AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: BOUNTY TRACKING!

Concept art for the Slave 1 cockpit. Just how much of it was actually built for studio filming is unknown. Note the periscope-like viewer which made it into the movie.

Within Slave 1, Boba Fett keeps close tabs on the Millennium Falcon, ultimately charting its course to Bespin. For this cockpit scene, in the barest of small sets at Elstree, Jeremy Bulloch played Fett, filming against blue screen. Bulloch told Star Wars Aficionado in a chat back in 2000 that he also filmed a later interior scene where Fett would apparently taunt the carbon frozen Han Solo within his ship's cargo hold, but we have not been able to find any call sheet information confirming that or anything in a so far released official shooting script.

Ease Owyeung with Boba/Cockpit interior model.

Close-up details of Boba Fett in the Slave 1 model at ILM.

Storyboard for the cockpit scene.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: CREATING 'SLAVE 1'

 

Art by Nilo Rodis Jamero.

A sinister and formidable bounty hunter like Boba Fett needs a similarly sinister and formidable ship to achieve his goals, and the memorable Slave 1 would soon prove an ugly-looking and intimidating, capable stand-out vessel of the Star Wars saga.

A selection of conceptual art pieces and model shots for the vehicle.

Further ship detailing of one of the ship's flap wings.

Behind the scenes at ILM's model shop.

Prototype.

Lorne Peterson at work.

Lorne Peterson works on the ship with ease Owyeung.

Ken Ralston preparing the model for filming on the ILM blue screen stage.

OUT NOW: 'THRAWN: ASCENDANCY: GREATER GOOD'

Bold warrior, cold warrior. Senior Captain Thrawn returns. Art by Magali Villeneuve.

It may be a little while before we see him in the flesh, so to speak, within a live-action Disney+ TV series (his name having been intriguingly referenced by Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano in last season's The Mandalorian), but until then Star Wars fans worldwide can relish the next literary appearance of that alien master tactician Thrawn, back in the days when he was a firm part of his native Chiss Ascendancy supreme power, within the latest surefire New York Times bestselling adventure of space warfare and galactic families intrigue from his acclaimed creator, Timothy Zahn: Thrawn: Ascendancy: Greater Good, the second of an all-new trilogy, making its UK hardback debut from Century.

Official release info: 

Thrawn and his allies race to save the Chiss Ascendancy from an unseen enemy in the second book in the epic Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy from bestselling author Timothy Zahn.

Thrawn's latest triumph still rests newly on his shoulders. He has led the Chiss to victory and brought glory to the House of Mitth, but the true threat to the Ascendancy has not yet been extinguished. Their foes do not send threats or ultimatums, do not mass ships on the edge of the Chaos. Their weapons come cloaked in smiles and generosity: Gifts offered freely. Services granted unconditionally.

Across the Ascendancy, seemingly inconsequential events could herald the doom of the Chiss. As Thrawn and the Expansionary Defense Fleet rally to uncover the plot, they discover a chilling truth: Rather than invade Chiss capitals or pillage resources, their enemy strikes at the very foundation of the Ascendancy, seeking to widen the rifts between the Nine Ruling Families and the Forty Great Houses below. As rivalry and suspicion sow discord among allies, each warrior must decide what matters most to them: the security of their family or the survival of the Ascendancy itself.

Officially released excerpts: 

https://www.starwars.com/news/thrawn-ascendancy-greater-good-exclusive-excerpt

https://nerdist.com/article/star-wars-thrawn-ascendancy-greater-good-excerpt-chiss-enemies/?fbclid=IwAR3ARHYTH7RpGLPlyh17g3xu8ziUKsj0K5S-0SwNqsEYlzE9uDTk_aJxEJ8

https://ew.com/books/star-wars-thrawn-ascendancy-book-2-greater-good-excerpt/

Get the book here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Thrawn-Ascendancy-Greater/dp/1529101921/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=thrawn+ascendancy+the+greater+good&qid=1619282630&sr=8-1

And don't forget, the opening book of this new trilogy, Chaos Rising, is now available in UK Arrow paperback.

Get it here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Thrawn-Ascendancy-Rising/dp/1529101476/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1619623241&sr=8-3

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: DUMPING THE GARBAGE!

Han Solo knows all the smuggling tricks of the trade, as well as Imperial Star Destroyer procedures, hiding the Falcon in the Avenger's debris field before the enemy enters Hyperspace. Their next stop is Bespin, but Han and company are unaware of another talent aware of the same escape tricks: the bounty hunter Boba Fett!

ILM filming of the space junk.

Debris field revised shot incorporating Slave 1.

Slave 1 pursues the Falcon.

THE CLONE WARS: ON THE BATTLEFRONT!

 

The heroes and villains of the galaxy-shattering Clone Wars gather with their forces, fighting for the Republic and the Separatists, as captured in this stunning art by Andreas Bazylewski that truly captures the Prequel saga at its most epic. 

'SOLO': WOOKIEE PAYBACK!

As revolution breaks out from one of the deep caves of the infamous Kessel's key spice mining facilities, Han Solo and his party are supported in their perilous journey back to the besieged Millennium Falcon, with their volatile new cargo, by a small and malnourished party of wookiee prisoners, led by the heroic Tak Sagwa, now gamely out for revenge on their cruel overlords. A stirring action moment from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

C'mon, Disney, let's get that much-wanted Han Solo TV mini-series made already!

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: WHERE NEXT?

Image: Star Wars Screengrabs site.

It's time for our pursued heroes to break cover from the Imperials and find a safe port. But where? Having deactivated an hysterical Threepio, a quick sift through the Falcon's charts reveals a possible 'friend' from Solo's past at a far off world who might come to their aid... Lando Calrissian - card-player, scoundrel, located at Bespin!

"Lando's not a system, he's a man..."

Fisher and Ford have fun in an outtake.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: DARK LORD'S FURY!

"Don't fail me again... Admiral! Darth Vader's chilling warning words to Admiral Piett on the Executor bridge, as the Imperial Death Fleet is once again redeployed in search of the 'missing' Millennium Falcon.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: "APOLOGY ACCEPTED, CAPTAIN NEEDA!"

 

Failure is not an option for Darth Vader as he swiftly dispatches the doomed Captain Needa for losing the Millennium Falcon, a killing power gesture watched in shock and horror by the Dark Lord's bridge crew.

The beginning of the scene, which never made the finished movie.

Needa collapses dead in front of a shocked bridge crew.

Posed image of Dave Prowse as Vader on the set.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: "I DON'T... I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"

Stunned by Yoda's abilities in the Force and the rescue of his X-wing fighter, Luke discovers that his belief in the Force and his potential gifts for using it still have a very long way to go, in this classic scene.

A selection of scenes showing Luke examining the X-wing alongside Artoo (who starts hose watering the ship down in a filmed but deleted follow-on moment). 

Deleted alternate footage, intriguingly showing reaction shots of a more surprised (and a more shocked) Luke towards Yoda and his abilities:

More behind the scenes images from the August, 1979 filming.

Frank Oz with Yoda in between takes.

Rehearsal or alternate take footage shot of a non-jacketed Luke reunited with his X-wing fighter.

George Lucas on set during the filming of the sequence.