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yestolerancepro · 5 months

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Tolerance Project extra a long time ago in a Galaxy far far away

Part 2 a lost sequel an ice planet and a forest moon

Introduction

Hello there and welcome to the second chapter of a revised blog that looks at the first 6 episodes of the Star Wars saga the first chapter covered the making of Star Wars and my memories of the Toyline and seeing Star Wars on Television for the first time in 1982 this chapter covers the lost sequel Splinter of a Minds eye from 1978 The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

So Star Wars is a big success how do you continue the story?

Well the first plan was not the Empire Strikes back but a low budget sequel planned by George Lucas and the writer Alan Dean Foster called Splinter of Minds eye written in case Star Wars was a big flop,

Screenrant recently published this article about the book with it celebrating its 46th birthday.

Before The Empire Strikes Back, there was Alan Dean Foster's "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" - the original sequel to Star Wars, 46 years old today. It's hard to believe, but back in 1977, even George Lucas wasn't confident Star Wars would be a success. He approached well-established science-fiction writer Alan Dean Foster to write a low-budget sequel, which evolved into the first tie-in in what would become the old Star Wars Expanded Universe.

"Splinter of the Mind's Eye" was officially published on February 12, 1978, and it is officially 46 years old today. The book is no longer considered canon - Disney effectively rebooted the entire timeline, rendering the Expanded Universe "Legends" - but that doesn't mean it had no influence. In fact, there are striking similarities to The Empire Strikes Back, while Solo: A Star Wars Story and tie-ins to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker have brought some of its most interesting ideas back into canon.

"Splinter of the Mind's Eye" continued the adventures of Luke Skywalker, with the would-be Jedi traveling to the swamplike planet Mimban as an escort for Princess Leia. There, they discover a wizened old lady named Halla who served as something of a mentor to him in the ways of the Force, and he came face-to-face with Darth Vader for the first time - triumphing even though Darth Vader wielded Force powers Luke had never seen before. Han Solo was entirely absent - Foster seemed to assume he had returned to his old life as a smuggler - and the book is brimming with romantic tension between Luke and Leia.

It's easy to see how "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" impacted the real Star Wars sequel - in which Luke Skywalker traveled to a swamplike planet named Dagobah where he met a wizened old Jedi Master named Yoda. In fact, there's evidence Dagobah was itself based on concept art for Mimban. Luke wound up dueling Darth Vader in the movie as well, although he didn't fare quite so well as in Foster's book. The Empire Strikes Back even featured the infamous Luke-Leia kiss, a moment Lucas surely came to regret when he decided to make them brother and sister.

Empire Strikes Back the second Chapter in the trilogy and the first change of director calling the shots

Empire Strikes Back was included in an article on the Screenrant website titled 10 Movie sequels that changed director and beat the original these are there comments on Empire Strikes Back

While George Lucas continued to write for all of Star Wars: Episodes I through VI, he stepped back from directing episodes V, and VI. A New Hope set up the elaborate universe and a stage to play out the space opera that is Star Wars, but The Empire Strikes Back is arguably the best entry in the entire series. Characters like Yoda, and Lando Calrissian made their debut in Episode V, along with the shocking reveal that Darth Vader is Luke's father. This film completely changed the trajectory for all future films in the franchise and formed the foundation of what Star Wars became, and part of that should be attributed to the wonderful direction of Irvin Kershner.

The Perfect Sequel

The Collider website recently punlished an article called 25 movies that are perfect from start to finish included The Empire Strikes Back in their list at number 16 this is what collider film said about Empire Strikes Back.

For as good and groundbreaking as the original Star Wars from 1977 was, it was the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, that cemented Star Wars as more than just a fad that swept cinemas one summer. It's about as perfect as movie sequels get, bringing back all the key characters from the first movie and pushing them further, physically, emotionally, and even psychologically. In every way, it raises the stakes and makes the beloved galaxy far, far away feel even more vast.

As the title implies, the tyrannical empire does not take their defeat at the end of the first movie well, with The Empire Strikes Back kicking off with the heroic Rebels on the defensive and scattered following a spectacular opening battle scene. From there, Luke Skywalker learns some dark truths about himself and his family while Han Solo and Princess Leia find themselves falling for each other, even if fate looks like it might keep them apart. It's space opera storytelling at its best, and a perfect sequel to an already great movie in every way.

