ILM BEHIND THE SCENES: BACK TO ECHO BASE!

Atop a very smelly Tauntaun, and having endured the fierce cold of the Hoth icescape around him whilst planting vital sensors for the Rebel Alliance, a weary Han Solo returns back to Echo Base in this great storyboard for The Empire Strikes Back from 1979. 

CLASSIC IMAGE: TO SOUND A RETREAT!

With the Rebel base around them shattered by ongoing Imperial heavy weaponry, bringing many losses, and their main power source about to fall, Han Solo rushes to what's left of the Command Centre determined to see Princess Leia away from Hoth as soon as possible, now that only a small amount of evacuation transports remain.

A dramatic end to this particular Rebel cell led by the Princess and Luke Skywalker after the previous positive ending to the original Star Wars. The Empire Strikes Back, by comparison, is already a different, darker kind of sequel continuance...  

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 45: DARTH VADER MAKES HIS ARRIVAL...

Darth Vader makes his presence felt within the near-abandoned Echo Base on Hoth.

"(Irvin) Kershner was a real actors director. Before we started shooting Empire, he told me,"I want you to be the thinking man's Darth Vader", and really took me through things. He was lovely."

Dave Prowse - Film Review magazine Star Wars Special - 1997  

The Rebel base's shield generator has been spectacularly destroyed, and the enemy forces have mostly been wiped out by the AT-AT's and Imperial Snowtroopers. Now, the immense dark presence that is Darth Vader has arrived to oversee the final capture of Luke Skywalker and his other friends who'd prior helped in destroying the Death Star. Sadly, such a visitation and plans of revenge by the ominous Dark Lord proves too late, as the Millennium Falcon speeds off the base just in time, heading into space... 

But Vader's hunt will continue...

Vader is soon angered that the Millennium Falcon and its passengers have escaped his grip.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 45: INSIDE THE ECHO BASE HANGAR...

Having successfully evaded the dreaded Imperial Starfleet so as to set up a seemingly secure operation on the challenging ice realm that is the Hoth system's fourth planet, the key Rebel Alliance cell commanded by General Rieekan and Princess Leia Organa soon faces great hurdles in getting its weaponry and vehicles adjusted to the planet's inhospitable climate. Thankfully, they have a huge set of hangar bays and a talented team of technicians to make the impossible ultimately possible. 

But it won't be long before Echo Base soon has an unwanted enemy visitor discovering their presence...   

Located on the massive Elstreet Studios' Star Wars Stage, specially built for the ambitious new worlds to be realised for The Empire Strikes Back, enjoy this behind the scenes image selection.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61507729?fbclid=IwAR3_O-RqoHbSlll1Te92ktcPlFtLJN3auVCTSIQxvev_vn-e1WRoF7l3dCo

Building the hangar at Elstree during Summer, 1979.

Positioning the full-size Millennium Falcon build.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: BLAST OFF FROM ECHO BASE!

Last ship standing, and before the potential threat of the newly-arrived Darth Vader could impede them, the Millennium Falcon finally blasts away from the abandoned Rebel base hangar, now littered with debris and unwanted equipment in this great matte painting image perfectly capturing and extending the hangar set originally built in the UK's Elstree Studios.

Filming ultimately unused plate work for the scene at Elstree Studios.

Flipped image as used in the film. Image: Star Wars Screencaps site.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: ESCAPE FROM ECHO BASE!

As the explosive battle of Hoth takes its toll on the former Echo Base, Chewbacca, constantly hit with ceiling ice, waits alone and impatiently by the Millennium Falcon for Han and friends to arrive, in a deleted scene moment.

The Falcon in the wrecked hangar bay set at Elstree. Note the overhead studio lights that will be matted over in post production.

Han and Leia race to the Falcon.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: VADER IN DA BASE!

In the corridor near the Rebel base's Wampa pen, during filming of an ultimately deleted scene, Darth Vader (Dave Prowse) poses for some memorable publicity images alongside Imperial Snowtroopers.

