SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back

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SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back
Documentary
Written byRichard Schickel
Directed byRobert Guenette
StarringMark Hamill (host)
ComposerJohn Williams
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersRobert Guenette
Richard Schickel
EditorPeter Wood
Running time48 min
Production companyLucasfilm
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 22, 1980 (1980-09-22)

SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back is a television

special effects (SP FX) in the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, which was released that year. The special was written by Richard Schickel and directed by Robert Guenette, who had both previously worked on the 1977 special The Making of Star Wars
.

Synopsis

The special was hosted by

Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and sound designer Ben Burtt, and footage of various key crewmembers at work including director Irvin Kershner, composer John Williams, assistant director Bill Westley, special effects personnel Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Brian Johnson, matte artist Harrison Ellenshaw, and creature designer Stuart Freeborn
.

As well as showing how effects from Empire were made, the documentary reflects on the history of special effects in movies and includes clips from landmark effects films such as

2001: A Space Odyssey, The Hindenburg, the first Star Wars film, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In the wake of the then-new revolution in special effects pioneered by 2001 and Star Wars, it also shows clips from several amateur special effects films including the Star Wars parody Hardware Wars
, in which kitchen items such as whisks, toasters and irons engaged in a space battle in lieu of spaceships. A section devoted to several grade school children making their own rudimentary special effects was also shown.

Home media

The special was the second Star Wars material to be released to the home video market (in 1981). It was reissued to video in 1982 by 20th Century Fox on

Laserdisc
in 1992, and was also reissued as a triple feature with The Making of Star Wars and the 1983 special Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi.

The special was also included in PAL format VHS as part of the limited edition "ISSD Executor" metal box set in 1995.

The special is included as an additional feature on the Star Wars Blu-ray box set, released in September 2011.[2]

Reception

Colin Greenland reviewed SPFX for Imagine magazine, and stated that "this CBS/Fox video is full of interesting glimpses behind the scenes where puppet-masters and model-makers can toil for eight weeks to produce a shot that lasts one second."[3]

References

  1. ^ "SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back". www.paleycenter.org. The Paley Center for Media. Sep 22, 1980. Retrieved 21 Jan 2016.
  2. ^ "Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray Review". Blu-ray.com. 12 September 2011. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  3. Imagine
    (review) (16). TSR Hobbies (UK), Ltd.: 49.

External links

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