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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."
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'd provide a citation but I remember reading that off the back of a Topps Galaxy Star Wars card when I was a kid.
This is Slashdot. That is a citation!
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
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.
Joss Whedon's new urban spin-off of Angel with Samuel L. Jackson as the vampire cursed with a soul... "Welcome to the Hellmouth," mother-fucker.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .