Innholdsfortegnelse for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: 40th Anniversary Special Edition i Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: 40th Anniversary Special Edition

It was the summer of 1977–the summer of Star Wars–and George Lucas was already at work on a new story. Only this time, it wasn't just for one film, but for what would become the next two episodes of the original Star Wars trilogy. The Empire Strikes Back came out in May 1980 and it became immediately apparent that this wasn't just another sequel, but a space-fantasy masterpiece and–like the first film–a modern fairy tale for all ages. To many fans, it was not only one of the most important chapters in the Skywalker saga–it was their favorite Star Wars movie. Through on-set interviews with the cast and crew, fun facts, production photos, and original concept art, this official Special delves deep into the story of Luke Skywalker and Darth…

The galaxy quakes with fear when the Galactic Empire builds an enormous, seemingly unstoppable weapon, the Death Star. The Rebel Alliance manages to get its hands on the Death Star plans, which are in the safekeeping of Princess Leia of the planet Alderaan. But her starship is captured by an Imperial Star Destroyer under the command of Darth Vader, fearsome and powerful emissary of the Galactic Empire, and overrun by an army of stormtroopers. Vader takes the princess hostage, but not before Leia manages to place a message—and the Death Star plans—inside an astromech droid, R2-D2. He and his sidekick C-3PO hightail it in an escape pod and wind up on the desert planet Tatooine. The two droids are captured by Jawa traders and sold to Luke Skywalker, a young…

THE ORIGIN – As he did for A New Hope, George Lucas made a list of planets in his notes when he started imagining the sequel. Among them, he named: the Wookiee planet—on which production illustrator Ralph McQuarrie started working since he signed his contract in October 1977, but that would not appear in the film; a gas planet called Hoth—which would later become Bespin where Lando’s Cloud City floats; and a generic “Ice Planet”. It was only in the second draft of the script in 1978 that the name was assigned to the actual ice planet where the rebels would set up their new outpost. From the Ice Kingdom of Mongo featured in Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon comics series (March 12, 1939 to April 7, 1940) to Howard Hawks’s…

THE ORIGIN – The first two new characters introduced in The Empire Strike Back could be pigeonholed into precise categories. Yoda is an altogether positive figure, a good mentor. Boba Fett is an anti-hero, more bad than good. Then there’s the third new character, Lando Calrissian, who appears to be a villainous sort at first, but evolves and becomes one of the good guys. If Lando’s character arc is complex, the conception and development of the character were no less so. At a story conference held from November 28 through December 2, 1977, George Lucas described him to Leigh Brackett as such: “He’s a slick, riverboat gambler type of dude. Han Solo is a rather crude, rough and tumble kind of guy; this guy will be a very slicked down,…

In May 1977, George Lucas’ gamble paid off. Star Wars: A film different from all others had just been released, yet it was also a film influenced by genres and themes that audiences were familiar and comfortable with, and it had proved to be a huge success. To droves of filmgoers throughout the world it offered a distinctive new take on sci-fi, a blend of western and fantasy, featuring memorable characters and breathtaking special effects. Now Lucas was not only hoping to repeat his earlier success, but to improve upon it and expand his mythic story of good versus evil. The very first Star Wars would go down in history as Star Wars: A New Hope, and in the wake of that success, work was about to begin on a…

ACT ONE In which the characters are presented, the context is defined, interpersonal relations are explored and a change in the status quo gets the ball rolling. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…. Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, members of the Rebel Alliance headed by Princess Leia Organa, fleeing the forces of the Empire, find refuge on the ice planet Hoth. Luke, by this time a point man for the Rebel Alliance, is patrolling the surrounding area. He sees what looks like a meteorite and radios this intelligence to Han. Before he can investigate, Luke is knocked out by a giant wampa. Back at Echo Base, Han informs Leia that he aims to leave soon, so he can make good on his…

THE TAUNTAUN – Regardless of their feral nature, tauntauns proved to be loyal companions of the Rebel Alliance. They are, in fact, often used as mounts by rebels on patrol duties, who prefer them to T-47 airspeeders because of their better resistance to subzero temperatures. The unpleasant smell they exude, however, makes the rebels’ ride anything but comfortable. Originally envisioned as a “giant snow lizard” by George Lucas, the tauntaun went through several makeovers and redevelopments. In his early sketches, which date back to December 1977, Ralph McQuarrie depicted the tauntaun as a dinosaur-like creature; after showing the artwork to Lucas, however, it was clear to him that a change of direction was needed. “I thought it was going to be used in the middle of the desert,” said McQuarrie.…

THE ORIGIN – It had been clear that the Emperor would be the saga’s main villain ever since Star Wars: A New Hope. After all, if there’s a Galactic Empire, there must also be an Emperor to reign over it. Darth Vader, however much he comes off as the number one adversary facing the protagonists, would soon become only a cog, albeit a crucial one, in the machine of oppression. From Leigh Brackett’s first draft in 1977, which first introduces the Emperor based on Lucas’ outline, to the fifth draft by Lawrence Kasdan in 1979, the Emperor would however remain shadowy and obscure in The Empire Strikes Back. Lucas knew that any appearances by the Emperor would have to be carefully measured in the wake of his existence in A…

