Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy (2004)

This documentary chronicles the making of the original Star Wars trilogy from start to finish. We get some background on George Lucas' start in the business and then continue with the ... See full summary »

Directors:

Edith Becker, Kevin Burns

Writer:

Ed Singer

Stars:

Robert Clotworthy, Kenny Baker, Jim Bloom

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Clotworthy	...	Narrator
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kenny Baker	...	Himself - 'R2-D2'
Jim Bloom	...	Himself - Production Supervisor
Leo Braudy	...	Himself - Professor and Cultural Historian
Ben Burtt	...	Himself - Sound Designer
Jimmy Carter	...	Himself (archive footage)
Richard Chew	...	Himself - Film Editor
Walter Cronkite	...	Himself - Journalist
Anthony Daniels	...	Himself - 'C-3PO'
Warwick Davis	...	Himself - 'Wicket the Ewok'
Peter Diamond	...	Himself - Stunt Coordinator
John Dykstra	...	Himself - Visual Effects Supervisor
Richard Edlund	...	Himself - Cameraman, Miniature and Optical Effects
Carrie Fisher	...	Herself - 'Princess Leia Organa'
Betty Ford	...	Herself (archive footage)

Storyline

This documentary chronicles the making of the original Star Wars trilogy from start to finish. We get some background on George Lucas' start in the business and then continue with the making of Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). The visual/special effects and financial problems are explained as well as casting, editing, scoring and releasing the films with tons of archival footage and interviews with plenty of cast & crew members.

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Plot Keywords:

making of | audition | out take | ten word title | movie connection in title | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 2004 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Prometheus Entertainment, Fox Television Studios, Lucasfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

151 min 120 min

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This feature-length documentary is featured on the 4-Disc Star Wars Trilogy DVD set, released in September of 2004.

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Goofs

During a segment on merchandising for the original Star Wars, pictures of Princess Leia dolls wearing 'space fashions' are shown. However, this clothing line never made it into production.

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Quotes

Peter Mayhew: [as Chewbacca] That old man's mad.
Harrison Ford: You said it, Chewie. Boy, where'd you dig up that old fossil?

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Crazy Credits

Bloopers, outtakes and deleted scenes shown during the end credits: George Lucas and Richard Marquand clowning around inside the AT ST cockpit. Rough black and white footage of the Death Star Trench. Luke's medical face mask being removed by 21B. Han kissing his girlfriend (Jenny Cresswell) in the Mos Eisley cantina. Early bluescreen tests in the Millenium Falcon cockpit. Behind the scenes footage of Solo firing at Vader in the Bespin dining room (also used on the blooper reel). Kenny Baker inside R2D2 in Tunisia. Mark Hamill falling over in the Finse snow wearing a blue ESB parka over his orange flight suit. Hamill and Carrie Fisher relaxing on Jabba's tummy. Lucas and daughter Amanda on the sail barge. Jack Purvis and Mike Edmonds enjoying a cigar on a break in their Ewok costumes. R2D2 picking up a squirrel with a mechanical arm. More shots on location in Tunisia. A stormtrooper costume and R2 Unit under construction at ILM. Closeup of a Jawa's glowing eyes. Ewok mask under construction. Lucas on the sail barge. Fisher and her stunt double sunbathing on the barge set. Alec Guinness' birthday party in Tunisia. X-wings and a Taun Taun on location in Finse. A model Snowspeeder being blown up.

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Connections

References Jaws (1975)

User Reviews

A good documentary if rather self-important

Like most DVD fanatics I picked up the "Star Wars" boxset last Christmas when it came out. I was disappointed, to be honest. Apart from the fact that much more could have been included in terms of extra content (did we need a video game demo taking up space on the fourth disc?) it also didn't include the original versions of the films - which, as far as I know, are those that practically everyone prefers.

Nevertheless this insightful and exhaustive documentary - which covers the entire pre-production through post-production phase of each original "Star Wars" film - almost redeems the DVD collection. Although it is fairly "full of itself" as IMDb commentator Bob the Moo notes, it DOES feature a good wealth of information - including some facts I hadn't heard about before (e.g. Jedi was given a fake working title so fans wouldn't sneak onto the set).

If you're a fan of "Star Wars," definitely check this out - if you don't want to dish out the cash, it's playing on A&E right now. But in my opinion it's not as great as it could have been because it falls victim to George Lucas' "cleanness" - we're led to believe "Star Wars" is the most important and defining event of the past century and that turned me off a bit.