Crowd-funded and lead by web developer Casey Pugh, The Empire Strikes Back Uncut is a faithful-ish recreation of Irwin Kershner’s 1980 movie, featuring everything from amateur actors on dodgy – but detailed – sets to animation and puppetry impressions of particular scenes from the movie. Comprised of 500 15-second sequences, the ‘uncut’ version runs to an impressive two hours and eight minutes!
‘One thing we love seeing here, and we see it every day here at Lucas Film, is fan creativity’ explains Lucas film senior events and Fan Relations Lead Mark Franklin by way of introduction to the movie, and boy did these fans get creative.
Beginning with the legendary scrawl of words across the starred sky of the universe and featuring such iconic scenes as the ice battles on Hoth and the ‘I am your father’ moment that shocked pre-internet audiences almost 35 years ago, it is an impressively dedicated, creative and entertaining undertaking.
Lucas Film, now owned by Disney who have a run of sequels beginning with next year’s JJ Abrams-directed Star Wars: Episode VII. The House of Mouse has decided that all things that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away should be kicked up a notch and have reintroduced Star Wars Fan Film Awards for which Star Wars fans can submit their own takes on scenes from the famous movie saga, the winning entries being announced and, more importantly, screened at a ceremony in Los Angeles in the Spring.
