Tag: han solo

Shadows of the Empire

Shadows of the Empire: The Movie-Without-the-Movie Extravaganza of 1996

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In 2015, I conducted a series of interviews with some of the people who worked on the Shadows of the Empire project concocted by Lucasfilm back in 1996. I loved the project, warts and all, from the moment it was released so it was a joy to conduct these interviews and gain multiple inside perspectives on what it was like to create such an expansive project. The essay was written for the Expanded Universe anthology called A More Civilized Age: Exploring the Star Wars Expanded Universe (2016) from my friends Rich Handley and Joe Berenato. I’ve decided to reprint the essay here on my site because I feel it sheds some more light on the nearly 30-year-old project and ended up revealing a few facts that were previously unknown to me about the inner workings of Lucasfilm at the time.

I’ve slightly edited this essay for the Internet by removing footnotes and changing them to links, and other small things like that. All quotes, unless otherwise indicated, are from my interviews. For more fun, head over to Facebook and like my Shadows of the Empire fan page.

I hope you enjoy the essay.

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Interview with Ann C. Crispin
(Original Posting: September 20, 1998)

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Ann C. Crispin is the author of several best selling books which include the Star Trek novels Yesterday’s Son, A Time For Yesterday and The Eyes of the Beholders. She has co-authored two fantasy books with noted fantasy author Andre Norton and collaborated with several other authors on other projects as well including the novelization of Alien: Resurrection.

She has created her own universe with the Starbridge series. The books center around a school for young diplomats, translators and explorers both alien and human located on an asteroid far from Earth. Several books from this series have been recognized as superior reading material for young adults by the American Library Association. Books in this series have also been in consideration for the Nebula award (The top award given by the Sci-fi and fantasy writers of America).

In 1995, Ann produced two short stories for the Bantam Books Star Wars Publishing program: Play It Again, Figrin D’An and Skin Deep for the Anthologies Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina and Tales From Jabba’s Palace. These stories led to an invitation to write a new Han Solo trilogy about Solo’s pre-Star Wars adventures for Lucasfilm/Bantam, which are fantastic.

Ann is a very busy person these days but she took time out of her schedule to answer a few questions.
(Original Posting: September 20, 1998)

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Why I’m Worried About The Force Awakens

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Before you read this, understand one thing.

THERE MAY BE SERIOUS SPOILERS in this piece. POSSIBLE, but SERIOUS SPOILERS.

I will be openly referring to things that might actually happen in the film.

Run away now if you don’t want to know what MIGHT happen in The Force Awakens based on internet rumors and such.

A lot of this is probably incorrect and based on rumor, so don’t get too upset with me or the film until you actually see it.

Last Warning…

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Read Some of Kasdan’s Original Handwritten Empire Script Pages

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Writing scripts longhand and on paper is a bit of a lost art form these days. The personal computer age seems to have changed everything, much like the mobile industry seems to be changing life yet again right before out eyes. So it’s always fun to look back on the old days from time to time.

Slashfilm recently got their hands on a few pages of Lawrence Kasdan’s original, handwritten draft of The Empire Strikes Back. It was all part of this year’s “May the 4th be with you” (AKA Star Wars Day) celebrations that now (unofficially) take place every year on May fourth.

The pages are fun to read and while many have seen the old drafts before, these handwritten pages give us a few more glimpses into the development of the film. In one of them, Yoda seems to imply that when you’re a full-on Jedi, you can “see” things differently. You can actually see the Force around everything which is an interesting concept. Another mentions a deleted scene where Luke is training on Dagobah and fighting off some training ball droids that shoot stun bolts at him, similar to the one that Obi-Wan used while on the Millennium Falcon in the original film. There are a few other bits including Han’s line “…just remember that, because I’ll be back,” which was later changed by Harrison Ford to “I know.”

It’s a small bit of film history you might enjoy.

Source: Slashfilm

The Path of Luke Skywalker

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George Lucas has stated in many interviews that the heart of the Star Wars saga revolves around the relationship between a father and a son. He might not have had those roles clearly defined at the onset or writing, as evident in the old drafts of the script, but he eventually got his characters there. The role of the son eventually went to young Luke Skywalker, who went on to embark on his “Hero’s Journey” throughout the original trilogy of films. He starts out as a young boy, is thrown into adventure with a wizard-like mentor, defies the odds, pulls off the unexpected, and becomes a hero. The path was not an easy one, however.

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On The Forest Moon

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Most of the Star Wars films are known and loved for their action packed, multi-threaded, climactic ending sequences. In Return of the Jedi, there was a large space attack happening above the forest moon of Endor, along with an epic duel between Father and Son with lightsabers and taunting by an evil menace. The battle above Endor was paired with a battle on the surface of the planet that succeeded due to the brave actions of the Rebel Alliance soldiers (and those pesky Ewoks.) Had any one of these battles gone in favor of the Empire, the galaxy might have been a very different place in the following years.

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Battle in the Desert

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Rescuing Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba was no easy task. It took a well-thought out plan, consisting of many parts and relied on cunning and chance. It all concluded with a battle in the Tatooine desert over a mostly underground creature buried in the sand. The battle and its aftermath give us lots of material to cover.

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Han Solo and the Princess

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The story of Leia and Han is a wonderful sub-plot and one of the greatest, most tenuous on-screen romances of all time. The Princess and The Pauper. Beauty and the Beast. Prom Queen and the Bad Boy. Call it what you want, it worked. Here are some of their lesser-seen moments as well as some other mentions of Han’s other love: The Millennium Falcon.

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The Battle of Yavin

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Yavin IV is a small moon orbiting the gas giant Yavin. It’s also where the Rebel Alliance decided to set up camp. Most of the battle preparation scenes took place in the hangar, briefing room, and throne room, not counting the few exterior shots. The battle obviously took place in space and there were a few changes made from script to film. Let’s take a look.

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