Star Wars Begins

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Star Wars Begins
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1977
Original Running Time:
121 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
138 minutes
Synopsis:
Inspired by a love of the film ‘Star Wars’ and the idea that audio commentaries could be expanded, Jambe Davdar set out to make what he calls “the ultimate audio/visual commentary”. He started the project in February 2007 and finished, nearly four years later, in late January 2011.
Intention:
Star Wars Begins is an unofficial commentary to Star Wars, offering an insight into the development and creation of film. The documentary combines video from the movie itself with seen and unseen behind the scenes footage, rare audio from the cast and crew, alternate angles, bloopers, reconstructed scenes, text facts and more to give an in-depth look at the process which brought the film to the big screen.
Release Information:
DVD
Editing Details:
Film Details:
Video: PAL 16:9 MPEG2 SL DVD (I may do a DL DVD later)
DVD Release has ‘v2.0′ during logo sequence

(Also released as a H.264 to contributors)
Audio: AC3 Audio

Software Used:
Final Cut Pro 4.5
DVD Studio Pro 3
A.Pack
Photoshop CS
Cinematize
MPEG Streamclip
Cuts and Additions:
- Star Wars 2006 OT DVD, From Star Wars To Jedi, Classic Creature
- 1997 & 2004 SE, The Making of Star Wars (looking forward to seeing any better transfers), When Star Wars Ruled the World, Deleted Magic*, THX Soundtrack! (anyone fancy doing an NTSC to PAL transcode for me?!)
- BBC Omnibus – Flying Solo
- BBC Omnibus – A long time ago…
- Laserdisc Supplementals
- Behind the Masks
- The Stars of Star Wars
- Unauthorised Story of Star Wars
- Rareties 1, 2, 3
- From the Film Vaults*
- The Holiday Special
- Star Wars Forgotten Scenes*
- Star Wars Unsung Heros (my copy is partly corrupt, please contact me if you have this, thanks)
- Feel the Force
- EditDroid Special Features
- Peter Cushing Interview
- Alec Guiness interview – Parkinson
- Widescreen Star Wars Bootleg
- Machine Men BBC4
- Feel the Force
- Sculpting a Galaxy DVD
- Time & Again
- Magic and the Mystery (UK Version)
- PBS’s George Lucas: Heroes, Myths and Magic
- Magic Magic CD-ROM/DVD
- Behind the Magic
- The Making of the SE
- Paramount Jabba Footage
- Interviews with Star Wars Stars 1998 (youtube)
- WTVJ Montage – Star Wars Interviews (youtube)
- GMTV Interviews 1997 (youtube)
- “THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW” (1977) (youtube)
- The making of Star Wars Computer Graphics (youtube)
- AFI youtube videos

Books/Magazines
- The Art of Star Wars
- From Concept to Screen to Collectible
- Lucasfilm Archives
- Star Wars, The Annotated Screenplays
- Star Wars Aficionado
- Star Wars Insider – Lost Cut Article
- Star Wars Chronicles
- Star Wars Portfolio
- Starlog Magazine
- Photoplay Magazine
- The Illustrated Star Wars Universe
- Sculpting A Galaxy
- The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film

Web Resources
- Starwarz.com
- T-Bones Star Wars Universe
- Originaltrilogy.com
- Theforce.net
- Rebelscum.com
- Youtube.com
- Vimeo.com

* = No material will be sourced from this DVD. For research purposes only.
Star Wars Begins

SWB_DVDGraphic
SWB_cover2_ving
Jambe_Davdars_Trilogy
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1977
Original Running Time:
121 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
138 minutes
Synopsis:
Inspired by a love of the film ‘Star Wars’ and the idea that audio commentaries could be expanded, Jambe Davdar set out to make what he calls “the ultimate audio/visual commentary”. He started the project in February 2007 and finished, nearly four years later, in late January 2011.
Intention:
Star Wars Begins is an unofficial commentary to Star Wars, offering an insight into the development and creation of film. The documentary combines video from the movie itself with seen and unseen behind the scenes footage, rare audio from the cast and crew, alternate angles, bloopers, reconstructed scenes, text facts and more to give an in-depth look at the process which brought the film to the big screen.
Release Information:
DVD
Editing Details:
Film Details:
Video: PAL 16:9 MPEG2 SL DVD (I may do a DL DVD later)
DVD Release has ‘v2.0′ during logo sequence

