Filming Empire

Hidden History of The Empire Strikes Back

Irvin Kershner

Training a
Monkey to be Yoda

When “Empire Strikes Back” went into production, Irvin Kershner, the director, was given full control of filming because Lucas wanted to focus on the effects. Kershner had originally turned down the role as director, but Lucas wanted someone with experience who was not a Hollywood bigshot. Kershner didn’t think he could improve on the original film but he worked hard and the crew loved him for it.

          There first big problem for Kershner was how to create Yoda. It was a real puzzle trying to figure out how they were going to bring him to life. Originally they thought about putting a person in a suit and even tried to put a monkey in a suit, but in the end it was decided that a Muppet would be best.  Make-up artist Stuart Freeman used his own face while designing Yoda and added some Albert Einstein-like wrinkles. 

Stuart Freeman & Yoda

            The Dagobah scenes were difficult to film. The set was built five feet from the floor so that Frank Oz and other puppeteers could control Yoda from below. Mark Hamill was the only actor on set for months but Kershner commended him on his work. Even today while watching these scenes, they are the heart of the movie. Audiences don’t notice that it’s just Hamill, a puppet, and a robot. When you hear the amazing voice work of Oz combined with John William’s epic score everything comes to life. Yoda is real to us, even more real than his CGI counterpart in the prequels.

Kershner on Dagobah

        

    By the time Kershner was filming the Bespin scenes the film was beginning to fall apart. It was over-budget and tension was rising on set. During the Carbonite scene it was scorching hot. Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford were in a big argument. Peter Mayhew was giving out signed copies of his book “Fitness is Fun” while wearing his Chewbacca-costume. Kershner was trying to keep things from spiraling out of control.

Kershner on Bespin

            While filming the “I love you” scene, Harrison was very angry that Han’s line was “I love you too”. According to Harrison, Han simply wouldn’t say that line. When Kershner started the scene, instead of saying “I love you too” Harrison said, “I know”.  The crew was furious, but Kershner calmed everyone down and told them to go to lunch. The line was filmed and Kershner would have to face Lucas later.

           

When Lucas saw the scene he was not happy. He felt the audience would laugh to which Kershner responded “Wonderful”. Lucas agreed to release two test screenings, one with “the line” and one without. In the end audiences responded to the line, citing it as "the best one in the entire film".

Notice mattresses below Luke

          

  While filming the lightsaber duel, there was huge secrecy on the set. Only certain people were given the script. Even David Prowse’s script had the false line “Obi-Wan killed your father”. Daivd, who played Vader, said the false line on set and no one knew that it wasn't true. Even Mark Hamill was not told what the real line was until moments before filming. Before the release only Kershner, Lucas, Hammil and James Earl Jones knew what Vader really said and Jones thought that Vader must have been lying.

          

  Irvin Kershner died a few years back but was happy that Empire is seen as the greatest Star Wars film. In a 2010 interview published just before his death he cited “Ratatouille” as his favorite modern American film. I think Kershner would be happy to see “Star Wars” in hands of Disney.

Writing Empire Strikes Back

The Hidden History of The Empire Strikes Back

An early dinosaur-like Tauntaun

In 1978 Lucas had raised millions dollars of his own money to produce a sequel to Star Wars. This went against the rule that a producer should never invest their own money in one of their films, but Lucas did not want to deal with a studio. Lucas had everything on the line and would go bankrupt if his film wasn’t a success.

Like the previous film, Empire was a work in progress and the first script is quite different from the final movie. In the first draft, Luke actually meets his father when he’s on Dagobah (Not Vader). Consider this passage:



LUKE’S FATHER- You’ve grown well, Luke.  I’m proud of you. Did your uncle ever speak to you about Nelith?

Dagobah Spider

LUKE - Nellith?  No.  Who is she?

LUKE’S FATHER - Your sister.

LUKE - My sister?  I have a sister?  But why didn’t Uncle Owen….

LUKE’S FATHER- It was my request.  When I saw the Empire closing in, I sent you both away for your own safety, far apart from each other.

LUKE - Where is she? 

LUKE’S FATHER - If I were to tell you, Darth Vader could get that information from your mind and use her as a hostage.  Not yet, Luke.  When it’s time…. Luke.  Will you take, from me, the oath of a Jedi knight?

Concept art of "Minch"

[Slowly, proudly, Luke draws his light saber and activates it, bringing it to the salute.  Skywalker does the same.  Ben and Minch also raise their sabers, standing by as witnesses.]

LUKE’S FATHER - I, Luke Skywalker…. (Luke repeats after him at suitable intervals)

….do swear on my honor, and on the faith of the brotherhood of knights, to use the Force only for good, turning always from the Dark Side, to dedicate my life to the cause of freedom, and justice.  If I should fail of this vow, my life shall be forfeit, here and hereafter.

