Light & Magic (2022) User Reviews

This Series Will Blow You Away As It Takes A Peek At Some Of The Greatest Special Effects Used In Cinema History

[rannynm · 10/10 · 28 July 2022]

Light and Magic is a good docu-series to watch, especially if you have ever dreamed of making movies. You can venture behind the scenes of movies created by Lucasfilm, the legendary company founded by George Lucas, which makes all of their Star Wars films and more. Discover how movie magic, or the creation of special effects, is made in each of the six 1-hour episodes.

This series showcases the filmmakers from Industrial Light and Magic, which is the special effects division of Lucasfilm. Light and Magic delivers a deep understanding about the background of some very popular movies, including Star Wars, Transformers and Indiana Jones. It shows how the filmmakers persevere even when things are hard and seem almost impossible. The filmmakers have faith in their vision and share how they follow their dreams when other people say it's not going to work out. It's inspiring for anyone who wants to work in film or other ambitious creative endeavors. Light and Magic mostly focuses on George Lucas' vision, Star Wars, since he's the founder of both Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic, and it is directed by Lawrence Kasden.

In a series that is all about making great movies, of course the production value is great. The music enhances the mood, captivates the audience, builds tension, and makes the resolution more clear. Dramatic music plays as the filmmakers explain how their project wasn't working out, but energetic music plays when the problem works itself out in the end. These episodes feature over 13 people, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Dennis Muren, Ron Howard and many more. These are industry experts that any aspiring filmmaker should know about as they begin their own journey in making movies. Light and Magic also shares many clips from movies as examples to help bring their points to life for the audience.

The message of this docu-series is to persevere even when you are doubtful. This message is something that anyone can relate to, but especially artists who must have faith in their vision. Even people who created great hit movies have once doubted themselves, and new filmmakers can relate to that idea.

I give Light and Magic 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 8 to 18, plus adults. All six episodes are available on Disney+ beginning July 27, 2022. By Samantha P., KIDS FIRST!

the last sentences of Phil Tippet...

[alexanderpfeiler · 10/10 · 28 July 2022]

At the end of the documentary brought me to tears. This is what filmmaking is about, and what should inspire younger generations to carry on this legacy. I'm inspired too.

Ultimate look at ILM

[info-650-994633 · 10/10 · 28 July 2022]

I never knew what binge-watching meant until I appearantly did it myself yesterday 😄 Of course this docu is not for everyone, I mean, you need to love watching 6 hrs of special effects geeks, but I've been waiting for something like this for a long time. The whole thing is a funny, in-depth piece of Heroin For Geeks. What a time it must have been for all these friendly geniuses to work on Star Wars from their little hippie commune. I just couldn't switch this time machine off. Loved it. The definitive, ultimate doc on movie special effects. Edlund, Dykstra, Lucas and all you pioneering heroes: I salute you!

Watching legends

[surfingnaked1 · 10/10 · 28 July 2022]

Everybody know George Lucas but we never knew all the people involved in Industrial light and magic and Star Wars. They are all legends and I don't think there will ever be a story like this again and how wonderful these unknown people are.

So we'll done

[catschasemice9594 · 10/10 · 29 July 2022]

I have to agree with the superlatives in the other reviews. We sit through long credits in titles to see hints for our next film in a series. We do not really pay attention to the crafts folk who give us this magic. The starring column allows us to access the filmography for these innovators. So many entertaining films credited to these artists. Hope there is a season 2.

Feel Lucky To See This

[muratfatih · 9/10 · 29 July 2022]

One of the best shows made in last decade. I'd like to see this job for 10 seasons more. The story of those talented people and their work is inspiring.

Nostalgic Look at a Group of People Who Changed Everything

[Maxax777 · 10/10 · 1 August 2022]

It's really well done, it's super fun...and it just provides a great nostalgic look back at a group of people that changed everything. Let's face it, all of us have seen and enjoyed the work of ILM over the years. I remember seeing Star Wars as a kid and being amazed. I remember T2, I remember The Abyss, and I remember the final evolution being fully realized with Jurassic Park.

