Behind The Mask Of Spider-Man: The Secrets Of The Movie by Mark Cotta Vaz
01/07/2002 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Boxtree. 205 page softcover. Price: £15.99. (UK). ISBN: 0-7522-6489-3. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. I suspect the Spider-Man movie has had
more people whetting the lips than the Star Wars Clones movie. Certainly
the first weekend cinema sales seem to bear witness to that thought.
With the shelves full of ‘Lord Of The Rings’ and ‘Star Wars’ merchandise,
you’d have thought there’d be more Spidey material floating around.
 All
right, yes in terms of models and toys, but not so much in the way
of books. Outside of the film novelisation, ‘Behind The Mask’ is
the main one dealing with the film.
No doubt Boxtree probably pulled the rights to ensure it had no
competition. Quite right, too, cos this book covers the making of
the Spider-Man film in great detail.
Not only do we start off the with legal wrangles of film rights
before Sony got them all but we also get a complete technical breakdown
of everything from storyboards to models to final design of, well,
practically everything. You want to see how the Goblin’s glider
developed or how the stunts were performed then this is for you.
There are also chapters devoted to the cast and production team
with photos covering every inch of the way. About the only thing
missing from the book is a complete credits list although the cinema
main one is on the back of the book. Considering that director Sam
Raimi was working on the film until it was released, this reviewer
suspects it wasn’t available when the book went to the printers.
Such is life.
Although I’m going to have to wait until video release before seeing
the film, this book has certainly made sure that I’m going to see
it the first chance I get.
Although I have tribulations about the costume make-over for Daredevil
let alone the origin change for the Hulk film, ‘Spider-Man’ as a
film looks definitely like it’s going to stay pretty much with the
essence of the comicbook character. You simply have no excuses for
not buying this book.
GF Willmetts
Check out websites: www.panmacmillan.co.uk
and www.sony.com/Spider-Man
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