Loses his gun

Holy Smoke, Crash Landing!

Luke's X-Wing crashes into Dagobah swamp

Plane crashes into mountain.

Ally is killed shortly after being introduced

Dack 

Wu Han

Directions from reformed betrayer

Lando tells our heroes to go to the east platform.

Maharaja tells Short Round to go to the left tunnel.

Elephants

ILM used elephants as movement reference for the Imperial walkers.

 

ILM added Pankot palace in the distance of this elephant shot.

Lead villain wears cool headgear

Very fashionable.

Climactic fall from a great height

With help from ILM.

Alternatives to horse-riding

(Tauntaun / elephant )

Villian with cape and minions

Winged creature startles heroine

( mynocks / bat )

Creatures are sliced open

And something spills out. ( Tauntaun / snake )

The pit of doom

There's a pit to lower victims into.  There's steam and orange light everywhere.  There are these rectangular human conveyances.   And it's all shot at Elstree.

Welcome to hell

Even though the Gingerbread house looks nice on the outside, Hansel and Gretel would soon discover that trouble awaits within.

After-dinner torture

Dinner surprises

A Place of Safety

Like Hansel and Gretel, our heroes seek shelter at a seemingly safe and pleasant place (Bespin colony / Pankot Palace )

Evil boss kills own minions

Deaths will continue until morale improves.

Wizened elder tells hero about the journey ahead

In a small hut, no less.

After the arguing comes the kissing

Okay, so maybe this is similar to a lot of movies....

Hero argues with heroine

And points his finger!

Hero is pursued through rocky terrain

And the ILM miniature department provides the visuals.

(Asteroid field evading Imperial Tie Fighters / mine car evading Thuggee )

Something is wrong in the cockpit

(Falcon's hyperdrive is broken / airplane is out of fuel)

Their escape leads them to board a flying vehicle.

( Millenium Falcon / airplane )

Hero and heroine make a hasty escape from the bad guys.

Introduction

The aim of this blog is to list the similarities between two movies, namely "Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984).

Let's start off with the basic similarities:

1. Second Instalment of Franchise:
• Both Empire and Doom are the initial followups to what would end up being two very financially successful motion picture franchises.   Their respective predecessors are "Star Wars IV: A New Hope" (1977) and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981).   If these sequels hadn't succeeded, it is believed that their franchises would have died.
2. Harrison Ford
• Ford portrays Han Solo in Empire and Indiana Jones in Doom.  Both are heroic characters. Han has expertise in smuggling and as a space pilot.  Indy has expertise in archaeology and grave robbing.  
3. George Lucas / Lucasfilm Ltd.
• Both movies are Lucasfilm Ltd. productions, with "story by" and "executive producer" credits going to George Lucas.   George is the creator of both franchises.
4. Neither are directed by George Lucas
1. Empire is directed by Irvin Kershner, Doom by Raiders director Steven Spielberg
5. Music composed and conducted by John Williams
1. Williams was already a regular collaborator with Spielberg and had scored the initial instalments of both franchises. 
6. Reputation as "dark" instalment:
• In a behind the scenes interview shot in 1983, Spielberg warned that they weren't making "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Roses."
• Steven Spielberg: "George was going through a dark period. He certainly inspired [Irvin] Kershner to shoot a very dark second act in the first Star Wars trilogy and he wanted the second Indiana Jones to be very, very, dark."  [from empireonline]
• George Lucas, original creator of the Indiana Jones concept, felt this second installment 'had to have been a dark film,' as Empire Strikes Back was the dark second chapter of Star Wars. [from suite101]
7. In addition to Ford, Lucas and Williams, IMDb lists 69 other names common between the two movies:
• IMDb: Most Popular People Credited in "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)" And Credited in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)"
• Being a Lucasfilm Ltd. production, many post-production crew regulars from Lucas companies ILM and Sprocket Systems populate the list.
8. Both won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
• ILM won a lot of those in the eighties.
• Both also nominated for score
9. Both opened in theatres the second last Wednesday in May (21st and 23rd)
10. Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK was the studio used for both.
11. Both are shot in colour 35mm in the 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio and were released in 70mm in select theatres.

In the next posts the Visual/Plot similarities will be listed:

1. Hero and heroine make a hasty escape from the bad guys
2. Their escape leads them to board a flying vehicle.
3. Something is wrong in the cockpit
4. Hero leads pursuit through rocky terrain
5. Hero argues with heroine
6. After the arguing comes the kissing
7. Wizened elder tells hero about the journey ahead
8. Evil boss kill own minions
9. A Place of Safety
10. Dinner surprises
11. After-dinner torture
12. Welcome to hell
13. The pit of doom