90 Fun Facts About The Empire Strikes Back

Lucas handed The Empire Strikes Back to which director?

Irvin Kershner had taught at USC's film school and was reluctant to follow such a hit; Lucas told him he wanted someone who knew everything a Hollywood director should but was 'not Hollywood'.

How many years after the original Star Wars is the film set?

Three years: the film is set in 3 ABY, three years after the Battle of Yavin that closed the original Star Wars, with the Rebels now hiding on Hoth.

On which ice planet is the Rebel base at the start of the film?

Hoth is the ice planet hiding Echo Base; an Imperial probe droid finds it and the Empire attacks with AT-AT walkers.

What creature captures Luke at the start of The Empire Strikes Back?

A wampa drags Luke to its ice cave and hangs him from the ceiling; he escapes by using the Force to pull his lightsaber to his hand, then slices off the creature's arm.

How does Han keep Luke alive overnight in the snow?

He puts him inside a tauntaun carcass, cutting his dead mount open for its body heat while he builds a shelter, and grumbles that he thought they smelled bad on the outside.

Which Jedi Master trains Luke on Dagobah?

Yoda, the Jedi Master living in exile in Dagobah's swamps, was puppeteered and voiced by Frank Oz, who also performed Miss Piggy for the Muppets.

What does Yoda lift out of the swamp to show Luke the power of the Force?

Yoda raises Luke's sunken X-wing out of the swamp after Luke fails and calls it too big; Yoda replies, 'Size matters not.'

In The Empire Strikes Back, what is wrong with the Millennium Falcon as it flees the Rebel base?

Its hyperdrive malfunctions, so Han cannot jump to lightspeed and hides the ship in an asteroid cave that turns out to be the mouth of a giant creature.

Which reptilian bounty hunter stands among those Darth Vader hires in The Empire Strikes Back?

Bossk, a Trandoshan played by Alan Harris, lines up with five other hunters on Vader's bridge, but it is Boba Fett who outguesses Han and follows the Falcon to Cloud City.

Who administers Cloud City on the gas planet Bespin?

Lando Calrissian runs Cloud City as its Baron Administrator; he is an old gambling friend of Han's and the Falcon's previous owner, having lost the ship to him 'fair and square'.

What is Han frozen in on Cloud City?

Carbonite: Vader has Han frozen in carbonite to test whether the process can safely imprison Luke, then hands the slab to Boba Fett.

What is Han's famous reply to 'I love you' just before he is frozen?

'I know' was Harrison Ford's suggestion on set in place of the scripted line; test audiences loved it, though George Lucas felt it was not how Han would act.

Which body part does Vader sever from Luke in their Cloud City duel?

His right hand: Vader's blade takes it, lightsaber and all, just before he reveals he is Luke's father; by the closing scene a robotic replacement is being fitted.

Which two screenwriters are credited on The Empire Strikes Back?

Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan share the credit: Brackett died of cancer soon after delivering the first draft, and Lucas, who rewrote it before hiring Kasdan, backed keeping her name on the film.

In which Norwegian village were the ice-planet scenes of The Empire Strikes Back filmed?

Finse sits below the Hardangerjøkulen glacier; the shoot ran into the area's worst snowstorm in half a century, so some scenes were filmed just outside the door of the crew's hotel.

At which English studio were the interiors of The Empire Strikes Back shot?

Elstree Studios in Borehamwood hosted the interiors; Lucas paid for a new 'Star Wars stage' there for the Dagobah and Rebel base sets.

A fire on the set of which Stanley Kubrick film destroyed studio space planned for The Empire Strikes Back?

The Shining: a fire on Kubrick's Overlook Hotel set early in 1979 gutted a stage Empire had booked, and Empire then had to give up two more stages so that Kubrick could finish.

How did George Lucas mainly pay for The Empire Strikes Back?

His own Star Wars profits plus a bank loan: Lucas staked his earnings so that he, not a studio, would own the film outright, then had to scramble for more credit as the costs soared.

