101 Facts About The Empire Strikes Back You Might Not Know
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- It's the 40th anniversary of the release of The Empire Strikes Back! To celebrate, here are 101 facts or pieces of trivia from the movie!
Check out The Soundtrack Show: bddy.me/2APwOba
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Fun fact, the man wearing the costume of Boba Fett in that parade is Duwayne Dunham who was one of the editors on Return of the Jedi as well as an assistant editor on Raiders of the Lost Ark. He was also one of my professors in film school.
Another trivia: If you go frame-by-frame through Vader chopping off Luke's hand, you'll see that his lightsaber doesn't even come close to hitting his arm
Mark also seems to literally throw his "hand" away which always made me chuckle.
So it was an insurance scam?
Force cut?
ESB is one of my favorite movies. You named a lot of things that I didn't know.
ROTJ is definitely my favorite
Empire and revenge are mine
ROTS is one of mine
I'm showing my appreciation to channels that use "might not know" rather than assuming we are all clueless, or just as clickbait. Thanks!
Can't believe it's now been 40 years since The Empire Strikes back was released to Theaters.
Also I had no idea that John Ratzenberger (Pixar's Good Luck Charm) was in this film.
The main theatrical release was June 18. The one being celebrated today was only in a few select theaters.
When he's talking to Leia about closing the base doors, am pretty sure his lines were dubbed by an actor with a deeper (and British-sounding) voice. When he tells the pilots ti prepare for battle after the briefing with Leia, definitely sounds like him.
Correction: The book he ran into the Wampa in was Darksaber, not The Crystal Star.
I've read both this year.
Wasn't crystal star the one with that weird blob thing?
@@Wednesday131O The Great Interdimensional Force Eating Waru? Yes.
Crystal Star is one of the few Star Wars books I’ve read and I was really confused because I didn’t remember Luke going back to Hoth and killing a wampa
@@Wednesday131O In my opinion it is the worst Star Wars book.
When I first read this I thought you meant Luke killed a wampa by driving a book into its heart lol
Actor John Ratzenberger also played the same character in a episode of
LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures.
10:02 I swear Boba Fett was originally voiced by Jason Wingreen, with John Morton being a body double for Bulloch.
He was. Morton played Fett physically in a scene where Bulloch was unavailable
Lukas Sørensen Yep there was a panel from Star Wars celebration 2013 with all the Boba Fetts- pretty awesome ngl
Haven’t said it in a while, but this is the greatest SW related UA-cam channel. Keep up the wonderful work and I hope that the studying continues to make your trivia experiences less "haunting”...goddamned dragon snakes. Oh, and I love that you listed what each Bounty Hunter was, except...
"4-LOM the droid, Bossk the Trandoshan,… Boba Fett...the…moving on..."
That's because this channel is positive. No hate here.
I hope we get a certain point of view novel for Empire Strikes Back.
Guess what?
@@SW-eg6kt I know
We do now
10:25 A detail I really appreciated about LEGO's more recent X-Wing sets, the one with Biggs in it, was that alternate tiles were included if you wanted to mark the fighter as Biggs' instead of Luke's.
40 year! Damn time flies! One of the best Movie ever!
No mention of Lando wearing Han's clothes when he's picking up Luke?
The Family Guy episode mentions it.
cape closet was reconverted to chewie quarters. So i guees he felt the need to change clothes and take han's.
Thats because he’s not wearing Han Solo’s clothes, it may looks like it but its not
My thought on it was that Lando escaped bespin with only the clothes he was wearing.
He borrowed Han's clothes from on board the Falcon as he had nothing else to change into.
Yeah that's an amazing detail in the film.
5:07 so he went from being a space nazi, to just a nazi.
