EPISODE IX: LANDO LEADS THE CHARGE!

Back with a smooth vengeance against the First Order and the resurrected Empire, the ever cool space hustler Lando Calrissian has no plans to retire anytime soon, especially when proving himself yet again as an effective leader capable of saving the day. A great image of our hero from The Rise of Skywalker - it was great to see Billy Dee Williams back again in the role he was born to play - he'd been absent for far too long in the Sequel Trilogy!

'SOLO': DESTINATION: KESSEL!

Newly arrived on the noxious, deadly world of spice and slavery that is Kessel, Han Solo and his comrades in smuggling depart the Millennium Falcon, initiating a risky plan to steal vitally needed coaxium from the dangerous Pyke Syndicate.

A lovely piece of concept art for Solo: A Star Wars Story by Vincent Jenkins. 

EPISODE VII: WHO'S PILOTING THIS SHIP?!

He's finally found his beloved, prior stolen Millennium Falcon, now legendary star pilot Han Solo has to get used to the two interlopers who have been stowed aboard with his discovery in Rey and Finn, and get used to the fact that he has a second mate in the cockpit who isn't currently Chewie, in a fun scene between Daisy Ridley and Harrison Ford from The Force Awakens.

CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF 'THE FORCE AWAKENS'!

Art by Tsuneo Sanda.

It debuted to acclaim on its original release back in December 2015, but such positivity to The Force Awakens ten years on seems to have waned somewhat since the arrival of its subsequent sequels. A shame really, as this launch film for Disney/Lucasfilm's new sequel era of the franchise held so much promise and remains a finely crafted movie, with a strong script, fine direction and excellent casting for a new batch of heroes, despite its obvious remake elements linked to the original Star Wars. Like what happened with Daniel Craig's outstanding debut as James Bond 007, 2006's Casino Royale, perhaps the bar was just too high for subsequent films to match it in terms of quality storytelling and character development... 

But let's go back in time to that hopeful promised future of December 2015, and celebrate the then joyous return to a galaxy far, far away...

Happy Tenth Anniversary!

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 45: A UNIVERSE OF DRAMA AND ADVENTURE...

The long-running commercial artist John Alvin's work on the original Star Wars films have become highly beloved and respected over time. None more so than the super 1995 work he did for the films on their uncut VHS release before the debut of the Special Editions, of which all the key successful character ingredients for The Empire Strikes Back would be well represented.

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 45: DELIVERANCE AT CLOUD CITY!

Having used all his skills to outwit the once pursuant Imperial fleet, Han Solo takes the damaged Millennium Falcon to the far-off realms of Bespin, where he hopes his old friend Lando Calrissian, now the administrator of a Tibanna Gas Mine colony, will take them in and provide a period of safety. Thankfully, old grudges between Lando towards Han have been seemingly forgotten as he enthusiastically escorts the fugitive group into the city.

The cast take a break between scene. Image: Mark Sennet.

Waiting for trouble between Han and Lando.

Anthony Daniels makes a point on the stage.

Filming at Elstree with the camera masking out unwanted background elements that will be later replaced with matte work.

CLASSIC ART: WELCOME TO STARKILLER BASE!

It's an arrival on the harsh environment locale of the enemy Starkiller Base world that Han Solo and his Resistance comrades will never forget, as they depart the crash-landed Millennium Falcon in search of a safe and hopefully unnoticed entrance to the immense facility so as to rescue the recently captured Rey.

A great piece of conceptual art for The Force Awakens by the ever-inspiring Doug Chiang.

CLASSIC IMAGE: DESTROYING THE SENTRY SHIPS!

 

The TIE fighter sentry attack on the Death Star-escaped Millennium Falcon intensifies as the smuggling vessel takes multiple blast hits. Thankfully, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo soon get into their stride within their gun turret pods and demolish the four fighters with ingenuity and spirit.

Richard Chew talks to the Hollywood Reporter (March 4th, 2022) on his editing work for the original Star Wars: 

"It was a walk in the dark, really. When you think of it, it was fabricated in the pre-digital age. Our editing team was up in San Rafael, which is where the initial Lucasfilm headquarters and Industrial Light & Magic were based in a warehouse. [Fellow editors] Marcia Lucas and Paul Hirsch and myself were working on different sections of the film. George [Lucas] assigned to me the sequence where Han and Luke and Princess Leia, along with Chewy, jump onto the Millennium Falcon and try to escape, and they have to shoot the TIE fighters. Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford were in separate shots against a greenscreen. Princess Leia and Chewbacca are looking out the cockpit windows, and that’s also greenscreen. They’re reacting to directions from George from offscreen on which way to turn and which way to look up. When George asked me to put it together, I had to follow the cues of the direction. It was a pretty crazy exercise for me, having come off straight dramatic films."

"It was my third “movie movie” — it was a job, it wasn’t trying to create something iconic. I remember after one screening, we were looking at a couple of reels that included the robots. I’m a much more literal guy than George, and George has this fantastic mind. After the screening, I remember making some crack to George, like, “Well, you know, if it doesn’t work out, you could also market some toys based on what these guys look like.”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/richard-chew-ace-eddies-lifetime-achievement-1235097465/

CLASSIC ART: IN PURSUIT OF THE FALCON!