Which two Oscars did The Empire Strikes Back win?

Best Sound and a special award for visual effects were its two Oscars; John Williams's score was nominated as well, but lost to the musical Fame.

James Earl Jones went uncredited as Vader's voice, calling himself what?

Special effects: Jones felt a voice dubbed over another actor's performance was too small a job to sign, so he declined a credit on the first two films and was finally named in Return of the Jedi.

Which actor's small percentage of the box office gross was payment for a few hours' work as Obi-Wan?

Alec Guinness returned as Obi-Wan's ghost for a brief Elstree shoot, taking a small share of the gross; an eye condition made him wary of bright lights.

Who voiced the Emperor in the original 1980 release of The Empire Strikes Back?

Clive Revill supplied the voice, while the face was a heavily made-up actress with a chimpanzee's eyes superimposed; the whole scene was reshot with a new actor for the 2004 DVD.

Which makeup artist was chiefly responsible for building the Yoda puppet?

Stuart Freeborn built the Yoda puppet and gave it some of his own features, adding Albert Einstein's as well in the hope of making the little Jedi look wise.

In the first-draft script of The Empire Strikes Back, who was Luke's hidden sister?

A brand-new character: the first draft gave Luke a hidden sister called Nellith, no relation to the princess, and had his father turn up as a ghost, a different man from Darth Vader.

Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye was written to be filmed as what if Star Wars flopped?

A low-budget sequel: Lucas had Foster write a story cheap enough to film if the first movie only scraped by; when it became a phenomenon instead, the back-up plan was published as a novel in 1978.

Which Rebel pilot, played by Denis Lawson, flies a snowspeeder in The Empire Strikes Back?

Wedge Antilles and his gunner bring down the first Imperial walker by tangling its legs in a tow cable; Lawson's nephew Ewan McGregor later joined the saga as Obi-Wan.

Which Imperial admiral, played by Michael Sheard, does Vader choke for leaving hyperspace too close to the Rebel base?

Ozzel's blunder gives the Rebels time to raise their energy shield, so Vader chokes him from afar and promotes Captain Piett to admiral in the same breath.

To whom is the frozen Han to be delivered for a bounty?

Jabba the Hutt: Boba Fett flies the frozen Han to the crime lord on Tatooine to collect the bounty, and Return of the Jedi finds him hanging on Jabba's wall as a trophy.

Why does Luke leave Dagobah before finishing his training?

He has a vision of Han and Leia in pain in a city in the clouds and flies off to help, against the pleas of both his teachers and exactly as Vader, who is torturing Han as bait, intends.

Which word really begins Vader's line often misquoted as 'Luke, I am your father'?

No: 'No, I am your father' answers Luke's charge that Vader killed his father; to guard the twist, the actor in the suit was given a false line on set and the real one was dubbed in later.

Besides Boba Fett, which second role does Jeremy Bulloch play in The Empire Strikes Back?

An Imperial officer restraining Leia as she shouts a warning to Luke: nobody else was free to play him, so Bulloch slipped out of the Fett armour for his only unmasked moment in the trilogy.

Which studio distributed The Empire Strikes Back on its release in May 1980?

Twentieth Century-Fox opened it on May 21, 1980; Lucas had kept the rights to any follow-up when he made the first Star Wars, so the studio had to come to him.

In The Empire Strikes Back, what does Luke find inside Darth Vader's helmet in the cave on Dagobah?

His own face looks out of the severed helmet: the dark-side cave shows Luke what he could become, after he ignored his teacher's advice that he would not need his weapons.

Which Rebel general commands Echo Base in The Empire Strikes Back?

General Rieekan, played by Bruce Boa, orders the evacuation the moment he learns the Empire has found the base, an unpopular caution that saves the Alliance.

Which actor joined the Star Wars cast in The Empire Strikes Back as Han Solo's smooth-talking old friend?

Billy Dee Williams said the character's cape and unusual surname gave him something to build on; the part made him the first black actor with a starring role in the series.

Why was Jeremy Bulloch hired to play Boba Fett without an audition?