The claim that the wampa was added to explain marks altered face falls apart instantly since one of the movies first shots is a close up on Lukes face
Correction: Jason Wingreen did Fett’s voice
I adore this movie so much, and it will forever be my favorite movie of all time. Whether it is the score, the characters, the action. It had it all. But most importantly about this movie, was its atmosphere. Hoth really set the stage, as the rest of the film is very cold feeling, as if this is all a bad dream. But then you go to Bespin, and you begin to think things may be turning up because of the warmer colors, but of course you couldn't be further from the truth, as the deep insides of cloud city return to the cold windy feel of Hoth, and a mix of the creepy for Dagobah. Thank you Lucasfilm 👍
I especially love the ending, the soundtrack perfectly fitting the eerie feeling of the Rebel Alliance having just retreated after a massive defeat at Hoth and not knowing what was next for them.
Well said.
3:38 There are some Robot Chicken sketches that I consider Canon... especially when Palpatine's involved eg: Palpatine's Last Moments being my head canon for how he survived (as I prefer it to what we got) and The Emperor's Phone Call for his reaction to the Death Star explosion.
...bet that knee’s starting to hurt
What the hell is an Aluminum Falcon?
The phone call is canon, AFAIC, no matter what Disney, Lucasfilm, or Uncle George himself say.
"He's crying!"
___
EDIT: Also, shout out to the Death Star construction foreman and the Imperial Army janitorial services. Truly the underappreciated essential workers of their time.
One of the best movies of all time. Saw this at Odeon Leicester Square in London on the day of release, 20th May 1980.
There is only one argument regarding the Wampa/car accident myth that's worth any weight: Hamill & Lucas both personally deny it. While Hamill really was in an accident that required surgery, the scenes & injuries in the movie were already written & developed.
Fun fact: Julian Glover’s son, Jamie Glover, would play his fathers role of General Veers in several Star Wars video games and is also the voice of Darth Malgus in SWTOR
Thanks for making a video of TESB facts that I might not know...that I actually didn't know! Makes a pleasant change for this type of video!
A masterpiece that changed cinema forever! RIP to Irvin Kershner for directing one of the greatest films ever made!! 👏
I always thought Yoda saying “there is another” was a reference to Anakin being able to come to the light again. When Yoda says this, his face is illuminated by the red light of Luke’s X-Wing, symbolic of Vader.
An interesting point of view. Never thought of that thanks
People: the humor in the Last Jedi is so bad!
Empire Strikes Back: a muppet eats a hot dog and beats a robot trash can with a stick for stealing his flashlight
It’s not that the humor in Last Jedi is bad it just shows up at the wrong times.
Cal Walker
Oh I totally agree. Take Luke’s toss for example. What’s thematically happening makes sense but the way it’s set up plays it as a joke. This should not be the case. Luke hates the Jedi because the code he was following to destroy the dark and maintain peace caused him to make a mistake and take his nephew from him
Still not a yo mama joke or homeless milk man slapstick
Nick Venck
The yo mama joke was awful
The green milk one wasn’t actually that bad
That was actually pretty funny
@@joeiorio9654 Rey's reaction reads as astonishment at the legendary Skywalker's dismissiveness, not as a comical scene to me. To say it's played for laughs seems like a very subjective interpretation of intent.
Though, given the porg follow-up (which is definitely played for laughs), I understand that interpretation even if I don't agree with it.
One of my favorites is in the audio commentary with Irving Kershner. Apparently when shooting, the majority of the Rebels were played by British actors, and the majority of the Impirials were played by American actors, which felt contradictory, so they dubbed over a number of speaking roles with the opposite accents.
SWE I have a couple of questions. This is mainly pertaining to the new canon timeline.
1) After the death of Palpatine, was there any anti Jedi sentiment still prevalent on planets like Coruscant?
2) After the Battle of Jakku, what did the New Republic do regarding the legalization of lightsabers & anything pertaining to creating one?
12:04 - Originally, Yoda was not talking about Leia. Luke was supposed to have a secret sibling who would be revealed in the Sequel Trilogy. The retcon was made for a couple reasons:
1) Han was supposed to die in ROTJ, so there needed to be a solid reason Leia chose Han over Luke
2) Lucas didn’t want any loose threads in case he never got a chance to make his planned sequels
Edit: I believe Richard Marquand has spoken about this, but I can’t find any sources right now.
