REVIEW: ‘Light & Magic’ A Love Letter To Filmmaking

Chances are if you love movies, or Star Wars for that matter, you’ll have heard of a little something about ILM. Industrial Light & Magic has been at the forefront of filmmaking since the company’s inception back in 1975. Whether it’s adding a touch of wonder to the special effects in a film, creating brand new technology, or just simply bringing a Director’s creative vision to life, the wizards at ILM continue to push the boundaries of visual storytelling.

Light and Magic is a six-part documentary series, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, that lifts the veil on the history of ILM, and introduces you to the people who are the very foundation of the company. The series chronicles the many crowning achievements that they’ve been involved with, and the many iconic films they’ve had the chance to lend their talents.

Honestly, it’s such a joyful experience from witnessing the birth of the company to the many new and innovative tools, and companies that were launched as a byproduct of ILM is genuinely quite astounding. Which is what makes Light and Magic a must-watch series for me personally, because while you can easily check a website out listing the company’s portfolio, or even read an article just like this, however, it’s far too hard to capture the essence of why ILM has continued to be such a pioneer in this business. You have to see it, to understand and believe it. You have to hear the stories from the mouths of the men and women that led the movement.

Much like the story of ILM itself, the series starts at the very beginning with the man who had the vision for it all, George Lucas.

After enjoying success as a young director with American Graffiti, Lucas had an early concept buzzing around in his head about a wild space opera that would one day become Star Wars (1979). With the eventual backing of 20th Century Fox thanks to his most recent film and some of the sublime artwork of Ralph Mcquarrie, Lucas was off to the races. One giant obstacle stood in his way though, Lucas knew there wasn’t a single visual effects company in the industry that would be able to deliver the shots he had in his mind. So he set to work in finding a group of young visionaries who had a passion for filming and a desire to problem solve because Lucas knew what he was about to attempt had never been done before.

Light and Magic captures such a raw amount of innovation from the testimonials accumulated from the various employees both past and present from ILM. These people lived for the work they were creating regardless of the many struggles, the long hours, and the less-than luxurious conditions. Through it all though, there is a sense of privilege that emanates from everyone when talking about their time at the company, a buzz that they were lucky enough to be working in this community of insanely creative folks that inspired them, in turn, to push further.

What shocked me was how much within the film industry can be traced back directly to ILM’s innovation. From the very first-star wars movie, all the way through to the filming of The Mandalorian. If the technology doesn’t exist, they simply find a way to create it to get what they need.

While the history of star wars is the history of ILM, there is an extremely large focus on the franchise. The series format understandably takes two episodes to dive into the nooks and crannies of the founding members who would go on to lead the company, and within the early days, it was a George Lucas-owned and directed the company. So naturally, the focus is fully on his groundbreaking series of films. However, ILM has worked on so many that after you get the momentum building the pace of the series noticeably picks up and the episodes start to feel quite crammed without really taking the time to appreciate the work that went into some of these other films.

I enjoyed the hell out of watching Light and Magic and I got the sense early on that this could be a very cool series possibly stretched into multiple seasons with episodes directed towards certain films. A Disney+ version of the Netflix series The Movies That Made Us but with a lot more access to ILM personnel. As I’ve said though, the pace of the show exponentially increases and flashes through a lot of the modern impact in filming only touching here and there on the most impactful projects. A small critique, but that change in pace is such a contrasting difference that leaves you with the sense of the importance of star wars, and everything else that follows after.

Overall though, the biggest impression I’m left with is an astounding sense of awe. Every one of those people involved at ILM LOVED what they contributed, and they LOVED who they got to do it with. Any of us would be so lucky to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience like what’s described here.

Light and Magic offers a whimsical look into the past at the creation of the most influential visual effects company in the business. A series you have to experience yourself to understand the gravity of the impact that’s continued to be felt to this day. The docu-series is very star wars centric, and oftentimes sacrifices a look into this franchise over other films, but never loses touch with its themes of innovation, and community above all else.

All episodes of Light and Magic will available Wednesday, July 27th exclusively on Disney+.