AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: A CHANGE IN THE RANKS!

Immersed within his private quarters meditation/healing chamber, Darth Vader is incensed when he hears the news from General Veers that the incompetent Admiral Ozzel has foolishly brought the fleet out from Hyperspace closer to the Hoth system than it should have been. So incensed is the Dark Lord of the Sith, in fact, that it isn't long before Ozzel earns a swift demise from Vader's Force skills, whilst a more competent replacement is found in the unnerved former Captain Piett!

A wary General Veers (Julian Glover) awaits his meeting with Vader in a deleted moment.

 

"I said to George Lucas, 'This man is a general. You don't get to be a general if you're a wimp.' Of course, you have to be subservient to Darth Vader; he's the guv'nor, but you don't have to be sycophantic. Then he (Lucas) said, 'No, absolutely not.' And in that one scene I stood up to Darth Vader a little."

Julian Glover - 2005 interview

Admiral Ozzel feels Vader's unique wrath. George Lucas would compliment actor Michael Sheard on his classic death scene that was both chilling and enjoyed by audiences. Image: Star Wars Screencaps.com.

Various behind the scenes images.

Norman Reynolds impressive production design for Vader's meditation chamber.

Under construction at Elstree.

Views of the completed set.

Julian Glover and Dave Prowse film their scene.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: KSOURS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT

The intriguing granary stores housing of Medenine would be transformed into the memorable slave quarter dwellings of Mos Espa on Tatooine, home to the just about surviving mother and son Skywalker family. The set decorators for EPISODE I clearly did an incredible job, as seen in these great Tunisian location images from Summer 1997, with great continuity to the original work established for A New Hope twenty-one years earlier..

Rick McCallum and George Lucas with the remote controlled Artoo, prior to filming the sandstorm scene at the location.

Though suited perfectly for EPISODE I, the Ksours had originally been planned to be used back in 1976 as a location for Mos Eisley, scouted by producer Gary Kurtz and production designer John Barrr, who provided the sketch below for the scene, ultimately cut from the production time for schedule and budget reasons, where Luke and his party landspeeder through an area of town that would be home to a Jawa community.

John Barry production sketch.

BEHIND THE SCENES: GRAPHICS GENIUS

Respected, Oscar-nominated British illustrator/set decorator Harry Lange, no stranger to fantasy environments with the likes of 2001 and numerous James Bond movies (including Moonraker), works on creating control panels for the Millennium Falcon cockpit (note the rounded reference layout papers to his side), at Elstree Studios, 1976, for the original STAR WARS.

Guardian Of The Galaxy | Harry Lange | Propstore – Ultimate Movie Collectables

Lange on the Falcon cockpit set, circa Summer, 1976.

The upcoming EPISODE VII version of the Falcon cockpit interior will apparently closely resemble the work he did on the first two films.