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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."
Did you really skim that fast? This is about a completely different movie that just happens to have been made by the same art director. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that they put out copies of this it looks really interesting.
But do your other plans for the Black Angel story make you think twice about releasing it?
Do you know something? I'm wrestling with this. I was talking about it yesterday. I still get letters, still get emails, there are threads on the IMDB going on and on about it - people guessing the story and how much it affected their mindsbut I just wonder if I brought it out now, thirty years later
I haven't seen it in thirty years myself, but I wonder if its imitators have devalued it a little, the way seven years of The X-Files made Silence Of The Lambs look dated
Exactly.
It might look like a copy of the films and TV that it inspired, which have been in circulation ever since.
I assure you that I am quite capable of appreciating Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sanjuro despite the fact that I had already seen Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy which massively borrows from them. I'm certain you were able to appreciate The Hidden Fortress after making the Star Wars Trilogy as well. So why do you doubt my ability to appreciate Black Angel?
... even if it's just a reason for people to brag that they've seen one of the original fantasy films ... even if it's just a chance for me to one up another person in conversation and promote my anti-social tendencies ... why wouldn't you release it in someway for the general public to digest in their homes?
I mean, if you choose not to release it then you have no intent to capitalize off of it and you should release it online via Veoh or YouTube or some video hosting site. Wouldn't the popularity and enjoyment from the film reward you in some way -- with it being your first film that you labored over?
I mean, even if it's just film snobs to appreciate it
My work here is dung.
What's the interest in Star Wars movies anyway?
Secondly, with regards to:
It would be interesting to see a James Bond like movie in space setting
Finally, you can turn in your geek card at the door on your way out. Thanks for playing.
Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
I once had a fever dream that I would be up-ranked to +5 Insightful after making a meaningless self-referential post as an AC on Slashdot.
At this point? Nostalgia, mostly. Keep in mind that when it came out, there was literally nothing else like it.
In many ways, there's still nothing else like it. It is a whole universe, created from scratch. Not just an extrapolation of our own, and not just the pieces you need to see for the story. Humans are common, but not special in any particular way. They mix with aliens and robots completely, and deal with each other as equals. There are lots of places where a race is shown once, in a background character, and never seen again. Most movies wouldn't bother: It's just extra expense.
There's a feeling of history and depth to the movies (especially the original trilogy), that's nearly unique. You can write thousands of books about what else is happening in the universe, because it is a universe, and not just a setting for the story.
'Sensible' is a curse word.