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As much as the “Star Wars” series of films were (and J.J. Abrams' will definitely be) adept in keeping details close to the vest, the extensive documentation of all things to do with the franchise was nothing short of astounding. However, “The Empire Strikes Back” yielded some fly-on-the-wall footage that, while entertaining, remained largely locked in a vault. Luckily not for too long more, though, as a great deal of it has come to light. Michael Parbot, a French journalist who gained unprecedented access to the 'Empire' production, contributed his footage to two documentaries: “Spfx: The Empire Strikes Back,” a behind-the-scenes look at the film's special effects, and a 1980 Dutch TV program showcasing lightsaber rehearsal footage and interviews with the cast. The first made it onto the trilogy's Blu-ray release in 2011, but the Dutch program has only been seen in near-unwatchable snippets, appearing last in 2012 with 15 minutes available. Finally though,...

Yesterday we posted two videos from a lost Empire Strikes Back documentary that never saw the light of day. Directed by Michel Parbot, the doc was full of on-set interviews and behind-the-scenes set construction, and for one reason or another it was scrapped in favor of Parbot's work on another doc called Spfx: The Empire Strikes Back. After posting the 15 minutes of footage (which is all that was available), we immediately contacted Jamie Benning, the director of those fantastic fan-made Star Wars filmumentaries (not to mention Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark filmumentaries), and asked him about this so-called "lost" documentary figuring he had more information. Well, not only did Benning have more info, but he also had more footage -- some of which he...

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After all these years it's pretty amazing to learn there's actually behind-the-scenes footage from the original Star Wars trilogy that we haven't seen, but here comes 15 minutes of an untitled documentary pieced together by filmmaker Michel Parbot, who was given full access to the set of The Empire Strikes Back. The finished doc never saw a commercial release, and Parbot went on to work on another doc about the film called Spfx: The Empire Strikes Back. This doc, however, remained hidden, though 15 minutes of it was unearthed via an old Dutch TV documentary that must have aired it a long time ago because this sucker is dirty. The video begins in Dutch, but switches over to English 45 seconds in. According to MintinBox.net (via Open Culture, who first posted the...

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I consider myself a hardcore Star Wars fan, and I've seen a lot of awesome stuff over the years. It's crazy to me that after all the years that this classic sci-fi fantasy has been around, we are still finding new never before seen awesomeness!

Open Culture has discovered a 'Making Of' documentary for The Empire Strikes Back, that takes us behind the scenes of our favorite chapter in the Star Wars saga. The doc was directed by Michel Parbot and was made for an old Dutch TV documentary,

The broadcast focuses on the painstaking creation of the film’s special effects, most of which still hold up 32 years after audiences first glimpsed them. We see the models, the matte paintings, and even the phalanx of performers and technicians needed to execute the Norway-shot battle on the ice planet Hoth.

The documentary has some great stuff to see for any Star Wars fan,...