ROTJ Funeral Pyre Vader helmet

[SithLord]

At the end of ROTJ, we see the dead Vader on a funeral pyre being burned. As was long known, the helmet is ANH, and it was on display at Celebration IV, giving us a chance to look at it more closely.

Maybe Don Bies can confirm this, but it looks to me like the helmet came from the Rick Baker mold. The question is, when was the pyre scene filmed and why would they use the Rick Baker mold when they had a ROTJ mold for Vader helmets, or at least could have molded an ESB helmet they were not going to refit for filming? Was the pyre scene filmed early on or late in the production?
What is nice, though is that makes the pyre helmet a brother to the MP, DJ and SL helmets.

Here's a link to photos of that helmet on Rebelscum...

http://www.rebelscum.com/c4/c4lucasarchives/

 

[KevVader]

As long as it wasn't THE ANH Vader helmet that they set on fire.....that would suck!

 

[phase pistol]

I love the juxtaposition of charred Vader helmet with charred Hayden Christiansen bust. Crispy Vader everywhere you look. :lol

 

[SithLord]

I thought there might have been a quirk with the mold that was only later on but it seems it was there all along. So the MP helmet (the one in the ESB movie poster that is also ANH and almost likely also from the Rick Baker mold) seems to be made of the same materials as the pyre helmet and as someone mentioned in another thread about the pyre helmet, it has the same helmet mounting mechanism as the movie poster helmet. The movie poster helmet was from 1979 or thereabouts, so possibly the pyre helmet was just left over in the archives and they decided to burn it. But why burn an ANH helmet...why not a ROTJ or leftover ESB? And why take something from the archives to burn? One would think it would have some value...?

Edit: Corbadda mentioned on TPD that the pyre scene was shot at the last minute at Skywalker Ranch and added to the film quickly before it was released. I suppose that answers the question.....

 

[vaderdarth]

It's possible it could have been pulled from the same mould in the mould shop as the SL/DJ helmets couldn't it??? Then it wouldn't have necessarily come from the archives period.

Dave

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Seems like an awful lot of finishing work done to the helmet only to be burned. Not even the Dagobah blow-up helmet had any finishing done to it... so why was this one painted, had lenses, tusks, grills, straps and a functional tour style mounting system installed? And if made during RotJ production... why go with the ANH look?

 

[CTF]

so why was this one painted, had lenses, tusks, grills, straps and a functional tour style mounting system installed? And if made during RotJ production... why go with the ANH look?

It's quite a scary thought, huh? :wacko

 

[Too Much Garlic]

It's quite a scary thought, huh? :wacko

Well... it's an ANH look... not THE ANH. Likely just a tour helmet.

Incidentally, and I have mentioned it before and you may be tired of hearing it, but I strongly believe THE ANH no longer exists in ANH form, but was turned ESB along with other ANH props - and was seen worn by Warwick Davis at the time of RotJ production. It is possible it was used in all three productions, but I have not found the proof yet to support that last theory and only compelling circumstantial evidence to support that the ANH is now ESB or at least was during RotJ production.

 

[BrundelFly]

Im told by a current employee, not long ago, much was "rediscovered" buried in the archive.

Including THE GREEDO Killer, and ANH Vader.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Really. THE ANH or just an ANH?

 

[KevVader]

Im told by a current employee, not long ago, much was "rediscovered" buried in the archive.

Including THE GREEDO Killer, and ANH Vader.

Elaboration required....

 

[SithLord]

It's possible it could have been pulled from the same mould in the mould shop as the SL/DJ helmets couldn't it??? Then it wouldn't have necessarily come from the archives period.

Dave

Well it looks like it is made of the same material as the ESB movie poster helmet, that along with the mounting mechanism places it early on. But there is no question that it is from the same mold. If it was made at the time of the movie poster helmet then it would have been already around four years old, so a reasonable assumption is that it was stored in the archives and sent to England for ROTJ.

 

[SithLord]

Seems like an awful lot of finishing work done to the helmet only to be burned. Not even the Dagobah blow-up helmet had any finishing done to it... so why was this one painted, had lenses, tusks, grills, straps and a functional tour style mounting system installed? And if made during RotJ production... why go with the ANH look?

Yes that also suggests it was something from before the production.

 

[SithLord]

Well... it's an ANH look... not THE ANH. Likely just a tour helmet.

Incidentally, and I have mentioned it before and you may be tired of hearing it, but I strongly believe THE ANH no longer exists in ANH form, but was turned ESB along with other ANH props - and was seen worn by Warwick Davis at the time of RotJ production. It is possible it was used in all three productions, but I have not found the proof yet to support that last theory and only compelling circumstantial evidence to support that the ANH is now ESB or at least was during RotJ production.

I agree....based on that photo of the mask on Warwick Davis....it would be nice to know where that mask/helmet ended up...

 

[GINO]

Im told by a current employee, not long ago, much was "rediscovered" buried in the archive.

Including THE GREEDO Killer, and ANH Vader.

I'm not surprised about there being things buried in the archives waiting to be rediscovered.

But I'll bet you a million dollars that employee THINKS they found THE ANH Vader, but it is not. Most of the people there just aren't knowledgeable enough to distinguish between which movie a Vader prop originated from let alone when it gets complicated regarding promo vs screen used.

PS, all the helmets with that funky mounting mech all derive from the archive promo mold.


.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Well it looks like it is made of the same material as the ESB movie poster helmet, that along with the mounting mechanism places it early on. But there is no question that it is from the same mold. If it was made at the time of the movie poster helmet then it would have been already around four years old, so a reasonable assumption is that it was stored in the archives and sent to England for ROTJ.

I don't think it was sent to England if the scene was shot in the US.

 

[vader71]

Im told by a current employee, not long ago, much was "rediscovered" buried in the archive.

Including THE GREEDO Killer, and ANH Vader.

It would really be cool if the original ANH Vader helmet is safe and in the archives as it should be preserved.
Would be a great archives tour item that I would travel to see.

As for the Funeral Pyre helmet, clearly it is very similar to the MP and DJ/SL, so its not a big leap to guess they came from the same mold. The funky latch that the prye helmet has holds the mask in position whild the dome is laying down, so I think it may have been used because it was ideal vs a ring mount that other rotj masks would have had.