Black Angel
Digital re-release poster
Directed byRoger Christian
Written byRoger Christian
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRoger Pratt
Edited byAlan Strachan
Music byTrevor Jones
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • 21 May 1980 (1980-05-21) (United Kingdom)
Running time
25 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£25,000

Black Angel is a 1980 British short fantasy film that was shown before the theatrical release of The Empire Strikes Back in certain locales. It was the directorial debut of Star Wars art director Roger Christian. The film negative was thought to be lost until it was rediscovered in December 2011. In June 2015, it was announced that Christian was working on a feature film adaptation of Black Angel which would be partly funded through crowd-funding site Indiegogo.

Premise

Sir Maddox, a medieval knight, returns from the Crusades to find his home rife with sickness and his family gone. As he journeys through this mystical realm, he encounters a mysterious and beautiful maiden, who appears to him as he is drowning. Sir Maddox learns that the maiden is being held prisoner by a black knight and in order to free her, he must confront her captor, the Black Angel.[1]

Cast

  • Tony Vogel – Sir Maddox
  • James Gibb – Anselm
  • John Young – Old Man
  • Patricia Christian – Maiden
  • Colin Booth, Yvonne Finlayson, Ian MacMillan – Children of the Sickness

Production

The film was shot at Eilean Donan in Scotland[2] in late 1979. The budget of £25,000 was given to Roger Christian by an Eady Scheme fund from the British government.[3]

According to Christian, the step-printing technique (in which frames are duplicated to slow action) he employed for a fight sequence influenced George Lucas to include the same method in a scene of The Empire Strikes Back.[4]

Release and rediscovery

George Lucas tied the film as a programme with The Empire Strikes Back in the United Kingdom, Australia and Scandinavia.[5] It was never released on any home media, such as VHS and DVD, and for many years the original negatives were believed to be lost.

In December 2011, the 35 mm negative was rediscovered by an archivist at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California.[1][6][7] On 13 October 2013, it was screened for the first time since its original release, and became available on Netflix and the iTunes Store for streaming and download, respectively, in early 2014.[1][7]

On 12 May 2015, the film was uploaded to YouTube with an introduction by Christian.[8]

Feature film adaptation

In June 2015 it was announced that Roger Christian was working on a feature film adaptation of the short and an Indiegogo campaign was started to raise money for the film.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mattise, Nathan (28 December 2012). "The Sword and Sorcery Precursor to Empire Strikes Back". Wired. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 12 April 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Verrier, Richard (16 October 2013). "Short film meant to accompany Empire Strikes Back makes a comeback". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Long-lost Scottish short now online". Visit Scotland. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  4. ↑ Christian, Roger (12 May 2015). Black Angel (1980 short film). YouTube. Event occurs at 1:00. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Anderson, Martin (9 March 2010). "Exclusive interview: The worlds of Roger Christian". Shadowlocked. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  6. ↑ Matisse, Nathan (10 September 2013). "Once-lost Star Wars-related short to screen for the first time in 33 years". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  7. 1 2 Matisse, Nathan (20 October 2013). "Short that aired pre-Empire Strikes Back will come to Netflix, iTunes in 2014". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  8. ↑ Machkovech, Sam (12 May 2015). "Short film that preceded theatrical Empire Strikes Back restored, on YouTube". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  9. ↑ Rife, Katie (2 June 2015). "The 'lost' short that played with The Empire Strikes Back is being made into a feature". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
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