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Celebrating 30 years of Empire

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 (Edited)

Once in a blue moon the official site actually does something interesting.  They’ve started a new series of articles called “Empire Chronicles” that features spotlights on different aspects of The Empire Strikes Back.

Based on the first article, it looks like they’re just pulling quotes from various interviews and articles throughout the history of the film and putting them together in a new article with various interesting pictures.  So, while it’s not necessarily new info, it is interesting & presented in an appealing way I think.

It’s also interesting to note that it appears they’re not going to be totally revistionist…

George says this about the AT-AT:

“The walkers, if anything, were inspired by the original novel of War of the Worlds where the Martians walked on giant spiders that walked on legs.”

And immediately after George’s block, they have this from Joe Johnston:

“I did a bunch of sketches using the tanks as a basis. Then I ran across a xerox that a friend of mine had. It as a promotional brochure put out by U.S. Steel in the early Sixties and contained a whole slew of full-color paintings indicating ‘what steel will be used for in the future.’ The paintings were done by Syd Meade. Interestingly enough, one of the paintings showed a four-legged walking truck! That’s where the initial walker idea came from.”

 
 

Mod Edit: A working link to the article linked above can now be found via the Internet Archive, here:-

https://web.archive.org/web/20100420045135/http://www.starwars.com/movies/episode-v/chronicles20100310.html
 

More links for the Empire Strikes Back 30th Anniversary from StarWars•com from 2010 can be found here:-

https://web.archive.org/web/20100328073448/http://www.starwars.com/archives/index.html?k=t_0adcea81-f52c-495c-a8c7-2ed508fb7c34

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They are probably excerpts from the upcoming Making of book. But cool still!

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hmm, that's a good point.  Although, it does list the sources for each quotation and they come from a wide range of media including the Definitive Collection LD commentary, the dvd commentary, Star Wars Galaxies, and the annotated screenplays.  I hope the making of book isn't just sourced from things like that. 

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It is, but there probably were some original interviews too. The reason Making of Star Wars was almost always 1975-1978 quotes was because the book was initially made during that time but then aborted before it was put together and released. Making of ESB and ROTJ don't have that advantage. I guess we'll have to wait and see how much of it is "unreleased" stuff.

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The Empire Counter-Attacks, eh?  I guess so...

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

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TMBTM said:

If you are in Paris france in April you could see Empire at "Le grand Rex" theater. However I don't know if it will be shown in french or original audio with subtitles.

Mark Hamill is announced to be there among some others:

http://www.julesverne.org/en/Festivals/lempire-contre-attaque.html

Since it will probably be the special edition, french fans will be less than pleased.  Especially the ones who boycotted the gout.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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 (Edited)

May magazines with ESB content are hitting the shelves:

Entertainment Weekly: http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/04/08/empire-strikes-back-star-wars/

It's own thread: http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Anyone-have-the-The-Empire-Strikes-Back-material-from-Entertainment-Weekly/topic/11430/

Scans via other thread: http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/45777687.html

Maxim : Get Leia'd! Making of The Empire Strikes Back

Vogue (besides the title - don't bother): http://www.vogue.com/voguedaily/2010/02/fall-2010-the-acne-empire-strikes-back-new-collection-inspired-by-star-wars/

(wonder if for exclusive rights to first publication of these pictures is why the Making of Book got pushed back...)

And some oldies:

Time 1980 : http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924122,00.html

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The continual outpouring of Love for these films proves that the PT didn't hurt them, anymore than 1000 bad pastiches have hurt Sherlock Holmes, or that terrible Timothy Dalton movie hurt Gone with the Wind.

The OT is timeless art, beloved by millions.

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TheBoost said:

The continual outpouring of Love for these films proves that the PT didn't hurt them, anymore than 1000 bad pastiches have hurt Sherlock Holmes, or that terrible Timothy Dalton movie hurt Gone with the Wind.

The OT is timeless art, beloved by millions.

 I agree, and I feel the PT actually makes you appreciate the OT even more, cause you take for granted how great those films are.  Sequels never hurt a great original movie (or in Star Wars case, Empire Strikes Back too), the only thing bad sequels and prequels do to a movie series is it makes you spend more money for a boxset cause you can't usually buy them individually. :)

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I never felt more positive about Return of the Jedi until I walked out of Revenge of the Sith.

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

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The Empire Strikes Back 30th anniversary screening to benefit St. Jude

Following the screening, attendees will enjoy a rare Q&A  with actor Harrison Ford!

http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=376fe70618ec7210VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=e128e70618ec7210VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD

We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions. 

Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com

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Noooooooo!!!  This game was unbeatable.  Unbeatable, I tells ya!

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Hey, isn't that shot of Warwick Davis from a scene that he totally wasn't in. Why would he be part of the Tatooine/Jabba sarlacc if he just played one of the Ewoks (which took place on a different planet/moon)?

Or did he have a small role in Jabba's Palace as well?

Take back the trilogy. Execute Order '77

http://www.youtube.com/user/Knightmessenger

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If you were an 11 year old boy in 1983 and got cast in Return of the Jedi, wouldn't you want to visit as many sets as you were allowed to?

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zombie84 said:

If you were an 11 year old boy in 1983 and got cast in Return of the Jedi, wouldn't you want to visit as many sets as you were allowed to?

 As many sets as you could... especially the ones where Princess Leia is in a brass bikini and hugs you?

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!