Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy

The production was maybe a bit amateurish, but nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed this. I don't usually watch "making of" docs because it pops the fantasy bubble of the movie. But I'm glad I made an exception here.

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.

I had the chance to sit down and watch the 2004 documentary "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy" now for the first time in 2020. In fact, I wasn't even aware of its existence before now. Shame on me, especially with my love for the "Star Wars" franchise.

Well, initially I must admit that I didn't really have much of any high hopes for this documentary, as the previous many "Star Wars" based documentaries I've seen have been halfhearted ones that didn't really offer much of new insight or information. But hey, it is a "Star Wars" documentary, so of course I had to sit down and watch it.

Turned out that "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy" is actually the best and most insightful of documentaries that I have seen about the "Star Wars" franchise. And I was definitely amazed with the amount of information and behind the scenes information they managed to cram into the limited playtime.

"Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy" is a MUST watch for fans of the franchise, especially people around my age, whom were children during the first three movie, the original trilogy.

My rating of "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy" is a sure eight out of ten stars. This is one documentary that you have to sit down and watch, provided you get the chance. Well worth the time and effort.

A very positive and inspiring documentary that shows the succes of George Lucas. It's really enjoyable and shows fascinating behind the scenes tid bits that you mightve missed. It gives a great general view of almost everyone involved in the original trilogy, actors, directors, visual designers, sound...etc.

The editing of the whole doc does sometimes get a bit repetitive.

This documentary about the making-of the Star Wars trilogy makes one realize how much of a miracle it was that the original film was made at all. A myriad of problems beset George Lucas and his collaborators during production and few predicted the film would be as big as it became.

Empire of Dreams (2004) is a generally good documentary. It goes in-depth with the production of the first film especially. The best asset is the plethora of archive footage, which is wonderful to see.

I'm not sure if this is the definitive behind-the-scenes SW. The majority of Empire of Dreams (2004) focuses its attention on Star Wars (1977) and lavishes a good deal of attention on The Empire Strikes Back (1980), virtually ignoring Return of the Jedi (1983). You're probably better off with JW Rinzler's Star Wars books, which give each film in the trilogy equal attention and go into an almost day-by-day record of the productions.

Empire of Dreams is also quite uncritical and there are several moments when as much extreme praise is showered upon George Lucas as possible, bordering on nauseating. Marcia Lucas, whose contributions to the film were important, is quickly glossed over. She and David Prowse (the physical performance of Darth Vader) were not interviewed due to having rather rocky relationships with George. There's also a plug for those wretched special editions, with their intrusive CG additions and narrative tampering.

Is this necessary viewing? Not really, but Star Wars fans will enjoy the behind-the-scenes footage.