It's a great group of people, and a great time in film history! It's a Geek's Delight!

Loved this documentary series!

This is filmmaking.

[yuvrajpoonia · 10/10 · 27 July 2022]

I can finally begin my filmmaking journey. This docu-series taught me so much about how visual effects and cinematography can shape a viewers prespective. And how one scene can be shot at different angles and themes for it feel different or how you want to make audience feel about a certain scene. Even if you're not into directing or flimmaking, this series can provide you an insight on how things atually work or worked back then.

Wish Disney understood Star Wars like George Lucas did, but I guess that ship has sailed.

More magical than ever

[winstonsmith_84 · 9/10 · 1 August 2022]

When I was a kid my parents got me a book for Christmas called Industrial Light and Magic and it detailed how the company made special effects shots for movies.

Anyways it really inspired me at a young age to go into entertainment... movie making... etc.

So it was awesome to see that book sort of get transcribed to a short series like this. Super cool to see the footage and the photos of these guys come to life. I knew who everyone was going into this so it was extra special to see.

Great show. If you love movies and the process that goes into them this is just a must see.

Honestly knowing how these effects are done and the hard work went into them makes it all that much more magical for me...

Insightful documentary with FX legends

[JamesR1973 · 9/10 · 8 August 2022]

I'm guessing for those with a serious interest in visual effects some of the stories told here and archive footage are nothing new. However, for anyone else, this is a thoroughly engaging look at the history of ILM and how techniques have developed over the last 50 years.

The focus is mainly on the early years up until the ground breaking digital effects for Jurassic Park, but there are fascinating interviews with the leading players of the time (John Dykstra, Denis Muren, Ken Ralston etc.) and explanations of the techniques used.

I half expected this to be a gushing PR piece about ILM, and whilst it doesn't portray the company in any negative light (warranted or not), it also doesn't shy away from some of the internal struggles/disagreements between the individuals involved. Whether it really explored those to their full conclusion I'm not sure, but I dare anyone not to feel some kind of emotion when Phil Tippet (and the ILM model shop) realised they'd effectively become "extinct" during the making of Jurassic Park.

My only criticism is that it's a shame they didn't extend this to two seasons and explore the transition to digital more fully. The last part especially, regarding the use of motion capture and the digital volume stages, felt a little rushed.

Interestingly, whilst the move to digital has been fully realised (I'm not convinced that George Lucas really prophesied this as much as has been made out), it may be that the model shop has the last laugh, as it is clear there are some effects that still look fantastic with models utilised in a digitally rendered environment.

Special and affecting

[paul-206-657292 · 10/10 · 24 September 2022]

A beautiful series of episodes that show how ILM grew as a family. Yes, the technology is fascinating and the 'can do' attitude is humbling but what's delightful to observe is the humanity at the heart of the story. For me, the star of the show is Phil Tippett who pioneered so much yet was himself required to change as the industry around him was transformed. His admission to how it affected him was both courageous and touching. That he retained an important place in a world that was turning upside down is testament to his character. Rightfully, he has the last word in the final episode.

This series alone has justified my Disney + subscription.

Hard to understand these RAVE reviews

[B_Dee · 5/10 · 29 July 2022]

Library footage and interviews by Lawrence Kasdan of the handful of white, really wealthy, ILM upper management. Totally tone deaf to the, in 2022, thousands of talented, creative, inventive, skilled workers who contributed to ILM's success for, in the end, substantially less than minimum wage - if any wage at all.

Even on Star Wars, for which the most attention was paid, only a dozen or so of ILM's staff where even shown much less credited.

It's disheartening to see the beginnings of the abusive, consuming, disastrous VFX industry clearly began in the 70s with George Lucas with "something for nothing", unreasonable working conditions, shunning and ghosting - and yet Mr. Kasdan is totally oblivious and makes no attempt to correlate the current state of the industry and the abuse of artists and supervisors.

