'ATTACK' AT 20: AT THE LARS HOMESTEAD!

With escalated nightmare visions of his mother that can no longer be ignored, a deeply concerned Anakin, with emotional support from Padme, travels back to his former homeworld of Tatooine, arriving at the Lars Homestead just outside Mos Eisley, where former slave Shmi has now been living a life of freedom, and is happily married to the respected farmer Cliegg Lars.

With thanks to Chris Baker for selected images.

Arriving at the homestead.

Anakin and Padme are reunited with Threepio, who has finally been given his metal skin coverings.

“It was a very nostalgic experience (returning to the Tunisian Lars homestead). It was odd to be back in one of the places we shot the original movie, especially since it hadn’t changed much. It was strange to be standing in the same spot twenty-five years later.”

 GEORGE LUCAS- STAR WARS: MYTHMAKING BOOK-2002 

The newly created homestead igloo, as seen on location at the same salt flat location first used in Spring 1976.

Filming his original scenes operating the Threepio puppet from EPISODE I on location. In post production editing, Lucas decides that the puppet will be replaced with the Threepio suited version earlier in the film than originally planned.

Anthony Daniels is nostalgic for the location as he suits up to film a later scene in the shell costume.

Hayden Christensen ponders the incredible landscape prior to filming.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: ESCAPE COVER!

Alternate unused footage of civilians escaping Cloud City whilst Chewbacca covers the Falcon docking platform entrance.

As our heroes make their alternate route to the Millennium Falcon's landing platform, they weave their way through a host of Cloud City citizens (one of whom will become famous years later with fans when named as the Ice Cream Machine Carrying Man) equally desperate to make their escape from invading Imperials. 

The sequences were filmed in late July 1979, towards the end of the main block of Empire's principal photography with the majority of it's cast...

A Stormtrooper moves in in an unused angle.

Chewbacca prepares to fend off approaching stormtroopers.

Leia soon has to blaster battle more Imperial Stormtroopers at her end of the corridor.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: ACCESS DENIED!

Brave Artoo gets an unexpected jolt whilst accidently connecting to a power terminal, as our heroes escape attempts from Cloud City continue in this memorable scene for the droid that was originally script-conceived but unused for the original Star Wars in 1977.

Another selection of behind the scenes images from filming undertaken at Elstree during Summer 1979. Once again, the filmmakers manage to make ingenious use of the restricted amount of Bespin sets created via alternate angles and redressing. 

Anthony Daniels suits-up for close-up shots of the damaged Threepio.

A deleted scene moment that made its way into an early teaser trailer.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: BEAST OF BURDEN!

Gary Kurtz and a second unit film close-up shots of C-3PO (Anthony Daniels in half-suit) attached to  Peter Mayhew's Chewbacca as they race to the East Platform.

Navigating the various Cloud City corridors, the race is on for our freed heroes - can they get to Boba Fett's ship and rescue Han before it can take off?

In a long Friday filming day wearing the yak hair costume under hot studio lights, and with the 50 pounds weight of the Threepio puppet atop/attached to him, Peter Mayhew would collapse doing a corridor hard right move during filming of the chase sequence, and be sent home by the producers for the rest of the afternoon. Though his stand-in would wear the costume for additional scenes shot later that day, Mayhew's unique height/body language /double jointed walk as Chewbacca meant that the non Mayhew footage seen in dailies was ultimately abandoned and reshot once the actor was back on set after the weekend.

Reunited with Artoo, Chewbacca barkingly urges the droid to catch-up.

Peter Mayhew has to cool down in a filming break, with help from L-R: Brian Lofthouse (props), Barbara Richie (hair) and Rosemary Worth (costume assistant) holding the fan.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: STILL A CHANCE TO SAVE HAN...

Alternate B/W shot of Chewbacca's strangling Lando Calrissian.

Now freed form his bonds, Chewbacca lets loose his wrath on Lando Calrissian for their current predicament, though the Baron is soon released when he offers the chance of rescuing Han from Boba Fett at the East Platform...

Irvin Kershner gives direction for Chewie's strangulation of Lando.

Off camera, Anthony Daniels recites Threepio's lines whilst practical effects manipulates the droid's pieces atop Chewbacca with fishing wire.

Carrie Fisher confers with Gary Kurtz between takes.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: ALAS, POOR THREEPIO...

In a true 'Hamlet considers Yoric' moment, Chewbacca looks towards the debris that was once their loyal if irritating protocol droid and decides to put Threepio back together, if only the wrong way round at first! One of the most sadly poignant but also charming scenes to showcase Peter Mayhew's performance as Chewbacca during The Empire Strikes Back,

Irvin Kershner works with Peter Mayhew on the scene.

