Fans of Star Wars widely agree that the original trilogy is the best Star Wars trilogy. More particularly, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, is universally praised and considered one of the best sci-fi films to ever release. While Star Wars has never been my cup of tea, it’s hard to ignore the sheer impact it had on the film industry, creating a massive following as a result. As 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, the Star Wars team has unveiled a behind-the-scenes video today. It goes into much of how the movie was made, along with featuring commentary from several key Star Wars crew members. I’d suggest you give it a watch below.
In the video, George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars series, discusses the shooting of Empire Strikes Back:
Three years later, everybody comes back to work and everybody’s more enthusiastic than they were the first time. The first time everybody was very confused by the whole thing and didn’t know what they were up against. Now they had a better picture of what it was we were making. It was fun to get started again.”
It was definitely a much simpler time for the film industry. While work will still just as intense for Empire Strikes Back, visual effects and the work environment were a much different picture. As shown in the video, everyone’s laughing and cracking jokes as good friends. That’s something likely not possible during the first movie, but it improved their desire to work on the picture as a result. It was also a very stressful time, as detailed further by Lucas. According to him, a snowstorm came in which had delayed shooting, making things a tough time for everyone. Still, they clearly made it work and quite effectively at that.
There’s plenty more to dig into, so I suggest watching it all the way through and discovering some new things. Otherwise, what is your favorite Star Wars film? Did you love Empire Strikes Back as much as other fans? Let me know in the comments below!