The costume fit him 'as if a Savile Row tailor had come out and made it': his half-brother, associate producer Robert Watts, had been asked to find someone the armour would fit.

Who voiced Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back's original release, remaining uncredited until 2000?

Jason Wingreen's few lines were re-recorded in 2004 by Temuera Morrison, because the prequels had made Boba Fett a clone of Morrison's character Jango.

Which stunt double portrayed Darth Vader in Luke's climactic lightsaber duel in The Empire Strikes Back?

Bob Anderson, who had fenced for Britain at the 1952 Olympics, wore the Vader suit for the duel; it stayed a secret until Mark Hamill said in 1983 that Anderson deserved the recognition.

Which actor replaced the original hologram Emperor in the 2004 DVD of The Empire Strikes Back?

Ian McDiarmid had played the Emperor in every film since Return of the Jedi, so new footage of him was shot to make the brief 1980 scene match the rest of the saga.

Which rock star ended a 1980 concert riding on the shoulders of someone dressed as Darth Vader?

Freddie Mercury rode out for encores of 'We Will Rock You' on the shoulders of a Darth Vader during Queen's 1980 North American tour, the year the band also released its Flash Gordon soundtrack.

Whose eyes were superimposed on the masked face of the Emperor in the original cut of The Empire Strikes Back?

A chimpanzee's eyes were laid over the face of a woman wearing a full mask, the wife of the effects artist who built it. Cat eyes and those of a studio accountant were also considered.

Which future Cheers regular appears as Major Derlin, a Rebel officer on Hoth, in The Empire Strikes Back?

John Ratzenberger was working in Europe at the time, picking up small parts in A Bridge Too Far and Gandhi as well. He went on to play mail carrier Cliff Clavin.

The face of the Yoda puppet built for The Empire Strikes Back was partly modeled on which famous scientist?

Albert Einstein's features were borrowed so that the little Jedi would look intelligent. The puppet's maker blended them with his own face.

Before settling on a puppet, the makers of The Empire Strikes Back considered dressing which animal as Yoda?

A monkey in a costume was one idea, along with a child in a costume or stop-motion animation. The team chose a sophisticated puppet instead.

Which Muppets performer, the voice of Fozzie Bear, operated and voiced Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back?

Frank Oz got the job because Jim Henson, the first person asked, was busy and recommended him instead. He went on performing the role for more than four decades.

Which John Williams theme for Darth Vader was first heard on film in The Empire Strikes Back?

The Imperial March had its public premiere weeks before the film opened, at the composer's first concert as conductor of the Boston Pops.

Where was R2-D2's ejection from a Dagobah swamp monster filmed for The Empire Strikes Back?

George Lucas's swimming pool stood in for the swamp when the pickup shot was needed during post-production, after the main shoot had wrapped.

Which star of The Empire Strikes Back reached the snowbound Norwegian set by riding the last 23 miles on a snowplow?

Harrison Ford was summoned at a few hours' notice so that his scenes could be filmed in the snow rather than on a separate studio set. Storms had already wrecked the schedule.

Boba Fett made his screen debut in 1978, before The Empire Strikes Back, in what kind of television production?

A holiday special built around the Star Wars cast introduced him in a cartoon segment, which the animators drew from footage of his still-unpainted costume.

Which animated sitcom retold The Empire Strikes Back in a special titled Something, Something, Something, Dark Side?

Family Guy cast Chris Griffin as Luke for the second part of its Star Wars parody trilogy, Laugh It Up, Fuzzball.

After The Empire Strikes Back was labelled Episode V, what subtitle was added to the original Star Wars?

A New Hope became the first film's subtitle, along with the number Episode IV, as the sequel's opening crawl revealed plans for a nine-part saga.

In The Empire Strikes Back, whose face does Luke see behind the mask of the phantom Vader he beheads on Dagobah?

His own face looks back from the split mask, a warning of where anger could lead him. The cave was meant to test Luke against his greatest fear.

