SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back

SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back
Japanese LaserDisc cover
Genre	TV Special/Documentary
Written by	Richard Schickel
Directed by	Robert Guenette
Starring	Mark Hamill (host)
Composer(s)	John Williams
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Robert Guenette Richard Schickel
Editor(s)	Peter Wood
Running time	49 min
Production company(s)	Lucasfilm
Distributor	20th Century Fox Television
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	Color (4:3)
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 22, 1980 (1980-09-22)

SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back is a television documentary special which originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1980. Hosted by actor Mark Hamill, it is a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the special effects (SP FX) in the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, which was released that year. The special was written by Richard Schickel and directed by Robert Guenette, who had both previously worked on the 1977 special The Making of Star Wars.

The special was hosted by Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy. It features behind-the-scenes footage from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and shows the making of various special effects sequences including the Imperial probe droid, the Tauntaun and Wampa ice creatures of the planet Hoth, the battle between the Imperial AT-AT Walkers and the Rebel Snowspeeders, the asteroid field sequence, the lightsabre duel between Luke and Darth Vader, and the Dagobah scenes and creation of the character Yoda which was voiced and performed by Frank Oz. It includes brief interviews with actor Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and sound designer Ben Burtt, and footage of various key crewmembers at work including director Irvin Kershner, composer John Williams, assistant director Bill Westley, special effects personnel Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Brian Johnson, matte artist Harrison Ellenshaw, and creature designer Stuart Freeborn.