[The four sabers touch, a kind of ceremonial amen.]

(Notice here that Yoda’s original name was MINCH. In another draft he was actually called BUFFY)

This passage proves once again that Lucas never had a grand plan. He changed things as he went along. The rise & fall of Anakin (what some people would call the heart of Star Wars) is not present here. Luke’s father is not Vader. Leia is not his sister.

Imagine if Lucas had included this scene. Imagine if Empire was a failure and Lucas lost all of his money. What if Return of the Jedi was never made? It’s questions like these that baffle me when I read the above passage.

Vader's Castle

Other interesting things from the first script:
-Vader lives in a Castle surrounded by Lava and has pet gargoyles

-Leia tells Luke that she doesn’t love him, that she loves Han instead

-Han gets mad at Luke and tells him “You’re not a Jedi Knight and you never will be!”

-Even Vader teases Luke because Leia likes Han Solo better

-Han does not get frozen in Carbonite

-Wampas attack Echo Base

The script is full of horrible dialogue and is generally unreadable but knock-yourself-out if you would like: http://starwarz.com/starkiller/2010/05/the-empire-strikes-back-first-draft-by-leigh-brackett-transcript/

Next Time: IRVIN KERSHNER – The man who would save Star Wars

Expanded Universe: A Question of Canon

A Question of Canon

            Canon in Latin means “standard” and refers to people measuring something up to a standard. The easiest way to describe “Canon” is imagining a bunch of popes and bishops reading holy texts and deciding what is real? What text gets into the bible? What rules do we follow? What happens when texts disagree with each other?

So how does this apply to Star Wars? Well, most people who have seen Star Wars have only seen the movies so they don’t have to worry about Canon. But hardcore fans have gone a step further and have explored the thousands of comics, cartoons, video games, card games, & books that make up the “Expanded” Star Wars universe.

Leia & Luke fight
Vader together

When Lucas started recruiting writers to make some more money for “Star Wars”, they had to be careful. They couldn’t disagree with the films or potential films that were going to be made, so they had to craft their stories without killing off any of Lucas’ characters or looking into the secret past lives of the Star Wars universe.

The first example of a book entering the Star Wars Expanded Universe was “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” in 1978, which includes Luke & Leia searching for a crystal that makes force-users invincible. After a few hundred pages they meet Vader. Luke chops off Vader’s arm and then escapes with the crystal.

The book was a treat for fans that still had a two-years wait for “Empire Strikes Back”. It was also nice for Lucas, who made some money. Yet no one had to read this book to understand the future films. They don’t refer to the crystal in the movies. Vader never says, “You’re going to pay for chopping off my arm”. The book does not interfere with the main “Star Wars” story. The movies need to be enjoyed without people having to do extra homework.

Leia with her twins

The EU would work perfectly if no more Star Wars movies were ever going to be made. The problem is sometimes new movies are made that end up disagreeing with the novels. For example, what author Timothy Zahn envisioned the Clone Wars to be like is totally different than what they look like when Lucas made the prequel films.  There are actually dozens of times that the prequels disagree with previously established “Canon” from books and comics. This is because Lucas never read the books and has admitted to have no knowledge of what happened in the EU.

There are also a lot of places that the books that are inconsistent with each other. For example there are two books that focus on Han & Leia getting married and two different stories of their wedding. No one is quite sure which one to believe.

Some would even say that the prequels are inconsistent with the original films. Why would Leia remember her mother if she was taken from her at birth? Why would Han not believe in The Force even though there were millions of Jedi when he was a child?
 

Luke with wife & son

Canon works best when the movies can tell the story they need to tell and the books can fill in some interesting gaps. Authors of the books should try not to disagree with the films, but authors of the films shouldn’t have to cater to the books.

 I think that these sequel films could conceivably negate much of the Star Wars Expanded Universe as we know it (Mara Jade, Chewbacca’s death, Ben Skywalker, Jaina & Jacen). Perhaps the new writers of the films will want to keep these aspects or perhaps they will throw them out entirely. But if Lucas were writing the stories he wouldn’t give a crap about agreeing with the Expanded Universe.

Next Time: We explore the writing of the Empire Strikes Back. 

We explore what could have been and why things turned out the way they did.

Star Wars Holiday Special

Chewie's Family - Malla, Lumpy, & Itchy

          Star Wars fans have seen both low and high points in the story of the Star Wars saga. There are mixed feelings on just about everything that has happened since the original movie released in 1977. You may be a fan of the prequels or a hater. You might love Lucas’ constant tinkering with the original trilogy or not. There are even fans divided over Ewoks. But there is one thing every single fan can agree on: The Star Wars Holiday Special was the worse thing to happen to television.

            Notice I didn’t say the worse thing to happen to Star Wars (even though its true). I said the worse thing to happen to television- and Christmas for that matter. Don’t believe me. In “What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events In Television History”, David Hofstede, ranked the Holiday Special at number one.

