'ATTACK' AT 20: CHARGE OF THE LIGHT(SABER) BRIGADE!

The Jedi (including Seasee Tiin) charge into arena battle in an unseen angle.

The Jedi have arrived on Geonosis, and battle against the enemy's legion of droids begins within the death arena. But overwhelming forces soon take their fateful toll on the skilled lightsaber warriors...

A selection of notable images from the original Australian filming of the sequence at Fox Studios during 2000, featuring second unit photography of singular Jedi in various action poses directed by editor/sound designer Ben Burtt, working in tandem with dedicated Stunt Coordinator Nick Gillard. To say that the final, sometimes jarring in flow cinematic sequence would be a combination of photography mixing deleted scenes (in and out of the arena), CGI enhancements and replacements, as well as further reshoots/additional action moments incorporated a year later, would be an epic understatement! 

“I heard of one group (of Kendo experts) that had been banned from the national competitions because they were way too aggressive. When I heard that, I knew they could be right for us.” 

Nick Gillard - Dreamwatch magazine - June 2002 

“I guess we did that one (the arena fight) for four to five days. We put everybody in there separately and then we put Ewan and me in there. And then we put me, Ewan and Hayden in. Then they bought in all the Jedi extras, which was kind of hazardous. They didn’t exactly go through all the training we did, so you had to watch your back, when they were in there and just kind of waling.” 

Samuel L. Jackson - DVD Review magazine - Issue 44 - 2002

Selected BTS information from Pablo Hidalgo's Twitter page.

Kit Fisto, Luminara Unduli, Shaak Ti and an unknown Jedi in arena battle. Image via Paul Duncan/Facebook.

One of the two hundred Jedi in action.

Exciting moves from the Byron Bay Kendo Club, well cast as trained Jedi.

A Jedi tends to fallen Padawan Tan Yuster in an unseen moment.

Sarrissa Jeng (Karen Wilson, an Australian Kendo student) in action for the deleted droid control ship raid sequence. She would be instead transplanted in the film's post production editorial into the Geonosis arena, where her character, whose hair was mostly later CGI shaved off, would be killed in a further deleted moment.

Jeng lies dead with other Jedi in an unseen moment.

Nick Gillard, ever the funster on set.

BEHIND THE SCENES: INSIDE THE EMPEROR'S FINEST!

Image: via Star Wars Screen Caps.

Captured inside the Endor bunker, our Rebel heroes are now taken outside to witness the immensity of the enemy forces around them, in this classic moment from Return of the Jedi.

Though many of the Imperials in the scene were played by then out of work local lumberjacks and factory men in the Redwoods during US location filming in April/May 1982, there would also be a sizeable presence of talented UK/US stuntmen and one lone equally accomplished UK stuntwoman (Tracey Eddon, playing both Rebel Commando and, suffering for her art, forced into an Imperial Stormtrooper costume) ready for the subsequent major action sequences against the surprise Ewok enemy. Amongst those dutiful but ultimately defeated on screen Imperial Stormtroopers would be the late Frank Henson, whom Aficionado was sad to hear of his passing a while back.

Ted Grossman, Larry Holt and Julius LeFlore. Image: Larry Holt.

Larry Holt would play both a Stormtrooper and Rebel Commando in location filming. Image: Larry Holt.

Frank Henson and buddy.

Two images featuring Larry Holt, Julius LeFlore, Ted Grossman and an unknown stunt actor? Image: Larry Holt.

Bob Yerkes, Dan Zormeier as Peter Mayhew's stand-in, and Larry Holt. Image: Larry Holt.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: DEATH DESCENT!

Plummeting from the vent tunnel into the atmosphere of Bespin, has Luke Skywalker come to the end of his life and journey to Jedi-dom? It's more than likely that Star Wars stuntman regular Colin Skeaping performed this dangerous drop from above one of the Elstree sound stages, especially after Mark Hamill, tense from filming strains of the last few months, and worried for the upcoming arrival of his first child, had sprained his lightsaber hand thumb a few days prior, during a stunt accident.

Soon enough, whilst this scene's filming was being completed that Mark's wife, Marilou, would give birth to Nathan at the London Hospital.

The underside standalone section on one of the Elstree soundstages.

From the mini crane, Peter Diamond watches a Luke-wigged Colin Skeaping test the Cloud City underside section.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: LUKE's NEW SKILL SETS!

With battle scar make-up applied, Mark Hamill prepares to rehearse another part of the lightsaber duel.

More exciting, more challenging, and more exhausting than his prior work bringing Luke Skywalker to life with the original Star Wars in 1976, Mark Hamill would recall of Empire's action-packed filming:

"It was unlike anything I'd ever done. Physically, 'Empire' was an ordeal I'd never experienced before. After the end of the training you felt you going to die and waited in the corner for Death to come and take you by the hand. I'm rolling, falling, hanging upside down, flying out the porthole, battered and beaten. I didn't have any free time to myself. The sword fight took about six to seven weeks to film."

"I did all my own stunt work in 'Star Wars', In 'Empire' there were a couple of things the insurance people wouldn't let me do. The ones they let me do were bad enough. I sprained my thumb, they had to shut down the film for a week."

Mark Hamill - Questor magazine 1980

In one of Elstree Studios storage bay areas, Mark Anderson goes through his lightsaber duel moves with Olympic fencing coach Bob Anderson, watched by Peter Diamond.

