Was there any question that a middle aged man who grew up loving "Star Wars" movies would watch a documentary about the making of the original trilogy? No question and no doubt.

"Empire of Dreams" is as fascinating as the "Star Wars" movies, and in some ways more so. Like a duck on the water, the visible product was pure grace, yet below the surface there was fervent motion. Even though we got to see a beautiful work of art, "Empire of Dreams" shows us the struggle and stress Lucas went through to realize his dream.

"Empire of Dreams" documents the making of all three films and the man behind them. We hear of Hollywood politics, Lucas's huge gamble on his project, and the small empire he was able to build as a result of that gamble. I never knew Lucas made "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" with his own money to maintain independence from the production studios (something I'm sure many studios lament). It's a lot of great interviews and how-things-work that even a casual fan will find interesting.

I had the chance to sit down and watch the 2004 documentary "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy" now for the first time in 2020. In fact, I wasn't even aware of its existence before now. Shame on me, especially with my love for the "Star Wars" franchise.

Well, initially I must admit that I didn't really have much of any high hopes for this documentary, as the previous many "Star Wars" based documentaries I've seen have been halfhearted ones that didn't really offer much of new insight or information. But hey, it is a "Star Wars" documentary, so of course I had to sit down and watch it.

Turned out that "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy" is actually the best and most insightful of documentaries that I have seen about the "Star Wars" franchise. And I was definitely amazed with the amount of information and behind the scenes information they managed to cram into the limited playtime.

"Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy" is a MUST watch for fans of the franchise, especially people around my age, whom were children during the first three movie, the original trilogy.

My rating of "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy" is a sure eight out of ten stars. This is one documentary that you have to sit down and watch, provided you get the chance. Well worth the time and effort.

Interesting and informative documentary on the original trilogy, has interviews with all the surviving creators and stars of the films, and much behind the scenes footage, anecdotes, and trivia that fans love.

Pretty exhaustive and extensive look at how the films were conceived and directed, the casting process, evolution of the groundbreaking visual effects that so captured the imagination of children, the memorable music that kids hummed in schoolyards as they re-enacted their favorite characters and battles, and the costume making process for the familiar alien characters like the droids C3PO, R2D2, and Chewbacca, not to mention Darth Vader!

On the original Special Edition DVD set, this is well worth watching.