The 3 Week Rush to Change Empire Strikes Back’s Ending! 

For years I maintained that the end of Empire had changed from what I originally saw in '80 and lotsa folks said I was crazy. It wasn't until I visited ILM in the late 90's and asked about the ending and was told yes, the wide release prints had a different cut. Validation! And your video is further proof! Thx!

To this day that score brings me back to simpler days

I saw that 70 MM print in at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and even at 11 years of age I knew Luke, Leia, and the droids were on the medical cruiser.

Watching this on opening night in my town, the thing I remember our group discussing was the mechanical hand the Luke got and how it showed him becoming like Vader. That was a thoughtful and poignant move that led nicely into the next episode. It really had an impact on the story. Best movie of the franchise.

That music though. My favourite piece of cinematic music, ever.

The original ending seems fine. The new one blends it together better but I don’t see why it should have warranted such emergency measures.

That ending with that score gives me goosebumps even now.

Regardless of which ending everyone saw in the theater back in 1980, not only did the film end on a major cliffhanger, but was also one of the biggest plot twists in cinema history. I cannot imagine being a fan of star wars back then and having to wait 3 LONG YEARS for Return of the Jedi. Talk about having patience.

I just love the way that Lando says the words, “bounty hunter” it has a certain sneer to his tone. Like as if he really does NOT like bounty hunters.

Me and my brother saw this opening evening back in 1980. Funny thing I just walked past that theatre 2 short days ago. It’s still there. There was an intermission between the reels. At the beginning they were giving away the standee that was in the front of theatre. Some kid got lucky taking that home. It wasn’t us. Sometimes, 1980 wouldn’t be so bad to get back to… A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….

The limited 70 mil release for me meant driving an hour to the theater. Of course worth it. Only saw it one time this way and like many never noticed the change. I do remember the sound was cranked up and loved it. TY JM

They did a fantastic job, that ending of ESB, with the music score still gives me chills every time I see it.

I was nine and I have no idea which one I saw first. I just remember how upset I was with the cliffhanger ending and knowing I would have to wait three years(!) to find out what happened.

Thank you for doing this. Back in 1980 I saw Empire 8 times. And sometime during this I noticed that the ending had changed. I wondered why. And now I know.

I kind of see what lucas meant but given that they see they falcon fly away and then you see them in the window of the medical frigate it works fine. In fact possibly better because you watch the scene wondering if they are or aren't gonna split up the hero's then reveal in the last shot that they have.

The original had enough detail in it to reveal the casts locations as from the moment the falcon leaves but the updated sequence works mutch better and lets you enjoy that gorgeous music longer.

Great story about the last minute scenes. I too saw this with my Dad and brother in 1980. I'm not sure which ending we got but it was an unforgettable experience overall! A short time after each film left the theater, there was a TV special about "the making of". It was interesting how ILM used tried and true methods along with new technology to produce the special effects. Nowadays, movie makers have fabulous newer methods available as well as FX from the past only to squander a film with poor story telling. The original Star Wars movies are a tough act to follow.

I'm not sure why Lucas thought people would think that Luke and the others might be in the back of the Falcon and not on another ship when you can clearly see Luke, Leia and the droids standing at the window with the Falcon flying off. I think Lucas was just obsessing over nothing.

Wow. I never knew this. This was certainly a treat to see. Thanks junkman.

Personally, I think I prefer the original 70mm, ending. I wasn't confused by the cuts. In fact, the additional shots come across as Lucas overexplaining the point - something he would do A LOT in later decades. But that's just my take.

Only a fool would think Luke was in the falcon.. Lando says "I'll meet you" "I'll contact you"... and no way that shot of Luke and Leia in front of the big window takes place anywhere on the falcon.

That cliffhanger represented 3 years of agony. Every night, the "serious" nightly news had a segment on Star Wars and some analysis. No one can really explain, unless you lived through it, how much Star Wars first three movies took over not only Pop culture...but the entire culture.

Very interesting, but I am not quite sure why it matters if the audience thinks Lando is right there or a million miles from the medical frigate. The point is that they are still planning on rescuing Han.

They watch the Falcon take off from below their feet in the original, show it take off, and even show the uniquely shaped window to confirm. There’s zero possible confusion, and the edited version does nothing to add anymore clarity. What a waste of money.