(Also released as a H.264 to contributors)
Audio: AC3 Audio

Software Used:
Final Cut Pro 4.5
DVD Studio Pro 3
A.Pack
Photoshop CS
Cinematize
MPEG Streamclip
Cuts and Additions:
- Star Wars 2006 OT DVD, From Star Wars To Jedi, Classic Creature
- 1997 & 2004 SE, The Making of Star Wars (looking forward to seeing any better transfers), When Star Wars Ruled the World, Deleted Magic*, THX Soundtrack! (anyone fancy doing an NTSC to PAL transcode for me?!)
- BBC Omnibus – Flying Solo
- BBC Omnibus – A long time ago…
- Laserdisc Supplementals
- Behind the Masks
- The Stars of Star Wars
- Unauthorised Story of Star Wars
- Rareties 1, 2, 3
- From the Film Vaults*
- The Holiday Special
- Star Wars Forgotten Scenes*
- Star Wars Unsung Heros (my copy is partly corrupt, please contact me if you have this, thanks)
- Feel the Force
- EditDroid Special Features
- Peter Cushing Interview
- Alec Guiness interview – Parkinson
- Widescreen Star Wars Bootleg
- Machine Men BBC4
- Feel the Force
- Sculpting a Galaxy DVD
- Time & Again
- Magic and the Mystery (UK Version)
- PBS’s George Lucas: Heroes, Myths and Magic
- Magic Magic CD-ROM/DVD
- Behind the Magic
- The Making of the SE
- Paramount Jabba Footage
- Interviews with Star Wars Stars 1998 (youtube)
- WTVJ Montage – Star Wars Interviews (youtube)
- GMTV Interviews 1997 (youtube)
- “THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW” (1977) (youtube)
- The making of Star Wars Computer Graphics (youtube)
- AFI youtube videos

Books/Magazines
- The Art of Star Wars
- From Concept to Screen to Collectible
- Lucasfilm Archives
- Star Wars, The Annotated Screenplays
- Star Wars Aficionado
- Star Wars Insider – Lost Cut Article
- Star Wars Chronicles
- Star Wars Portfolio
- Starlog Magazine
- Photoplay Magazine
- The Illustrated Star Wars Universe
- Sculpting A Galaxy
- The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film

Web Resources
- Starwarz.com
- T-Bones Star Wars Universe
- Originaltrilogy.com
- Theforce.net
- Rebelscum.com
- Youtube.com
- Vimeo.com

* = No material will be sourced from this DVD. For research purposes only.
Cover art by Jambe Davdar (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

Cover art by LexX (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

Cover art by AvP (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image
Star Wars Begins

Trusted Reviewer reviews

8 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.8
 
10.0(6)
 
10.0(8)
View all Trusted Reviewer reviews View most helpful
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Released in 2011, Jambe Davdar came back after 4 years off to release this "filmumentary" on A New Hope, his magnum opus on the Star Wars trilogy. He had already done one for ESB (review here: https://ifdb.fanedit.org/building-empire/reviews/?user=34747) and one for RotJ (review here: https://ifdb.fanedit.org/returning-to-jedi/reviews/?user=34747) Basically everything I said in those films is also true here, only this one shows the benefit of 4 more years experience, and is really the best of the bunch by far.

There are a couple of inescapable truths here. Firstly, that the A/V sources differ in quality greatly. But it seems a greater effort has been made to clean these up. Also, that some parts of the film are just going to have less to say about them. But really this whole thing is pretty packed, sometimes with interview comments coming in rapid fire, too many great points about a scene to fit in the time alloted for it. The issue with long stretches of silence in the other filmumentaries is not present here. You get the idea that sometimes the editor is choosing to give a breather and just let great moments play out, but it never lasts overlong.

The material here seems pulled from an even greater number of sources, and is truly informative even for a diehard Star Wars fan. There is footage I had never seen, or had seen but didn't note. That's the only real criticism I have, that sometimes the alternate scenes are almost identical, and I don't know that I need to watch an exchange two or three times in a row just because a word or two is different.

But generally, this is just a very tight, very smart commentary viewing on a really great film. With the other two SW filmumentaries, I'm not sure how often I'll choose to rewatch the film that way. But this is one that I'm eager to return to often. Can't wait to check out his work on Raiders and Jaws!

User Review

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Yes
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10.0
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10.0
A ton of fun -- the story of the genesis and development of Star Wars is one of the great stories in cinema history and I can never get enough of hearing about it. This A/V commentary doubles as a fun way to re-experience the film itself. The other reviewer who compared it to Pop-Up Video got it right. 70s and 90s nostalgia rolled into one, can't beat that!

