The Lost Film That Accompanied Empire Strikes Back

An anonymous reader writes "'Alien' and 'Star Wars' art director Roger Christian was given £25,000 by George Lucas in 1979 to make a 25-minute medieval B-feature called 'Black Angel.' This spiritual tale of a knight on a strange quest was inspired by Christian's near-fatal fever when he fell ill in Mexico making 'Lucky Lady.' 'Black Angel' made a huge impression, not least because it shared the dark tone of 'Empire Strikes Back.' John Boorman showed it to the crew of 'Excalibur' as a template for how he wanted his film to look, and 'Black Angel' went on to influence films such as 'Dragonslayer' and 'Legend' throughout the 1980s and beyond. But it has not been seen by anyone since 'Empire' finished its theatrical run. Two weeks ago Roger Christian unearthed a print of a film that was thought lost forever, and in this interview he talks about 'Black Angel,' and provides the only picture from the film that has ever hit the Internet."

Comments

UK / Canada only

[dschuetz]

Okay, checking on IMDB it seems like this was only released in the UK and Canada. So my memory of, Christ, 30-year-old movie experiences, is not yet faulty.

Re:Star Wars

[ElectricTurtle]

Holy Roman Empire? You think that there were arenas in Germany during the middle ages? Remember the mnemonic: 'The Holy Roman Empire was neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.'

Re:Similar to Lucas' Car Crash

[mrclisdue]

I just did some research, and I found out that you don't have to do research to make stuff up.

On another note, this guy just walked by my house, and there was a 20' tall cedar tree growing out of his ear.

cheers,

Re:Oh Just Release It to the Public Already!

[nine-times]

I think the idea is that the X-Files borrowed some of the cinematic tricks which Silence of the Lambs used to make it so creepy. Granted, that's not the example I would have chosen, but I think it's a real problem in trying to introduce people to some kinds of art. If part of what was impressive about them at the time was that they were ground-breaking, and the ground that they broke is now well trodden, then new viewers are unlikely to be impressed.

Re:Star Wars

[esocid]

Sad that the editors of Slashdot had to claim it was a film that accompanied Empire Strikes Back when it was nothing even close to that. Crazy what they'll do for a few extra bucks in advertising views huh?

Que?

If you are old enough to have seen the original release of The Empire Strikes Back at the cinema in 1980, you almost certainly remember the extraordinary short film that preceded it. Otherwise you won't know a damn thing about it: with not one picture or accurate plot summary anywhere on the web, Black Angel has become a bit of an internet holy grail in itself.

FTFA

Re:Star Wars

[FrankDrebin]

What happened to you slashdot? First funny comments were getting modded insightful for karma. Now insightful posts are getting modded funny. Has the whole world goNE CRAZY?