favorite SW dcumentary

[cooleddie74]

^
Empire of Dreams. That documentary shows footage of Harrison's script readings with other actors during the original casting process.

 

[Awesome Possum]

People vs George Lucas and From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I was an RLM fan way before they put that TPM review.

I don't care. That is literally the most irrelevant thing you could have said.

But the documentary really DOES show these screenings

You don't say.

and the frustration they were having with things that weren't working

But you're not necessarily seeing what they're seeing at that point. You're assuming specific "things" somehow represent the film as a whole, and that the things they were concerned with weren't changed, and that the emotions which you're interpreting from the footage were never mitigated. You assume too much.

Please refrain from ad hominem attacks

A reference to confirmation bias qualifies as an ad hominem attack?

Can I say that you are being a condescending ass? Can I also say that I think my interpretation of the footage is correct, and I shouldn't have to qualify such statements with "I think" or "In my opinion"

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

 

[Tulin]

What was the one with black and white videotape (?) where Harrison Ford is doing a run through of the dialog with different actors. Cindy Williams before Carrie, and someone who looked a bit like Lief Garret before Hamill?

That was William Katt - he later starred in "The Greatest American Hero".


For me, I loved The ROTJ documentary where Salacious Crumb yells out, "We're all going to England!!!" as I watched this at my grandparents' house all the time.

You just cannot beat the RLM reviews though. They have the singular distinction of actually being more entertaining than the movies they're reviewing!

The fact that they're SPOT ON and all of their points are COMPLETELY correct, makes them even MORE important!

 

[Awesome Possum]

The RLM reviews are brilliant. If you get the chance and are willing to sit through it again, there is a Mr. Plinkett commentary track for The Phantom Menace and A New Hope. He goes a little more in depth with the movies. He also goes on some weird tangents like his death trap for cats and how Jar Jar Binks was actually inspired by George Lucas meeting a drunken Tara Reid.

 

[Corran Horn]

Empire of Dreams has been my favorite Star Wars documentary for several years now and I just rewatched part of it the other day. Although it only gives brief mention to anything that happened in the franchise after 1983 and the release of Return of the Jedi it's still one of the most comprehensive, detailed and visually-interesting documentaries ever made about the Star Wars movies and how they were made. It's the one that I find the most entertaining.

What I liked about Empire of Dreams is that it laid to rest what was a widely-thought ESB 'blooper' - that Han, for some reason, appears to have his ANH-style black vest on during the "I know" scene as he's lowered into the carbon-freeze chamber. In reality, it's the way the shadows fall on his shoulders.

In the docu you can see Ford (in just the white shirt) prepare for the scene and then get into place - as he does you see the shadows fall on him and the 'vest' appears.

They later 'fixed' this in the BD release and the shadow-vest is gone.

 

[Tulin]

In thirty five years of fandom since the release of TESB, I had NEVER heard of that.

Not quite as widely thought of as believed.

 

[Tosk]

I didn't hear about it until they "fixed" it. Of all the things to tamper with that needed fixing, and they chose that?

 

[cooleddie74]

I never even noticed Han was supposed to be wearing his vest until somebody else pointed it out, and that wasn't until the fairly recent past. That's cool if they corrected the shading on his shirt to eliminate further confusion, but it was never even an issue for me. The OT had other and much more important nitpicks that could be corrected with digital technology.

 

[Corran Horn]

In thirty five years of fandom since the release of TESB, I had NEVER heard of that.

Not quite as widely thought of as believed.

eh. It was always bandied about as a 'blooper' on newsgroups and SW FAQs back in the day.

 

[Campe]

From Star Wars to Jedi and Empire of Dreams are amazing documentaries. The Beginning comes in a close third.

 

[Samurai8472]

Had no idea, though after having looked at it, I wish there was more to it.

I posted small clips but here's the whole thing

[YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da8s9m4zEpo[/YT]


Would love to read your comments on it!

 

[cooleddie74]

I've seen that Episode I documentary a few times. I like it a lot. Whatever one thinks about the film itself it's a fascinating and fun ride to watch how the movie was cast and produced and so many of the little things that went on behind the scenes to create The Phantom Menace.

I recommend it to anyone who's a Star Wars fan as well as a fan of the moviemaking process whether they like Episode I or not.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

1st choice: From Star Wars to Jedi: the Making of Saga was the last, honest documentary on SW with insider participation. Since that time, its been revisionist BS in too many ways.

2nd choice: Red Letter Media's reviews of the prequels. Humor aside, there is serious analysis and insight into what the motivations were behind the direction, casting, execution and reaction to that poor trilogy. Exactly the kind of honesty LFL has been avoiding since the mid 1980s.

 

[Galileo7]

1st choice: From Star Wars to Jedi: the Making of Saga was the last, honest documentary on SW with insider participation. Since that time, its been revisionist BS in too many ways.

...

Agree.

 

[oojason]

The People vs George Lucas - still well worth a watch, though would be intriguing to see an update of this too.

The three Filmumentaries on each of the Original Trilogy films, fan made documentaries by the talented (and all round nice guy) Jamie Benning... 'Star Wars Begins', 'Building Empire', and 'Returning To Jedi'.

All three Filmumentaries can be viewed here (and more besides) - https://filmumentaries.com/fullvideos (all free, no registration or anything, just scroll down and press 'play')

 

[Noname Given]

Wow, a six-year-old zombie thread. That's got to be a near-record for this BBS.

 

[oojason]

The new docuseries on Lucas and ILM - by Lawrence Kasdan sounds intriguing too.

(I hope it is not simply a 'lip-service'/ George is great' style docuseries - and does chronicle the pre-retconned history of Star Wars... and will feature or note the contributions from the likes of Gary Kurtz, Lippincott and Marcia Lucas and many more)

www.slashfilm.com/608149/docuseries-about-george-lucas-and-ilm-coming-from-director-lawrence-kasdan