Added: 3 years ago
From: GibertFilms
Views: 102,241
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (247)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • I first saw this documentary when I was 9 years old. By the end of the documentary I knew that I wanted to become a film maker! While I'm no fan of George Lucas, the original trilogy and his first film THX 1138 changed the way I look at the world! <3

  • star wars greatest hollywood sagas ever

  • The Froce will be with you.Always.

  • star wars is the single greatest creation mankind has ever and will ever conceive. Period.

  • Lucas is a visionary, no doubt about it, and an innovative genius when it comes to FX. However, he's not a very director or writer, and should have someone else direct the last three prequel movies. He has said it himself, he's not Francis Coppola, just a contemporary of his. He's not nearly as interested in directing actors and creating dramatic content, or in writing memorable dialog as he is in FX. Irwin Kershener or someone else should have directed these films.

  • @jerico641 He directed the oriiginal and also tries hard on diaalogue and acting as yiou can see with the prequels!!!!!!!!!

  • @reviewreviewer1

    Yes, I know he directed the original film in 1977, and it was fresh and wonderful and a fantastic ride; however, most of the dialogue sucks, and without the excellent editing the movie recieved after filming was completed (by an editor out of Lucas's direct control), I have a feeling it would have gone on and on pointlessly like the last three sequels. I said Lucas is a genius, and he is. That doesn't mean he's David Mammet and David Lean rolled into one.

  • @jerico641 What do you mean the editor was out of his control he hirred the editors and told them to recut it who do you think had the control????????/

  • @reviewreviewer1

    OK, enough please with the multiple exclamation points and question marks, huh? I get that you're emotionally invested in this subject without all that. Twentieth Century Fox edited and released the original version of Star Wars in 1977. Lucas recieved nothing but back-end merchandising revenues (which of course made him an absolute gazillionaire, but that's beside the point). The studio had final say on what was released, that's why he does it all himself now.

  • @jerico641 Did you see the part of the video where they mention he wanted control and Alan Ladd gave him full control, and the part where they talk about how he supervised the editor?

  • @jerico641 They establish that he wanted control and Alan the president of Fox gave him this and they mention he supervised the final editing so where are you basing this on it is contradicted by this main source!!!!!!!

  • @jerico641 Also Lucas held the rights to the film he demanded control remember it was a Lucasfilm, also there are many sources which point out he had Final Cut Privilege!!!!!!!!

  • @jerico641 Lucas is not an innovative genius, his story was a compilation taken from common themes of mythology. Without, the creative genius of Ralph Mcquarrie, John Williams, and the technical skills of his FX department, Star Wars would have been a flop and forgotten. Lucas is a good director of pacing and pathos. Lucas innovative contribution was the WWII dog fighting style of the X-wing, Tie-fighter battles

  • @chroniclerofthe70s

    Well, I'll agree to disagree regarding Lucas' innovation with FX, although I know of course that many others were involved in the process. Regarding Lucas' other skills as a director, I happen to have studied many great film directors (Kurosawa, for one, who's "The Hidden Fortress" was an inspiration for "A New Hope"), and Lucas does not measure up in terms of pacing, and certainly not pathos, in my opinion. He is self-indulgent and uneven, as I see it.

  • @jerico641 I'll agree that you have alot to learn. Lucas didn't design or build the models nor did he design or build the logic controller/electric motor interface which resulted in steady motions of the models. I saw the original Star Wars back in May of 1977. The film did not have the subtitle " A New Hope." I've studied directors from the start of the silent motion industry. I agree, Lucas is inconsistent. However, some lauded directors oversell messages or anxillary backstories.

  • @chroniclerofthe70s

    Hmmm; you're kind of an arrogant guy, aren't you? I was hoping to discuss this politely, but I suppose you're not going to let that happen. I never said I have a lot to learn, but I would say that you have a lot to learn about how to behave decently. Also, I saw the first film around that same time, and I realize it wasn't subtitled; it usually is now, however, and I used the name simply to avoid any confusion on which film I was referring to.

  • @chroniclerofthe70s

    Also, I'm a graduate of the New York Film School, where I recieved a Masters in Film Theory and Motion Picture History. Believe me, I have been through the SW films shot by shot, and consider Lucas a genius, not only for his own contributions to the tech aspects of movie making, but also because he knew how to suround himself with the brightest minds in the industry at that time. However, he pales in comparison to at least a dozen American directors.

