| | | | The Empire Strikes Back
(1980) |
long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
Ten words which, three years previously in 1977, had changed cinema forever.
"Episode IV: A New Hope" had seen the Rebel Alliance prosper: a young, disillusioned farm boy was granted an opportunity to restore peace and justice in a galaxy divided by Imperial oppression, we’d see him being taught by the great Obi-Wan, team up with an amiable space cowboy, rescue a princess and destroy the Empire’s dreaded 'Death Star'.
George Lucas's 'space opera' had a "seizmic" influence on an entire generation and was to change many things about the way movies are made, watched and merchandised. The cinemas had been in decline, closing at an alarming rate prior to this new phenomenon. Much was riding on the sequel, not least the fact that, as George Lucas had financed it with his own money, his entire fortune and reputation was at stake, as well as his dreams of his own production company...
"Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" sees the rebels fight an increasingly desperate battle from an outpost on the ice planet of Hoth, whilst Han and Leia escape in the Millennium Falcon, Luke Skywalker travels to the Degobah system in search of Yoda; an old Jedi master who’ll teach him the ways of The Force, Luke says he isn’t afraid of what’s to come. "You will be..." warns the ancient Jedi master.
Whilst there the others make their way to Bespin and Cloud City, run by Han's old partner and friend Lando Calrissian. They think that they will be safe there, but they were tracked by Boba Fett, the bounty hunter. Soon afterwards, Darth Vader arrives with an offer that Lando can't refuse, and he is forced to hand over the group to the Empire.
Luke senses this, and against Yoda's better judgement, he heads off to Cloud City to rescue them. He is too late to save Han, who is frozen in a slab of Carbonite and handed to the bounty hunter as his prize. But he manahes to help the others escape back to the Millenium Falcon and away to safety, leaving Luke to face Darth Vader...
To realise what must be the undisputed most antcipated sequel of all time, George Lucas turned to one of his old film school professors, Irvin Kershner, to direct after he literally made himself ill writing and directing "Star Wars".
Although 'Kersh' went over budget, causing Lucas many headaches, the achievement of Episode V cannot be denied. It is a fantastic sequel, technically superior and very mature. Many fans consider it to be their favorite of the original trilogy.
Episode V was also a huge gamble for Lucas. In the movie, we see that the rebels are soundly beaten. There is very little for them to celebrate by the end. The gamble worked, the 'darkness' of the sequel is one of the things fans hold most dear... [By: Kashif Ahmed/Nick Alaway/Paul Shrimpton]
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Back in the days, Star Wars was my favourite film in the series: the original was humorous, bright and the action never let up for a second, 'The Empire Strikes Back' however, was an oddball, a movie I wasn't quite sure how to deal with, it was certainly different to the others, different, and as I’d realise in the years which followed: Better. From sand to snow we went, as Lucas relocated to Hoth for some amazing acts of rebellion against the improbably huge AT-AT walkers and a disgruntled Wampa, it was a dark time for the rebel alliance, and already movie conventions were being twisted like the ruptured hull of a Tie Fighter; for heroes never took a beating like the one dealt out in The Empire Strikes Back. Did anyone suspect the betrayal on Could city or realise what a gruelling psyche-job Jedi training would be? And when Yoda forewarned Luke about the dark side, and elusively told us that there was "…another", we had, as Ben Kenobi once said "…taken our first steps into a larger world"…This is where Star Wars became serious.
First time around kids were a little unnerved by the dark nature of this movie, even I was admittedly distressed when they carbonated Han Solo, and not even C-3PO's reassuring "oh that’s carbonite he'll be quite safe in there" was enough to shake off the feeling of unease, for we all knew he was the best character in this trilogy. Episode V is about as essential as two tauntauns in a blizzard (which is pretty essential), and although "Return Of The Jedi" / "Star Wars" are still the most fun, "The Empire Strikes Back" is space fantasy at it’s best, and arguably the one of greatest science fiction movies ever made.
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In the original film, when Darth Vader is leaving Cloud City, he says, "Bring my shuttle," in the 'Special Edition' the line is re-dubbed, "Inform my command ship that I will be arriving shortly," or something to that effect.  -Thanks to Chris Slupek
In between the first and second movies, Mark Hamill was involved in a car accident and the early scene where he is rescued from the ice floe by Han is used to explain the scarring on his face.
