A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Early poster design (based on a classic poster from Gone With the Wind ) for The Empire Strikes Back. Art by Ralph McQuarrie. © 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  Who wrote The Empire Strikes Back? Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back  was written by three individuals: George Lucas, Leigh Brackett, and Lawrence Kasdan. George Lucas wrote the basic story treatment and created the new character of Yoda, although  his  version was different from what we see in the finished film. However, Lucas wanted to focus more on producing the movie and believed that his weakest skill was writing, so he decided to hire someone else to write the actual screenplay. Eventually, Lucas settled on novelist and screenwriter Leigh Brackett, who had written several successful science fiction novels and short stories, as well as scripts for  Rio Bravo, The Big Sleep,  and  The Long Goodbye.  She turned in the first draft of her screenplay to Lucasfilm,...

Owen Lars, Luke Skywalker, and Beru Lars. © 1977 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. In the original Star Wars films (before Return of the Jedi ) were there any clues given that Darth Vader was Luke's father? In  Star Wars  (aka  Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope ) there were no clues that Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, was the father of either Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia Organa. All of the available evidence (story treatments, film outlines, internal memos, and various drafts of the screenplay) points to Vader being a separate and distinct individual from “Luke’s father.” Now, it’s possible, however unlikely, that  in his mind  George Lucas decided that Vader and Luke’s father were one and the same during principal photography, thus explaining why Uncle Owen is so reluctant to talk about the subject of his supposedly dead father and his connection to the mysterious “Obi-Wan Kenobi” in the dinner table scene in Act One of  Star Wars....

(C) 1980 Ballantine Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. In November 1980, Ballantine Books, an imprint of New York-based publisher Random House, published The Empire Strikes Back Notebook, a large-format paperback book which presented the complete script for Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Edited by Diana Attias and Lindsay Smith (who later worked on Star Wars: The Radio Drama ), the book not only included the screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett; it also featured selected storyboards drawn by Lucasfilm artists involved in the making of The Empire Strikes Back, including Joe Johnston – who went on to become a successful director – and his assistant Nilo Rodis-Janero. Here at last is the complete script of the exciting continuation in the STAR WARS saga—THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Containing the dialogue and stage directions from the film, the script will take you—again and again—into the thrilling world of this space fantasy. Magnificently illustrating the scr...

(C) 1983 National Public Radio and Lucasfilm Limited. Art by: Ralph McQuarrie Way of the Jedi Cast: Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) Artoo Detoo Yoda (John Lithgow) Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Bernard Behrens) Darth Vader (Brock Peters) Captain Needa (Nicholas Kepros) Admiral Piett (David Rasche) Emperor Palpatine (Paul Hecht) Reviewer's Note: All quoted material is from the 1995 Del Rey book Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - The National Public Radio Dramatization. This edition contains Brian Daley's complete radio play, which differs slightly from the version of the Radio Drama which aired on National Public Radio in 1983 and the original 1990s HighBridge Audio cassette and compact disc editions. The version in Daley's script was recorded, but as with the original 1981 Star Wars Radio Drama, edits were made at the request of NPR due to the needs of the radio format. The longer version is available in HighBridge Audio's more expensive Limited Edition CD col...

"Sir, Starfleet Headquarters reports that a Rebel convoy has been completely destroyed near Derra IV." Freedom's Winter Cast: Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) Han Solo (Perry King) Princess Leia Organa (Ann Sachs) See Threepio (Anthony Daniels) Artoo Detoo Chewbacca Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Bernard "Bunny" Behrens) General Carlist Rieekan (Merwin Goldsmith) First Rebel Coordinator Droid Second Rebel Deck Officer (Ron Frazier) Command Center Sentry Renegade Four Commander Narra Renegade Seven Renegade Three Renegade Two Captain Needa (Nicholas Kepros) Imperial Officer Narrator (Ken Hiller) Announcer: OPENING CREDITS* Music: Opening theme. Narrator: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there came a time of revolution, when Rebels united to challenge a tyrannical Empire. Now, it is a dark time for the Rebellion. Evading the dreaded Imperial starfleet, a group of freedom fighters, led by Luke Skywalker, has established a s...