  • @jerico641 Fair enouph. I consider Lucas a great story teller. I think TXH showed Lucas's originality and honest treatment of science fiction. I consider Star Wars a technical fantasy film. I thought Cameron's " Aliens " was far less impressive than Ridley's " Alien." Why? Ripley runs out of ammunition destroying the alien queen's egg chamber knowing very well the entire facility will be abliterated by a thermonuclear detonation.

  • @chroniclerofthe70s correction," THX .... "

  • @chroniclerofthe70s

    Well, I agree that Alien was far superior to Aliens; the two films really don't even compare. Cameron's only strong suit is FX; his storytelling is bland and repetitive, to say the least. Not offensive, just predictable. I enjoyed Titanic, for instance, but only for it's technical prowess. As for Lucas, he WAS a great storyteller, as is evidenced in films like American Grafitti. But he has become quite self-concious and more than a bit self-indulgent.

  • 2 ppl are trekies

  • This documentary adds even more irony to the prequel trilogy. It's sad realy.

  • Fact of the matter is, none of the people we see here would be allowed to exist today. The seed of that is "the studio" demanding back the $300k. Every level of production and distribution is controlled today. right to the theater. It's more difficult than ever for true art to be done on the screen. Movies more and more are corporate advertising with some star in the commercial

  • Now we know at least why we can't have the original versions on Blu ray: George Pucus destroyed the original negatives for the 1997 versions! Jerk!

  • Now we know at least why we can't have the original versions on Blu ray: George Pucus destroyed the original negatives for the 1997 versions! Jerk!

  • what is the song at the beginning?

  • @SebTheOtaku Personally I think Vader had more depth before the prequels, back when he was a good guy tragically seduced to the dark side, not a whiney moronic brat who was dooped into going to the dark side.

    And I know its just your opinion, but seriously ROTS was just as bad other prequels, suffered from the same key problems, and frankly I'm baffled as to why that movie got so much praise. Jedi was definitely the weakest original but its still better than the original

  • @zzyzx0788 stating my opinion here, after watching ROTS last night I truly see it as a really good film I dont see much wrong with it you can say that it has been acting and corny dialogue at times but to be honest watching the original star wars that dialogue was in there too "Thats It we did it!!!" I saw it as alone the same kind of dialogue. ROTS was a film I enjoyed thoroughly and appreciated it as a film and consider it on par with the originals or close to them.

  • STAR TREK IS BETTER!

  • @cooldude333 star trek is garbage

  • Comment removed

  • If The "Star Wars" films was the "Messiah" of the film world then every "Messah" needs one to come before him to make the road straight. think "Jaws The Baptist"

  • @DerekBayRoberts1 GREAT ANALOGY!!!

  • @prisonernumber24601

    Yeah but...think of the vision though: a shark's head on a platter EEEWWWW!!!

  • love those movies! but there were 6 movies not 3!

  • @lifeform106 Yea the prequels were ass and cant begin to compare to these films or equal it in story, characters or effects

  • what's the name of the disco song that plays?

  • 2:02 SAVAGE OPRES??! This was years before Clone Wars!!!

  • @breseemaxwell obviously that's not footage from the 70's -_-

  • @YaikonMetal Still, it's likely from Clones. This documentry came out in 2004!!

  • @breseemaxwell Guy probley ran out of red face paint and went with an ironic yellow

  • @ackbarfan5556 Likely, but I am just saying..

  • my favorite part of the first trilogy was that no cgi no computer graphics just puppets and suits and models but the new trilogy is all just to showcase speical effect fire 3 films 10 out of 10 the last 3 4.5 out of 10

  • I still remember seeing the Star Wars trailer for the first time before it came out. The image that stuck with me at the time was of the Jawas carrying R2. All I remember thinking was 'is that a missile those things are carrying?'. It was such a cool, unusual movie for the time and is still one of my all time favorites.

    While I agree Lucas has lost it a bit nowadays, he still created some of the greatest cinema ever. No denying that.

  • George changed the business forever!!!

  • This documentary is called "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy." It was produced by Kevin Burns and Edith Becker, and narrated by Robert Clotworthy. The 15-part playlist ID is PLBFFF374F493658D8.

  • This defined my childhood.

  • 1 Person likes star trek.

    

  • @AmtrakFanNEC927 I personally like both. So, it wasn't me.