A shot that appeared in the UK Look-in children's magazine promoting the release of Empire.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: WAMPA - 1, SNOWTROOPERS - 0

With C-3PO ingeniously having removed the security label from the door to the Wampa Pen, unaware invading Imperial Snowtroopers get a brief shock and an early potential casualty from one of the beasts, in a comedic visual moment, also involving Darth Vader, that didn't work, and not only stifled the drama of our heroes escape from Hoth but was also a necessary editing casualty linked to the unsuccessfully translated Wampa sub plot.

Threepio sneakily removes the Wampa pen warning sign in a now iconic deleted scene moment.

Specially posed publicity image.

Darth Vader is intrigued to know what's going on, in a deleted comedy moment that fell flat.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: CORRIDOR CHAOS!

As Threepio races to catch up behind them, Han and Leia make their way through the wrecked Rebel base corridors for escape. But soon enough cataclysmic damage cuts them off from the final transport vessel...

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: TIME TO GO!

The Rebels' Command Centre has taken a direct hit and its operations are now manned by a skeleton crew, defiantly led by Princess Leia Organa. As Han comes to check on her, the situation is clear- the final phase of the evacuation must be initiated as Imperial forces now penetrate the base. A terrific set photo from this dramatic scene.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: THE ROGUES GATHER!

Reunited with his team mates of Rogue Flight, Commander Luke Skywalker hops into his Snowspeeder, chatting with his friend and co-pilot Dack (played by John Morton, his voice dubbed in post production), a young man eager and ready to take on the whole Empire himself!

A relaxed Mark Hamill between filming takes.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: TREAT WILLIAMS - REBEL SOLDIER!

New recruits: Treat Williams and Carrie Fisher!

It takes all sorts to win a war against the Empire, both in front of and behind the camera, as the soldier ranks within the Rebels of Hoth include two distinctive names for a crowd scene set in their hangar bay- American actor Treat Williams, a visitor (amongst other famous on-set guests) to the then newly opened Star Wars Stage over in the UK (presumably on a Fox related movie project, and no stranger to this country's film work in the mid-seventies, having appeared in spy thriller The Eagle Has Landed) and Carrie Fisher, who, even though busy enough playing Princess Leia again, sneaked in a fun background cameo to further swell the ranks. 

If anyone has been able to find Williams and Fisher in the hangar bay scene, please get in touch. It is likely the moment where Luke is racing to his speeder as Rebel soldiers rush past.

Williams and the smaller Fisher might be the departing Rebel soldiers here... Image: StarWarsScreenCaps.com.

https://poddtoppen.se/podcast/883308059/gilbert-gottfrieds-amazing-colossal-podcast/treat-williams

Letting her hair down on set.

Fisher with Williams and an unknown face (right).

UPDATE 13/6/23

Sad news. RIP: Treat Williams, 'Everwood' and 'Deep Rising' star, dead at 71 | CNN

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: THE OTHER REBEL PILOTS OF ECHO BASE!

Buoyed by the news of the first transports escaping the Empire, Rebel fighter pilots rush to their assigned Speeders and X-wings within the Echo Base hangar bay, in an unused angle shot by second unit. Here's a look at some of the various Rebel pilot background extras that would be appearing over the duration of filming of the hangar bay scenes on The Star Wars Stage.

If anyone has any further names on the people who played these pilots, please get in touch.

Photo: Stephanie English.

Photo: Stephanie English.

Close-ups of some of the main and background pilots captured on film by Michel Parbot and his documentary team, then enthusiastically working for Lucasfilm on the official worldwide publicity aspects for The Empire Strikes Back. If anyone knows the names of the background players, please get in touch.

A helmet-less Christopher Malcolm as Zev.

The BBC's then new documentary series The Risk Business, including presenter Michael Rod and his film crew, covered a section of shooting on the impressive Rebel hangar bay scenes, and used several background artists (a pilot and two troopers) to stage a fake moment specially for the programme - rushing upwards into the Millennium Falcon, of which a partial, highly-detailed interior was built above the ramp long before Solo: A Star Wars Story did a similar 'official' scene with Han on Kessel that mixed interior/exterior sets with clever trick editing in 2018. The programme would ultimately air as a key part of UK publicity for the upcoming The Empire Strikes Back on BBC 1 in April 1980.

Running into the Falcon in a staged moment for The Risk Business. Image: BBC Studios.