The Kasdan take-away is: Look at these heroic, genius, innovators change the world.

The reality is: It's easy to appear to change the world when you give no credit, when you innovate on the backs of anonymous workers in working conditions not seen since the 1920s, and do it all using an unsustainable business model (John Dykstra demanding design change orders when in the middle of agreed production and then being ghosted and shunned by Lucas in retaliation).

I give it 5 stars for the library footage and limited perspective therein - can you imagine discussing Empire Strike Back and never mentioning Irv Kershner? You'll find it here!

A simply piece of documentary work.

[amazon-559-19602 · 10/10 · 5 August 2022]

Hands down the single best documentary I have ever watched.

I really do feel this 6 part series has had a profound change t the way I think and want to approach my own work. After watching the "nothings impossible" attitude of the genius's that brought us Star Wars, Raiders, ET. Etc etc, something has seriously clicked in my own head - why can't I think like that.

The series is truly a triumph of documentary filming. This really does give you an insight into one of the most amazing and influential companies on the planet.

I thought I knew a fair bit about ILM, but boy I was wrong, the evolution of the company is nothing but amazing, the other well known names that we have all come to know, Pixar and Photoshop for example just wouldn't exist without ILM and George pushing the team to their limits.

A truly fantastic documentary that I would recommend to anyone who even has a cursory interest into how the movies are made.

Perfect documentary about creativity.

[drescend · 9/10 · 4 August 2022]

I am blowing away while watching these unhuman talents as designer. It doesn't matter if you are into Star Wars, you have to watch this! This is the untold stories how your childhood was made.

Incredible.

[kevinward1976 · 10/10 · 31 July 2022]

Absolutely incredible. This is the best documentary on Disney plus about Star Wars and all other movies ILM have worked on. An absolute must for anyone remotely interested in film making.

Super

[bbigdiddle · 10/10 · 14 August 2022]

I never rate anything at a 10, but this ? Zowee So much fun to watch & there was much new info -even for Lovers of this stuff. I was blown away to learn just who had created the Pignose amp. I had one a few decades back.

I ended binging that out in ONE day.

Man that was good !

Great series

[jwenn71 · 10/10 · 7 August 2022]

Being a star wars fan since the 1st release, this was fascinating to watch and learn how these magicians put these masterpieces together for the fans to enjoy.... Really worth watching if you like the history of Lucas.

how to go from genious to ingenious...

[ops-52535 · 10/10 · 30 July 2022]

A morfing process that the grumpy old man hardly ever have gone through due to i'm still an afraid 16 years old in my head and mind, but still i think that it is the headset that you really need, ENJOY THE GAME, ENJOY THE PLAY, seems to be the walk of life.

Its a super contracted 5 hour plus documentary about the special effect business based in california, called industrial light and magic(ILM) founded by geaorge lucas and friends developing into THE art director in analouge stop motion and digital special effects motion picture making, aka vfx and cgi, from its weenie start in the 1970's and starwars, till today that have resulted in many 100's spectacular blockbusters that wouldve probably gone the turkey lane without its special effects content.

If youre a nerd viewing movies and even still plucking around doing primitive stuff in your own home studio, take a break and view this self acclamative lucas film production, you will not learn the magic of the guild, but it will stand as an inspiration to us all whether you like it or not. The world has definately changed since i was a kid, still being analouge striving through a digital living of today.

Interesting, almost inspiring

[wunderbaum11 · 8/10 · 24 August 2022]

Surprisingly inspiring to watch the story of ILM and how it was connected to so many famous people (other than Lucas and Spielberg), movies, techniques, softwares and companies, such as Pixar, Steve Jobs, Photoshop, James Cameron and so forth.

Funny how the first generation ILM'ers seemed perhaps more likeable, "human", old-school, straight-forward while the new computer-animator-generation seemed a bit more "cocky nerd", efficient, I-am-very-intelligent kind of people but perhaps also with less intuition, emotions and artistic traits. Kind of reminds me of the difference between intuitive, visionary business people and the more robotic, efficient web developers. Everyone seemed like very kind, smart and talented people though.

