“It felt real, it felt so believable, and yet so imaginative and creative.” Disney has debuted a set of behind-the-scenes featurettes celebrating 40 years since Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back opened. The highly anticipated sci-fi sequel first hit theaters on June 20th, 1980, three years after the original Star Wars movie rocked cinemas in 1977. A few different videos have been released, along with an oral history of the Hoth Battle, and so much more. The featurettes including commentary and conversations with all kinds of people involved in and in love with Star Wars: Taika Waititi, Pedro Pascal, Deborah Chow, Leslye Headland, George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, and Lawrence Kasdan. Growing up, I always remember Empire being my favorite of the original trilogy – just because it has everything, including the big emotional middle with Yoda training Luke. There’s still so much to love about it even 40 years later.
Here’s all three video featurettes looking back at 40 years of Empire Strikes Back, direct from YouTube:
Thanks to StarWars.com for the tip on these Empire featurettes. Legacy video description: “The talent and production crews keeping the Star Wars legacy alive today look back at Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back to share their thoughts and memories of the film that transformed the Star Wars story into a saga. This brief featurette includes humorous outtakes & behind-the-scenes footage, with all-new commentary by Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Pedro Pascal, Deborah Chow, Leslye Headland, Taika Waititi, and Diego Luna.” Behind-the-scenes video description: “See never-before-seen on-set footage and outtakes from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, with commentary by members of the cast and crew who brought the first Star Wars sequel to life. [With] rare behind-the-scenes moments captured by the documentary crew, including the frozen exteriors of Hoth, the Rebel base hangar, interiors of the Millennium Falcon, Cloud City, and the film’s climactic duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.” View TESB on Disney+.
