Tuesday 19 May 2020

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: THE ICE CASTLES OF HOTH!


Alongside the grim visage of Darth Vader's castle, the 1977 story ideas for Star Wars II being fleshed out by George Lucas and Leigh Brackett saw another intriguing and mysterious set of structures being considered to appear by the time of the film's February 17th, 1977 rough draft script - an incredible abandoned alien castle/spires cityscape partially snow submerged under which the in-hiding Rebels have adapted the interior environment to suit their purposes as the story begins, of which Han strides in on his snow lizard.

Linked to this alien castle, Ralph McQuarrie's primary concept painting idea has characters that look like Han and Chewie treading the snow with the massive environment behind them. Other McQuarrie thumbnail ideas, archived as being from late 1977, show the pair encountering their own 'snow monster' out on the wilderness, though the idea of Luke being attacked at the start of the film had already been conceived by Lucas earlier in the Summer.

By the time that Lawrence Kasdan came aboard to finish the final screenplay for filming by early 1979, both Vader's castle and the original Rebel Base concepts had been scuppered.




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