Mark Hamill's wife gave birth to their first son early one morning, and Mark went straight from the hospital to shooting. This was the day they filmed the shots of Luke hanging by the weather vane below Cloud City, on Bespin.
One of the Imperial officers, Admiral Ozzel, who destroys the Rebels' shield generator from his Walker was played by Michael Sheard, best known to British readers as "Mr Bronson" from the TV school sitcom "Grange Hill". He also played Adolf Hitler in another Harrison Ford movie, "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade". Funnily enough, Walter Donovan in The Last Crusade was played by Julian Glover who was also in Empire Strikes Back as an AT AT comander. He told Darth Vader that "they had neared the Shield Generator and it would be down in moments" -Thanks to Pete Stone
General Rieekan of the Rebel Alliance says "Send Rogues 10 and 11 to sector 38," this is a veiled reference to George Lucas’s THX 1138 (1971).
A deleted scene that made it to a trailer shows C-3P0 on the ice planet of Hoth tearing a decal off a door where the rebels have contained the dangerous wampas.
Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) was called in as a replacement stormtrooper. He can be seen as the Imperial Guard who pulls Princess Leia into the elevator after she screams "Luke! It's a trap!" He can also be seen as the Imperial Guard who is captured by Lando Calrissian's men.
The voiceover line "The first transport is away" during the Rebel evacuation is delivered by Mark Hamill.
The late/great screenwriter Leigh Brackett (who co-wrote this with Lucas) also wrote Howard Hawke's Rio Bravo.
One of the asteroids is actually a potato. It appears just as the Millennium Falcon first enters the field. Two asteroids travel from the top left to the bottom right corner of the screen. Just after the second asteroid leaves the screen a third one appears in the top left corner. This is the potato. Another is a tennis shoe.
In the original film, when R2-D2 is spat out of the swamp on Deagobah, Luke tells him, "You're lucky you don't taste very good." In the "special edition," the line is re-dubbed, "You're lucky you got out of there."
John Ratzenberger appears as rebel commander Major Bren Derlin, he played Cliff Clavin on TV's "Cheers". -Thanks to Michael Quinn
Dennis Lawson who plays Wedge Antilles is the uncle of Ewan Mcgregor (obi-wan kenobi from episode 1-3). -Thanks to Chris Cain
If you look closely, someone appears to be carrying a white ice cream maker during the frantic evacuation of 'Cloud City'. -Thanks to A. Verble
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The Empire Strikes Back or 80's Sci-Fi / Fantasy classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Night of the Comet ..... Aliens ..... Back To The Future ..... Last Starfighter ..... Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ..... Circuitry Man ..... Brazil ..... Blade Runner ..... Thing ..... Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan ..... Return to Oz ..... Starman ..... Somewhere In Time ..... Strange Invaders ..... Short Circuit .....[More]
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Filming began on March 5, 1979, and was completed on September 24, 1979. -Thanks to David Jones
Denis Lawson plays Wedge Antilles. Wedge was not originally scripted to appear in this film, but intense fan interest prompted Lucas to include him.
As always, security was so intense that George Lucas, determined to keep the ending a secret, had Darth Vader (David Prowse) say "Obi Wan Kenobi is your father" and only during post-production, did they overdub this to the immortal line: "I am your father".
Deleted scenes of Wampa madness: R2-D2 encountered one within the Rebel base, Later on, the snow beasts were lured into a stronghold within the complex. Princess Leia also mentions the "creatures" while discussing the Imperial probe droid. Another scene had Han, Leia and C-3PO running through a corridor. Han went to take a short-cut through a door with a sign on it, but Leia warned him "that's where those creatures are kept". They run off, but not before C-3PO removes the sign, hoping that the stormtroopers will enter the room.