The Best Science Fiction film of 1980

The movieweb film website published an article called the best scifi movie of every year in the 80s for 1980 they chose Empire strikes Back these were their reasons why.

In 1977, George Lucas changed the face of cinema forever with what would become one of the most popular and highest-grossing film franchises of all time. Three years later, The Empire Strikes Back hit theaters and featured the first-ever battle between Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Darth Vadar (David Prowse).

After the retrieval of Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) in A New Hope, the Rebels are pursued by the Death Star across the galaxy. Realizing that he can't win his fight against Darth Vadar without training first, Luke seeks the help of Jedi Master Yoda to guide him on the path to becoming a Jedi. The second film's masterful finale sets up the pace for what is technically the "last film" in the trilogy.

What Makes It the Best

1980 was a relatively slow year for sci-fi as far as major films go. However, the largely anticipated release of the second installment in the Star Wars franchise would outshine any other film by far. The Empire Strikes Back utilized the popularization of space exploration flawlessly, right down to Yoda's puppet effects. The use of practical effects throughout the film adds to the overall charm of those early Star Wars movies. Empire Strikes Back explores more territory and spends more time in space, as more creatures and characters are introduced throughout.

Star Wars and Me Empire Strikes Back

The first thing I knew about the Empire Strikes Back is when Mum and Dad took me and Matthew on Holiday or a day trip somewhere, and Matthew managed to pick up a Star Wars Empire Strikes back comic book that was hidden in a newspaper stand I was most envious.

The first Star Wars computer game I ever played was the 1982 Empire Strikes Back Parker Bros game for the Atari games console remember those ? you used to have to plug the unit into the airiel socket at the back of your TV for hours of arcade fun

Those of you who have not played the Empire Strikes back computer game you are Luke Skywalker in your Snow speeder trying to stop the AT ATs from attacking your base on the planet hoth you had a limited time in which to do it or you would loose the game.

It was good for its time I thought the graphics were very good when I played it with my family as a 5 year old but its one of those games you could never win as the evil Empire would always get to your base in the end .

The first picture is an example of the graphics featured in the Empire Strikes back game not bad for 1982 the 2nd picture is the cover the Atari cartridge came in.

I didn’t get to see Empire till Dad hired it for the weekend from the video store on watching I can remember not liking it but on repeat viewings I have changed my mind I can see why its now regarded as the best film of the original trilogy it would be a while befoe I would see on televison . it wasn’t shown on the ITV network till Christmas 1987.

Toys

As mentioned in this the first chapter of this blog Star Wars introduced a whole new toyline Empire Strikes back would build on that success one of the first Star Wars toys I ever got was Luke Skywalkers Snowspeeder from Empire Strikes Back.

Empire would introduce new planets and baddies into the Star Wars universe.

These included the Planet Hoth where the opening battle with the evil empire took place. Dagobar where we meet former Jedi Master Yoda for the first time as well as Cloud City where Han Solo attempts to escape capture by Darth Vader and an army of bounty hunters including Bobba Fett

Further Watching

Those 2 videos from Anolog toys show the best of the Toys from Empire Strikes back including Yoda and the planet Daygobar to watch Dagobar dreaming click here DAGOBAH DREAMING | A Kenner Star Wars Retrospective (youtube.com)

To learn more about the toy version of Bobba Fett click here Star Wars | Best Boba Fett Figure Ever? (youtube.com)

Further Watching

Click here for the original 1980 trailer to Empire Strikes Back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz_YWNhKOkM&list=PL17vqAEJv6CV3Y85xphI3YrPVq3Q5wI_7&index=5

Click here for 10 things you didn’t know about Empire Strikes Back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k_UhJkzKaA&t=9s

To watch a video review of Empire Strikes Back from the Oliver Harper Youtube Channel click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDlnOsWu27E&list=PL17vqAEJv6CV3Y85xphI3YrPVq3Q5wI_7&index=19&t=17s

Further Reading

This interesting article from the Screen rant website how Empire Strikes Back changed Hollywood forever to read it click here 10 Ways The Empire Strikes Back Changed Hollywood Forever (screenrant.com)

Read about Leigh Brachketts draft of Empire Strikes Back by Clicking here Leia Wasn't Originally Luke's Sister In Star Wars — And Darth Vader Wasn't His Dad (slashfilm.com)

Find out why George Lucas changed the ending to Empire Strikes Back 3 weeks after the films release click here Why George Lucas Changed The Empire Strikes Back Ending... Three Weeks After The Movie's Release (screenrant.com)

Return of the Jedi or should that be Revenge of the Jedi ?