The special featured all the original actors from the movie but was mainly centered on Chewbacca’s family which includes his father “Itchy”, his wife “Mala”, and his morbidly obese Wookiee-son “Lumpy”.

Now you may have heard about this special and how bad it was, but as someone who actually had to sit down and watch it… putting an open exhaust port on the first death star was a mild mistake compared to this Christmas Special.

If you ever plan on watching this piece of rancor-vomit, let me save you the trouble. First you need to know that it clocks in at a full 2-hours in length. Second is that this Special only aired once in 1978 and it is only because someone recorded it that it still exists. Third is that Lucas has said that he would like to take a sledgehammer to every living copy. Fourth thing is that every single act stinks worse than a Tauntaun (on the inside).

Luke talks sexy to Chewie's wife

Let me summarize: The first five or ten minutes takes place on Planet Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld. Chewbacca’s family is celebrating “Life Day” and Chewie is suppose to be home soon to join them. Chewie’s wife is cooking and donning a Wookiee-apron.  Lumpy, his son, keeps trying to steal cookies. This goes on for a while and the family is worried about Chewie who is late. They call up Luke Skywalker to ask for help. Mark Hamill tells them not to worry and delivers a bunch of cheesy lines like “Come on Mala, let’s see a little smile,”. I want to reach through the screen and take Hamill by the collar and tell him “Wookiees don’t fucking smile!”

Chewie's Dad, Itchy, watches porn

When the special is not focused on the Wookiee family, it is focused on what they are watching on their old 1950’s-style television sets. There’s an annoying cross-dressing chef who has four arms and teaches Mala how to make Bantha rump. Meanwhile Chewie’s father is plugged into a virtual reality system in the living room watching what can only be described as a "pornographic masturbation chamber". Yes, Chewie's dad is a horny old wookiee that watches porn. You cannot get through this part without being extremely uncomfortable and thinking about the little kids from 1978 have their eyes glued to the screen.

Ford's expression whenever this
special is mentioned

Meanwhile Chewbacca and Han are in the falcon having some trouble with the Imperials. First problem is that every shot of the falcon and the ships following them is stock footage from the movie “Star Wars”.  To his credit, Ford is the only convincing thing about this Christmas Special.

Back in the Wookiee household, the imperials have stormed the house. Now in “Star Wars” the imperials meant business. They had British accents and seemed like intelligent overlords. The Imperials in this film are simply assholes that storm around the house knocking things over for no reason. Eventually one turns on the television and watches “Jefferson Airplane” for a while- a band from the 70’s on Earth who sing Earth songs and have nothing to do with a Galaxy far, far, away.

First appearance of Boba Fett

Meanwhile Lumpy is watching a cartoon which stars his father, Luke, Han and the droids and their run-in with a bounty hunter named Boba Fett. This is, of course, Boba Fett’s first appearance in the Star Wars universe. The first times fans will ever glimpse him and the short cartoon might be the strongest bit of this Christmas special, though that isn’t saying much. The biggest problem I had was the animation of C-3PO, which featured the droid moving his eyebrows, blinking, and extending his neck like a snake.

Back in the Wookiee household storm troopers are still idly throwing stuff around. It is never mentioned why they came to this house to search for hours, while seemingly ignoring the other houses on planet Kshhhyk- or why the wookiees don’t just rip their fucking arms off, like wookiees are suppose to do.

Bea Arthur in the Cantina

Next comes the lowest point in the show. It takes place in the Cantina on Mos Eisley and features all the aliens from the bar scene. There is a human bartender and she is ripped right out of a British sitcom. The empire has enforced a curfew and it is her job to get everyone to go home. So, naturally, she sings “Goodnight but not Goodbye” (which is intercut with the Modal Nodes playing the Cantina song) and then she proceeds to dance Ponda Bubu until Greedo cuts in. Also she insists on calling all the bar aliens weird names like “Bobo” and “Frank” even though the fans know these are not the names of the bar aliens. By the end of the song Star Wars has been defiled- defiled in a way that even the prequels can not contend with.

Leia sings about "Life Day"

The special ends with Han and Chewie showing up and saving the day. Then Chewiee makes out with his wife in an uncomfortably long session of Wookiee PDA, then the wookiees put on robes and walk through the stars together and if that’s not bad enough, Princess Leia sings a song about “Life Day”. It ends with a montage of the original film.

Star-Wars-ruined-forever-Merry-Christmas-Please-don’t-watch-this-film.

On a lighter note Carrie Fisher claims she plays this show at parties when she wants her guests to go home for the night.

Wookiee's wear clothes and carry orbs

Next Time we Explore “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye”, the first entry into the Star Wars Expanded Universe to talk about a scary subject…. Canon