  • the world before star wars might as well have been known as the stone age

  • @LoneSola Anything after might be considered A.D. or A.S.W.

  • Lol i live in modesto not far from the sigh really not far at all gorge Lucas is a inspiering director some day I wish to be lik him

  • If the new DVDs had anything good in them, was this documentary. Absolutely love it.

  • and btw, what's the first bit of disco music used here?

  • We need another movie like this for these troubling times.

  • Wow, Lucas looked like a nerd when he was young.

  • JIZZED IN MY PANTS I JUST DID.

  • Shoulda stopped the story back in '83

  • oil is still rising

  • Thumbs up for SW!!!

  • George Lucas created some of the most memorable characters,relationships and action-sequences coupled with amazing visual effects and a fine balance between allowing room for minor characters to breathe and play important roles (R2 stopping the trash compactor) and making sure he didn't overly let the core characters have too much screen time.

    These films were for the time incredible and amazing for so many individual reasons. ^___^

    Then we got Episode I,II,III D=

    Tears were shed. ;___;

  • Thanks for uploading!

  • Good lord, this makes me all the more depressed when I think about all the utterly bland garbage he came out with in the last 15 years.

  • I just twigged watching this that all the "gifted young directors" - Coppola, Scorsese, Lucas, Spielberg and DePalma are now all real old and still making movies despite having largely lost their spark. (Scorsese's still pretty cool though)

    I went to film school too - give us a chance now!

  • @matafuko Quit your bitching and go make a movie. The technology is the cheapest and most accessible it's EVER been, so if you have skill, put it to use.

  • @seekoober Subtle vocal nuances are really hard to put across in text aren't they? Stop taking everything so seriously.

  • @matafuko Well they're subtle in the sense that you completely failed to express them. I was struck far more by your preening petulance. Go make a movie about this!

  • @seekoober "stop taking everything so seriously" was the big clue there.

  • 1 GUY never watched Star Wars or is a Trekkie...

  • @Ryagful Probably Trekkie...

  • I wonder how many fans were upset with Episode 1?

  • Comment removed

  • Comment removed

  • van helsig is way better than star wars

  • @pladampa WRONG!!!

  • @DougHittTV I know I love starwars

  • Empire Of Dreams ftw!

  • RIP IRVIN KERSHNER

  • @Bustagroov

    THANKS ... AND HAPPY NEW YEAR....

  • I LOVE Star Wars!!!

    Star Wars has been a big part of my life

  • GL was hot, dude xD

    4:23

  • So this is where that U2 video came from.

  • George have you gone over to THE DARKSIDE?

  • The greatest franchise ever, this began in 1977 with a new hope and cotinues today with the Expanded Universe and The Clone Wars. STAR WARS WILL NEVER DIE.

  • Thumbs up if miniatures and rotor-scoping light-sabers from the original series beat the CGI of the new series every day!

  • THE REAL STAR WARS. THE DOCUMENTARY THAT GOT ME INTO FILM AND FILMMAKING.

  • Man I love the beginning to this

  • Luke: I got him!

    Han: Great kid dont get "penisy"

  • Star Wars brakes all others! Avatar, Star Trek, Lord of the rings, everyone!

  • why did George turn to crap after Jedi?

  • STAR WARS CHANGED THE WORLD FOREVER , GLADIATOR- BROUGHT THE DARK SIDE BACK...... LIKE IT WAS BEFORE STAR WARS!

  • I'll never forget when I first saw StarWars back in 1977. I was 22 and had been a sci-fi fan all my life. It may be hard for people to understand today, but there was NONE of the hype when StarWars first came out to indicate that this movie would be so special. I went into the theater with some of my friends, just expecting a rather nice evening of entertainment. When I got out 2 hours later, I TRULY felt I had been transported to "a galaxy far far away". Incredible, exhilarating, awesome!

  • @zooeyhall When u saw it in the theaters was it called: "Star Wars: A New Hope" or was Episode IV in the credits?

  • @BigtimeDirector2005 It was just called "StarWars".

  • @BigtimeDirector2005

    They added the 'New Hope' bit in 1980.

  • @zooeyhall ~smile~ I know how you felt only I was an eight year old child out for an evening at the drive thru with my mom and neighbors. I didn't know it then but the seeds of creativity were planted and have grown so that now I'm in the process of teaching myself screenwriting and penning my epic film.

