Making of Alien with his passion for the original Alien film that he seen when it was released to cinemas in the summer of 1979. The first chapter delves into where Ridley Scott and original concept and script writer Daniel Thomas O’Bannon and co-writer and producer Ron Shusett were in their lives and professions, alongside interview quotes and excerpts from the original Alien screenplay that chronicles May 1968 until spring 1976. The second chapter onwards showcases the reception of the original draft script when it was pitched to studios, how the script gradually evolved and the production of the film as it continuously chronicles important periods of time within the creation of the concept through to the reaction upon its cinematic debut. The epilogue titled Future Nightmares covers subsequent films in the Alien franchise, alongside an appendix including the full cast and crew credits of Alien.

Quality of writing is genuinely impressive as J.W. Rinzler’s approach to The Making of Alien is reminiscent to that of a narrated feature length documentary, albeit with such focus and emphasis on each phase of production. Therefore, there are a lot of facts and events that are covered from the writing and pitching process onwards that even the majority of Alien’s biggest fans would not necessarily know, while interview quotes from people that were at the heart of any of Alien’s fundamental creation processes including Ridley Scott adds finesse to the passionately written chapters.

The Making of Alien is wondrously presented from the excellent hardback front cover design to the back cover design and everything else in between. Front cover artwork focuses upon Sigourney Weaver in the starring role as Ellen Ripley in a spacesuit, while the back cover artwork features a collection of various artistic sketches of how aliens would look and particular scenes, alongside on-set photographs. Meanwhile, there are fascinating on-set cast and crew photographs situated throughout every chapter including original written screenplay scripts and tremendously imaginative storyboards.

The Making of Alien’s value is reflected in the insightful writing, photographs and storyboards within each and every feature that keeps the book feeling fresh throughout the 336 pages that all fans of Alien will want to read and view many times.

Alien fans should also look at other Alien books from Titan Books including Alien: The Blueprints set for release on September 24th 2019, the Alien: Isolation novel and various other Alien novels in volumes containing multiple novels per volume of The Complete Aliens Omnibus:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7

Analysis
• Title: The Making of Alien
• Writer: J.W. Rinzler
• Contributors: Interview quotes from Ridley Scott and production team
• Art: Original storyboards and Alien artwork
• Publisher: Titan Books
• Length: 336 pages
• Cover: Hardback

The Making of Alien can be purchased in the UK from Amazon and Forbidden Planet, while The Making of Alien can be purchased in America and Canada from Amazon. You can also find Titan Books’ official website including a back catalogue of captivating books and product details regarding The Making of Alien.