The Making of 'Star Wars' (TV 1977)

Ever wonder how they ever managed to make a movie like Star Wars? Well, bickering droid duo C-3PO and R2-D2 host this tour of the mind of creator George Lucas and what inspired him to make ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Guenette

Writer:

Richard Schickel

Stars:

Anthony Daniels, George Lucas, Carrie Fisher

Cast

Credited 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)

Storyline

Ever wonder how they ever managed to make a movie like Star Wars? Well, bickering droid duo C-3PO and R2-D2 host this tour of the mind of creator George Lucas and what inspired him to make the movie. Even interviewed are the cast and crew, even features scenes of when C-3PO, R2-D2, and Darth Vader planted their footprints (or in R2's case, tread-prints) into cement. Also discussed is Star Wars mania, how fans loved the movie, collected the merchandise and danced the disco music. Also shown are behind-the-scenes looks at the movie, as well as how difficult each effect was in doing since they didn't have the convenience of computer animation back then.

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Plot Keywords:

merchandise | fan | droid | host | behind the scenes | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 1977 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

20th Century Fox Television, Star Wars Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This special was the first Star Wars material officially released to the growing home video market in 1979 by Magnetic Video Corporation. A later issue on the same label also features a trailer for "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980).

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Goofs

At about 22:23 minutes, Chewbacca can be seen on the TV monitor, and R2-D2 beeping. C-3PO asks "what did he say?", even when he is fluent in over six million forms of communication.

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Crazy Credits

R2-D2 was credited as himself rather than being listed as being portrayed by Kenny Baker who really did portray him in this documentary.

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Connections

Edited into No Fate But What We Make: 'Terminator 2' and the Rise of Digital Effects (2003)

User Reviews

Very nice Documentary

I have had this particular show since the Early 80's. I believe I picked this one up in Japan at a military exchange store. Since home videos were still new then, I figured this was the only way to get a copy of anything "Star Wars" for a while.

I have always like to watch it for many reasons, none the least of which is the background on the series. (Seeing George Lucas in his early-mid thirties reminds one of watching old home movies.)

The droids bickering is still the same, amusing. Seeing Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, before all of their later work, is nice, too. Harrison Ford in particular, compares Han Solo to Bob Falfa (interesting parallel in the names, huh), because that was what he'd done at the time. Of course, no mention of Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan and other memorable Ford Characters. Another funny comment by Mark Hamill is how "George [Lucas] was so successful with the first one, he could set the next one in Redondo Beach."

One added bonus that I had forgotten about was a trailer (yea, AFTER the credits) for Empire. I had forgotten about it and only saw I because I watched end credits to see when the show was made (and couldn't find the remote.)

Hopefully, when the Original trilogy gets put onto DVD, Lucasfilm will be able to resurrect this.

Now, let's hope we can convince them to include the "Star Wars Holiday Special".....Sorry George, just kidding. :)