Horrific Original 'Star Wars' Trailer is Painful to Watch
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Home Entertainment, Movie Marketing
Okay, there are bad trailers, and then there are unbelievably horrific trailers. Surfing around today, I spotted the original Star Wars trailer (according to those who posted it) from 1977 over on YouTube. This ... thing -- featuring one of the longest, most drawn-out voiceovers in history -- is a piece of work to say the least. I was practically left speechless after watching it, and that rarely happens. Not only does it stay away from John Williams' classic score, but the material featured in the voiceover sounds like it was written by a 10 year-old trying to convince his teacher that he read a book when, in reality, he lost it on the bus. I mean, do lines like, "A story about a boy, a girl and a universe" make any sense whatsoever?
Granted, we're going all the way back to 1977 here (the year I was born), but you're telling me this was the best that 20th Century Fox could come up with at the time? "A big, sprawling space saga of rebellion and romance?" Seriously? "It's an epic of heroes, and villains, and aliens from a thousand worlds?" What does that even mean? Who came up with this stuff? I have to say, if this is what they were using to get people into theaters, I'm surprised Star Wars went on to sell any tickets at all, let alone go down as one of the greatest movies in history. Nevertheless, these old, grimy trailers are fun to watch ... if only to compare them to the trailers playing today. My, how far we've come in thirty years ...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-25-2007 @ 5:19PM
Monster said...
I think it may be worth noting (but I'm not 100% sure) that that voice is the voice of the legendary Orson Welles. Story has it that George Lucas wanted Orson to do the voice of Darth Vader, but after some complications, couldn't do it and was then chosen to do the voice on the trailer.
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4-25-2007 @ 5:29PM
Mark S said...
According to one of the SW documentaries, the John WIlliams score wasn't ready in time to be used in the trailer.
Also, keep in mind how much slower advertisements in general were back then. Watch any TV commercial made before MTV, and then one after. The difference is frightening.
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4-26-2007 @ 7:24AM
Jim Kosmicki said...
it's important to remember context. Star Wars wasn't STAR WARS before it was released. I remember reading in Starlog about this new SF movie that Fox had hopes for, "because of the success of Wizards." Yes, Wizards, the Bakshi animated movie that only Bakshi or animation geeks even remembers. That's the level of success that Fox was HOPING for with this movie. That's why Lucas was able to retain so many of the rights -- Fox didn't think they were giving anything away.
Star Wars also didn't come roaring out of the gate. I knew it was coming and wanted to see it, but it played in the worst theatre in town and didn't come for several weeks. Again, remember the context -- this was before blanket releases. Star Wars had time to develop a reputation and gain a following before it was determined to be a hit or flop -- it didn't have ONE weekend like contemporary films. it was the repeat business at the theatres that were showing it that finally gave Fox a clue that there was something here.
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4-25-2007 @ 5:33PM
Elrond Hobbert said...
This very trailer was what kept the artists spirits up high at ILM while they were desperately trying to finish the VFX on time. Not to mention it so impressed the execs at 20th Century Fox, they decided to kick in more finishing funds. Great research and insight Erik...
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4-25-2007 @ 5:40PM
Erik Davis said...
Of course I'm keeping in mind the context, and it's not so much the visuals that were bad (for the time, they were very advanced and I'm sure helped excite a lot of people), my complaint was with the writing in that voice-over. It was dreadful. And thanks for pointing out the Welles thing Monster -- I had heard about that, but forgot to mention it in the post. Since I only had about 10 minutes to write it up, I didn't have time to delve into an hour of research. Yet, as always, Stan is there to throw a punch. Thanks bud!
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4-25-2007 @ 5:44PM
Stan Winsome said...
Oh I'm sorry Erik, was I not supposed to comment on your stories anymore? My bad. It will never happen again...
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4-25-2007 @ 5:50PM
bgdc said...
***"my complaint was with the writing in that voice-over. It was dreadfu..."***
Well consider the horrible dialog in the film. Lucas conjures up nice stories but unless he has someone like Lawrence Kasdan writing the dialog, the lines will sound childish and often downright vomit-inducing.
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4-25-2007 @ 5:53PM
Erik Davis said...
Ha, feel free to comment away man -- your negative energy is always a fun read.
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4-25-2007 @ 6:05PM
Stan Winsome said...