A winded Hamill talks to Michel Parbot's documentary crew about the lightsaber duel training.

Learning new skills like Kendo and Karate, alongside weight-training, Hamill was determined to do as many of the stunts and practical lightsaber duels scenes possible for the film, ultimately becoming a member of the British Stunt Association for his incredible hard work. The actor was keen for the action to be bigger in scope and more impressive to audiences than anything seen with the original Star Wars, remembering how several kids conversed with him in how they thought the surprise Tusken Raider attack against Luke had looked 'hokey' back in 1977.

Ever the trouper, Hamill, now a proud dad to his first child, would incur many bumps and bruises during the fight scenes- so much so that his wife Marilou took Polaroids of his bruises, whose body patterning he jokingly referred to as looking like a relief map of South America! Recalled Bob Anderson: “Mark Hamill (in Empire and Jedi) was naked compared to Darth. Darth was completely covered. You could hit him anywhere and it wouldn’t hurt.” 

It is said in the unauthorized behind the scenes book Empire Building (by Garry Jenkins) that, as Hamill and Anderson filmed the lightsaber duel, Kershner criticized the young star's facial expression at one point. Hamill, suffering in the oppressive heat and increasingly worried about his wife and child, would take an exception. When Kershner shrugged and told Hamill he would see what he meant when he saw the finished movie, the alleged argument apparently degenerated into childishness, with Hamill snapping: “I don’t even want to see the movie”. To which Kershner replied, “Really,” before shouting, “Cut the lights, cut the camera, cut everything.” If Hamill was not interested, why make the movie, he asked? Within moments, both men’s faces were allegedly wreathed in embarrassment - another tense time between the pair on a difficult and intense set at Elstree.

EPISODE IX: FEMININE FIGHTERS!

A genuine breath of fresh air in the difficult realm of bringing intense action sequences to practical and believable life for the Star Wars universe, whilst also giving the heroic yet vulnerable Rey a pleasing and very individual lightsaber fighting style, the enthusiastic and talented Stunt Coordinator Eunice Huthart was a welcome addition to the UK-based moviemaking family on The Rise of Skywalker, and was immediately loved by cast and crew alike, seen above with Daisy Ridley going through the moves of Rey's intense Jedi training sequence seen at the start of the movie.

https://screenrant.com/star-wars-rise-skywalker-action-deleted-scenes/

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: THE PERILS OF THE ENERGY CHAMBER

Duel in the labyrinth!

The battle continues between Jedi and Sith, of which Darth Maul plays dirty, effectively separating Obi-Wan from Qui-Gon, though the latter fights on with noble strength and resolution...

Darth Maul is ready to strike!

A deleted moment from the duel.

Filming Mau's kicking Obi-Wan

Rehearsing an unused punch by Maul to Obi-Wan.

Maul kicks out at Obi-Wan, as seen in the film.

"They said, 'Do you wanna be in Star Wars?' I said, 'Too fu+king right!'"

Nick Gillard confers with Ray Park between scene filming.

Deleted action scene: STAR WARS AFICIONADO WEBSITE: EPISODE I AT FIFTEEN: DELETED DUELLING!

Andreas Petrides performs Obi-Wan's fall outdoors at Leavesden Studios.

Falling into a special airbag.

Behind the scenes:
The Fall | Star Wars: The Phantom Menace | StarWars.com

Qui-Gon delivers a powerful blow to Maul in retaliation.

Now it's Ray Park's turn to outdoor fall, taking a hit from Qui-Gon in the finished film.

Filming Obi-Wan's close-up, separated from Qui-Gon at a lower level.

Qui-Gon determinedly fights on against the retreating Sith Lord.

Obi-Wan leaps to catch-up with the distant fighting.

CLASSIC INDY: HIGH SPEED NAZIS!

They've just about escaped Castle Brunwald, now the 'Jones Boys' find the German pursuit continues anew as they try to make the Austrian border, in another fun and memorable action scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Harrison Ford once more enjoys the company of the US Indy stunt team.

The sequence was added to the film in post production as both Lucas and Spielberg felt the story needed one more key action scene during its middle point. It was shot in San Francisco on the roads/property not far from Skywalker Ranch.

BEHIND THE SCENES: WINDOW CRASHER!

Star Wars Classic Trilogy stuntman veteran Colin Skeaping performs the gymnastics movement sequence that will propel him out of the window during the Bespin duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, from The Empire Strikes Back - his own personal favourite stunt from all his SW work. Only the smallest portion of this scene will make the film- the literal moment where he goes out of the window, which will also be slowed down in post production to make it look like he's been sucked out. As a side note, Skeaping also trained Hamill to do this particular stunt, of which the young actor would have been helped along via a springboard, but insurance soon ruled the opportunity out.

In the Mark Hamill hosted 1980 SPFX documentary, Skeaping is referenced as the stuntman for the scene, and is shown doing the filmed stunt, but for some reason another unknown gymnast is shown in some kind of rehearsal. Who this is and why he's credited as Skeaping, I don't know. If anyone has more info, please get in touch.

Peter Diamond and Colin Skeaping on the Wampa cave set with Hamill.

The mystery gymnast at Elstree, as seen in the SPFX documentary.

Finishing his move, watched by some also unknown colleagues.