Incredible Behind The Scenes Footage From The Set of ‘Return of the Jedi’

Filmed on a Super 8 camera without audio or narration, this is a clip for the true Star Wars aficionado. Created by Jeff Broz, this series of clips affords us a rare glimpse into the making of an incredible blockbuster film that is adored the world over. There are a number of recognizable iconic scenes visible in their rough and unedited form.

At 1:30, we see Luke wielding his lightsaber against some of Jabba’s, slaves, followed by C3P0 teetering on the edge of Jabba’s sail barge. Soon after, we see Boba Fett swinging around on what I assume are hidden wires. Also hidden in there is Princess Leia walking around in her trademark bikini, trying to get the chain around Jabba’s neck.

What I love about this clip is that we get to see how much hard work went into making a film like this. While I’m not going to say that the editors and compositors who are making today’s action sequences aren’t hard working or incredibly talented (in fact they regularly blow my mind with their talent), there was a hell of a lot of blood, sweat, tears, engineering, and good ‘ol manpower that went into creating these few scenes. I can only imagine how exhausting it must have been to be in the middle of the desert on a hot, cloudless day, running around in costume or working heavy equipment to get the shot. I’d say that the vast majority of this would just be shot on a greenscreen today; and it’s so interesting to see how it was done before all of this technology arrived on the scene.