MissSimonetta 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.

AaronCapenBanner Interesting and informative documentary on the original trilogy, has interviews with all the surviving creators and stars of the films, and much behind the scenes footage, anecdotes, and trivia that fans love.Pretty exhaustive and extensive look at how the films were conceived and directed, the casting process, evolution of the groundbreaking visual effects that so captured the imagination of children, the memorable music that kids hummed in schoolyards as they re-enacted their favorite characters and battles, and the costume making process for the familiar alien characters like the droids C3PO, R2D2, and Chewbacca, not to mention Darth Vader! On the original Special Edition DVD set, this is well worth watching.

clarke-21 All, Like many of you, I'm a fan of Star Wars. Since I was born in 1977, I'm what you might call a Star Wars baby. At least that is what my mother told me. Star Wars has been a part of my life for years.Times have changed, but I remember feeling like the characters in Star Wars were friends who I was on a journey with. Do you know the feeling? Like, if I'm watching Empire Strikes Back, or if I happen to stumble onto it on some random channel, I have to immediately watch Return of the Jedi.A few years ago, while at dinner with friends. A cinematographer asked me what my greatest movie experience was. Without a doubt, Return of the Jedi's opening scene, where Darth Vader walks down the plank... I remember the audience's ovation.The movies were fun then. When Return of the Jedi was released, I remember Vader's opening scene and the long lines. The lines for Jedi where ridiculous.Like many of you, I was expecting to feel the same magic, when the last three movies were released. It didn't happen. I could be wrong, but I think the most exciting thing to happen in the Star Wars universe, within the last 15 years, has to be the Phantom Menace TRAILER. I remember downloading this trailer from Kazaa and hearing the audience going crazy. For a split second, when I watched the trailer back in 99, it was 1983 all over again.As the years have passed, I've grown attached to films with similar themes. The hero, who takes off on a journey and has a similar quest to Luke. A few years ago, I sought out the writer of another favorite film, The Last Dragon.The writer, Louis Venosta revealed to me, that Joseph Campbell's book, A Hero With a Thousand Faces, was an intricate part of his writing. I had never heard of Campbell until this time. I would learn that Campbell was the author who influenced Lucas. In fact, Campbell has said that Lucas was his greatest student.After reading several of Campbell's books and meeting with Venosta, I thought about writing the sequel to the Last Dragon, but then realized that I needed to write my own story.As a native New Yorker, and someone who could have lost his life during 9/11, I felt that a story needed to be made. A new myth. I finished writing my first book in 2008. Over the last few years, I couldn't figure out how to get the story out to the people who needed and wanted to read it.Like many of you, I hate all of the remakes. I was watching EMPIRE OF DREAMS, the documentary of the Star Wars films and I see a comparison between the time when Star Wars was made and the current state of affairs in the United States today. When I was selling my book on the streets of New York, a passerby told me that there weren't any new stories since the Matrix.The name of my book is MASTERNEVER AND THE FLOW OF DEATH. You can download the entire book by visiting www.masternever.com I've included an entire soundtrack that accompanies the book. I hope you will download and enjoy the book.I hope you don't mind me posting here. After writing a book and several screenplays, I want to connect with people who have similar interest. The rest of the Star Wars babies. Those waiting for a new myth.I'm also posting here, because IMDb played a vital role in starting this journey four years ago. So, I've come full circle.You can see me talking about this book, mythology and stories, but visiting this video.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBwDNDWirSs

coryandpam 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.