THE CITY – In the early drafts of the script for The Empire Strikes Back, airborne Cloud City was an imperial prison. Back then it floated above a planet called Hoth—the name that would eventually be used for the ice planet seen in the opening sequence—and not Bespin. Draft after draft, Cloud City changed, even though it would still turn out to be a prison for Han, Leia, and Chewie! After various adjustments, it took on its identity as the mining center floating amid pastel clouds that we all have come to know. Of course, the makers of Star Wars knew about Cloud City long before we ever did. Ralph McQuarrie had already sketched it out for A New Hope, with a drawing entitled “City in Clouds.” His idea would…

THE SEQUENCE – The duel begins in the carbon-freezing chamber on Cloud City. The dark lord greets the boy reminding him that, despite the Force being strong with him, he has yet to become a Jedi. Luke replies by drawing his lightsaber, thus opening the duel. During the battle, Vader manages to drive Skywalker towards the carbon freezing pit, into which he falls. The attempt to freeze his opponent, however, fails as Yoda’s apprentice uses the Force to burst out. Still fighting, Luke and the Sith Lord end up in the reactor shaft, where Vader traps his opponent on a catwalk from which he cannot escape. There, he cuts off Luke’s right hand, thus disarming him. Before seemingly swinging his death blow, Darth Vader prompts Skywalker to join the dark…

Rental of an elephant to model locomotion for the walkers: $3,467 Small Millennium Falcon model: $10,000 Boba Fett’s Slave I model: $15,000 Darth Vader’s Executor ship model: $42,000 Star Destroyer 10-foot model: $55,000 Lawrence Kasdan’s fee for rewriting and polishing the script: $60,000 AT-ST walker model: $80,000 to $100,000 Harrison Ford’s fee: $100,000 Soundtrack, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra: $250,000 Set construction: $3,500,000 Initial budget: $18,000,000 Final cost: $30,478,433…

THE CONCEPT – Star Wars: Chapter II, as it was being called at that time, wasn’t just a sequel, it was part of a whole saga. The success of Star Wars, which an early note written by George Lucas initially placed as Episode VI, was giving its creator the chance to tell it all. In Summer 1977, these were the key elements of the new story: A lost sister trained as a Jedi—a plot that would only find its conclusion in 2019, in The Rise of Skywalker, but that would define the main storyline of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (1983); the Emperor/Empire that had to be destroyed; the Republic that had to be restored. Also, Lucas returned to an idea abandoned before the first film…

THE ORIGINS – During a story conference, which lasted from November 28 through December 2, 1977, George Lucas revealed his plan to feature “a new teacher” in The Empire Strikes Back. “Instead of a withered old man, we can use a withered old space creature. The way to think of it is as this crazy little nitwit who scurries around like a rat, that in the end teaches Luke a lot of stuff about the Force.” The creature Lucas had in mind was "tiny, slightly froglike with slick skin, wide mouth, no nose and bulbous eyes that move around.” In the treatment that followed the conference, the creature was named “Minch Yoda.” Originally, Minch Yoda was supposed to star alongside Alec Guinness, who’d be returning as Obi-Wan Kenobi; unfortunately, due…

THE ORIGIN – Despite having very few lines of dialogue, and without ever having his name mentioned during the movie, aside from a deleted scene where Leia is tending Luke’s wounds and she says Han has been captured by “a bounty hunter named Boba Fett,” the character has remained one of the most popular characters among fans of Star Wars since first appearing in The Empire Strikes Back. And since that debut, few characters have generated the kind of fan dedication and inspired the amount of stories that Boba Fett has. For decades fans speculated as to his origins, at least until Attack of the Clones (2002). And to think that initially he had been no more than a work-in-progress version of Darth Vader. “There were quite a few films…

THE ORIGIN – As he stated in a 1977 story conference, George Lucas was planning to develop the romantic connection between Leia, Han, and Luke in the sequel to Star Wars: “Han would state his position, sulks off. It should be very mature in the way it works. It’s not until later that we realize that Leia doesn’t love Luke. It has got to be a real triangle with real emotions; at the same time, it has to end up with good will. Luke has gone off to learn the Force and the ongoing story continues with Leia and Han. The Empire continues to chase them. We keep them in a constant danger situation.” Looking for a traditional and effective way to set up the relationship between his heroes, Lucas…

THE DEBUT – But George Lucas kept the faith. Despite all the glitches and delays, on March 13, 1980 he declared, “I think it’s a better film than the first one.” The finished version was previewed by Lucas on April 19 at the Northpoint Theatre in San Francisco, where A New Hope had been previewed three years earlier. Following a sneak peek preview at London’s Dominion Theatre, the official world premiere was held at the Kennedy Center Washington, D.C., on May 17, 1980, four days before the release. The Kennedy Center premiere was a benefit screening for the Special Olympics, with 300 guest athletes in the audience of some 1100. The cast was also in attendance, except for Anthony “C-3PO” Daniels, who called in sick. On May 20, the entire…