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

Directors:

Edith Becker
Kevin Burns

Writer:

Ed Singer (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

This documentary chronicles the making of the original Star Wars trilogy from start to finish. We get...

Plot Keywords:

Star Wars | Making Of | Out Take | Audition | Screen Test

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win

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)
Gerald Ford	...	Himself (archive footage)
Harrison Ford	...	Himself - 'Han Solo'
Stuart Freeborn	...	Himself - Makeup and Special Creature Design
Sidney Ganis	...	Himself - Former Marketing Director, Lucasfilm (as Sid Ganis)
Steve Gawley	...	Himself - Model Maker
Alec Guinness	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mark Hamill	...	Himself - 'Luke Skywalker'
Paul Hirsch	...	Himself - Film Editor
Paul Huston	...	Himself - Model Maker
Joe Johnston	...	Himself - Visual Effects Art Director
James Earl Jones	...	Himself - Voice of 'Darth Vader'
Lawrence Kasdan	...	Himself - Writer
William Katt	...	Himself (archive footage)
Howard G. Kazanjian	...	Himself - Producer (as Howard Kazanjian)
Irvin Kershner	...	Himself - Director
Perry King	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gary Kurtz	...	Himself - Producer
Alan Ladd Jr.	...	Himself - Former Studio Chief, 20th Century Fox
George Lucas	...	Himself - Filmmaker
Richard Marquand	...	Himself (archive footage)
Peter Mayhew	...	Himself - 'Chewbacca'
Ralph McQuarrie	...	Himself - Conceptual Artist
Bill Moyers	...	Himself - Journalist
Dennis Muren	...	Himself - Visual Effects
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Terri Nunn	...	Herself (archive footage)
Frank Oz	...	Himself - 'Yoda'
Lorne Peterson	...	Himself - Model Maker
David Prowse	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ken Ralston	...	Himself - Visual Effects
Norman Reynolds	...	Himself - Art Director and Production Designer
Kurt Russell	...	Himself (archive footage)
Steven Spielberg	...	Himself - Filmmaker
Angela Staines	...	Herself - Senni Tonnika (archive footage)
Gilbert Taylor	...	Himself (archive footage)
Phil Tippett	...	Himself - Stop-Motion Animator
Robert Watts	...	Himself - Production Supervisor
Charles Weber	...	Himself - Former President, Lucasfilm
Gareth Wigan	...	Himself - Former Production Executive, 20th Century Fox
Billy Dee Williams	...	Himself - 'Lando Calrissian'
Cindy Williams	...	Herself (archive footage)
John Williams	...	Himself - Composer

Runtime:

151 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

New Zealand:PG | Australia:PG | UK:PG (DVD rating)

Company:

Prometheus Entertainment

Trivia:

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

Quotes:

Frank Oz: [about Stuart Freeborn] He was under the gun and it was very tense. Very tense. He had to get this thing done. We've got to start shooting with Yoda. And so while we were talking to him, I just had Yoda's head and I was just playing with it then I dropped it and it cracked. Then Stuart said, "I need a drink". So it was terrible, because here we're pressing so much and I'm the one that screwed it up.

Movie Connections:

References Death Race 2000 (1975)

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.