Never Before Seen Doc on the Making of EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
I consider myself a hardcore Star Wars fan, and I've seen a lot of awesome stuff over the years. It's crazy to me that after all the years that this classic sci-fi fantasy has been around, we are still finding new never before seen awesomeness!
Open Culture has discovered a 'Making Of' documentary for The Empire Strikes Back, that takes us behind the scenes of our favorite chapter in the Star Wars saga. The doc was directed by Michel Parbot and was made for an old Dutch TV documentary,
The broadcast focuses on the painstaking creation of the film’s special effects, most of which still hold up 32 years after audiences first glimpsed them. We see the models, the matte paintings, and even the phalanx of performers and technicians needed to execute the Norway-shot battle on the ice planet Hoth.
The documentary has some great stuff to see for any Star Wars fan, especially after all of these years! Unfortunately, it's incomplete. There's no explination as to what happened to the doc. It aired on TV once and then disappeared. Star Wars fan site mintinbox.net has a detailed four-part article explaining how it came to be,
September 22nd, 1980 on FOX Television: the Americans were able to discover a documentary named “SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back,” with a voice-over and it was dedicated to the special effects of the Empire Strikes Back, though it didn’t contain that many interviews. On IMDb, it is referenced here and Michel Parbot is credited as the cameraman in the part Camera and Electrical Department. This documentary can be watched today, as it is part of the Saga’s Extras on the Blu-Ray discs….Contrary to the “SPFX” documentary, [the "Making Of"] is especially focusing on interviews (actors, technicians, director and producer). Even George Lucas appears time to time and very briefly. The “Making of” documentary is in four parts: Introduction, Norway, Characters, Special Effects.
Make sure to read the full article for more information. The video doesn't start off in English, but switches languages about 45 seconds into it. I hope you enjoy the two part doc below just as much as I did!