135. 'Star Wars' (1977)

The making of George Lucas' first 'Star Wars' film is an incredible saga unto itself. The global success of 'Star Wars' and how it changed the film business forever is an incredible saga unto itself. The industry advancements in technology pioneered by Lucas' special effects shop Industrial Light and Magic is an incredible saga unto itself. The above, and several other sentences I could similarly write, are why it's somewhat difficult to even contemplate 'Star Wars' as 'a movie', as freed of the importance and baggage the entire franchise trails in its considerable wake as its possible to be. But hey, that's what we do here at Full Cast and Crew. So in this week's episode, I recount the experience I had in screening 'Star Wars' for the first time in a long time, and contrast that experience with the one I had watching the film AFTER I read the making-of books and watched the making-of documentaries. In order to gain some clarity, I then invited repeat FCAC guests Dan Hartley and Bruce Edwards (their previous episodes linked below) to join me. Dan is a hard-core Star Wars guy and Bruce is extremely knowledgeable about the franchise and what it represents. So this episode is not a fan-boy, nerd-herding deep dive into whether Han shot first (of course he did), nor is it a "Star Wars is overrated" trolling excercise. Instead, we talk at length about the making-of, about where the first film succeeds and falls short, and why, and about the legacy of sequels and limited series. Join us, won't you?? Bruce Edwards' appearance on the pod to talk about 'Blade Runner' (the 2nd-most downloaded episode of FCAC all time) can be found here. Bruce Edwards' appearance on the pod to discuss 'Alien' can be found here. Dan Hartley joining Chris and I (on what would turn out to be Chris' last episode!) to talk about the brilliantly insane 'Star Wars Holiday Special' can be found here. Some clips of David Prowse in the Vader costume performing the physical portion of the role and speaking Vader dialogue later to be replaced by James Earl Jones is here. George Lucas' first film, THX 1138 can be rented here.