Very best movie i ever watch

Absolutely Fantastic

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The first must-see film of the year.

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.

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

Nearly 30 years ago in a galaxy far far away, George Lucas forever altered the cinematic landscape of science fiction with "Star Wars." A memorizing fairytale, and by now legendary intergalactic epic from which all subsequent like-minded endeavors have had to live up to, "Star Wars" was the story of the son of a Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his quest to rid the galaxy of an evil empire and Darth Vader. That Han Solo (Harrison Ford) slowly began to emerge as everyone's favorite heartthrob (particularly in "The Empire Strikes Back") didn't seem to hamper Lucas' initial desire to tell a good story – especially since Princess Leila (Carrie Fisher) was actually Luke's sister and therefore definitely 'out' as a love interest for the young and viral Jedi in training. But I digress. With its strident overtones of son eclipsing father in "The Return of the Jedi" Lucas' space saga fully realized the box office potential of trilogies. Buttressed by spellbinding special effects, script scenarios that seemed to improve in leaps and bounds with each new installment, and a near mythological following akin to "Star Trekkies," "Star Wars" became that rarified cinematic sensation; a marketer's wet dream. John William's masterful main title and subsequent scoring forever changed the musical landscape of contemporary movies for the better. One needs only to hear the first few bars of music to find instant connection with a film history steeped in the great composers of Hollywood past. "Star Wars" also made George Lucas a very, very rich (if conflicted) man, and, gave him a cottage industry to fall back on during his less lucrative career in the late 80s and early 90s. That in recent times fans of the first three films in the series have expressed their overwhelming outrage at the director's need to insert new computer generated footage and "update" his film classics is a bone of contention that has been well documented in print and on the web. Press releases from on high at Lucas Films LTD have used the logic that Star Wars in totem belongs to its creator. Hence, if the creator is dissatisfied with his work he has every right to go back and "fix" what he feels is inadequate. However, while no one can dispute that it was Lucas' initial genius that created the legacy, it does seem, at least to this reviewer, that Herr Director relinquished his own personal rights as to what is or isn't a good film after he bestowed that greatness onto the collective memory of movie audiences. After re-releasing the trilogy in theaters in the early 1990s, the films went into moratorium so that Lucas could devote his time and effort to producing the last three (actually the first three). Yet, despite his overwhelming advancements in film technology, none of Lucas' subsequent installments have come anywhere close to recapturing the magic of the first trilogy. And now, at last, audiences get to witness the reason why Star Wars redux pales in comparison to Star Wars proper on DVD. These new hi-def transfers are, in a word, mind-blowing. The images are pristine and exhibit a surreal amount of clarity, depth and fine detail. Film grain is practically non-existent for an image so smooth you'll swear you're in the same galaxy with Luke and Co. Colors are rich, vibrant and bold. Flesh tones are miraculously true to life. Blacks are deep and solid. The enhanced sequences in the film have a much more integrated feel to them than they did in theaters in the 90s. Of the three films, Star Wars exhibits the most improvement in video quality. "Return of the Jedi" in direct comparison seems a tad weak, particularly in the scenes on Endor in which the forest foliage has a decidedly muddy/too grainy feel to it. (Aside: the image is still astounding compared to anything you've likely seen before. Compression artifacts are present but do not distract. There's no hint of edge enhancement or pixelization. The audio for all three films has been cleaned up considerably. Though all three soundtracks are decidedly the product of outdated sound equipment they are remarkably engaging for films of their vintage and will surely NOT disappoint.This collection comes with an extra disc loaded with bonus footage. There are vintage documentaries, new featurettes and a host of deleted scenes and outtakes to choose from. But if you're like this reviewer, ultimately these are mere icing on the cake. The real treat here is to finally have the Lucas legacy back in everyone's video library. May the force continue to live on!

For the release of the three original (albeit updated) films in the Star Wars series, this documentary was provided as the main extra on a fourth DVD. Starting with the difficult production of Star Wars and looking at the completely unexpected success it turned out to be, we examine the making of the two sequels, the puppets, the effects and the actors with recollections and insight from cast and crew.At the start of this documentary it appeared to be heading down a very bad road where it looked at the national mood at the time the original film was being produced; it appeared to be suggesting that the film itself was a major event and was some sort of saviour of the world! Now, the influence and knock-on effect of Star Wars in the film industry is undeniable but if the documentary was going to be just a big love-in then I would have struggled to finish it. Fortunately the film manages to move away from this for the majority and the slight tone of awe and respect afforded to the films can perhaps be forgiven. Likewise the film avoids any significant dissent aside from some of the crew acknowledging that they didn't share Lucas' vision or like the film they were making (but admit they were wrong); but it brushes over things like Guinness' dislike for even the finished film and the cold direction by Lucas and never lets anyone ever share stories that could come across as damaging.However, outside of these minor complaints the documentary is an impressive look at the films in a mostly very interesting and honest way. Back stories, personal memories, personal experiences, onset trouble and footage from the production all combine to produce a story that is very interesting and full of nuggets to the point where I could easily sit and watch it again. Of course you probably need to be a Star Wars fan to care about such things but, considering this was provided as a companion to the three films, then it is more than likely playing to a friendly crowd. The involvement of so many of the cast and crew is a real bonus but I would have liked a bit more from some of them – for example I would have liked to hear something from Prowse, considering he thought he was a central character only to find himself totally dubbed out of the film! Lucas himself is a bit full of his own self-importance and the documentary does get better with Empire and Jedi because his contributions are reduced to make way for the other directors.The film touches on Phantom Menace but wisely says nothing of it. In fact the documentary does shed light on why Menace may have failed as a film – at one point in the writing of Star Wars, one contributor says that the Force had to be carefully written to be present but to never be too serious or heavy or it would suck the fun out of the film. This made me smile because I believe that the weight of self-importance is a major reason that Menace is lacking in entertainment value. Overall this is an impressive documentary that looks at so many issues that it will be difficult to be bored by it – sound effects, visual effects, writing, production, casting, marketing, development, studio pressures and so on – it is a must for fans and it puts to shame many of the ten minute "making of" featurettes that pass for documentaries on some dvds.