Nah- you bring up a good point. It *is* negative energy and it doesn't do your karma or mine any good. Not to mention I neglect my day job to do it. So it's a good excuse to sign off.
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4-25-2007 @ 6:37PM
Akbar Fazil said...
Erik, you complain about the voice over yet claim you are keeping in mind the time context. Seriously? Go back and watch any other trailer from that time period. You will see very similar products.
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4-25-2007 @ 6:40PM
Akbar Fazil said...
I don't think that is Orson Welles doing the VO in the trailer. Doesn't sound like him to me.
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4-25-2007 @ 6:54PM
Richard von Busack said...
Painful is the word! How about that "ominous" thumping soundtrack? I remember this crapload well. In 1977, I was ushering at the Avco Center Cinema in Westwood in LA, where the trailer was roundly derided by all but a prescient few. And I wasn't one of the few. I thought, my god this looks dumber than most of the stuff we've been torturing the audiences with already, such as Fellini's Casanova and The Domino Principle (Gene Hackman, meet Mickey Rooney).
THe trailer ran and ran and ran, and every time it ran, it looked more like a movie for slow 6 year olds. (The oft-told story is that Lucas used to run Star Wars without the score and with WW2 dogfights spliced in while he was waiting for the final version...and so what early witnesses got was nothing but that lame Republic serial dialogue and Harrison Ford trying his mightiest to be Bogart.)
After I quit the theater--farewell Dick Cheney lookalike theater manager, aloha also to your stupid bulldog--I saw the Avco's manager on tv begging people to come work at the theater to deal with the round the clock crowds on the sidewalk. I got out just in time before I had to face a tsunami of wookie-loving geeks. An unusually smart move on my part.
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4-25-2007 @ 7:14PM
toby tyler said...
Go back and catch up on your 70's cinema please. That trailer must have blown minds at the time. Considering the era - where sci-fi still meant 2001 a Space Odyssey (talk about slow pace) - this probably came off more like an action flick than you'd guess.
And it was a much more organic time for movies. Marketing hadn't yet fully discovered the BMW car with the Rolex wearing hero using his Sony laptop to save the world.
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4-25-2007 @ 8:02PM
Mike Unger said...
to be honest i think that trailer gives star wars a different feel. i dont think its that bad. yea theres some cheesy shit in it but i kinda like it. stop being such damn yupies.
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4-25-2007 @ 9:02PM
Lee said...
i remember this well, i was probably bouncing off the walls when this aired. Back then it was amazing to see spaceships flying around like that,mind blowing
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4-26-2007 @ 1:50AM
Bardwell said...
Typical mid-to-late 1970s trailer. That's just the way these things were cut at the time. The trailer for "Rocky" is the same way.
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4-25-2007 @ 9:07PM
Jonathan said...
I was 18 when Star Wars came out but I don't remember this trailer. I vividly remember seeing short trailer the previous Christmas of an Empire Battle Cruiser coming across the screen and thinking 'Damn! That's not fair - I can't wait until summer to see this!'
But in context, yes, 70's trailers had a highly different feel before MTV and the "IN A WORLD" style trailers. Nice find Erik! Now can you dig up a copy of the even more horrible Star Wars Christmas special from 1978?
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4-25-2007 @ 9:09PM
Ray said...
I have seen this several times, and yes, it's not the best trailer, but ...
You must understand that Star Wars was WAY ahead of its time, and much of the film was completed at the last second in order to get it to theaters intact.
The musical score was not finished by this time, as are few of the effects shots .. notice how there are no lasers coming from the guns, and the lightsabers had yet to be colored. Much of the audio wasn't locked down yet, either.
This trailer, while fairly primitive by our current standards, was par for the course in '77 and definitely generated excitement for the film. There were lines around the block on that opening weekend in May '77.
It's just cheesy by today's standards.
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4-25-2007 @ 9:12PM
augustburns2 said...
Silly -
most music scores are not ready when they splice the film for the trailers - that's why they use (most of the time) previous film scores in these trailers
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4-25-2007 @ 9:14PM
Damian said...
For a 1977 teaser trailer that was put together before the film was done (with very few effects shots finished and without any of the movie score yet written), I think it's actually pretty good. Granted, the actual text of the voice-over isn't that great but everything else about the voice-over works pretty well. I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with everyone else here. I think you're reacting to the trailer without taking into account historical context.
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