Really cool! Thanks for sharing, Mike. Brings back great memories.
Really cool! Thanks for sharing, Mike. Brings back great memories.
anyone been to the location now ?
-James
WOW! REALLY THANX MIKE FOR SHARING...sadly dont know if I would have without some $$$....curt
A friend and I were there during filming. If we had gotten there a couple weeks earlier they would have hired us for extra help. One of the crew managers (I think he was head of FX or a Propmaster) was nice enough to give us a small tour of the set. Even below where the stuntmen fell into the Sarlacc Pit. Going back there now in my opinion would be futile, its nothing but flat land and sand dunes and the road out to there has long ago been covered over and unless you had a 4 wheel drive there's risk of getting stuck out there in the middle of nowhere from what I remember.asemblyrequired said:
Last edited by TymerDC; Aug 23, 2011 at 6:15 PM.
Hi all,
I have been to Buttercup Valley in recent years (thanks to Mike and other for the help in locating the site), and you can in fact locate the exact spot where the set was constructed today. The chain-linked fence that once surrounded the set for security can still be located with a metal detector, as the fence posts were cut off at ground level during the set strike, rather than being completely removed. Those posts will probably forever mark the location.
Once you realize you're in the right spot, there is foam, wood and debris on the ground, I'm sure even now. Evidence of what once was....
Best,
Brandon
Brandon, did you ever find those pics of the sail mechanism I fixed for you? I'd love to see that thing again!
I've been back to the site four times and come back with debris everytime.
Not as nice as the FIRST time I revisted.
But that's a whole other story. (which may or may not be in an issue of Bantha Tracks)
(Grand Theft starship)
Wow just saw this thread.
Fantastic story Mike and thanks for sharing.
What an incredible experience to have had.
Definitely looking forward to a part 2!
.
I was lucky enough to get to go to Buttercup with Mic on one of those trips. I too got some small, indistinguishable bits of the set outta the dirt.
Good times.
I think its so cool how they took pieces of the set!! If it were me I would have been like everyone get a corner of the whole thing, and remember lift with your knees!!
Very cool Mike. I wanna go. :-)
Thanks for sharing your pictures and great story! That would have been epic to have been on that camping trip!
AWESOME pics, Thanks so much for sharing.
Leo
Fantastic pics and great story to go with them. Thanks for sharing!
Great pics and great story!
Minor note: Any of the "stunt doubles" might be stand-ins instead. Hard to say either way.
This is a truly great store!! Times were so different then. I was only 5 at the time that it hit theaters and it makes me feel like a kid again just looking at these photos.
Thank you for sharing!!!!!!!!
Actually, does anyone besides me recall the late 1982/early 1983 article on Starlog written by the guy who was Luke"s stand-in in Buttercup Valley (presumably the same guy pictured in the Luke outfit with Carrie)? Cool article -have it been able to find it anywhere online. But I remember poring over it back in the day trying to glean any scant details about the film"s plot.Treadwell said:
Sigh. I think "anticipating a movie" WAS more fun in the pre-Internet days
M
You have to be a hermit if you want to go into a movie clean.
Mic - I agree with you 100%. But are you referring to today, or 30 years ago?micdavis said:
Because I remember living in Jacksonville Florida, the butthole of the universe, and not knowing a thing about ROJ except for one or two Starlog articles until the day a month before release when an issue came out that showed some stills from the film, including the 2nd Death Star (which blew my mind.) So, to me as a person located not he outskirts of the country in the pre-internet days, I waited three years to find out about the film, and knew almost nothing walking in. In fact, I remember winning a radio station pass to an early screening of the film and seeing a list of credits as I walked in - it referenced "Anakin Skywalker played by Sebastian Shaw" and, as I'd never heard of the character, I remember thinking "what - is that going to be Luke's cousin?" In other words, there was no need, at least for me, to be a hermit to avoid learning everything about a new movie.
But you managed to find out where the actual filming was going on. How in the world did you get that information in the pre-Internet days?
M
Yes now.
I was alerted to the build in the desert from a friend who lived in Yuma or Phoenix and if I recall it was one of my first contacts with Mr. Frank Cerney.
Was that you Frank? I got sent a newspaper article and phone call.
Hi Micdavis,
I saw an article on the web years ago about guys who travelled out to the site and they had photographs of the set but it was the set basically crumbling but still identifiable - was that one of your excursions as well?
Also isn't there some film footage of your trips as well? I have a few film files of Boba Fett flying etc on the barge which I believe was gifted to the RPF by you some years ago but my memory might be failing me.
Thanks again for the pics and the great story
Cheers Chris
Thank you so much for sharing. I was a kid and it really was a special time - to me...haha.
That must have been so cool.
How old were you?
Hot hot was it?
How far a hike from where you took the first three shots up to the set?
I always thought the scene was filmed in Yuma AZ.
You really did get up close.
That set was huge. It just amazes me what they built for these films. It's like a little city.
So they tore the set down and just trucked all the stuff away into a dumpster? That's a ton of stuff.
Thanks!!!
Last edited by Stormy320; Sep 3, 2011 at 8:47 PM.
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Well ain't it cool that Mike's photos got noticed by Ain't It Cool.
Odd behavior for a curmudgeon, eh?!
You ain't seen nothin' yet.
(well some of you have, and yeah I was able to post a bit a few years ago)
More to come.
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