That cranky but reliable Millennium Falcon never seems to get a break from being pursued by swarms of deadly TIE fighters, as seen in this lovely merchandising art of a few years back promoting the iconic vehicles seen in the Original Trilogy, and especially those seen in The Empire Strikes Back.

If anyone knows the artist/s of this gorgeous art series, please get in touch.

EPISODE VIII: COMRADES SMALL AND TALL!

These dark days he may no longer have his friend and long time partner Han Solo with him at the controls of the battered but super-fast Millennium Falcon, but at least Chewbacca has a keen and fiery feathered friend to help him along in his battle against pursuant TIE fighters, in a lovely moment from The Last Jedi.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson Reveals The Porg He 'Stole' From Set | Cinemablend

Star Wars director Rian Johnson slices open terrifyingly realistic porg cake | EW.com

EPISODE VII: DISCOVERED!

Their under floor hiding location too easy to spot, it isn't long before Rey, Finn and BB-8 are discovered by the mysterious arrivals that have recently captured the Millennium Falcon, in a memorable and now classic scene from The Force Awakens.

I loved the return of the oxygen masks first seen worn by Han Solo, Leia and Chewie in The Empire Strikes Back. Whether these were the original props potentially held in the Lucasfilm Archive, or were newly made (most likely), is unknown...

'STAR WARS' AT 45: FALCON FLYING!

She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. The Millennium Falcon!

Whether it be illegally blasting out of Docking Bay 94 on Tatooine or one of the hangars of the Death Star, combatting four TIE fighter sentry ships or evading a barrage of asteroids, Han Solo's trusty souped-up Corellian smuggling vessel, the now-iconic Millennium Falcon, always manages to get our hero captain and his passengers out of a tight squeeze.

As we all know, the original design of the Falcon was changed due to its being too similar in design to the Eagle Transporter craft being shown in Space: 1999 during late 1975. According to Lorne Peterson at ILM, it was Lucas that suggested Joe Johnston make the new vessel a round hamburger shape, and that it could potentially move in space like a Sunfish. The idea of the rotating cockpit for the vessel sadly never progressed very far, presumably due to model filming practicalities of the time. The new design and model construction at ILM had to be done in mere weeks (with the design and model teams working round the clock) so that the set construction team at Elstree in the UK could construct the partial prop for the studio filming from its reference.

Here's a great selection of behind the scenes images linked to the ILM model filming (as well as other curios) from 1976/77.

Image at ILM, from Joe Johnston.

Adding further paint details.

A close-up look at one of the ship's guns.

The largest Falcon model is used for numerous seventies selfie photos at ILM!

The biggest size Falcon created for Star Wars in 1976, on display circa 2019.

John Dykstra supervises filming on the ILM stage.

Richard Edlund and Gary Kurtz.

Edlund makes adjustments to the incredible model.

Edlund with the Dykstraflex camera.

More underside work.

Steve Gawley and Lorne Peterson make some pole adjustments to the model.

Grant McCune makes an adjustment, with Steve Gawley and Richard Edlund in the background.

Byron Werner with the model in 1976.

CLASSIC ART: 'THE PRINCESS' GAMBIT'

Getting into the heavily-protected, well-guarded stronghold belonging to the slimy Jabba the Hutt is not going to be an easy task, but the ever-determined Leia Organa will get her lover Han Solo back at all costs, as Lando and Chewbacca prepare for their infiltration phase of the operation...

The soon Fortieth Anniversary landmark of Return of the Jedi is celebrated on the artistic front with this absolutely superb and truly original entry from the always-innovative and original long time SW artist Chris Trevas, showcased during Celebration 2022: The Princess' Gambit.

EPISODE IX: INTO THE ASTEROIDS (AGAIN!)

Under relentless First Order pursuit, the Falcon, piloted by Poe Dameron, flees enemy fire skimming the smuggling vessel into an asteroid belt, in this lovely unused concept art by Andree Wallin linked to The Rise of Skywalker's opening hyperspace jumping sequence. 

'SOLO': THE KESSEL PLAN...

It's an audacious plan they have to steal the unrefined coaxium from the dangerous Pyke Syndicate ensconced on the legendary, brutal world of Kessel. Nonetheless, the disguised Qi'ra is ready to help the reckless Han Solo and Chewbacca in their madness, during this deleted Falcon corridor scene moment from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

https://www.vogue.com/article/solo-a-star-wars-story-costume-designers-interview

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: INTERGALACTIC FALCON!

Image: Star WarsScreenCaps website.

It's goodbye for now to the Millennium Falcon as its crew head back into what looks like the galactic core, bound for Tatooine in their search for Boba Fett. 

A shot of intergalactic beauty adding to the atmosphere of the emotionally subdued cliff-hanger ending to The Empire Strikes Back. In the fifth draft script, the Rebel fleet was to have been parked near a red star, which lent a unique sunset glow on space and the watching rebel heroes during the final scene of the film. There is debate as to what the phenomenon is that our heroes see outside the Medical Frigate main window. ILM referred to it as a spiral nebula, it's also been referred to as a Galaxy. The online debate continues...

Joe Johnston and Dennis Muren attend to the spiral nebula model, its filming elements comprising flour, over-exposure and a mirror on the ILM stage.

Unused ILM starfield painted image.