  • @zooeyhall One of the most epic Sci-Fi movies of all time, I can identify with what your saying.

  • @zooeyhall True. Star Wars had no hype at all from what I remember. As a kid who loved sci fi as well, I had no clue a movie called Star Wars was coming out until I saw a tiny b/w picture in the March '77 edition of Scholastic Magazine. The picture was of the stormtrooper on the giant lizard thing and all I remember thinking was 'Cool. Wow. Kind of looks like Planet of the Apes'. That little b/w picture sparked my imagination and after seeing the movie, it literally changed my life.

  • @zooeyhall hey man, thanks for sharing your first star wars experience. I wish I had been there during that time, but sadly i wasn't born yet.

  • @zooeyhall Great movie. Sad that the prequels never recaptured the emotional connection and imagination of the classic trilogy. But we still have the best,the originals,the classics,the masterpieces,the greatest science fiction trilogy of all time.

  • @KelanDWood

    Yes we do; in my opinion, Lucas should have turned over at least the directing reins to someone else.

  • @jerico641 I agree

  • @jerico641 He directed the masterfull original!!!!!!

  • @KelanDWood The Star Wars trilogy is technical fantasy. The greatest science fiction film series so far is the Planet of the Apes. I enjoyed the Star Wars Trilogy when they first appeared and I'm still a fan. The prequels had so much potential to be well written and yet they seemed to have been written exclusively for commercial profit.

  • @chroniclerofthe70s I haven't seen a planet of the apes film but I agree about the prequels.

  • as Yoda would have said: the greatest filmmaker he is.. after PJ, JJ, Del Toro, Spielberg and Nolan that is.. lol

  • It would be nice if John Waters directed SW. Yeah, I'd laugh my ass off.

  • Geroge is a visorney then 1999 and again 2002 and again 2005 and again 2009

  • @stormshadow227 Nonono, he was a visionary in the 70's and 80's, not the 90's and 00's

  • @Jakezing He is still a visionarry!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @stormshadow227 Not really. The original trilogy was new and impressive. The prequels had nothing of that spark.

  • @brianatleftyfilms HUH, the prequels fucking rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @stormshadow227 Exactly the prequels are epic!!!!!!

  • The very first drive in movei I ever went to see was Star Wars Episoide IV. I've never forgotten it. It's always held a special place in my heart and I can't wait till my daughter is old enough to share them with her. They don't make films like this anymore.

  • star wars episode III doesn't suck it has 3 and a half stars just like return of the jedi

  • Note to some parents who want to let their kids watch Star Wars: Let them watch the original trilogy first.

  • And then he went on to make 3 of the shittiest movies ever made

  • idk but this week ive went back to watching starwars movies,

  • MAY THE FORCE BE WITH US !!

  • Does somebody know the name of the music from 2:04?

  • @Benedictus21 did you find the name of the 2:04 music ?

  • @ulyssezag No, but I think it's an instrumental cover of Rose Royce's Car wash.

  • i remember watching this on the history channel some time back. i was unsurprised to find that i loved the saga even more afterwards.

  • It's a shame that George Lucas decided to become a business man rather than a director and a storyteller. I think Star Wars made his fortune, but destroyed his directing career.

  • Star Wars is the king and always will be. A film that only 40 houses wanted, and it just explodes. Everyone likes an underdog kicks ass story, and in this case that was the plot of the movie AND that was how ppl viewed the makers of it.

  • Comment removed

  • yes,star wars sold more tickets than any other movie worldwide, except Gone with the wind which was before WW2.

    Avatar may have earned more, (even with inflation) but thats only becoz one ticket costs $12 apiece.

  • working on the star wars films must have been sooooo much fun!!

  • Im glad theyve stopped making them now. if they make too many then they would ruin the memory of the really great trilogy.

  • I loved this documentary, I've got the digitally remastered version and it came with a bonus dvd with tons of special features and one of them is this documentary, i've watched it atleast five times.

  • Avatar, Lord of the Rings??

    Give me a break!

    I bring you STAR WARS!

  • @hommechauvesouris friggin epic high five for that dude. hell yeah

  • @hommechauvesouris Star Wars was about the story, not the visuals, they were only a medium to tell the story. Avatar is about 3D, and that's it.

  • @Fapsamup George Lucas already said: "Visual effects are good when u want to tell a story, but visuals without story is boring."

