Outside the Beltway

Original Star Wars Teaser Trailer

Doug Mataconis · Sunday, October 13, 2013 · 6 comments

Andrew Sullivan posts the first teaser trailer for Star Wars, first aired I would imagine in the Winter of 1976/77.

I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen this before or, if I had, I’d forgotten about it. It’s interesting that, in many ways, the teaser takes on a far more ominous tone than the film ultimately did.

FILED UNDER: Entertainment, Andrew Sullivan, Star Wars

About Doug Mataconis

Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

Dave Schuler says:

Sunday, 13 October 2013 at 12:09

I suspect that people nowadays can’t realize how revolutionary Star Wars was when it first came out.

I remember that trailer. I also bought the book which came out a few months before the picture (it was awful) and bought tickets in advance for the very first screening in my area.
Barry says:

Sunday, 13 October 2013 at 12:20

I didn’t really know that it was coming out; I had just taken a final in high school, and had some time to kill before work. I went to the mall, and saw that ‘that whatever movie’ was playing, bought a ticket, and sat down and was blown away.
al-Ameda says:

Sunday, 13 October 2013 at 12:29

This reminds me that I really should go see aStar War movie one of these days. I remember the long lines outside the movie theater on Geary Street in San Francisco – most of my friends went to see it, I never got around to watching any of the Star Wars movies.
anjin-san says:

Sunday, 13 October 2013 at 14:19

The editing on several Lucas movies was done in the old Lucas studio on the corner of my street in San Anselmo, years before the ranch was built.

Before Skywalker Ranch opened in Nicasio, movie magic was afoot in our downtown. At Lucasfilm’s Sprocket Systems, which opened in 1979 on San Anselmo Avenue, film editors worked upstairs on “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “The Empire Strikes Back” while sound editors downstairs worked on “Alien” and “E.T.” Kentfield resident Pat Walsh, “discovered” while shopping at Seawood Photo, provided the voice for the loveable alien, with the help of actress Debra Winger. Sprocket’s parking lot was also notable: It’s where Harrison Ford practiced snapping a bullwhip for his role in “Raiders.” Sprocket’s work on “The Return of the Jedi” came to a halt when the Flood of 1982 ruined equipment.

Somehow we missed Ford’s bullwhip practice, in spite of the fact it took place just a few doors down from us.
Liberal Capitalist says:

Sunday, 13 October 2013 at 16:36

However…

Let’s not forget the ultimate Lucas folly:

The Star Wars Holiday Special

Yes, travel back with us to 1978, sit in front of that blurry console TV and watch the absolute confused travesty that is the Star Wars Holiday Special….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx5v3VJ4zPM

Complete with the Cast of Star Wars, and Chewbacca’s complete family to boot! Appearances by: Bea Arthur (Maude !!!), Art Carney, Diahann Carrol, Jefferson Starship and Harvey Korman. (yes… all trying to do their best sci-fi gig.)

Clearly, the writing staff must have been high.

Enjoy, but remember: That which has been seen, cannot be unseen.
Grumpy Realist says:

Monday, 14 October 2013 at 15:27

Somehow I managed to coax my father to go see Star Wars along with another friend of his from the Manhattan project days. They had a great time–said later it contained every cliche they had seen in any WWII movie.

(I also remember hearing all sorts of stories from them about Dick Feynman. Contrary to the reputation so carefully tried to create, he didn’t always get the girl.)