In the days before DVD extras, getting to see blooper reels – those collections of miscues, pratfalls and flubbed lines from film productions that should be called “Why Films Cost So Much To Make” – was a rare occasion. The first time I saw a blooper reel was at a STAR TREK Convention in 1981, and the gags from the Original Series were a riot to 11-year-old Devin.
That’s what makes this recently-posted blooper set from STAR WARS so much fun. This isn’t a polished gag reel from the studio, but the raw footage as it came off the camera in 1976 and 1977.
The footage is a part of the enhanced iBook for J.W. Rinzler’s The Making Of STAR WARS: The Definitive Story Behind The Original Film. While the print version is already a comprehensive must-have for any STAR WARS fan, the enhancements Rinzler adds to the iBook-only release are killer – 26 minutes of never-released video, a half-hour of interviews specially recorded for the book, and numerous photos and pieces of art.
As we prepare for a new Episode in the STAR WARS pantheon, it’s always amazing to me that, with so many things that went catastrophically wrong with the film, it became a cultural touchstone for a generation. Enjoy this unvarnished glimpse into the film’s production.
America's Sweetheart. Pixel monkey; media whore; recovering film critic; baseball fanatic; husband; Texan; human. 