I always loved the Bounty Hunters in ESB. I got semi familiar with them in their AMAZING EU stories in the early 2000’s, and that made me so interested when their story (including Boba’s) popped up in Clone Wars and the prequels. I’ve been reading the bounty hunter wars Trilogy this last year. It was exciting to see IG-11 in The Mandalorian because we finally got to see an “IG-88 - Like” Assassin droid in action!!! I’ll always Love the Expanded Universe!!!!
Correction at 3:00 - Luke returning to Hoth and meeting up with the same one-armed wampa happened in Darksaber, not The Crystal Star.
I concur with this!
Alex this is incredible and you, Champ, are great for putting this out! “Here’s help, come at me!!”
Omg!! @12:36 Over 25 years of watching ESB and in the furnace scene my eyes were always drawn to the derelict IG droid. But with your still I happened to look to the right a little and you can see Zuckuss’ head attached to what I think is a droid body! Amazing what you pick up when you move your focus just a little bit.
6:53 Those aren't jokes. The VFX artists were just so pressed for time that they had to throw them in there I instead of making an asteroid.
One thing that I wanted to add about the "I am your father" scene. I've heard what you said about the line, that David Prowse said "Obi-Wan killed your father," which would fit the dialogue surrounding it as well, and would explain Mark Hamill acting horrified at what was said, but David Prowse said that he doesn't recall Luke's father being mentioned during that scene at all.
I suppose it depends on whether you want to take Prowse's word for it or not (he may simply be misremembering), but I would certainly like to see someone ask Mark Hamill or George Lucas about this.
Am I the only one who thought that the TaunTauns looked like Kangaroos?🦘🦘
you can see a stick push an at at's foot to make it fall on hoth
Thank you for giving me more appreciation for my favourite Star Wars film 💜
Fun Fact: In the German Version of ESB (Das Imperium Schlag Zuruck) Leia calls Han a scruffy Wookie-Teiber (in the original English it's "nerf-herder")
Teiber means "driver" as in slave-driver so essentially Leia calls Han a Wookie slave-driver
I like both Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) equally.
Fact: When Empire Strikes Back aired for the first time on British television in 1988, some scenes were cut from broadcast for time. The missing scenes were Luke Skywalker in the snowstorm after escaping from the cave. The Rebel Base's shield doors getting closes. The Imperial fleet approaching Hoth. Han Solo and Chewbacca's reactions after Solo takes Luke to be careful and Princes Leia telling Han Solo not to get excited when they experience a quake in the cave.
10:26 extra trivia. I Never realized this but in LEGO x wing from 2007 you have tiles with 5 stripes for Luke and four for Wedge. I have never realized that it was coresponding with their numbers
Like so many SW fans - ESB is by far my favorite SW episode. Some great facts there, great job 👍 My small ESB fact is when the Executor attempted to intercept Luke Skywalker and the crew of the Millennium Falcon. The imperial officer who is ordered by Vader and Piett to board the falcon (if captured) is Lieutenant Cecius. He can be easily missed as he is only in the shot for less than a second it seems.
Thanks for shedding a new light on my favorite , as it is for many , Star Wars movie . Most know about Marks car accident and the effect it had on filming . Oddly enough though , as much as Mark loves to talk and tell great stories i have never heard a word leave his mouth talking about it or have never heard a sole ask him about it . Did i miss an interview ?
Could you please do similar videos for each episode? I found it really interesting to learn those facts and I thank you for the time you took to make this!
I really wish we were getting another From a Certain Point of View book for Empire this year, I really liked the first one
Is there gonna be another book for the 40th anniversary like a new hope had “from a certain point of view”?
I hope so
One of my favorite Star Wars movies. I know there were a lot of issues behind the scenes. It went over budget, and more.
