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

Was there any question that a middle aged man who grew up loving "Star Wars" movies would watch a documentary about the making of the original trilogy? No question and no doubt.

"Empire of Dreams" is as fascinating as the "Star Wars" movies, and in some ways more so. Like a duck on the water, the visible product was pure grace, yet below the surface there was fervent motion. Even though we got to see a beautiful work of art, "Empire of Dreams" shows us the struggle and stress Lucas went through to realize his dream.

"Empire of Dreams" documents the making of all three films and the man behind them. We hear of Hollywood politics, Lucas's huge gamble on his project, and the small empire he was able to build as a result of that gamble. I never knew Lucas made "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" with his own money to maintain independence from the production studios (something I'm sure many studios lament). It's a lot of great interviews and how-things-work that even a casual fan will find interesting.

I watch this movie as both entertainment and education. If there was ever a film that so thoroughly covers the making of a classic, bears all and leaves you wanting it to be longer than its 2 1/2 hour length, it is this.

First, it offers a breakdown of Lucas' roots, inspirations and student films. It glides over his personal life, barely mentioning how he met and married his wife, and tastefully omits the divorce Lucas endured as a result of his investment of time into Skywalker Ranch, instead of his marriage. The editor allows us to hear Lucas begin to talk about it, and then fades it off. It was painful the first time, and he probably should't have to relive it with his fans.

The same Bonus Disc contains a shorter documentary that features today's best movie directors discussing how SW influenced them. There is not a finer documentary made about the process of film-making.

The documentary almost takes a detour into propaganda when THX and Pixar come up, but then we realize that Lucas was the guy all of these entities was born from, or developed from. Today's movie editing software is born from Lucas' struggle to make 1970's equipment and people work for him.

A must-viewing for anyone serious about the craft or the profession.

This special starts before the original Star Wars, and after introducing Lucas and setting the scene for the time period, it takes us through the entire trilogy, with clips, interviews and behind the scenes footage en masse(I won't throw on the ever-ambiguous "and more" that is a common favorite to throw on DVD covers and the likes... believe me, if they've got something good to sell you, they know it, and they won't hesitate to tell you, "more" is like "interactive menus"... it makes nothing out of the ordinary sound like a real treat). Each main member of the cast, including Kenny Baker(R2D2), and Anthony Daniels(C3PO) - who sounds a lot like his character even when he's just speaking normally - and Peter Mayhew(Chewbacca). It has a good pace throughout, the version I watched was 90 minutes, and it never grew stale. It is edited expertly throughout. There is a solid flow to the documentary. It holds a lot of information, and the right amount of time is spent on it. The fun factor of this is achieved nicely, and without overshadowing what it is presenting. About the only person not brought in for an interview is David Prowse, who I suppose may still hold a grudge over not being told that they weren't going to use his voice(and if he knew that they were going to add in footage of Vader where his voice was still the one heard, in this special(which... let's just say, doesn't exactly sound as powerful and terrifying as that of James Earl Jones, who is also interviewed in this)... well, he might have stayed away for that reason, I know I would). There is perhaps a bit of patting on the back going on, as the special mentions just *how many* nominations and wins the films got, and how important it was, and so on and so forth, but this doesn't keep it from being worth watching. I recommend this to any fan of the original trilogy. Heck, the anecdotes alone almost make the hour and a half worth it. 8/10

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.

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.