I’m quite fond of things like making of’s, deleted scenes and documentaries regarding films.
In the specific case of Star Wars, I’d say I got quite late in the subject.
So, I’ve been trying to track down the most famous contents out there and I was wondering if someone could help me identifying what I’m missing. I’ll be using the Blu-rays are a start point, so I’ll only list things I know that aren’t available on them.
On a side note, I think this will be a nice guide for those interested in finding bonus features not available on that BD Box and where to find the videos.
Here’s a list of what I’ve acquired so far:
- The Star Wars Complete Saga Blu-ray Box digibook with the 3 bonus discs (Fox release, 2011), which I assume most of you are familiar with (http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Star-Wars-The-Complete-Saga-Blu-ray/14903/#Review)
- The Star Wars Trilogy (Special Edition, 2004), which comes in a silver box, 4 DVDs. “Empire of Dreams” (151min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416716/), “The Characters of Star Wars” (19min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427053/), “The Force is With Them” (13min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427263/)
- Star Wars Episode I, the release with a bonus DVD (2001). “The Beginning: Making Episode I” (66min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0354408/).
- Jedi Junkies (75min http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1662514/): not exactly a Star Wars documentary, but it’s a Star Wars’ documentary about its fans.
What I know I’m missing:
- Empire of Dreams: There’s a version that runs about 161min, with Lucas talking about the The Star Wars Holiday Special. I’d like to watch that 10-minute segment that was cut off.
- R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (20min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299485/): mockumentary, never heard of that before typing this post.
- Star Wars: Connections/The Story of Star Wars (2004, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Star_Wars): these are a bit weird, to sum up, there was a Hasbro toy that could play proprietary video discs and there were 3 Star Wars related discs made. The first two were simply abridged versions of the movies, as told by C3PO, but the 3rd disc had behind the scenes contents. Does anyone know if those featurettes were the same as the ones on the DVDs?
- Don Bies Archive Tour (from the 1993 LD Release): it’s a behind the scenes with Don Bies, one of the special effects artists. Was it ever available anywhere else? Or does anyone have a proper capture of this video?
- Return of the Ewok (25min): another mockumentary, but it was never released. However, there’s a reconstruction of it on DVD by two fans, the thing is I couldn’t find it. Any help?
- Star Wars Episode II - “From Puppets to Pixels” (52min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425043/), Web documentary, "State of the Art: The Pre-Visualization of ‘Episode II’ (22min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425481/), “Films Are Not Released, They Escape” (26min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367733/)
- Star Wars Episode III - “Within a Minute” (78min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491707/), Web documentary, “It’s All for Real: The Stunts of Episode III” (11min, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499221)
- From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Xa6CcShAI&list=PL148kCvXk8pDL72_FbsLq7KXD5eJUz7hC)- while I know this is freely available on Star Wars’ YouTube channel, the picture quality is really bad. Judging from the screenshots on the Japanese LD, it seems to me that the YouTube video was sourced from a VHS. Does anyone have a rip from either the Betamax or the LaserDisc?
And I couldn’t find info about the “Digital Releases”. They come with some bonus material, but are they in HD? Or simply 480p from the DVDs?
Now, am I missing anything else? Can anyone help me fill the gaps?