AN 'EMPIRE' AT 45: BOUNTY HUNTER ASSEMBLY!

On the command deck of his Super Star Destroyer, much to the irritant of the Imperial Officers under his command, Darth Vader has put the call out to the deadliest group of Bounty Hunters in the galaxy to search for the Millennium Falcon and its occupants. Amongst them, and at the very top of the tree in his chosen specialist field of 'business', the totally lethal and resourceful Boba Fett, soon to be a legend of the Star Wars universe.

Left to right: Dengar (Moray Bush), IG-88 (a prop operated by UK Effects technician Bill Hargreaves), Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch), Bossk (Alan Harris), 4-Lom (Chis Parsons) and Zuckuss (Cathy Munroe).

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: 'NO DISINTEGRATIONS!'

Darth Vader gives his instructions to the collected Bounty Hunters in searching for the elusive Millennium Falcon, but soon turns his specific notice to the infamous Boba Fett, warning him he wants the captured ship's occupants alive - 'No disintegrations!'

Filmed in early April 1979, great care was taken by Irvin Kershner and producer Gary Kurtz to get the visual look and menacing aura of new villain Boba Fett right for the sequence on the Star Destroyer bridge. Respected US film/TV character actor Jason Woodgreen would later provide the unique and truly slimy voice of Fett in Empire for several memorable lines during the film's American-based post production dubbing phase, and paid a minimal fee for his contribution- no one knew how successful the character of Fett was going to be in the days before release!

The close-up scene between Vader and Fett was additionally shot May 16th, 1979 by a second unit, as George Lucas wanted the 'no disintegrations!" line issued to him rather than Zuckuss, whom Vader originally talked to in the prior April filming.

A selection of various behind the scenes filming images from the bridge filming.

Unused shots showing Vader arriving to inspect the assembled Bounty Hunters.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: VADER'S 'EXTRA HELP'!

Vader confers with his guard over the assembled bounty hunters in a deleted moment. Image: Kurtz/Joiner Archive.

The word has been put out by Darth Vader, alongside a substantial reward offered by the Empire, to the galaxy's greatest and most formidable bounty hunters to search for the Millennium Falcon and capture its passengers wherever they may be hiding. The roll call of nasties being the humanoid Dengar (played by British stand-in/wrestler Moray Bush), the droids IG-88 (a prop operated by Bill Hargreaves) and 4-Lom (Chris Parsons, once again inside a droid costume), insectoid Zuckuss (petite actress Cathy Munroe), reptilian Bossk (actor/stand-in Alan Harris), and the most well known and lethal of the assembled cadre, the esteemed and ultra-reliable Boba Fett (as played by Jeremy Bulloch).

Filmed in April, 1979, of which the bounty hunters wore costumes cheaply culled and revised from existing stock, with additional masks created by Stuart Freeborn and his team for 4-Lom and Zuckuss (the latter originally called 'Tuckuss' at one point), the sequence has since become a legendary and beloved moment for fans, who, even back with the film's original 1980 release, were intrigued to learn more about this gruesome collection of characters.

A selection of posed images from the filming...

'HAPPY CHRISTMAS!' - 2018

They've decided to take a break from scouring the universe for their assigned prey, and now those iconic and deadly bounty hunters comprising Boba Fett and his 'rivals' are instead giving us some yuletide sing-a-long cheer for the holiday season!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR! to all STAR WARS AFICIONADO readers worldwide.

CLASSIC ART: UNDERWORLD DWELLERS!

Nothing can be more representative so far in showcasing the shades of grey realms prevalent within the original six-film STAR WARS saga (and its animated spin-offs) created by George Lucas than the diverse range of formidable and iconic bounty hunters that have pursed their prey, and their payments, across the galaxy-personified at the top of the rotting tree by the iconic and seemingly invincible Boba Fett, as seen in this great limited edition ACME ARCHIVES/Sideshow Collectibles art print from a few years back.

The recent addition of talented Game of Thrones creative geniuses and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to the STAR WARS universe for another set of all-new films, beyond those being developed by Rian Johnson, is a further bold and shrewd instinctual move from Kathleen Kennedy. Their love of dark side, shades of grey, morally bankrupt heroes and villains, as seen in their super translation of the George R. R. Martin books for HBO, makes them perfect custodians of what is rumoured to be an updated and even bigger version of what was once George Lucas's original TV plan for an 'Underworld'/opposite side of the fence view of the saga. Indeed, it had long been unconfirmed industry gossip that Benioff and Weiss (separately or together) were two of the original US line-up of writers (that also officially included modern GALACTICA scribe Ronald D. Moore) to have worked on that aborted series' completed, hugely ambitious scripts, to have been produced by Lucas with Rick McCallum. If that is indeed the case, the duo's journey (or return journey) to the Lucasfilm fold is more noteworthy than ever...

Five reasons why the duo are perfect for the new STAR WARS era: 
http://ew.com/tv/2018/02/06/game-of-thrones-star-wars/

Official statement:
http://www.starwars.com/news/game-of-thrones-creators-david-benioff-and-d-b-weiss-to-write-and-produce-a-new-series-of-star-wars-films

And no sooner were they officially aboard then the duo were sadly departed:
‘Star Wars’: Inside David Benioff, D.B. Weiss’ Exits – Variety

CLASSIC IMAGE: THE DEAD OR ALIVE SQUAD!

Seen ever so briefly but quickly making an incredible impact with STAR WARS fans in the Expanded and Animated Series Universes: the pantheon of diverse and lethal bounty hunters, most notably including the ultra-cool Boba Fett, assembled by Darth Vader to find our fugitive Rebel heroes and the Millennium Falcon, from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

CLASSIC IMAGE: DANGEROUS DENGAR!

On the main deck of the Super Star Destroyer Executor, the nefarious bounty hunter Dengar is ready to receive his next assignment from Darth Vader: to find the Millennium Falcon.

Played in EMPIRE (and possibly for a brief visual cameo in JEDI, too) by the late British actor/stand-in Moray Bush (who also occasionally doubled/stood-in for Dave Prowse and was Darth Vader's feet trampling the cloak of the 'dead' Obi-Wan during the original filming of STAR WARS), the character has made lots of appearances in the Expanded Universe of comics, but now, finally, makes an animated appearance in next week's THE CLONE WARS episode Bounty, alongside the return of a shaven headed Boba Fett and the Trandoshan Bossk, alongside Asajj Ventress. Oh, and Dengar's got a British accent! Who knew?!

CLONE WARS clip: The Clone Wars Ep. 4.20 "Bounty" Preview - YouTube

UPDATE/OPINION: In a piece of pure stunt casting, Simon Pegg will be providing the voice of Dengar in the episode cameo. In my book it's an incredible piece of hypocrisy, especially from the actor, considering how vocal he's been in his hatred for the Prequel Trilogy: now he's appearing in a Prequel Era set animated series! Is this some kind of alternate universe work ethic? Perhaps if I burn all my STAR WARS collection I'll be able to work for LUCASFILM!