Dang. Really nice find, thanks! The storyboarding and filming all that within 3 weeks... magnificent and it looks perfect. Lucas was on the ball in seeing that an establishing shot would do wonders for that ending. Getting back Ian McDermid to redo those Emperor scenes was also good but he may have added too much dialogue. I sometimes wish they would have only redid the lines and not expand the scene, but it didn't ruin the special edition either...

Just watching this clip reminds me why Empire is my all-time favorite movie. Then the dark times came

The soundtrack has more of a punch, the scenes run better. This is one change Lucas made that improved the film. Thank you for this find and comparison!

I saw the original ending, as I always remembered it and thought I had forgotten what was extra footage when I saw it years later. Tell you what, no one I knew in any shape or form were confused that Luke and Leia were on the medical frigate and not the Falcon because it was obvious the Falcon had no medical droid room or bay window….

While the extra shots are cool and gives us some more scenes of starfighters and vessels; narratively I don't think it adds anything. You see the Falcon detach and then see it fly off in the window. I think this was Lucas being overly critical of his own work.

Very cool! Don't remember which ending I saw in 1980 but remember it being epic at 9 years old. Good stuff Junkman!

Thank you so much for showing this! I remember that ending , and everyone thought I was mental. Even I would doubt my own memory. Many many thanks indeed.

A friend and I had skipped school to see it in 70mm at Phipps Plaza in Atlanta. We saw the first showing. The theater staff were handing out a white embossed souvenir folder with all of the cast and crew. I still have it. A long time ago.........

Lucas was right! Never knew the first cut existed - that's an awesome pick-up shoot to really solidify the ending of a perfect film.

I saw the original 70mm in Los Angeles on release, and I was not confused at all with the edit, but I guess I can see how it could happen. What DID confuse me was later hearing the “Han and that bounty hunter“ phrase because I didn’t remember that at all!

Thank you. I have been wanting to see this original version since I heard about it in the making of Empire book over a decade ago.

That was an AWESOME night seeing it on the big screen with my family. My mom wasn't into it but my dad and old brother were psyched!!!! Standing in line was fun!!! Seeing the all 3 special editions on a Saturday was cool to, but DAMN it I was the original cut trilogy on Blu-Ray!!!!

Honestly, I never noticed the window until now. I always understood by context Lando and Chewie were leaving, and Luke and Leia were still on the Nebulon-B.

Yes. I saw it at theater as a kid. It was amazing!!

I saw this in 70 mm at the Park Theatre in London, Ontario in May 1980. So I guess we saw the original ending but over the years I’ve never noticed the difference. Thanks for the video.

Doesn't Luke saying "take care you two" indicate that they are not in the same location?

WOW those Practical Effects sure beat EVERYTHING IN the cinema today!

The moment the Falcon ignites the engines after detaching the transport ship is unique to me. The way the Falcon floats a bit before the actual ignition and the SOUND of the engines... Wow! Pure genius!

Mr. Junkman wow, great job. Once again you made my day with your unique content. I really appreciate the research, hard work and inspiration you put in into your videos. The best part is that the content is unique. Keep up the good work. A +++

Something like this happened to me after filming a short film “Zombie Resurrection.” I realized I needed a transition in a couple of places to fill the holes and had to call the actors back for a few more shots for to make sense. I’m so glad we did this because it made a huge difference.

That was very interesting. Thanks for the knowledge Junkman

1980 is when I saw ESB in the theater. I went with my parents and the line to the theater was down the block. I was afraid we wouldn't get in. But we did. The film was just beautiful on the big screen. ESB is my favorite move of all time. It was a magical time to be a kid and grow up with Star Wars in the 80s .

This story is mentioned in Blu-Ray commentary for Empire, but not the specific shots that were added to the film. Thanks for posting!

Good info mate! Thanks for bringing this to us!!!

I was blessed to get to see it in 70mm back in 1980. I actually got to see it like 5 times that way. The cinema 150 in Little Rock Arkansas was awesome.

I was attending Georgia Tech (Atlanta) when Empire was released. I skipped classes the day it opened to stand in line to see the limited release 70mm with friends. Our spots in line just missed the first show, but got to see the second. Great memory. I wasn't confused by the ending at all.

Whoaaa... absolutely fascinating. Thank you for this

I worked at a theater showing the 70mm print for its entire run. There was no confusion at the end. No one said a thing. Lucas had already destroyed his narrative by then, so a few more seconds to clarify something crystal clear was typical of him.

I remember seeing Empire on opening day in 1980 with my parents and my older brother. I was six years old and it was the first film I remember seeing in a theater. We waited in a line that stretched all the way down the length of the mall. I remember waiting forever, thinking they were going to run out of tickets! Good times!

