Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy


Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy is a 2004 documentary film directed by Kevin Burns and narrated by Robert Clotworthy. It documents the making of the original Star Wars trilogy: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, and their impact on popular culture.
The two-and-a-half-hour-long documentary was produced as a bonus disc for the DVD box set of the Star Wars Trilogy, released on September 21, 2004. A shortened version of the documentary premiered on the A&E Network later that fall. The TV version ran at around ninety minutes, cutting out nearly an hour of content.

Content

The documentary is strictly chronological, divided into five parts, from the beginning of George Lucas' career as a filmmaker, to the complicated production of Star Wars in 1976, to the impact of the film, and its sequels, have made on the world today. It features interviews with George Lucas and major cast and crew members. The documentary puts Star Wars into a sociological and political perspective by using interviews with spectators such as Walter Cronkite.
The film was shot in 1.78:1 aspect ratio.
The documentary is available for streaming on Disney+, but was edited to show a newer version of Darth Vader's duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars. Production footage was also remastered for a cleaner look, and changed to remove a cigarette from Harrison Ford's hand in one such clip with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher on set together.
Comedic actor Bill Hader was a production assistant on this documentary.

Featured interviews

People interviewed are:
Featured in archive footage are:

Reception

The documentary was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing.

Print sources

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