In The Empire Strikes Back, what does the Imperial fleet scatter across the galaxy to hunt for the hidden Rebel base?

Probe droids are fired off in one-way pods to distant worlds, where they gather data and transmit it home. One of them lands close to the base.

What are the towering four-legged machines that the Empire sends against the Rebel base in The Empire Strikes Back?

AT-ATs took part of their look from Paraceratherium, an extinct relative of the rhinoceros and one of the largest land mammals known.

How do Rebel snowspeeder crews topple a giant Imperial walker in The Empire Strikes Back?

Tripping it with tow cables works because the machine is top-heavy on unstable legs. Once it is down, the crew fire on its exposed neck.

Which leathery winged parasites feed on the Millennium Falcon while it hides in The Empire Strikes Back?

Mynocks devour energy conductors and can drain a starship's reserves, so wise captains clean them off the hull before leaving port.

Which character is blasted to pieces in Cloud City and carried on Chewbacca's back in The Empire Strikes Back?

C-3PO is shot by a stormtrooper, found in pieces on a conveyor belt and rebuilt with his head on backwards.

In The Empire Strikes Back, what does Han let the Millennium Falcon drift away with to slip past the Imperial fleet?

Dumped garbage hid the ship after Han clamped it to the hull of a Star Destroyer, out of sight of its sensors. One bounty hunter had guessed the trick and followed.

Where does Han steer the Millennium Falcon to shake off its Imperial pursuers in The Empire Strikes Back?

An asteroid field gives the crew somewhere to hide, and Han and Leia share a kiss there while repairing the ship.

Which Cloud City aide in The Empire Strikes Back wears a device linking his skull to the central computer?

Lobot, played by John Hollis, uses that link to help his boss slip the Empire's grip on the city.

Which Imperial officer does Darth Vader promote to admiral aboard his flagship in The Empire Strikes Back?

Piett is the rare Imperial officer to last into a second film: Kenneth Colley played him again in Return of the Jedi.

Which actor, later the villain of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, plays General Veers in The Empire Strikes Back?

Julian Glover made a habit of franchise villains, also playing the ruthless Kristatos opposite James Bond in For Your Eyes Only.

What is the name of Darth Vader's vast flagship, a Super Star Destroyer introduced in The Empire Strikes Back?

Executor was filmed as a six-foot model fitted with about 150,000 tiny lights, and it was so heavy that it needed extra support.

What is the name of the ship in which Boba Fett carries off the frozen Han in The Empire Strikes Back?

Slave I was passed down from Jango Fett, who made the pursuit craft famous in the days of the Republic.

George Lucas based Boba Fett, introduced in The Empire Strikes Back, on which Clint Eastwood Western character?

The Man with No Name shaped the performance too: the actor in the armor cradled his blaster and tilted his head like the gunslinger of A Fistful of Dollars.

What was spread across the full-size Hoth sets of The Empire Strikes Back to stand in for snow?

Salt, around 50 tons of it, was mixed with magnesium sulfate for sparkle, a blend that gave the cast and crew headaches.

The mountain rescue skiers who played soldiers in The Empire Strikes Back were paid with a donation to which charity?

The Red Cross in Norway received the gift on behalf of 35 skiers, who served as extras in the battle scenes.

Which Muppet did Yoda's puppeteer imitate on the set of The Empire Strikes Back to cheer up Mark Hamill?

Miss Piggy made an appearance because Hamill was low after weeks of acting opposite puppets and robots on a set sprayed with mineral oil.

Which actor fell ill in his wool costume when steam heated a set of The Empire Strikes Back to 90 degrees?

Peter Mayhew was filming Han's torture scene as Chewbacca, and the bursts of steam turned the suit into an oven.

Which Attack of the Clones actor re-recorded Boba Fett's dialogue for the 2004 edition of The Empire Strikes Back?

Temuera Morrison had played Jango Fett, the man Boba was cloned from, so the redub gave father and son one voice.

The first licensed Star Wars video game was a 1982 adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back for which console?

