Star Wars Archives is a fan site that has been around since 2007. But if you haven't seen it lately, you should go have a look. The site has been completely revamped and it's gorgeous. The site is full of terrific photographic and video content documenting the creation of the original trilogy--without even a hint of the prequels.
You can also follow Star Wars Archives on Twitter and Facebook.
I don't often find much of interest on StarWars.com. In fact I don't even bother visiting. But I came across it by accident the other day and found an interesting, if short, vignette entitled, "Episode IV: Averting Disaster". It's an excerpt from the Empire of Dreams documentary from the Star Wars Trilogy 2004 DVD set.
Unfortunately you can't embed clips from StarWars.com, so follow the link below if you're interested.
I'm often amazed by what you can find on YouTube. Here is a full length VHS transfer of this classic Star Wars documentary, narrated by Mark Hamill. I vaguely remember seeing it on the nearby PBS affiliate during pledge drives.
Seeing Jamie Benning's review of the Star Wars Blu-ray release reminded me of his terrific, homemade documentary on the making of Star Wars, Star Wars Begins.
If you haven't heard of it, here's a bit of what Wired magazine has to say about it:
Fans can be obsessive, Star Wars fans may be the most obsessive and Jambe Davdar [Jamie Benning] may well be the most obsessive of them all. He has just released his third feature-length documentary/commentary chronicling the original trilogy of George Lucas’ beloved Star Wars and it’s called “Star Wars Begins“. Like his two previous documentaries, Returning To Jedi and Building Empire, Star Wars Begins is an unofficial look at the creation of the classic movie and features tons of deleted scenes, alternate takes and different angles, bloopers, original set audio recordings, and an insane amount of commentary from cast and crew, culled from probably every documentary, interview and commentary track ever made about Star Wars.
What’s really interesting about the format is that Davdar’s documentary is feature-length, and follows the flow of the original movie itself with the deleted scenes added where they would have been, and interviews placed over the top of the action they’re describing. The overall effect is much more engrossing than a DVD commentary track and the wealth of material contained makes it well worth sitting through the 14 separate YouTube clips. Personally, I’ve never heard the seen the deleted scenes of Biggs on Tatooine and hearing David Prowse saying Vader’s dialogue makes you wonder how this guy was ever gonna be the galaxy’s bad-ass.
Jamie (@JamieSWB) first posted Star Wars Begins on YouTube in 14 parts (to comply with their policy on time limits for clips). But in May 2011 YouTube allowed Jamie to post the whole documentary as a single clip. It's as long as Star Wars itself, so sit back and enjoy it.
By the way, Jamie has given Empire and Jedi the same treatment. See below.
Dark Helmet
Here's a good story on Star Wars Begins from KPBS in San Diego, California.