I'm happy you are learning more about the music of "Star Wars." To me the music just makes it all tie together. As George Lucas said at Celebration in 2017, John Williams is "the Special Sauce of Star Wars."
I've never noticed boba fett hearing luke, great video of my favorite movie man
I suggested this on Patreon! Thank you!!!
I think the idea that Harrison Ford came up with the line “I know” in response to I love you is a tall tale since the line is said exactly or similarly in many 30s and 40s romance movies
1:59 He must be the Gonk Pope with that fancy headgear.
1:30 Fun fact, Naming Day is a holiday in the BIONICLE universe. I peresonaly always mix it up with the Wookie holiday Life Day.
Great video Alex 🙂
In the Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama, Lobot has one line in an episode where he responds to Lando's beckoning. His exact line is "Yes, Lando."
I still have my cassette tapes (copied by a dear friend of mine) of the radio dramas! Prized possessions even though I don't own a cassette player anymore.
Gawd, I'm dumb.
@@AngeloBarovierSD fortunately, the radio dramas are available on UA-cam, which is where I found them originally.
When Star Wars Explained says he has trivia I might not know, I actually believe him
I was 6 when ESB came out. That was my first encounter with a spoiler. I remember getting an action figure a few months before the release. I turned over the cardboard backing to check out some of the other figures on sale, and I saw one for a green goblin with an orange snake around his neck. He was called 'Yoda' As we all know, when he's introduced, he's just some little jerk in a swamp until his true identity is revealed. When I finally saw the movie, I distinctly remember thinking to myself: 'I'm not supposed to know that this is Yoda.'
Also...Robot Chicken's bounty hunter sketches for ESB are great.
So are any of Palpatine's sketches: "You know, looking back it all makes sense. Dream big, live big, love big... fall to your death down a giant f***ing hole. Now I know, which is exactly 0% of the battle apparently. Agh!"
I think the fact that Han and Lando shooting at sabaq kind of ended up making it fair. Basically like a double negative
Great video! Hey I was wondering, where were all the y-wing, v-wings, z-95’s, and hyena bombers during the battle on Coruscant?
8:23 I'll call him Astri Royyd
7:00
To paraphrase Lando:
“Meco's not a group. He's a man. Meco Monardo.”
6:53 there's now a short in the "Star Wars: Forces Of Destiny" series which shows the door being installed by Chewy and Leia
You didn’t mention the is Han Solo’s jacket blue or brown. The actual prop and first toys were brown. But in the movie it mostly looks blue.
His hoth jacket?
With Rogue Four’s crash, Hobbie survived in Legends by ejecting with his gunner just moments before hitting General Veer’s AT-AT.
A brief update on General Veers' death. In legends, Veers narrowly survives the crash that destroyed his walker, but was left so disabled that he could no longer participate in battles. Not only did this stagnate his career, but he was forced into a much more dull role.
Solo also said "I know" to Ben Solo, too in Rise of the Skywalker.
I recently realize the throw back to TESB.
I saw a fact somewhere where Alec Guinness wanted Obi Wan to die so he couldn’t be in any sequels
Brilliant commentary. Happy Birthday to the greatest movie of all time
According to wookipedia, veers didn't die when the snowspeeder crashed into his AT-AT. He was critically injured, but survived
Actually Jason Wingreen was the original voice for Boba Fett in this Movie (albeit Uncredited), John Morton only played Fett in costume for one scene when Jeremy Bullock wasn't available.
We need that link for the podcast you mentioned about the score and music in movies!!!
Alec Guinness claimed most of the money went on tax but he did live "comfortably" off it for the rest of his life. He never made a young child cry by saying to not watch Star Wars again that was just a beat up.
