Watch 'Black Angel' short originally shown with 'Empire Strikes Back'
A short medieval fantasy film was part of the experience theatergoers got when they went to see the "Star Wars" sequel. Then "Black Angel" disappeared, but now you can watch it on YouTube.
A long time ago, in an era whose fashions seem thankfully very far away, a piece of "Star Wars" history was lost. But finally it's been recovered and sent to the place where all found things eventually go: YouTube.
Over 30 years ago, George Lucas commissioned a short film by Roger Christian, who had just done the set decoration for "Star Wars." The result was a dark medieval fantasy called "Black Angel" that was shown in theaters preceding "The Empire Strikes Back." Shortly thereafter, the negative of the film was lost, until three years ago, according to Christian. It's since been shown at a few film festivals. Black Angel Film finally posted a restored version of the movie on YouTube, on May 12, and it's embedded below -- though it'll be available only until the end of May, Black Angel Film said on Facebook.
Christian, who went on to direct the, uh...interesting sci-fi flick "Battlefield Earth" with John Travolta, made "Black Angel" on location in Scotland with a small cast and crew and a grant of £25,000 (about $39,000, AU$49,000) of Lucas' money.
The short film earned praise from future film luminaries including Steven Spielberg before being lost to the analog ether for a few decades.
But now that it's made the leap to our modern digital realm, it looks to be getting a second wind. In the intro to the restored version below, Christian hints at an announcement coming June 2. Perhaps "Game of Thrones" will soon have some competition for our eyeballs?