  • @hommechauvesouris um... Lord of the Rings is pretty phenomenal.

  • @phlizmo well, compare to Star Wars it's just a good valium :)

  • @hommechauvesouris avatar shouldnt even be said among lord of the rings and star wars.

  • Comment removed

  • @Dullfang2 No kidding. I fell asleep during Avatar.

  • @flybywire09 I think both of us have.

  • @flybywire09 i just dont see how people make the comparison. avatar is nothing special. I'd never want to go to Pandora. the blue guys dont do anything. I'd rather have Podraces, the force, and epic lightsaber duels over blue guys on birds anyday.

  • @Dullfang2 I agree 100%. Avatar had a weak story, poor character development and was all around boring.

  • @Dullfang2 Eventually it will be.

  • @Dullfang2 If you're talking about movies, then LotR shouldn't be mentioned among Star Wars. I have nothing against the books, but the LotR movies are crap.

  • @theonlyred4 well, i like lotr because of the epic battles. i mean the two towers was kinda boring to me, but the battle of helms deep is just awesome.

  • @Dullfang2 among star wars yes but lord of the rings is a piece of s**t compared to avatar

  • @Dullfang2 I know some will hate me for saying this but i think that Harry Potter transmited the type of originality that Star Wars and Lord of the Rinds demounstrated years before.

    In a way i find Harry Potter this genration's Star Wars as much as Star Wars was that Generation's Lord of the Rings

  • @adrianocounter this is true. I love star wars personally, and most movies between the 80's/90's to the time harry potter was made was kinda sucky. So in a way, harry potter is this generations star wars.

  • they need to make more movies man..I wanna see some old republic movies and some expanded universe movies..now is the time, you have james camerons avatar technology, use it for star wars...

  • all hail the greatest movie ever since World War 2! Star Wars!

  • great movie but thats stretching it. Definitely one of the greatest and probably THE most influential

  • I wish to go to war with the stars someday!

  • George is not an interesting person, but I must say the first three original star wars movies were pure genius. I think he was more involved in the prequals. Thats why they were terrible.

  • @kzundiverus They sunk below expectations and quality because Lucas directed them himself. By 1997, he was so far removed from the director's chair it worked against the films. But the reason the original trilogy worked so well was most certainly due to Lucas' involvement. He's one of the greatest storytellers to grace the film industry.

  • wuz that one guy harrison ford?

  • Yeah...he's Han Solo....

  • i wish star wars never finish....i wish it had infinite episodes!!!!!!

  • me to

  • That is why the expanded universe is there for

  • i saw this on my original trilogy dvd set. great.

  • star wars... the best damn sci fi creation out there... god bless star wars!!!

  • Four things this doc. excluded:

    1. Any mention of the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special" (although it has been mentioned that they WERE going to bring it up, but cut these 10 minutes out due to length and pacing.)

    2. Mark Hamill's car accident in Jan. 1977

    3. Any appearance of David Prowse (the guy who played Darth Vader in the suit) in person.

    4. Any mention of Sebastian Shaw (Darth Vader unmasked in ROTJ)

    5. Any mention of The Emperor (Ian Mcdiarmid

    Otherwise, great doc.

  • David Prowse is mentioned in the 4th part at around ~4 minutes.

  • I mean he dosen't appear in person like the other actors of Star Wars do interview style to offer his own experiences with the original Star Wars films.

  • Ah, gotcha

  • @SparkyMK3

    there's a good reason why Lucas or anyone sane would leave that out...

  • @SparkyMK3

    1.What special, I don`t know any specxial.

    2. Yeah should haave been mentioned.

    3. Yeah he played a main caracter.

    4. Yeah I am pro JHayden but h should be mentioned.

    5. yes should hav been mentioned.

  • @reviewreviewer1 6. Van Helsig is the best movie of all time!

  • @SparkyMK3 1...2...3...4...5 yup 4 things alright...waaaiiit a minute!

  • star wars is not a set of movies, its a way of life!!

  • No man it's not! Sorry to break it to you..

  • apparently people don't understand facetiousness..that probably went over your head too

  • Star Wars is real.....

  • I consider this to be the best documentary on Star Wars, and the only reason to get the 4 DVD set. A bit sycophantic, but still worth having.

  • Star Wars? What is this. I've never heard of this thing

  • Best movie of ALL TIME!