ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: UNSTOPPABLE WALKER

An All-Terrain Armoured Transport vehicle certainly makes its tremendous presence felt as it begins its attack on the ground level forces of the Rebel Alliance, in a classic stop motion effects scene from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

MONSTER AUCTION!

My good buddy Chris Baker recently got in touch with me on an event from last year that I wasn't previously aware of, and which I thought I'd pass the info and photos on. Here's what he said:

“These (attached) images are from a PIH Hollywood Auction Catalog I found online yesterday. The Auction actually happened back on December 17 & 18th of 2010, from the Saban Theatre in Beverley Hills. Phil Tippett added several pieces from his personal collection, These are the 'SW' ones from his lot

 

... wish I had a few extra hundred thousand just sitting around (lol)

    

(the images-click to blow up for more detail and caption info- are numbered in the order they were presented in the catalogue)”

Thanks for the info, Chris.

CLASSIC ART: DARTH VADER STRIKES BACK!

Here's a revised commercial art version of Lawrence Noble's great work for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, of which a prior version had been originally considered as a theatrical release poster for the 1980 cinema engagements, and then finally put out as an official poster for EMPIRE's Tenth Anniversary in 1990. This new art version has substantially changed imagery at the bottom of it, including Rebel Snowspeeders and Imperial Walkers.

If you're in the UK, celebrate Darth Vader's epic return to fight the Rebels by catching the HD screening of the much beloved film this Saturday afternoon on ITV1.

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: WALK LIKE AN AT-AT!

Two Imperial Walkers prepare to penetrate the Rebel ground defenses and destroy the enemy shield generator in this great stop motion image from 1979/1980-the Walker battle is still one of the greatest scenes in any film, let alone a STAR WARS one.

Check out this early EMPIRE trailer, too, to see the Walkers when, in early footage, they fired blue lasers instead of red: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH9z8se3Aho

OOPS!! CLASSIC SCENE: REBEL RETREAT!

Here's a great shot-a classic moment- of the Rebels retreating from the Hoth battlefield whilst General Veers lead AT-AT Walker is about to destroy the power generators. This is a clever image but it also shows a mistake. The mistake is that the Rebels look like they are running away from the battle, and the Walker, but they are not running away. Look carefully, and, despite the rear explosion near a troopers leg, you'll see that they are running forward into battle- you can see the gun emplacements and some still dug in Rebels pointing their weapons the other way. Obviously, Lucas, Editor Paul Hirsch and ILM got hold of a live action plate and added the Walker behind it, extending the action sequence itself and creating a whole new scene of tension and excitement from it- making the most out of one of the then unused angles from the battle that had been filmed-but never completed in its entirety (due to bad weather)- by the Second Unit at Norway in early 1979.

Amazingly, thirty years on, it was only whilst watching EMPIRE recently that I noticed this.

Very ingenious, eh?