AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: THE REST OF THE 'ROGUE'S!

Wedge Antilles (Denis Lawson) returns to flying as designated Snowspeeder pilot Rogue Three.

Into action against the approaching Imperial Walkers at Echo Station 328 is Commander Luke Skywalker and his small but loyal squadron of Snowspeeders, each double-piloted vehicle of Rogue Flight used to fighting against heavy enemy odds, though this will prove their toughest and most deadly battle yet...

Rogue Leader Luke Skywalker's ill-fated gunner, Dack (John Morton). 

Rogue Two - Zev Senesca (Christopher Malcolm). The character may have had a Walker battle scene/harpoon moment cut from the finished film.

Rogue Three gunner Wes Janson (Ian Liston). 

Rogue Four - pilot Hobbie (Richard Oldfield), whose snowspeeder cockpit scenes were cut from the film, including his kamikaze demise against an AT-AT, though Luke mentions him by name at the beginning of the battle sequence.

Behind the scenes of the Snowspeeder cockpit filming:

https://starwarsaficionado.blogspot.com/2015/12/behind-scenes-grounded-rogues.html

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: ILM's ROGUES TAKE FLIGHT AND FIGHT!

The Snowspeeders are on their way to fight the advancing Walkers. Here's a selection of images of the models and their filming at ILM.

Steve Gawley (centre) and model team with the components to a model Snowspeeder.

Rear shot showing one of the manoeuvring flaps operating on the Snowspeeder model.

Ken Ralston prepares a model for filming.

Filming the destruction of Rogue Two at ILM. 

Explosive detonations from pyrotechnic wizard Joe Viskocil, co-ordinated and filmed by Richard Edlund. 

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: THE ROGUES GATHER!

Reunited with his team mates of Rogue Flight, Commander Luke Skywalker hops into his Snowspeeder, chatting with his friend and co-pilot Dack (played by John Morton, his voice dubbed in post production), a young man eager and ready to take on the whole Empire himself!

A relaxed Mark Hamill between filming takes.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: THE OTHER REBEL PILOTS OF ECHO BASE!

Buoyed by the news of the first transports escaping the Empire, Rebel fighter pilots rush to their assigned Speeders and X-wings within the Echo Base hangar bay, in an unused angle shot by second unit. Here's a look at some of the various Rebel pilot background extras that would be appearing over the duration of filming of the hangar bay scenes on The Star Wars Stage.

If anyone has any further names on the people who played these pilots, please get in touch.

Photo: Stephanie English.

Photo: Stephanie English.

Close-ups of some of the main and background pilots captured on film by Michel Parbot and his documentary team, then enthusiastically working for Lucasfilm on the official worldwide publicity aspects for The Empire Strikes Back. If anyone knows the names of the background players, please get in touch.

A helmet-less Christopher Malcolm as Zev.

The BBC's then new documentary series The Risk Business, including presenter Michael Rod and his film crew, covered a section of shooting on the impressive Rebel hangar bay scenes, and used several background artists (a pilot and two troopers) to stage a fake moment specially for the programme - rushing upwards into the Millennium Falcon, of which a partial, highly-detailed interior was built above the ramp long before Solo: A Star Wars Story did a similar 'official' scene with Han on Kessel that mixed interior/exterior sets with clever trick editing in 2018. The programme would ultimately air as a key part of UK publicity for the upcoming The Empire Strikes Back on BBC 1 in April 1980.

Running into the Falcon in a staged moment for The Risk Business. Image: BBC Studios.