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Bonus/Extras - What am I missing?

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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:

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?

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If I remember correctly, the R2 mockumentary is on the episode II bonus disc.

I have a DVD with that “The Story of Star Wars” thing, but it’s only the summarized plots which pretty much aren’t worth watching, I didn’t even know there was a doc that goes with it?

There’s also the Musical Journey disc that came with the ROTS soundtrack, it’s not really a documentary, but it’s music videos for the whole saga with introductions by Ian McDiarmid.

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DominicCobb said:

There’s also the Musical Journey disc that came with the ROTS soundtrack, it’s not really a documentary, but it’s music videos for the whole saga with introductions by Ian McDiarmid.

Oh by tha way, has anyone made a HD version of this ?

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music videos for the whole saga with introductions by Ian McDiarmid.

Oh yeah I remember that one. I don’t think I own that any more.

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DominicCobb said:

If I remember correctly, the R2 mockumentary is on the episode II bonus disc.

There’s only a preview of that on the Episode 2 bonus disc IIRC. But I know that a DVD with the full mockumentary was released in the US in 2001 or 2002 (read about it at the time in the French official magazine).

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I think someone figured out a way to play VideoNow discs on a PC, but the resolution is terrible.

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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DominicCobb said:

If I remember correctly, the R2 mockumentary is on the episode II bonus disc.

I have a DVD with that “The Story of Star Wars” thing, but it’s only the summarized plots which pretty much aren’t worth watching, I didn’t even know there was a doc that goes with it?

There’s also the Musical Journey disc that came with the ROTS soundtrack, it’s not really a documentary, but it’s music videos for the whole saga with introductions by Ian McDiarmid.

The “Story of Star Wars” DVD was a compilation of the first 2 discs from the Hasbro toy. The third disc wasn’t included at all, but I was wondering if the videos were exclusive or if they were featured on the movies’ releases on DVD.

And Musical Journey seems interesting, I’ll have to look into that too, thanks.

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geek-o-rama said:

DominicCobb said:

If I remember correctly, the R2 mockumentary is on the episode II bonus disc.

I have a DVD with that “The Story of Star Wars” thing, but it’s only the summarized plots which pretty much aren’t worth watching, I didn’t even know there was a doc that goes with it?

There’s also the Musical Journey disc that came with the ROTS soundtrack, it’s not really a documentary, but it’s music videos for the whole saga with introductions by Ian McDiarmid.

The “Story of Star Wars” DVD was a compilation of the first 2 discs from the Hasbro toy. The third disc wasn’t included at all, but I was wondering if the videos were exclusive or if they were featured on the movies’ releases on DVD.

I got mine as a bonus DVD with the (I believe it was) Walmart release of ROTS. No idea if it was ever available any other way.

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geek-o-rama said:
And Musical Journey seems interesting, I’ll have to look into that too, thanks.

It’s on youtube, though it’s quite squashed.

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Well yeah, but my purchase and subsequent disposal are hinted at above.

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  • Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed - This one goes more into the mythos and epics that influenced Star Wars and is a sequel documentary to Empire Of Dreams. Sadly it’s never gotten a proper release though screeners do exist.
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LordStarkiller said:

  • Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed - This one goes more into the mythos and epics that influenced Star Wars and is a sequel documentary to Empire Of Dreams. Sadly it’s never gotten a proper release though screeners do exist.

This looks fantastic. Over two hours and produced in 2007.
Would you happen to be able to PM me where to find it?

SilverWook said:

A look at those Star Wars VideoNow discs.
https://youtu.be/20nRK7fagKM

Woah! I was expecting it to be bad, but those discs are even worse than I thought.
Thanks a million for the link, it was very informative.

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darth_ender said:

geek-o-rama said:

LordStarkiller said:

  • Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed - This one goes more into the mythos and epics that influenced Star Wars and is a sequel documentary to Empire Of Dreams. Sadly it’s never gotten a proper release though screeners do exist.

This looks fantastic. Over two hours and produced in 2007.
Would you happen to be able to PM me where to find it?

It’s on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZt5HRPLExQ

Thanks!

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The Star Wars trilogy special edition - behind the scenes It was split into three parts for the VHS release but this is the complete half hour version from the laserdisc with a bit of extra stuff! Best quality version I can find.

The Mythology of Star Wars Filmed around the time of the release of Episode I George Lucas sits down and talks for an hour about everything Star Wars! Personally, I love this - it’s a really, really good interview. Not the best quality version available so it might be worth doing a bit more searching.

When Star Wars Ruled The World A fun VH1 collection of interviews from the 90’s which is fluff, but still interesting! (Probably not the best quality version out there.)

Star Wars - The Magic and The Mystery Another fluffy fity minutes (presented by Howie Long!) but it’s well put together and worth your time I think.

From Star Wars to Star Wars- The Story of Industrial Light & Magic Samuel L. Jackson presents a brief overview of ILM from '77 to '99. Pretty low quality video but the best I can find.

A more recent documentary is The Galaxy Britain Built which aired at the end of last year about the UK’s contribution to Star Wars. I’m patriotically biased but it’s a really interesting watch and has a lot of behind the scenes staff (and Gareth Edwards) sharing their stories.

Ralph McQuarrie: Tribute to a Master Shown at Star Wars Celebration a few years back and then split into five parts on starwars.com, this version edits them back together - it’s in HD (although not the highest quality possible.)

I think starwars.com has the best quality version of From Star Wars To Jedi - The Making Of A Saga

As others have said, some of what you’re after is on the Prequel Trilogy dvds. Whatever your opinion on the actual movies all three of those releases are FULL of great bonus material which is definitely worth buying despite being in old fashioned standard definition 😉

Also, I must mention Jamie Benning. He’s made several outstanding (and very professional) documentaries which are on his Vimeo channel, also some other non-Star Wars stuff you might find of interest. Highly recommended!

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Woah! That’s a great compilation!
Thanks for all the links, I’ll be sure to check them.