# Original 1976 Star Wars trailer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809 "2013-10-09T20:18:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/41 "2013-10-11T01:45:31Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Well, consider that Guinness was in his 60s at that point, and Prowse (whom I suspect is not a nimble man to start with) was wearing a big, bulky suit of armor. I know that Bob Anderson, who was a swordmaster and stuntman, worked on the original movie (and was the stand-in for Prowse in the fight scenes in TESB and ROTJ), but I don’t know to what extent he choreographed the saber duel in ANH. If you saw somebody swinging a sword in a movie in the last sixty years, Bob Anderson was probably involved. He started working back in the fifties on some of Errol Flynn’s final movies (after fighting in WWII and competing in the Olympics). He did sword training for Star Wars, James Bond, The Princess Bride, The Three Musketeers, First Knight, Lord of the Rings, The Guns of Navarone, Highlander, Barry Lyndon, The Mask of Zorro, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Doctor Who. Sadly, he died last year (at the age of 89) but he worked right up to the end - his final credit was this year’s _Movie 43_. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/42 "2013-10-11T01:54:45Z")
> [@agnesnitt](#): > > I went to see Star Wars on the opening weekend, solely due to the radio ad. > > Yeah, radio. The ad was hysterical. I told my friends that even if it was awful, they’d laugh. > > I think we were in the 3rd showing, the first day in the Denver theater. > > I never saw the trailer. As far as I’m concerned they could have played the radio ad over a black screen and people would have gone. Was it one of these? I laughed, sounds like ads for space balls, lol. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/43 "2013-10-11T14:32:43Z")
**Taomist** , did you mean to include links there? ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/44 "2013-10-11T23:54:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you saw somebody swinging a sword in a movie in the last sixty years, Bob Anderson was probably involved. He started working back in the fifties on some of Errol Flynn’s final movies (after fighting in WWII and competing in the Olympics). He did sword training for Star Wars, James Bond, The Princess Bride, The Three Musketeers, First Knight, Lord of the Rings, The Guns of Navarone, Highlander, Barry Lyndon, The Mask of Zorro, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Doctor Who. Sadly, he died last year (at the age of 89) but he worked right up to the end - his final credit was this year’s _Movie 43_. Wow, that’s right up there with Raul Julia’s last movie being Street Fighter. Way to end a great career with a total stinker. ---
**Author:** ![agnesnitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d78d45/32.png) [@agnesnitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agnesnitt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/45 "2013-10-12T01:18:41Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Was it one of these? I laughed, sounds like ads for space balls, lol. Were there supposed to be links there? Anyway, it might have sounded like ads for SpaceBalls, except that SpaceBalls was a parody and 9 years into the future. Sadly, people who grew up with what came after Star Wars can’t imagine the effect the movie had when it came out. I remember when I saw it in a theater that was absolutely packed to the rafters, that in the opening scene the little ship crossed the screen, when the big ship came shooting after it, that the audience collectively rocked back and as the big ship kept going on and on and on, they began cheering. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that in a theater. As I said earlier, 3rd showing on the first day it opened, no one knew what to expect. And I saw it as an adult, not as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/46 "2013-10-12T02:24:20Z")
Looking at it today, maybe it doesn’t seem impressive. When I was a kid though, I loved Star Trek and any sci-fi movie or cartoon that came my way. When I saw the trailer in the theater it was clear this movie was going to change everything. EVERYTHING. Well, sci-fi movies at least. I was excited. There was no shutting me up about it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/47 "2013-10-13T20:58:29Z")
> [@agnesnitt](#): > > Were there supposed to be links there? > > Anyway, it might have sounded like ads for SpaceBalls, except that SpaceBalls was a parody and 9 years into the future. Sadly, people who grew up with what came after Star Wars can’t imagine the effect the movie had when it came out. I remember when I saw it in a theater that was absolutely packed to the rafters, that in the opening scene the little ship crossed the screen, when the big ship came shooting after it, that the audience collectively rocked back and as the big ship kept going on and on and on, they began cheering. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that in a theater. As I said earlier, 3rd showing on the first day it opened, no one knew what to expect. And I saw it as an adult, not as a child. I’ll say one thing for that trailer. If Star Wars were coming out today, the opening shot would be in every single ad. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/48 "2013-10-13T22:27:07Z")
I was 12 when Star Wars was released. I never saw the trailer or heard anything about the movie until after it was released, and all I heard was my friends saying that it was a really cool movie. I saw it on a Friday evening, the 5pm showing. This was the first time I’d seen a line outside of a theater. Before Star Wars, a movie would run continuously all day and you could go to the theater at any time and stay for multiple viewings. Star Wars changed that. I cannot overstate the cultural impact that Star Wars had for a kid my age. I mowed lawns and pulled weeds that summer so I could see it multiple times. My Junior high school’s year book had a Star Wars theme. No movie had ever been marketed like that before. Besides the toys, they sold Star Wars collector cards like baseball cards. I got Star Wars bedsheets for Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/49 "2013-10-14T01:18:38Z")