Omg and I thought I knew almost everything about star wars. I didn't know that good video Junkman 👍

That wasn't so bad as re cuts go. Bring my shuttle! That's the cut that ruined the end of The Empire Strikes Back. It killed the pacing DEAD!!

Junk your da man. Yet again. Love ya styles and genuine love of stuff😎👍

One of the best memories of my childhood was watching Empire multiple times. I begged everyone in my family to take me & I got to watch it 4 times. It seems trivial now that Vader is Lukes father but at the time it was HUGE. Even that doesn’t capture the shock for my 9 year old mind.

Hearing the details, I agree with Lucas. That end shot of Luke, Leia, and C-3PO is perfect and still gives me the warm and fuzzies.

I saw the original ending at Eastwood theater in Indianapolis IN. It was a Cinerama theater built in the late 1960s.

To me it seemed obvious Luke and Leia were on a big ship and not the Falcon.

Why would anyone think everyone is on the Falcon?

I saw it in 70mm at the imperial theatre in Montreal. They were showing Star Wars and Empire as a double feature. I was 9 and I remember the lineup was around the block to get in

Watching the original ending to Empire we can see Lucas' overboard tinkering mind in gear already. I mean from the way it was cut originally you could still understand the story, you got that the Falcon was somewhere close in the fleet to the frigate that Luke and Leia was on etc. I've always found it funny that with all the wasted time and money he's done tinkering with those three movies over the years he could've made I-III along with VII-IX.

This was very interesting and well presented. Cheers

The fact that Luke says “I’ll meet you at the rendezvous point on Tatooine.” Demonstrates that he is not on the Falcon and the new scenes were not needed at all. Guess George wanted to have some input on the movie seeing as he didn’t direct it and it is the best of the whole franchise.

My favorite movie of all time !

I saw ESB in the theatres but I honestly don't remember seeing the original ending. I just remember wanting MORE STAR WARS!!!

I’m not seeing the need for the change. I think GL was over thinking this one. A precursor of things to come with the special editions.

Wow I'm 57 years old and I do remember being confused when I saw that ending his a kid. We were at the Coronet theater in San Francisco, on Gery Boulevard. That was a single massive theater with the big screen with the original release. The theater fit a thousand people, and I do remember being confused. It was my most favorite movie but rotten ending. Thank you! It explains a lot.

Wow, I saw the original ending in 80, never thought twice about it till now and I've seen the revised edition years later but never paid that much attention ,thanks for setting it straight,.lol ,yrs later I always thought something felt different but never put two and two together

I saw it on 70mm the first weekend. No one was confused.

I wonder how Kirshner felt about this change! He was, after all, the director.

We had a brand new theatre capable of playing 70mm. It also allow us to watch the completely uncut 2001, A Space Odyssey where we had an intermission in the middle of the movie because of it's total running time.

5 year old me almost shit himself when he saw the commercial for this on tv one evening in Florida. May have been a night when Battlestar or Buck Rogers was on. I immediately knew what it was and could not stop talking about it til we went to see it. Was only movie I remember as a really young kid that we went to a sit in theater. Every other thing was drive in style.

I have known this for 43 years! I saw it when it opened and a few weeks later, I knew something had changed! Thank you, this has been in the back of my brain forever.

Funny enough, the one on the bottom reminds me of what I remember from the film, when I saw it as a kid. My father saw the original starwars in theater when it released, and I heard stories from him about it all the time. We also had versions on VHS for decades. Long before George Lucas remastered it. And we made it a family tradition to go see all new starwars films as soon as they were released. My dad died many years ago, but I remember going together with him, my mom, and my uncle; and all going to watch the new prequels in theaters together, and how much fun we all had. He lived long enough for us to see all three prequel films in theaters together, and then he passed on. At that time, there was never suppose to ever be sequel movies. George Lucas was adamant about that. Then Disney bought it, and low and behold, sequels were coming. I saw the sequels with my uncle. And while they were alright, they didn't have the same magic as they did inder George's direction. It was sad to see. My uncle died shortly after the last prequel. Luckly, John faverou got involved, and with his help, we got some new starwars additions that started to bring some of that magic back, via clone wars and then rebels, and then resistance and the mando verse, and the bad batch. I hope Ashoka, and the coming future titles stay true to course, and do not get twisted up by world politics the way the sequel trilogy did. As I want to see starwars be what I know it can be, and allow for the creation of memories for others the way it did for my family.

