Elstree 1976

A few of the minor actors in the original Star Wars film tell their stories. A mildly interesting idea which might have been effective over about 30 minutes is stretched to over 90. If you are a big SW fan it might be interesting, but if not, you'll probably find it hard to keep your interest.

A look back at the making of Star Wars: A New Hope and their lives afterwards from the perspective of the bit part players and extras. So the appearance of Dave Prowse was rather odd. He was an iconic star of the movie. Despite being behind a mask and his voice being dubbed over. Almost everyone knew who played Darth Vader in the original trilogy. The movie sprung to life when the actors talked about the convention circuit. It's booming business in recent years and even the extras and people who might have turned up on the set to sweep the floor are making bundles of cash from it. It was rather interesting to see the sniffy attitude from some of the actors regarding extras. That they should not be in the convention circuit. Forgetting it is the fans who want the extras there and are willing to pay for their autographs. I also liked how some of the actors who appeared behind a mask were more popular in the convention circuits. Jeremy Bulloch for example would have long line of people waiting to see him. Of course Bulloch had a distinguished career that included Summer Holiday, Doctor Who, James Bond movies, Robin of Sherwood. The documentary was overlong, it probably did not need the glimpses behind the private lives of some of the participants. I also wondered if they managed to get Prowse then why they could not get Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels for this. Obviously not appearing together as they allegedly had a mutual loathing.

source: Elstree 1976

It's starts off as talking heads documentary with a few bit part actors and extras in Star Wars and you'll spend a while thinking "who did he play?" And it's mildly amusing and interesting. Then it gives them enough rope to hang themselves and you see what they are doing (or not doing) now and then we touch on the conventions and we plumb new depths of petty.

This is really good if you're a sad geek like me! Full of stuff you won't see in the usual documentaries and I really enjoyed it. Also it's actually quite funny in the sense that the cast could have come straight from Extras. If this had been made before The Office I would be convinced Ricky Gervais based it on this.

Actors and extras reminisce about their time on the set of "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" (1977) and how making the film affected their lives. My interest in this film is that i believe in celebrating the "men in suits", the actors who are important to film but do not get the recognition. Although I am not a "Star Wars" fan (blasphemy!), I appreciate the role that Greedo plays in the series, as well as Darth Vader and Boba Fett. As one actor points out, there are action figures... you may not know the actor's name, but you have him immortalized in plastic! Die-hard fans might like the film. I found it interesting, but it didn't add a whole lot to the understanding of the "Star Wars" franchise, and even if it did that might not mean as much to me. I was interested in the convention angle. I am shocked how much people pay at conventions for a signature from an actor who had a small part decades ago, and was already paid for that part. (Going to annual horror conventions, I am certain many of the actors make more on signing fees than they ever did as actors!)

Maybe slightly too long (yeah, even at 100 minutes), but there's a lot of wonderful anecdotes from all of these 'walk-on' players and actors and people-behind-masks, and it's not completely about the making of Star Wars either. I think that was what pleasantly surprised me the most; not only that, the people talk about where they came from and their personal lives to an extent - all of them, from what I could tell, came from working class backgrounds, had sometimes sick/dead family members, and it was not necessarily always a 'I'm going to be this kind of actor' let alone any kind of recognizable entity - and, after Star Wars, how their lives fared. Some kept on working in movies (there's one guy who went on to be in a number of films as the sort of 'oh, hey, background guy' in films like Living Daylights and Last Crusade), some didn't (the one actress, who barely considers herself that, found that she was more keen on getting her walk-on roles and not really seeking anything more), and some went on to being other iconic figures (Dave Prowse as... cross-walk guy?) There's also a good deal of time spent talking about fans and conventions, and the reactions to how these cons go isn't anything too out of this world (as one of them says, 95% of the people are terrific, the rest are... weird), but it adds another level on to the proceedings. Most interesting is the bit about how there is a sort of tier system as far as people going to these conventions, with one man being interviewed (I forget his name but he's the guy that gets blown up in the X-Wing after shouting "Loosen up!" and recalls not remembering his lines out of order) saying that at one con a guy came trying to make himself into a thing when he wasn't even credited... and then this same guy, one presumes - or someone like him- is interviewed, and I mean, hey, that briefing scene on the Death Star on Yavin had a LOT of guys, you know. And meanwhile a guy like Prowse says with only a bit of bitterness that he isn't asked to conventions anymore, certainly not the official SW ones, but it doesn't seem as anything sad, like he knows he's made some bad blood along the way ...(the context, in case anyone's curious, Prowse used to be really terrible when it came to leaking info about the sequels when they were in production, to the point where he wasn't given the pivotal line in 'Empire' due to his loose lips, so that may be a reason he neglects to mention, but I digress)... The key thing with Elstree is that you don't have to be a major Star Wars fan to see it. I'm sure it helps, and having listened recently to the 'I Was There Too' podcast with Anthony Forrest (the 'Mind-Trick' Stormtrooper, and another character cut from the final version), there's some extra things to find out about these people that make them interesting all within this context. Stylistically it's talking heads and a sprinkling of film clips, stills, (mostly from SW, and sometimes, to emphasize a character as the one neat trick, the film does a kind of back and forth loop like one might see on, of all places, Instagram, but it works as a 'here's this guy or woman'). What it comes down to is that these people would be great fun to talk to in sum, and that's the important thing. While the fandom is nice for these people, it's not everything (not even for Prowse, not anymore, or Jeremy Bulloch, the one actor interviewed here that wasn't there in 76), so in a way this is more like a series of human interest stories that happens to have as the connecting thread of 'Oh yeah, that sci-fi movie that the quiet bearded guy was directing). It works for both crowds, even as it's special up to a point, a 'good for one watch' thing.