Anthony Daniels provides the voice of the near destroyed Threepio from the floor speaking into a microphone set-up. 

Peter Suschitzky works on the scene's filming as Anthony Daniels (bottom right) rehearse works the C-3PO droid puppet.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: BITS AND PIECES!

Deep in the bowels of Bespin, Chewbacca's search for the missing Threepio takes him to a junk room where parts of the now wrecked droid are ready to be blast furnaced incinerated by Ugnaughts, soon unhappy at having their work place disturbed by the towering wookiee.

Actress Jane Busby would be behind Stuart Freeborn's makeup as the primary antagonistic Ugnaught/ aka 'Hogperson' (and later playing a diminutive Ewok for Return of the Jedi), with Kenny Baker's wife Eileen also playing one of the creatures, amidst a set covered in existing props and other former costume pieces (including bounty hunters IG-88 and the head of 4-Lom) used in prior filming, supervised by Les Dilley. The scene would have second unit material shot for it by Harley Cokeliss's team at Elstree on 31st July, 1979.

Les Dilley set coordinates the upcoming filming.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: FUTURE FRIENDS!

They're not yet the friends they'll be by the time of the opening to A New Hope, but, nonetheless, the first sparks of the true and unique partnership between Threepio and Artoo is in genesis during the early scenes leading to the Mos Espa pod race, within a charming moment from EPISODE I. It was a scene literally created from scratch in post production by Lucas that the film's co-editor Paul Martin Smith was incredibly impressed with creatively, as well as equally touched by.

Lucas had originally planned for Threepio's scenes to be confined to Anakin's room only, but eventually he decided to add the character to additional outdoor scenes in the slave dwellings and in the pod race arena.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: POD RACE PREPARATIONS!

It's all hands on deck as Anakin and his new friends ready his secretly built pod racer for the Boonta Eve event. As we also meet Anakin's close friend Kitster (played by Dhruv Chanchani) for the first time, the rest of Anakin's disinterested young friends (including Warwick Davis's Rodian named Wald) show little faith in his abilities to get the Pod off the ground or win the race.

Whilst Artoo proves a great help, and Qui-Gon provides a working power source for the pod, luckless Jar Jar keeps getting himself confused and in trouble on the technical side of things!

Watch out, Jar Jar!

Ahmed Best gets a break between shots.

"One hundred and fifty four degrees! (Working in location temperature) In a plastic rubber-latex-foam, long-johns-on-acid suit. I was attached to what they call a cool suit, but it was intense cold, and then it was intense heat, so I kept my costume on and stayed hot-it was easier for me to do that mentally. People were passing out left and right."

Ahmed Best - Premiere magazine - May 1999

Filming sequences on location with the full pod prop built in the UK.

Anakin gets ready for the pod testing.

The sequence proved to be a very busy period of filming in Tunisia, with quite a large cast of young and veteran actors at hand near the prop pod racing vehicle. The exterior of Anakin and Shmi's slave dwelling, where Shmi and Qui-Gon confer on the unique Anakin, was a set built on location within the Sahara Desert.

Lucas confers with the cast during a break in filming.

"It was unbearably hot. You had to watch yourself and drink a lot of Gatorade. But George (Lucas) never changed his costume at all. From England to Tunisia he wore the same jeans and checked shirt and baseball cap. So, I thought, I'm not going to complain if he's dressed in jeans."

Liam Neeson - Premiere magazine - May 1999

The prop Threepio puppet and Artoo shell stand next to each other.

'Help, I think I'm melting!'

Kenny Baker braves the heat to put the life and soul of Artoo back on screen.

With Qui-Gon's quiet musings here of a vergence in the Force, possibly linked to the prophecy of balance, a prior deleted dialogue sequence between Shmi and Qui-Gon Jinn (when he and his party were first introduced by Anakin) would hint early about the boy's abilities:

Shmi: I'm sorry if I was abrupt. I'll never get used to Anakin's surprises.

Qui-Gon: He's a very special boy.

SHMI loosks at him as if he's discovered a secret.

Shmi: Yes, I know.

In an early script, Qui-Gon would warn her about Anakin's uncertain future as a Jedi: "But it's too late for him now, he's too old." A line referencing a similar thought made by Master Yoda towards Luke Skywalker on Dagobah, in The Empire Strikes Back.

Qui-Gon discovers the mysterious truth about Anakin's conception.

"Pernilla (August) and I had a few giggles once we had to say it. When it came to my close-up, I wanted to do a double-take - "A virgin?"

Liam Neeson - Star Wars Insider magazine - 1999