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Overall rating
 
9.8
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9.0
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Readers of a certain vintage will remember the "Pop-Up Videos" of the late 1990s. They were regular music videos with various facts about the songs and artists that popped up on screen as the video played. It was horribly cheesy and decidedly 1990s. Now imagine that, but without the cheesiness, and it's Star Wars, with added deleted and alternate takes, behind the scenes shots and an absolutely incredible custom commentary track from everyone involved in making the film. How the editor managed to assemble all these sources and blend them in so seamlessly is beyond me. Highly recommended for anyone looking for insight into how Star Wars was made. Looking forward to the other 2 installments.
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(Updated: July 23, 2016)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
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10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Final documentary from Jamie Benning’s Star Wars trilogy is arguably the best.
Jam packed with extras, boasting an unbeatable menu design.
If you can only get one - this is the one.

Video - 720p X 480p. My version is NTSC. Quality wobbles a bit, though nothing unexpected. As far as layering of visual “extras” this seems to have had more than the other pair.

Audio - 2 Channel AC3. Movie dialogue clear, voiceovers clear - even from Harrison Ford, with whom I have problems occasionally.

Narrative - As with the other pair, memories, anecdotes, popups and background details are interwoven with the narrative proper. Perhaps because the film had been such an unexpected smash, and enthusiasm was so high, the voiceovers are optimistic and fresh. The “good cheer” factor is off the dial in this one.

Enjoyment - This is the doc I have watched over and over. Seems like I am always picking up on fresh details, or spying something in the frame corner. As far as extras, not much, which is mildly surprising. There was a plethora of material listed on the “cuts n additions.” Perhaps Benning desired a strict DVD-5 and goodies would have bumped this into a DVD-9.

The menu deserves singular praise. This is one of the finest menus I have even seen, and extraordinarily conceived. The entire show is encapsulized in Ralph McQuarrie’s conceptual art and John Williams’ music. Often viewers click past the menu as swiftly as possible. Not so here. This shines a graceful innocence and can be rewatched multiple times. Well done - really - well done.

This is essential.

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9.0
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I finally sat down to watch this, and my Jambe Star Wars Documentary Experience (TM) is finally complete. If you've seen Building Empire and/or Returning to Jedi, there's nothing new here. By which I mean it's the same fantastic, exhaustive mix of audio commentary, text commentary, deleted scenes, alternate takes, storyboards, comics, behind-the-scenes clips, and pretty-much-anything-else-you-can-think-of that we've come to expect from Jambe. Brilliant work!

Ten thumbs up out of ten.

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9.7
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9.5(4)
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9.8(4)
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8.8
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Finally watched this again and it is hugely entertaining for sure.

This is an exhaustive mix of sources, some which I do have and are better quality, but the mix of styles can sometimes throw your concentration and rhythmn.

That said, its hard to beat this as a fan made doco so full 10 on the enjoyment scale.
I would love to see an update one day as better visuals come to light.

Excellent work!
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(Updated: April 04, 2022)
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In the same vein as Roger Ebert's commentary for Citizen Kane, this is essential viewing for any and all cinephiles, regardless of your view on the film itself. If there was anyone competent on the Star Wars side of Disney, this would be on all official releases of the film.

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Wow! Jambe's star wars documentaries are simply amazing! Imagine every single interesting bonus feature or commentary track brought together and edited in with the movie itself and you have this. It's not only a documentary, it's the ultimate commentary track for star wars and it contains footage that I have never seen before including alternate takes and alternate camera angles for nearly every scene. Another great thing about this is that Jambe used the theatrical version of this movie rather than the special edition.

This is a real treat for any Star Wars fan! 10/10

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Review by CK1 — March 2, 2011 @ 8:06 pm

“Star Wars Begins” is a must watch documentary for any Star Wars fan. Jambe Davdar packs in tons of behind the scenes footage, audio interviews, little known facts, and other fun stuff seamlessly into the A New Hope. The documentary style plays through the entirety of the movie while interjecting commentary information throughout, which allows for a very smooth and enjoyable experience.

I would highly recommend this to all FE/Star Wars fans and this would make a wonderful second disc for anyone wanting to create the ultimate Star Wars 2-disc set along with Adywan’s Star Wars Revisited!

As this was an ‘unofficial commentary’ rather than a re-edit, I can’t rate this in the usual categories. That being said, I would give this a 10/10! Great job!
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Review by Uncanny Antman — March 3, 2011 @ 12:45 pm

I really don’t have much to say other than this is a 10 out of 10 disc. If you enjoyed Building Empire and Returning to Jedi (and if you didn’t enjoy them, what’s wrong with you?) then you can’t go wrong grabbing this one too.

The time you spent reading this is time you could have spent watching. :)
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