I have a Minifigure of Bren Derlin and I am so proud to own this bushy mustache boi
1:53 Link to "The Soundtrack Show" plz
You can find it on the app stitcher
There was an urban legend that the Dagobah scenes were shot at the Okefenokee swamp in south Georgia, however it's incorrect. The only on location filming were the outdoor Hoth scenes filmed in Norway. I believe (with about 90% certainty) some of the extras in those scenes were Norwegian military since they were experts at moving around quickly in the snow and also saved on flying in actors from Hollywood.
Boba wa actually voiced by Jason Wingreen. John Morton was the stunt man during the sarlacc scenes. Also when Jeremy played the Imperial Office John would step in as Boba as well.
The Empire Strikes Back is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Great vid but you got something wrong about Boba Fett. In ESB, he was originally voiced by Jason Wingreen, NOT John Morton who would physically play the character during the "He's no good to me dead" line (Jeremy Bulloch did most, if not the rest of the scenes).
my favorite random fact of The Empire Strikes Back is the fact that Rlph Mcquarrie can be seen during the echo base sequence
I’ll be watching it when I get home tonight🤘🏽
Thanks, Alex! ⭐
6:52 special mention to the star wars theme disco version which has all the memes discofied in the comments
14:08 they were also the most annoying part of Bespin to navigate in jedi outcast
14:50 which is also true... from acertain point of view
40 Years of the awesome sequel to original movie. Here is to 40 more years. But we going to have to celebrate 10 years from now on it's 50th anniversary.
Who else didn't exist in/doesn't remember a time when Star Wars wasn't at least two trilogies?
I can kind of remember Revenge of the Sith coming out but barely. I was 3 or 4 so I didn’t much care at the time.
Solomon Jones jesus christ. I am so damn old. I was in college when the prequels came out
I really became aware of Star Wars when the slew of Clone Wars marketing came about. My dad wouldn't let me watch it because he thought it was too violent
I was born in 1996 so I don’t really remember the time before 1999, but I did exist in it
I have the MECO album. It's so good; Galactic Funk is amazing too
Line about darth vader being a Luke's father was so secret, that they even wrote a fake script with plo koon being his father 😂
12:44 I never noticed the TIE pilot manikin on the left.
I really wish that you would have done this series for all 6 main films, and then maybe Rogue One and Solo.
I appreciate the facts for my favorite star wars movie my master 💪😁
Just a heads-up considering Temuera's name will likely be popping up more often in the fandom. The correct pronunciation of his name is teh-moo-ear-ra (with the last 'r' sound being rolled slightly). Not that it matters too much. But hey, I thought I'd mention it.
so all of this and even something about robot chicken, but then you forget the ralph mcquarrie cameo? dafuq.
Julian Glover also played Grand Maester Pycelle in Game of Thrones.
and voiced Aragog in Harry Potter
This movie is playing in the background while I watch this video
Ep. V is by far the best episode in the franchise.
No idea why but the Rebels settling on Hoth was always interesting to me. Even as a kid, I always loved how they made a home for themselves out of a snow covered wasteland in who knows where. I wish they had spent a bit more time there because that could give some small oneshot comic story potential about how they built Echo Base from the ground up. Don't think that's been explored at all. Also, I liked how in Legends when Luke returns to Hoth, he has a run in with the wampa and kills it, though he obviously doesn't go there for that purpose. It felt very much like the trope about a rivalry between the hero and a fearsome animal.
When I was finished watching this video, I was directed to the Did You Know video you made years ago and at the end of that one, there was a fact that I really liked:
George Lucas not only funded to $18 million budget for ESB out of his own money but when it performed so well, he gave around $5 million to his employees. That is amazing.
Hahaha 4-LOM and Zuckuss are HILARIOUS in Lego Star Wars; The Freemaker Adventures. 😂 (So is Graballa the Hutt lol anyone who hasn't seen that show should go and do so like, immediately. 👍)
Hopefully it's on Disney Plus.
Bosek's flight suit was used in Doctor Who's "The Tenth Planet".
5:18 And Scarlioni/Scaroth from Doctor Who's "City of Death".
An absolute classic star wars film. Still the best Inc the best soundtrack of them all.