| Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Written by | Ed Singer |
| Directed by | Kevin Burns Edith Becker |
| Starring | George Lucas Mark Hamill |
| Narrated by | Robert Clotworthy |
| Composer | John Williams |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Edith Becker |
| Editors | Troy Bogert David Comtois Scott B. Morgan Molly Shock |
| Running time | 150 min |
| Production companies | Prometheus Entertainment Fox Television Studios Lucasfilm Ltd. |
| Original release | |
| Network | A&E Network (edited) |
| Release | October 2004 (2004-10) |
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy is a 2004documentary film directed byKevin Burns and narrated byRobert Clotworthy. It documents the making of theoriginalStar Wars trilogy:Star Wars (1977),The Empire Strikes Back (1980), andReturn of the Jedi (1983), and their impact on popular culture.
The two-and-a-half-hour-long documentary was made for the bonus disc of the DVD box set of theStar Wars Trilogy, released on September 21, 2004.[1] A shortened version of the documentary premiered on theA&E Network later that fall. The TV version ran at around ninety minutes, cutting out nearly an hour of content.
The documentary is strictly chronological, divided into five parts, from the beginning of George Lucas' career as a filmmaker, to the complicated production ofStar Wars in 1976, to the impact of the film, and its sequels, have made on the world today. It features interviews withGeorge Lucas and major cast and crew members. The documentary putsStar Wars into a sociological and political perspective by using interviews with spectators such asWalter Cronkite.
The film was shot in 1.78:1aspect ratio.
The documentary is available for streaming onDisney+, but wasedited to show a newer version ofDarth Vader's duel withObi-Wan Kenobi fromA New Hope.[2] Production footage was also remastered for a cleaner look, and changed to remove a cigarette fromHarrison Ford's hand in one such clip withMark Hamill andCarrie Fisher on set together.
Comedic actorBill Hader was a production assistant on this documentary.
People interviewed are:
Featured in archive footage are:
The documentary was nominated for anEmmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing (Non-fiction).[3]
