See The Amazing Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Behind-The-Scenes Images
In 1980, Lucasfilm followed up the success of Star Wars with its sequel film The Empire Strikes Back. The film was noticeably darker in tone and saw our heroes from the first film in dire danger and on the run from the Galactic Empire. It wasn’t the same movie as the original and in many ways it’s better for not being a conventional sequel.
While George Lucas didn’t direct the film, Irvin Kershner took the series to a new height that could never be matched with any of the subsequent Star Wars movies.
Even though The Empire Strikes Back is by far the darkest of all the Star Wars movies, you wouldn’t notice it just by looking at the behind-the-scene photos taken while the film was in production in 1979. The cast and crew seem to be very happy and excited to make a new Star Wars movie.
Take a look at 65 images from The Empire Strikes Back below. It’s an amazing time capsule for this movie being made and all of the iconic talent and characters as part of it.
In 2013, a rare behind-the-scenes look at The Empire Strikes Back emerged on the Internet. It was a special documentary from French journalist Michel Parbot, who Lucasfilm commissioned to make in 1979.
The footage for the documentary was later split into two segments, one for American TV and the other for Dutch TV. While the American section was readily available on the Star Wars Saga Blu-ray, the Dutch section was considered lost somewhere in the film archive at Lucasfilm.
Whenever looking back at movies like The Empire Strikes Back, there’s an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia that comes with it. It’s especially so considering not everyone in the above images are even still with us anymore. Seeing everyone playful on the set even in the midst of making a rather dark movie is a little window into how these things are done. We are lucky to have these The Empire Strikes Back images to see for ourselves.
