Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

lrathome This is not a nostalgic behind the scenes look at the making of Star Wars or even interesting anecdotes from actors and extras, BUT rather a boring, rambling, stream of consciousness, insomnia curing, 90 minutes of irrelevant and otherwise unrelated "stories" from cast members, most of which you've never heard of. It has poor production value and a poor sound which makes some of the conversation exceedingly difficult to hear. The production values could be forgiven however, if the content was interesting. My wife, who is not as much of a Star Wars fan, pointed out that you would be hard pressed to find any meaningful reference to Star Wars in the first 40 minutes of this film. By the time a random soap opera clip "starring" an unknown was shown, I'd had enough. This is unfortunately one many of us waited for, but is one to miss. And rest assured, you won't miss much of anything.

Mark Turner 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.

jarnol-43609 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.

bazmitch23 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.