When Mark Hamill was having trouble with the Dagobah scenes with Yoda, Miss Piggy was brought in to make him laugh. As everyone should know, Muppet creator Frank Oz was responsible for bringing Yoda to life. -Thanks to Rebecca Veight
Before Lawrence Kasdan, veteran writer Leigh Brackett had written a first draft of the screenplay. Two weeks after handing it in she tragically died of cancer. many of the things that make "Empire" so special can be attributed to this remarkable woman's first drafts -Thanks to Rebecca Veight
The famous Princess Leia/Han Solo "I love you", "I know" exchange was actually improvised. The script actually called for Han to reply "I love you, too." However, after doing the scene many times, Harrison Ford was getting impatient and replied "I know". The line stuck. -Thanks to Deanna
The Empire Strikes Back was actually the first in the series that gave us an Episode number and title at the beginning story scroll. No such title was given to the first film. Audiences were initially confused by this, believing that "Star Wars" was the first in the series. George Lucas would later go back and re-do the opening for the first film giving it the title "Episode IV: A New Hope". Lucas would later admit that contrary to popular belief, the series was not all planned out. He really only intended to do one film, and in fact doubted whether it would succeed. When it was successful he decided to make a trilogy, and would include plot developments and ideas in the sequels that he simply did not have the time or resources to include in the first film. What's further, Lucas never intended to go back and make the first three films of the series either. It was only after the first trilogy was completed when he was asked if there would be anymore films in the series that he even considered making more. His only answer at the time was that there was a back story that he could "possibly" explore, but he made no firm commitment to making any more films in the series. Luckily for us fans he would eventually decide to complete the series. -Thanks to Charles
David Prowse is not the owner of Darth Vaders booming voice. Vader is dubbed by James Earl Jones, a seasoned veteran actor who wouldn't fit Prowse's shoes physically. Which means that keeping the lid on the fact that Vader was the father of Luke was an easy task, since Vader's voice was put on in post-production anyway. -Thanks to Axel H.
When Jeremy Bulloch went in for the role of Boba Fett and donned the costume, he figured that the Wookie scalp which adorned his shoulder was some sort of hairpiece and he tried to put it under his helmet. Bulloch would later appear in a small role in Lucas' concluding chapter of the first Star Wars trilogy, 2005's Revenge of the Sith, as a pilot of the Rebel Blockade Runner. -Thanks to Robert Baum
Empire had a budget of $33 million dollars to make and it earned $538 million worldwide making it the highest grossing film of 1980 and becoming the 43rd highest grossing film of all time. -Thanks to WRAITH 81
In the designing of Yoda the Jedi master, model maker Stuart Freeborn used his own face then added the wrinkles of Albert Einstein for added wisdom. -Thanks to WRAITH 81
Dave Prowse, who spoke all Vader's lines on set, was given a false page that contained the dialogue line "Obi-Wan killed your father." The only four people to know the real dialogue were George Lucas, Iirvin Kershner, Mark Hamill and James Earl Jones -until the film premiered. -Thanks to WRAITH 81
During the battle against the Imperial Walkers, when Luke and a couple of the other rebel fighters are flying past the Walkers, you can actually see the Walkers right through Luke and the others. Watch the Walkers in the background and you can see that Luke is transparent during some of these shots. -Thanks to Chris
There's a scene at the Hoth rebel base where Han and Leia are talking in the hallway. Leia says, "I don't know what you're talking about," and Han replies, "You probably wouldn't." And then he walks down the hall and turns the corner. If you watch closely, you can see that as soon as Han turns the corner, he immediately spins around and starts to walk back, as if he wants to go back and do the scene over again.
In a scene immediately following Vader telling his men to "set your course for the Hoth system", we cut to a Rebel commander instructing two men. The quoted dialogue is: "Group 7 and 10 will stay behind to fly the speeders. As soon as each transport is loaded, Evacuation Control will give clearance for immediate launch". In the background to this, Conceptual Artist Ralph McQuarrie walks by in snow Rebel uniform, carrying his drawing portfolio under his arm. -Thanks to Robbie Q
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|  |  |  | | The Empire Strikes Back
Locations |
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Like its sibling "Star Wars", ESB was mainly shot at EMI Elstree Studios, just outside London, England. The ice planet of hoth was actually the tiny glacier town of Fince, Norway.
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Comments: New special edition includes original 1980 version :-) |
| | | | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, OutTakes |
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Comments: New special edition includes original 1980 version :-) |
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John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra create a modern masterpiece: the score is so important to George Lucas, that there's rarely a scene without some music.
This 2-disc set has become a classic in it's own right with The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme),Betrayal At Bespin and The Clash Of Lightsabers all included.
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