Those are the famous lines spouted by actors for decades. They always want to thank "the little people", those inconsequential actors, extras and crew members who make the star shine. But rarely do we ever hear about them and they never receive the accolades that the stars do. No one even makes movies about them. Until now. STAR WARS is perhaps the biggest cultural event film made in the last 50 years. It was released, sequels were made, all were re-released, prequels followed, we got an all-new movie last year, a movie tie-in is coming as well as a sequel to the new movie. And while all had a handful of stars in major roles what most don't consider is the number of bit players and costumed actors that are found running around in each of these movies. ELSTREE 1976 takes a look at those actors. If you were in a mask or played a small role in the original film you were there watching it all happen at Elstree Studios in 1976. The film makers here have gone back to those actors now and discussed with them the experiences they had in making that first movie. Matched with their appearances in that film we see them as they are now, masks off or a little aged for those who didn't have to wear masks. Each of them talks about their time and it makes for a nice backstage look at movie making. Not only do we get to hear them talk about the making of the film we get to find out how it influenced their lives moving forward as well. Various cast members went on to roles in other films or TV projects, some of them recognizable when it is pointed out. For them you'll be watching and saying "Oh yeah! I didn't realize that was him/her!" We see where they are today and what they're doing as well as those no longer with us. I've read some reviews of this film that take its makers to task for focusing on the minor bit players while ignoring some of the bigger name stars that were made who also wore masks. I find it difficult to side with those complaints seeing as how many of those stars have had programs made about them already as well as their appearing at numerous conventions to sign autographs to this day. The focus of the cast members here were those who aren't as recognizable, who didn't jump onto other major projects in starring roles, who haven't gotten the recognition that those others did. For me that makes the movie even better, giving them a chance for the recognition they deserve as well. Understand going in that this is not an action packed film. We don't see tons of clips from the original movie. We get glimpses of these people in their roles, see them now and get the chance to listen to them talk about their experience. It is a documentary not a narrative film. And yet it is still interesting to watch. Fans of STAR WARS will find themselves listening to these tales with rapt attention. Others might find it interesting as well. For me it was a treat and worth watching.

Everybody in the world has a story to tell. It is cool that the lesser known people involved with Star Wars get their moment to shine. We already know who David Prowse is. He played one of cinema's greatest villains. We have interviews with the actors who played the X-Wing fighters, Greedo, the Stormtrooper who hit his head and of course Jeremy as Boba Fett (even though "The Empire Strikes Back" was shot in 1979, which is out of place for a documentary called "Elstree 1976"). The doc opens with the actors explaining who there are and their growing up tales, Prowse became a body builder due to problems with his muscles. He also explained that he almost got in trouble on A Clockwork Orange by asking Kubrick "Are you 'One Take Stanley'?" Fortunatley, Stan just laughed. They all explain how they were cast in Star Wars and their parts. Greedo had acid put on his back for the burning effect, and no he does not talk about "Who shot first". The X-Wing fighters said that they had to queue for their scenes in the X-Wing cockpits as if they were queuing for a ride. The Stormtrooper who banged his head said he couldn't see out of the helmet, which explains Luke's line "I can't see a thing in this helmet." Then they talk about conventions and how the lesser known actors were annoyed that Vader and Fett were getting all the glory and they weren't. Then we have the "What are you doing now" act in the documentary and this is where the doc gets quite dull for me. Most of them haven't really anything interesting to say, other than "I don't act any more" and "I just do parts in TV." After the Star Wars tale, you just don't care about their stories anymore, but then all actors go through the "Where are they now" part in the lives. Even the big names quit. One actor said he had bit parts in movies such as Indiana Jones and Superman, and he was depressed that he wasn't getting any big parts. The female extra who has a "blink and you miss it cameo" in the Cantina scene went out with Christopher Reeve whilst filming Superman. Another actor said he is now a teacher and has created a series called "Johnny Spacerocket." It's an okay doc, Star Wars fans might be interested in the first 45 minutes, but afterwards the doc gets slow and dull.

Spoiler alert: I had waited for 6 months for the DVD release. The trailer showed us some "behind the scenes" footage of X-wing fighters, storm-troopers and a man in a Darth Vader suit hanging around waiting to go on and perform. What became clear is that it was staged NEW footage. There wasn't really any behind the scenes we haven't seen. The film itself jumped around, I guess the directer thought it would be cute to just put the first names of people and it took me some time to figure out who was who (and I am more than the casual SW fan). I'm not sure what this was supposed to be. It was more like a trashing of the extras and small parts actors. They were show in the worst light possible, the small roles saying the people who had no dialog or were cut shouldn't go to the conventions. They acted very petty as if this was all the director shot? I think he wasn't a fan of Star Wars and wanted to show something else because I surely didn't enjoy the in-fighting. He didn't even film on location at Elstree! Short on photos or footage but you get the same stock behind-the-scenes footage of the rebels on the Death star "escaping" but Lucas say the mic is in picture. This was like someone re-mixing something great into a smearing, cut-throat, vote-them-off-the-island reality crap sitcom. There was no celebrating Star Wars, it was all about the drama between some actors and extras who were lucky enough to be involved in the film. What a waste of time. Did TMZ do this movie? P.S. - How is it that the director and most of the fans don't know Boba Fett was in Star Wars (at Elstree 1976) but he was cut out. It was the cut Jabba the Hutt scene. Right at the end of the scene you are introduced to Boba. It is a difficult cut scene to find but it is in a few behind the scenes specials for Star wars. Also the Greedo scenes were re-shot with a different actor/actress because the fingers just looked silly.