Did you know that Return of the Jedi’s original title was going to be Revenge of the Jedi which was a total mistake on the production team of the film you can find out more here Star Wars: Return of the Jedi's Original Title Was a Total Accident | Den of Geek

Further Watching

The Revenge of the Jedi traler from 1982 click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAW1E3JIQZE&t=14s

Star Wars and Me Return of the Jedi

I always felt sorry for Return of the Jedi it always seems to get a bad rep after the the first 2 episodes in the original trilogy Star Wars A New Hope and The Empire which is seen as the best Star Wars fiilm of the original trilogy and often cited as the best film of the series when campared with the other 9 films in The Skywalker saga.

Return of the Jedi is often critised by some for its plot for copying story elements from Star wars being the building of the Death Star and the rebels having to destroy it at the films end the cute teddy bear creatures the Eworks are also not liked by some Star Wars fans

When George Lucas orignally wrote the Star Wars script in the early 70s he had planned to use Chewbacca's own people the Wookies to help out the rebels instead

Return of the Jedi is the Star wars film I have the best memories of

with it being the final film of the trilogy it seemed to be everywhere and the merchandise machine was into overdrive including your local Supermarket yes you could now eat Star Wars as well. around 1983 C3PO from the Star Wars films had his own cereal I never eat these by the way ha ha

There was even an advert to go with it you can watch it here C3PO Cereal from Kellogg's 1984 (youtube.com) but I do remember eating some Star Wars biscuits themed around Return of the Jedi from what I remember they tasted ok

After eating Star Wars I did buy quite a bit of Return of the Jedi merchindise with the help of my Mum and Dad

who went to a parents evening at Rawthorpe infants and Junior school school and while me and Matthew stayed at my Nans,my dad brought back a pair of Storybooks he said bought one of my teachers one of them was the Return of the Jedi storybook.

Dad went on another one of trips to a garden centre and brought back a couple of storybook tapes for me and Matthew one was the 24 page storybook and tape of Return of The Jedi .I listened to that quite a lot I am surprised I didn’t wear the tape out. to listen to the storybook click here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSZeN7fW8Q8...

Then I went to local yearly fair with my Grandparents and cousins and brought back this badge.

I didn’t see Return of the Jedi till it made it début on VHS in 1984 it didn’t appear the TV till the ITV network showed it on Boxing day 1988 .

Dad once again hired it from the Local video story for the weekend and we must have watched it about 10 times in about 3 days

By far the most bizzare piece of merchandise I ever got relating to Star Wars was the 1984 Return of the Jedi annual which my Nan bought me for Christmas. Its rather strange in that even though it says Return of the Jedi on the front cover its got nothing to do with the film.

The front cover artwork though Very good looks nothing like Mark Hamell’s Luke Skywalker.Though the artist does a good Job with the other elements on the cover like Princess Leia The Emperor and the Scout Walker.

From my memory of reading it apart from one image in the book it doesn’t feature Harrison Fords Han Solo as part of the story, as a consequence of that Chewbacca is missing from the book as well.

Return of the Jedi the Computer game

I also remember playing a computer game based on return of the jedi according to Wikipedia it was originally released in 1985 but I think mum most have bought a later version .

It was the Spectrum 2 version where you had to load onto computer via a cassette I thought it was very good I played it quite alot the graphics and game play were very good.

it featured 3 levels The player takes control of three different vehicles in stages based upon the Return of the Jedi film. Gameplay is from an isometrically projected perspective and is broken into three stages. In the first, the player pilots a speeder bike to the Ewok village. The next stage involves piloting the Millennium Falcon to destroy a reactor. Another speeder bike stage follows. The final stage involves piloting both an AT-ST and the Millennium Falcon in rapid succession in a fight against a Star Destroyer.

Further Watching

Click Here for the orignal 1983 Trailer for Return of The Jedi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ocn-_ZCPSg&list=PL17vqAEJv6CV3Y85xphI3YrPVq3Q5wI_7&index=2

Click here for 10 things you didn’t know about Return of the Jedi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1HpzaAclFk&t=7s

To watch a video review of Return of the Jedi from the Oliver Harper YouTube channel click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2tL4w8qgpk

What next after Return of the Jedi ?