i didn’t care for the creepy music and the way the star wars title was ominously approaching the camera. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/50 "2013-10-14T01:32:12Z")
My memory’s a little hazy on this, but I seem to remember a lot of press on Star Wars that made me want to see it–like 60 Minutes stories on the amazing effects. Possibly that was after it became a hit. I do vividly remember a story in the Smithsonian (why? who knows) about the amazing miniature effects in the then-forthcoming “Battlestar Galactica”–the original TV series. I got SO EXCITED. And then…a weird robot-dog and capes. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/51 "2013-10-14T22:35:55Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > My memory’s a little hazy on this, but I seem to remember a lot of press on Star Wars that made me want to see it–like 60 Minutes stories on the amazing effects. Possibly that was after it became a hit. > > I do vividly remember a story in the Smithsonian (why? who knows) about the amazing miniature effects in the then-forthcoming “Battlestar Galactica”–the original TV series. I got SO EXCITED. And then…a weird robot-dog and capes. Neither the robot-daggit (dogs are soooo Earth) or capes were miniature effects. The space battles were, and were quite cool for the time. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/52 "2013-10-14T23:28:08Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Neither the robot-daggit (dogs are soooo Earth) or capes were miniature effects. The space battles were, and were quite cool for the time. I don’t think he was claiming that those were miniature effects, he was complaining that he got those _instead_ of miniature effects. Not a complaint entirely without merit. While the effects on the original show were quite good, they were also quite expensive, and got recycled constantly. There’s only so many times you can watch exactly the same shot of a Viper shooting down a Cylon Raider before it starts to lose its novelty. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/53 "2013-10-15T12:28:59Z")
The production and style are very much a product of the time. That was how a trailer was done for the most part back then but the key thing that is being missed was every single image they cut to was brand new for the audience. We have seen all of that stuff for the last 35 years but just imagine you are sitting in theater and see the Millennium Falcon, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Droids hell even Jawas for the first time. Damn straight you’re going to want to see that movie. Star Wars was such a leap in Special effects and set design compared to other movies of the era and all of that is very clear in the trailer. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/54 "2013-10-17T04:12:00Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Neither the robot-daggit (dogs are soooo Earth) or capes were miniature effects. The space battles were, and were quite cool for the time. In fact, the ‘daggit’ was actually a trained chimpanzee in a body suit! I guess a midget (dwarf, whatever) wouldn’t have been strong or agile enough. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/55 "2013-10-18T00:47:44Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > In fact, the ‘daggit’ was actually a trained chimpanzee in a body suit! I guess a midget (dwarf, whatever) wouldn’t have been strong or agile enough. I did not know that. That is weird, wild stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/56 "2013-10-19T06:15:28Z")
Looks like they posted the Empire [teaser](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omcxaMEGha0). ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/57 "2013-10-19T10:49:44Z")
I was 11 when the movie came out. I remember the first time I saw it in the theater and I was instantly hooked. I even remember watching the Star Wars Christmas special and liking it. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/58 "2013-10-19T16:33:10Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > That reminded me how lame the swordwork in IV was. Wow…you’d think Alec Guinness, at SOME point in his long acting career, would have gotten some rudimentary fencing instruction… Actually, as a former fencer, SCA and Kendo student, I always thought that the fencing in the original _Star Wars_ was some of the best in all six movies. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/59 "2013-10-20T18:00:07Z")
A lot of effects hadn’t been pasted in yet. Those spaceships don’t look like anything but toys on strings. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsabre powering up just looked embarrassing. And this trailer predates the release by a year; 20th Century Fox sat on this movie for a long time because they thought it was a steaming turd. I don’t think kids today realize just how cheap and awful SF films were prior to **Star Wars**. **2001** was the only really good-looking one, and it lost money in is initial release; the profitable ones usually starred Charlton Heston, and not in a good way. In 1976, **Logan’s Run** was actually considered something of a high water mark. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809/60 "2013-10-20T20:33:35Z")
As far as I can tell, _2001_ approximately broke even in the first year after its release. It made a lot of money fairly soon after that. Do you have a reliable citation for the claim that it initially lost money? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-1976-star-wars-trailer/670809.md?page=4)