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

User Rating:

8.3/10   

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:

Australia:PG | New Zealand: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:

Harrison Ford: I think George likes people, I think George is a warm-hearted person, but... He's a little impatient with the process of acting, of finding something. He thinks that something's there. "It's right there, I wrote it down. Do that". You know. Sometimes you can't just *do that* and make it work.

Movie Connections:

References Super Fly (1972)

Sweet Dreams

I have also seen a 90 minute version of this documentary, which was shown on the brilliant Biography channel. Although I had doubts about buying the soon to be released trilogy on DVD, the documentary has certainly whetted my appetite, and made me eager to see the complete version which will be included on the fourth disc of the set. Even for someone as knowledge about the Star Wars movies and George Lucas as I am, it was still very entertaining, and contained quite a few never before seen out-takes from all the films. The programme features the problems that Lucas had with 20th Century Fox execs (apart from Alan Ladd jnr, who greenlit Star Wars) when the movie ran over budget and missed it's Christmas 1976 opening date, the '...hippies...' at ILM who hadn't completed any decent effects shots Lucas could use, and the destruction of sets in Tunisia which halted filming temporarily. There are also interviews with most of the original cast members - even Harrison Ford who certainly doesn't enjoy doing them, which is no big secret.

These edited highlights I've described, have left me hankering for more.