After Return of the Jedi they were 2 Ewok themed TV Movies Caravan of Courage and The Battle of Endor I have a dim memory of watching both on VHS rented from the video store by my dad you can watch a video about both films by clicking here 10 Things You Didn't Know About Star Wars Ewok Movies (youtube.com)

Further Watching

Caravan of Courage an Ewok Adventure trailer click here (4) Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984) Trailer - YouTube

Eworks Battle for Endor Trailer click here (4) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor Trailer 1985 - YouTube

Further Reading

Read about Return of the Jedi's much darker ending from an article from the Collider fillm website click here ‘Return of the Jedi’ Originally Had a Much Darker Alternate Ending (collider.com)

Revisiting the Original Star Wars Trilogy for its 20th Birthday and those special editions.

If we are going to complete the Orignal Star Wars story. we need to include something about the Special edition versions that George Lucas made in 1997 to celebrate Star Wars 20th Anniversary.

I know these versions of the Star Wars films can be a bit like Marmite to some fans you ethier love them or you hate them, a bit like Star Wars Episodes 1 to 3 in that respect ha ha .

Anyway here is a half an hour video with the team that made the special edition trilogy why they did it. How they did it, and the reasons they did it. Thanks to Trent Pruitt on youtube for this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzApL8nUyT0

I am Star Wars fan and even I am not sure if I love the changes to the Star Wars films or not. Here are 2 more videos from youtube to help you if like me your undecided. To watch a video called Star Wars: 10 Brilliant Changes George Lucas Made To His Saga click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OscvXBdK3jQ&t=26s

And just to be balanced to watch a video called Top 10 Worst Star Wars Special Edition Changes click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p9ozSFOMQY From the youtube Channel watch majo.com

This article lists some of the multiple changes made to the orignal Star Wars trilogy https://insidethemagic.net/2023/09/disney-plus-star-wars-edits-cj1mmb/

Star Wars Special edition Trailers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ticuVxpz6I8 thank you to flcl4evrlaserdisc

Epilogue Star Wars The Artwork

Years later me and Matthew went on holiday with mum and dad and we would pass this bookshop everyday and we would look lovingly in the window at Star Wars portpholios full of lovely artwork. We told mum and dad about these thinking we would never get them they were too expensive.

Then on the last day Mum and dad went into the book shop and bought them both me and Matthew were floored but so happy

The artwork was amazing Matthew told me he found it fascinating

Pictures

1)Splinter of the Minds eye book cover from 1978

2Empire Strikes Back poster from 1980*

3)Parker Bros artwork for the Atari Empire Strikes Back game

4(Graphics for the Atari Game

5)The Return of the Jedi Storybook

6)The Return of the Jedi Badge with Darth Vader and the Emperors guards)

7)The bizzare Return of the Jedi annual

8 and 9 The covers for the Star Wars and Return of the Jedi portpholios

10) Star Wars Special edition posters

Remember If you have read this blog and liked it please consider giving a donation to the Tolerance project by clicking on the above link thank you

Notes

Thank you to the Minty Comedic arts youtube chanel for the 10 things about Star Wars Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi videos IMDB for the original Star Wars release dates and Den of Geek website for their article When did the original Star Wars become A New Hope and finally the Oilver Harper Youtube Channel for his respective review video series on the Star Wars films

Thank you to Google images for the viarous pictures my family and my brorher for playing with me and jogging my memory for the first part of this blog

*The Poster for Empire Strikes back designed by Roger Kastel was included in the Calider film website 25 best movie posters of all time making number 3 in their list they had this to say about Kastel’s work

1977's Star Wars may have blown people's minds upon release, but its acclaimed 1980 sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was the one that ultimately shattered any and all expectations. Things got darker for the main characters after their victory against the Empire at the end of the first Star Wars, and if anything, said Empire "striking back" - as suggested by the title - is kind of underselling it.

The Empire Strikes Back kicks off with Rebel forces being crushed in battle and then scattered across the galaxy, leading Luke Skywalker to seek training while Han Solo and Leia - among others - flee the Empire forces. It's a non-stop thrill ride through space, and the poster features glimpses of numerous "greatest hits" throughout the film: romance, space battles, a snowy setting, and Darth Vader's helmet looming ominously over all. It might be up for debate which of the Star Wars posters truly is the best-looking, but The Empire Strikes Back's would have to be a contender.

Next week the final chapter Spoofing my Childhood/The Boy will bring balance to the force

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