Much of the third part of Light & Magic, Lawrence Kasdan’s ILM documentary on Disney+, is about the making of The Empire Strikes Back. Something I’ve neglected to say is, the clips from Star Wars and Empire are from the original film elements, with scratches and speckles intact.
Seeing these widescreen HD snippets of the movies as they first appeared in movie theaters, even the color differences compared to the “corrected” digital releases opened doors in my memory. It would be wonderful if Disney were teasing us for an upcoming re-release of the original Star Wars, before the “New Hope” title was added in 1978. What is much more likely is that Kasdan wanted to show examples of the special effects that were faithful to what the ILM team created.
My favorite moment in part 3 is when illustrator Joe Johnston talks about Syd Mead’s portfolio of concept paintings for United States Steel.
One of Mead’s paintings has a vehicle with a split rear window. It reminds me of the 1963 Corvette Stingray, a car that fascinated me as a kid.
https://sydmead.com/category/gallery/us-steel/