Anyway, I thought this was gonna be a bit dull and technical, but it added a great deal of human aspect to it. Visual effects are important, but I love how Spielberg put it in the final episode: visual effects' role is to support the story, not be the story, or overshadow the story. If you forget that, then you're on the wrong path. Sounds like something Steve Jobs would say about the users' needs and that user experience is more important than coming up with some impressive technology in itself - tech is first and foremost there to support a great user experience.

The history of something special

[NicolasTheWolf · 9/10 · 21 August 2022]

Industrial Light & Magic has done some of the best and most incredible work in visual effects and to see that in this documentary series is just fascinating. Amazing people doing amazing stuff. Incredible!

I believe that Light and Magic is so great

[samconlan94 · 10/10 · 30 August 2022]

Episodes: 6

Plot: Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan takes viewers on an adventure behind the curtains of Industrial Light & Magic, the special visual effects, animation, and virtual production division of Lucasfilm.

This Documentary is about the making of special effects in movies is a really good one. These footages Including the Star Wars Trilogy, Indiana Jones, Willow and all kinds of movies. I watched the Documentary that includes the Footage of the Theatrical Cuts of the Trilogy but it's a great one so these footage is blowing my mind. The fans will love the documentary.

10/10

Now Streaming on Disney+

Such a fun time watching this

[protopopescudaniel · 9/10 · 28 July 2023]

This mini series are trully entertaining to watch and such a fun experience. You found out about all this stuff and how the industry evolved through time and the people behind Star Wars and so much more. The special effects, the tricks, the struggle and how they started friendships along the way. ILM really made movies looking and feeling more real and enjoyable. The people that worked there put their passion and soul into this projects, you can see that through all the episodes. George Lucas not only created Star Wars and Indiana Jones but also brought together this group of individuals and brought a new view to special effects and how cinema is done.

Very Inspirational!

[rinardcreative · 10/10 · 22 August 2023]

I didn't know how much George Lucas pushed the film industry forward into the digital age. He didn't just say that there has to be a better way and just dream about it for the rest of his life. He built a better way with a great team of people. He is the Steve Jobs of the film industry.

I didn't know how much George Lucas pushed the film industry forward into the digital age. He didn't just say that there has to be a better way and just dream about it for the rest of his life. He built a better way with a great team of people. He is the Steve Jobs of the film industry. He is the Steve Jobs of the film industry.

Best series about teams and leading

[denisdennehy543 · 10/10 · 15 February 2024]

Firstly, I never give a 10 on IMDB. I also usually only leave a review if I think something has been mos-rated by others, and seeing as this almost scores 9 already, giving a review for this is outside my norm... but I just had to give it a 10.

What will draw most people into watch this documentary is Star Wars and the 1970s/1980s nostalgia. And the behind the scenes look at how special effects were done on our favourite science fiction movie is really fun.

What sets this documentary apart is it's insights into what makes a great team and what makes great leadership. As someone who reads books on leadership and has leading roles in two startups I think this surprisingly turns out to be one of the best films I have watched in the topic.

I also found watching this gripping a times, I had to start watching the next episode to see what happens next. That usually only happens in murder suspense documentaries, not a docu about geeks having fun making toys - golddust!

Outstanding!

[dywxgnx · 10/10 · 22 November 2023]

I am speechless after watching this amazing docuseries. So incredibly well done. So much heart. Incredible interviews. Wonderful behind-the-scenes photos and videos. Just a joy to watch. We know ILM does special effects, but this really breaks it down from the beginning to now.

I never really knew just how much the insanely talented folks at ILM do for the entire entertainment industry. It's really mind blowing. It's hard to imagine what it was like prior to ILM. George Lucas - thank you. You've created an incredible company and team that has forever changed entertainment!

Watch. You won't regret it!