These days, it’s hard to put yourself in the shoes of an audience that was left hanging by Empire Strikes Back over 36 years ago. Even if you were there, it’s hard to separate out what you were feeling in that interval between the two episodes, absolutely unsure of what was to come. Han was frozen in carbonite, Luke lost a hand, Vader was smug in his victory, and you had no idea what Jabba the Hutt looked like. It was a long, long, three years for fans, and Internet leaks were a thing of the distant future.
Recently a short-lived trailer for the then-titled Revenge of the Jedi has surfaced, thanks to the Academy, and the Internet can’t get enough of it.
Evidently, this trailer was shown during only a very short time and only on a very small island. In the days before wide-spread use of VCR’s, movies were often re-released in theaters. In this case, 1982 found a double-feature re-release of both Episodes IV and V in the UK. At the time, 20th Century Fox was toying around with having Jedi hit theaters for a Christmas opening. This would have made it the only Star Wars film to not open in May (now, The Force Awakens holds that honor, with a December release).
It is unclear how long this trailer aired during the period of this re-release. But what is clear is that this first glimpse held a whole lot back! Not only is the title wrong, but there are no action shots at all, only a collection of still images from the production. Even the movie poster for Revenge of the Jedi is clearly inspired by a scene in Empire Strikes Back.
Regardless of (or perhaps because of) the temporary and inaccurate nature of this trailer, Star Wars fans are thrilled to find another artifact from that galaxy far, far away.
What do you think of this trailer? Let us know in the comments!
Source: The Academy
