10 Interesting Behind The Scenes Facts About ‘The Empire Strikes Back’
Image Source: Disney +
Star Wars is a groundbreaking franchise that has made its mark in the film community. Given the legendary and inspirational status of Star Wars in general and The Empire Strikes Back, it makes sense that dedicated fans and even casual movie viewers would have some knowledge of basic production facts of the monumental film. Despite this, interesting facts keep emerging from the production crew decades later. Here are ten interesting behind-the-scenes facts about The Empire Strikes Back.
10. Filming In Glacial Location
Image Source: CNN
The planet Hoth was filmed on the Hardangerjøkulen Glacier and in Finse, Norway. The icy planet could easily be confused with a place like Antarctica, but it was actually a small Norwegian town. According to CNN, the cast and crew stayed in the town, conducting marginal filming on the outskirts of town and staging the main battle scenes on the nearby glacier.
Image Source: Lucasfilm
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9. A Cold Day In Norway
Hoth’s realism was aided by the largest snowstorm in the region’s history. The snowstorm gave it the blustery sub-zero look that the planet is associated with today. A behind-the-scenes look on Good Morning America in 2020 recounts that they could barely film outside the hotel, and production delays nearly broke the film’s budget.
8. A Model Production
Models were frequently used in the production of the film. Space ships weren’t much larger than model airplanes. They were filmed against blue screens to add the space element. Small charges were used to create the facsimile of explosions. The models of imperial walkers were small enough to hold in your hand. In production, they were palm-sized models produced to be filmed against scales of various scenes.
7. Going Through The Stop Motions
Image Source: Popular Mechanics
Stop-motion photography was used to simulate models’ movements like real creatures and machines on screen. Each model could be only slightly moved to achieve the articulation required for seamless motion. This combination of photography and animation gave us the legendary sequences audiences have enjoyed for decades.
6. Mark Hamill’s Face
Image Source: Ranker
George Lucas created a scene and dialogue to explain the change in Mark Hamill’s face. Hamill’s distinct appearance in the original Star Wars underwent a dramatic transformation after a much-publicized car wreck. While some saw it as a career-ending event, Lucas would use it as a pivotal point on the Skywalker journey. Just as the car wreck changed Hamill’s appearance, Luke’s appearance would be altered after being attacked by the Wampa, setting him on the spiritual quest depicted in the movie.
5. Credit On (A Rough) Draft
Image Source: What Culture
Lucas rejected the script of a famous science-fiction writer, Leigh Brackett. Science-Fiction fans of the 1960s were probably familiar with Ray Bradbury and Leigh Brackett, his frequent collaborator. That is why it was unexpected for Lucas to reject Brackett’s script and go his own way with the story. When Brackett died of cancer in 1978, Lucas decided she should receive credit for her work. Lucas chose not to submit his drafts to the Writers Guild of America, instead submitting Brackett’s to ensure she received credit.
4. Writing The Second Act
Image Source: In a Far Away Galaxy
Writer Lawrence Kasdan can be credited for the darker tone of Empire. Lucas admittedly liked adventurous movies with a lighter tone. When Kasdan was brought in to re-write the script, he identified it as the second of a three-act story. The second act is traditionally when the heroes suffer some form of defeat, and Empire sees plenty of loss for its heroes.
3. Kiss Of Infamy
Image Source: Cinema Blend
The amount of planning that went into the Skywalker Saga has been the subject of theories and speculation for a long-time. This mainly stems from the haphazard development of Luke, Leia, and Han’s relationships. Luke and Leia’s kiss painted them as potential lovers until it was softly changed in the Return of the Jedi. The current view of this scene is that it was meant as a provocation of jealousy between characters and leveraging the on-set sexual tension between Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. Either way, it created the iconic duo of a princess and a “scruffy-looking nerf herder.”
2. Making A Master
Image Source: Lucasfilm
Yoda was almost portrayed as a monkey. Although a common practice, it was quickly decided against as the look of a monkey in a mask was aesthetically displeasing. Thankfully, Yoda was portrayed as the diminutive creature we all know and love today.
1. The Secret Of The Father Preserved
The reveal of Darth Vader as Luke’s father was so secretive that the line was never spoken on set. Initially, the story of the rebellion was a typical good vs. evil story until the story took its famous character-driven approach. The decision to make Vader a fallen Jedi and the father of Luke was meant to shock people and thus called for the utmost secrecy. According to Mark Hamill’s Twitter Account, the actual line was dubbed in and revealed to the public, cast, and crew over a year later when it received its theatrical release.
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Source(s): CNN, GMA, Star Wars YouTube, Popular Mechanics, Express, starwars, Rolling Stone, Inverse, The Guardian, NY Daily News