A deadpan documentary with notes of wistful irony ...

| May 12, 2016

Elstree 1976 isn't an essential movie for anyone but the most obsessive fanboy or girl. It's a film about the strange hand of fate, the wages of dumb luck, and the flipside of fame-life on the D-list.

| Original Score: B- | May 9, 2016

You're hearing some good stories told from the viewpoints of minor characters. This will hold your attention best if you are a "Star Wars" completist or a super-fan.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 6, 2016

The most interesting part of Elstree 1976 comes when these actors express ambivalence about their odd celebrity.

| May 5, 2016

In telling a small story of bit players, the director, Jon Spira, captures a more universal picture of the droplets of fame created by a pop-culture tidal wave.

| May 5, 2016

A sweet, quietly funny, fascinating and contemplative study of 10 character actors and extras, none of whom had any idea back in the 1970s they'd forever be defined by the one or two days they spent on the set of a sci-fi movie.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 5, 2016

Given what a multibillion-dollar behemoth the Star Wars universe has become, it's fascinating to discover that a long time ago in a studio sound stage far, far away, no one took it very seriously at all.

| May 5, 2016

"Elstree 1976" is an amazing experience. I'm shocked that a documentary revisiting the making of "Star Wars" could be this boring.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 5, 2016

It all adds to the idea that Star Wars was both the best and the worst thing to happen to its low-level supporting cast.

| Original Score: B | May 5, 2016

A genial study of fleeting fame and its aftermath.

| May 2, 2016

Jon Spira doesn't extrapolate from his interviewees whether they feel like a true part of the Star Wars universe or mere tag-alongs to a pop-cultural phenomenon.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 2, 2016