Wow... that I did not know. I love that extra shot of the the X-wing and Y-wings especially from that angle.

I see a lot of comments about how everyone was fine with the original 70mm .I’ve seen all the SW in theaters as a kid and watch them to death on VHS. When they did the special edition rerelease of the films and I watched back on the big screen. I had thought they CG in little details and added sounds all over. When re watching again on dvd back home I noticed minus the actual new footage that I was wrong about a lot of miss details. I goes to show that time and our memories have effects on our perceptions.

The strange part, we went to go see Empire the opening weekend on the Huge Screen when we were kids. When we got to watch it later at the local 6 plex movie house on a smaller screen it seemed different than before. But I just chalked that up to being a kid and having 1 too many refills of coke and needing to go to the bathroom at the end of the movie. Later on I watched it after the 3 movies came out on VHS and then again when on DVD or Blue ray and each time it was a little different. So is it do to the movies being changed over the years and not fully remembering opening weekend or did it really get changed?

Still remember walking out of the theater in 1980 as a shaken 8 year old boy. Lol There were very few spoilers back then so you had no idea what you were walking into. I’ll be honest, Empire was my least favorite of the Original Trilogy as a kid. Then when they started playing the Trilogy back to back to back in the early 90’s on USA Network, I was old enough to understand the themes of Empire and saw it as the middle story.

Wow this is cool, What a different time - I don’t even know how many times I went to the theatre to see this movie (ROTJ too)…these movies were an absolute event

I saw it on opening day in Atlanta at the theater in Phipps Plaza Mall... but I was 8 and honestly don’t recall whether I saw the 35mm or 70mm version/ending. I’d love to know but honestly all I remember is being shell shocked and horrified by that cliffhanger ending! I’d never seen a movie do that before and the 3 year wait til ROTJ was a lifetime.

I still remember how furious we all were leaving the theater. The Empire strikes back ends on a cliffhanger, and we’d have to wait three years to find out what happened. A 12-year-old kid, that was forever. Even my mom was mad, she said “this isn’t a Saturday serial where you find out what happened next week!”

How could anyone think Luke & Leia were on the Falcon in the original ending?

Amazing that they pulled this off so quickly. I was 18 at the time and saw ESB ten times that summer and fall.

That's the first alteration to Star Wars I've ever seen which I actually support.

One of my favorite film endings. Similarly, a week or so after the first Star Wars was released in theaters, Lucas called Mark Hamill to come in to record some more dialogue that was either missing or needed to be re-recorded. Mark was shocked, and told him, "George, it's in the theaters! It's done!" Not to Lucas it wasn't.

Either ending works for me. I saw the movie in a theater in 1980. I thought it was great then as an 8 year old. Now, today, in 2024, I appreciate even more just how great the movie is. To me, it is the best Star Wars motion picture by far.

I saw both of these versions weeks apart. great to see these again.

There isn't much of a difference to the endings. And even with the original one, you can tell Luke and Leia are not on the Falcon and on ship within the fleet. I think Lucas knew that the dorks who have nothing better to do would be knit picking the original ending.

Perhaps Lucas can now explain why Jango Fett used a traceable dart to dispatch the pointlessly shapeshifting Zam Wessel when he could’ve used a blaster. Or why is “Syfo-Dios” so similar to “Sidious”, or who the heck that guy even is in the first place. RIP Gary Kurtz.

I was a pre-teen when I first saw Empire, and I did not find the ending confusing; and I still do not find it confusing. I think Lucas underestimated the intelligence of audience.

It's just one of the greatest movies ever made whichever original version we saw. I was so glad I saw it on 35mm and with the film, "Black Angel" that was specially made to accompany Empire on its first release.

Yet he NEVER had them add the radar dish to the Falcon when Luke first sees it and calls it “a piece of junk.”

I was no older than 4 and a half and I vividly remember watching this movie like it was yesterday. May the force be with you always

Wow, time for me to rewatch Empire, because I never (don't remember) hearing Lando making that statement. I remember the original ending for some reason. Even when watching reruns on television 📺.

Saw a pulled cut in 80 at a military base cinema. The pulled shot had the Taun Taun running towards camera in snowfield, over and camera spins follows it running away. That was the only difference.

It adds up to what, 19 seconds of difference? But those 19 seconds are pretty awesome.

Hmm in the original ending you see them watch the Falcon leave. Seemed clear enough to me

These 2-13 secs, have more emotional content and suspense, than the 3 sequels combined.