The Making of 'Star Wars' (1977) (TV)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Robert Guenette

Writer:

Richard Schickel (writer)

Release Date:

16 September 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Ever wonder how they ever managed to make a movie like Star Wars? Well, bickering droid duo C-3PO and...

Plot Keywords:

Star Wars | Host | Behind The Scenes | Fan | Film Making

Cast

Anthony Daniels	...	C-3PO
George Lucas	...	Himself
Carrie Fisher	...	Herself
Mark Hamill	...	Himself
Harrison Ford	...	Himself
Peter Mayhew	...	Himself
David Prowse	...	Darth Vader
James Earl Jones	...	Darth Vader (voice)
Alec Guinness	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Conrad	...	Narrator (original narration from 1977)
Peter Diamond	...	Stunt coordinator
Gary Kurtz	...	Himself
Don LaFontaine	...	Narrator (voice)

Runtime:

50 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:6 (video rating) | Germany:12 (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) | Spain:T | USA:Unrated

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

William Conrad was the original narrator. On later VHS releases another voice was dubbed over Conrad's.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bring Back... Star Wars (2008) (TV)

Worth it for the interviews and behind the scenes footage.

C-3P0 and R2-D2 host this 50 minute long documentary about the making of A New Hope. I got it for Christmas in 1995, right around the last time the original trilogy was released on VHS. It is very informative; I particularly like watching how the spaceships were filmed. If you want the ultimate documentary about the making of Star Wars though, I would recommend the Empire of Dreams documentary. I have to admit I fast forward the short host segments with R2 and 3PO now. The main reason to get this is for the old interviews with Lucas, Ford, Hammill, Fisher, Guinness, and even Gary Kurtz. It's cool to see them when they were so young, and Lucas actually has a normal neck. There is also some rare behind the scenes footage. Did you know Guinness was only six feet off the ground when he shut down the tractor beam?

Die hard Star Wars fans will appreciate the footage of Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter talking on Tattooine. It is very brief though, only about five seconds, and you can't hear what they're saying. But this footage is very rare and can only be found in a few documentaries. I've found stills on some websites, but that's not the same.

On a side note, it's funny to hear Mark Hammill say "Princess Leia is a chump if she goes for Han Solo." We can forgive him, he didn't know. Most interesting is when George Lucas says "I will say Luke is more devoted to Princess Leia." It makes me wonder if he really had the whole story planned from the beginning.