Some unsung heroes of the 1977 Star Wars

The Star Wars effects team receive their Oscars from Joan Fontaine

When you read original, 1970s coverage of Star Wars, you come across a few names which are rarely mentioned today.

On the other hand, there are a few people who were not named much at the time, but who we later discovered to have been a key part of the film's success.

John Stears: the man who built R2-D2

John Stears with the landspeeder

There are a few Star Wars personnel whose names were mentioned a lot when the film was released, yet who don’t seem to get the attention today. 

One of them is John Stears, the British film industry veteran who was the film’s special production and mechanical effects supervisor. He once described his work on the film as “everything that moves, breaks or falls apart” – including R2-D2, the landspeeder, the garbage masher, and hundreds of other effects. 

40 years on: Star Wars at the Oscars – part two

George Lucas at the 1978 Academy Awards.
Would he ever need to get out of his seat?

It was one of the most surprising Oscar nights ever. The 50th Academy Awards were held amid protests and controversy, with the top prizes going to a film whose director was not there.

Last time, we saw how Mark Hamill and the droids helped lighten the mood after some gasps and boos at a controversial speech by Best Supporting Actress winner Vanessa Redgrave. Now, it's on to more of the competitive awards – and a few early wins for Star Wars.

Laughing at Star Wars: the Top 10 funniest jokes in the original movie - part two

In part one of this post, I argued that people often forget something important about Star Wars: It was funny.   

It wasn't a comedy, and it never made the mistake of knowingly sending up the genre, but a few well-judged jokes helped make the film the bright and lively experience that it was.

For part two, here is the rest of my chronological list of the film's best comic moments.