Atari 2600 owners flew a snowspeeder against the Empire's walkers on an icy battlefield, holding them off for as long as they could.

The first licensed Star Wars pinball machine, based on The Empire Strikes Back, was built only in which country?

Australia was the only place the table was made, in a run of just 350 machines, which turned it into a collector's item.

Which American radio network turned The Empire Strikes Back into a ten-part drama after its hit Star Wars serial?

NPR had seen its audience jump by 40 percent with the earlier serial, which drew 750,000 new listeners.

Darth Vader of The Empire Strikes Back ranked third on the AFI's 2003 list of villains, behind Hannibal Lecter and whom?

Norman Bates of Psycho took second place on the list, which named Vader for this sequel and not for the 1977 original.

Which 1930s serial hero's adventures featured a city in the clouds that critics link to The Empire Strikes Back?

Flash Gordon was among the influences George Lucas drew on for the sequel, alongside the novel Dune and The Thing from Another World.

Critic Tim Robey traced imagery in The Empire Strikes Back to Dersu Uzala, a 1975 film by which Japanese director?

Akira Kurosawa's work had long inspired George Lucas, and Robey argued that much of the sequel's story, as well as its look, connects to that one film.

Effects artist Dennis Muren likened the walker assault on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back to which real conflict?

The Vietnam War struck him as a parallel because an invading army was using heavy equipment badly suited to the local terrain.

Which designer of Boba Fett's armor for The Empire Strikes Back later directed Captain America: The First Avenger?

Joe Johnston also designed the Millennium Falcon, then moved into directing with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Jumanji.

Which animator of the walkers in The Empire Strikes Back was later hired to create dinosaurs for Jurassic Park?

Phil Tippett co-developed a technique called go motion for the sequel, then used it on Dragonslayer to earn his first Oscar nomination.

The weekly box-office record set by The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 fell the next year to which sequel?

Superman II took about $24 million in a week, beating the roughly $20 million the Star Wars sequel had earned in its fifth week.

Roger Kastel painted the poster for The Empire Strikes Back and the poster for which Steven Spielberg hit?

Jaws came first, in 1975, and Kastel painted both famous images in a 200-year-old barn he had converted into a studio.

Which star of Alien was considered for Lando before Billy Dee Williams was cast in The Empire Strikes Back?

Yaphet Kotto was on a shortlist that also included Howard Rollins. The director said the eventual winner had the charm of a riverboat hustler.

Which Oscar-winning designer of Star Wars died suddenly while directing the second unit of The Empire Strikes Back?

John Barry collapsed on set with a high fever and died of meningitis the next day, not long after being replaced as director of his own film, Saturn 3.

Which eager young Rebel serves as Luke's tailgunner in the Battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back?

Dak struggles with a fault in fire control and is killed when Imperial fire strikes the back of the snowspeeder.

In The Empire Strikes Back, what healing liquid fills the tank where Luke recovers from his injuries at Echo Base?

Bacta patients are fully submerged and breathe through a mask while they heal, as Luke does after being attacked in the snow.

What valuable gas does Cloud City mine from the depths of Bespin in The Empire Strikes Back?

Tibanna gas made the colony profitable, yet it stayed small enough to escape the notice of the Mining Guild.

Which ensemble recorded John Williams's score for The Empire Strikes Back in eighteen sessions after Christmas?

The London Symphony Orchestra used up to 104 musicians at a time, with the composer himself conducting every session.

Which science fiction prize for Best Dramatic Presentation did The Empire Strikes Back win in 1981?

The Hugo Award went to the sequel ahead of finalists that included Carl Sagan's television series Cosmos.

Industrial Light & Magic built its new effects base for The Empire Strikes Back in which California county?

Marin staff moved into a building that was unfinished and short of equipment, yet they went on to deliver about 600 effects shots.

By what rank is Luke Skywalker known in the Rebel Alliance by the time of The Empire Strikes Back?

Commander is the rank Luke holds on Hoth, a long way from the farm boy who collected a medal at the end of the first film.