THE FATE OF THE MILLENNIUM FALCON

"Pain is temporary. Film is forever." — Famous saying in the film industry

In the STAR WARS movies, Han Solo's Millennium Falcon evaded Imperial pursuits, and certain destruction numerous times. The same can't be said for the "real" Falcon, however.

In 1982, a seventeen year old Peter Briggs found himself (thanks to his dad) on the set of “Return Of The Jedi"at the EMI Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, England. Armed with his dad’s Kodak camera, Pete walked into a world very few STAR WARS fans had ever been.

“'REVENGE OF THE JEDI' signs were everywhere," Briggs recalls. "Passing through a construction dock, there were the freshly-painted blast shutter windows of an Imperial stardestroyer set. Entering another ramshackle hut, I ran my hand along the engines of Luke’s Tatooine landspeeder, stored here but not used in this production. A nearby crate was labelled “Ark Of The Covenant”….ooooh, if only!"

Briggs entered Stage Four, where he found himself on the set of the Emperor's Throne Room.

"My mind reeled. I was on the set of a new Death Star…there was a Death Star in 'REVENGE OF THE JEDI'!" Pete was soon escorted off the set, but before he left, he caught a glimpse of Mark Hamill in full makeup and Jedi gear making his way to the Throne Room. A couple friendly Grips gave Briggs the locations of a few interesting soundstages that were currently unoccupied.

Pete made his way to Stage 6, containing the Death Star Docking Bay and Imperial Shuttle.

"I think it was the first time in my life that the word “awesome” could ever have described something I’d seen. I’ll never forget climbing a rickety wooden ladder into the Shuttle’s rear; sitting on the deep-purple upholstery of the passenger’s section, and flicking the buttons of some overhead roof-mounted panels. And finally, walking down the (dangerously slippery!) ramp, and into the Death Star itself. When I pop my DVD in now and see Vader and his Emperor do that, I know exactly how it felt…and it was glorious."

Leaving Stage 6, Pete came upon a heartbreaking sight.

"The “backlot” (such as it was) was strewn with decaying props and sets from other productions. The rusting interior and exterior segments of the full-size Millennium Falcon were there (built by a Welsh manufacturing company for “Empire”, and now so much scrap); alongside the Anubis Jackal statues from the Well Of The Souls in “Raiders Of The Lost Ark”. Very sad…"

Here's a few photos Pete took that day:

This is part of one of the Falcon's mandibles. I'd guess its the top one, perhaps the one Chewie was working on in Empire?

This is the top of one of the side docking ring corridors. What its sitting atop of may be the top (or bottom) section of the Falcon hull aft of this

Again, possibly part of the docking ring corridor

This may be the section of corridor just behind the acceleration couch before you enter the main hold.

From the tubes and circular cutout, I'd say this is part of the main hold.

Some generic piece of STAR WARS equipment

Part of the Ewok village in RETURN OF THE JEDI

EMI Elstree Studios

One of the Anubis jackal statues from the Well of Souls set of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Pete may have found the above sights to be a big letdown, but he continued his self-guided tour of the Elstree Studios until he came upon Stage 5. This stage held the entire Rebel Mon Calamari Bridge. "A wholly-enclosed set," Pete remembers. "It was as if I were on a gleaming, actual starship…and for half an hour, it was all mine. Admiral Ackbar, I warmed your seat…"

Pete's final stop was Stage 9 "I couldn’t help but slow. There, in front of me, were X-Wings…a Y-Wing…an A-Wing…and noticing in one corner a tiny enclosed cabin set on wheels, I sleepwalked towards it. Transfixed…" Pete found that the cabin on wheels was actually the seperate live action set for the Millennium Falcon's cockpit.

"I left the Stage, exited the studio, and climbed into my dad’s car parked at the pub directly opposite. 'Alright?', he asked casually. I nodded dumbly. 'Good', he said. And as he flipped the ignition, I was remembering precisely the feeling as I hauled back on the hyperdrive levers within the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon just minutes before. I was probably grinning my head off.

There have been countless famous sets over the years that have simply been demolished when production was over; not matter how sucessful the movie they appeared in was. On California's central coast, the elaborately detailed set from Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent movie "The Ten Commandments" lies buried under the sand to this day. When filming was complete, the crew threw ropes over the statues and dragged them down with horses. Then they pushed them over the wall and covered the site with sand. Artifacts from the set still come to the surface from time to time.

As one IATSE member noted, "The logic behind scrapping sets is that, Union-wise, re-using a set is taking a job from union members who can be paid to make new sets. It's one of the reasons why movies cost so much to make."

Sometimes, parts of the famous sets are preserved, if one has the room for them. Parks Stephenson was a historical advisor to director James Cameron for his documentary, "Ghosts of the Abyss," and contributed text and computer-generated 3-D models to the companion book of the same name. Stephenson answered questions put to him by fans about the sets built for James Cameron's Titanic movie, and what became of them.

"The interiors built for the sound stages were dismantled and in many cases stored in warehouses both at Fox locations, both in L.A. and Baja. With the growth of the movie's popularity, Fox became more possessive of the surviving movie props. Recreations of certain interiors, constructed with the original movie props, were set up on the newly established Fox Studios Baja studio lot for the public to visit. That proved so successful that a separate theme park, with the Titanic sets as a nucleus, was set up adjacent to the movie lot." Information about the new theme park, Foxploration, can be found at http://www.foxploration.com.

"A good number of the original props were brought out of storage to use in "Ghosts of the Abyss." I was lucky enough to be tasked to rummage through the stores to find useful props for specific scenes. It was like wandering through the Cave of Wonders. Most of the props are not much to look at in real life...they are flimsy, most have suffered some damage of some kind, and don't really stand up to close examination. But others...I came across a pile of staircase balustrades made from iron, actual stained-glass inserts for the First Class Dining Saloon, and literally hundreds of First Class Dining Saloon chairs (all hand carved, some not even upholstered or stained) and wicker Reception Room chairs and sofas. My favourite set was the Marconi Room. The original walls were brought out of storage and the equipment dismantled and brought up to Burbank for a GotA shoot. The Marconi equipment was custom-made in England and although fragile, relied heavily on brass, iron and slate parts to make it look real."

"That's it in a nutshell. Some of the sets, most notably the interiors, were destroyed or dismantled permanently. A good number of sets, though, still exist, either rebuilt at Foxploration, or in pieces in Fox warehouses. There are a few collectors who have impressive collections set up in their homes. One point I want to emphasise, though...the large exterior set of the ship could not have been saved as a public structure. It was a moving film set and had to be destroyed in order to keep from being required to conform to building codes. Besides, the sinking essentially destroyed its looks and structural integrity.

"More recently, the head of the Fox Baja studios was actively trying to find someone to take the HMS Surprise (from "Master and Commander") off his hands. After that film wrapped, he was left with the damaged Acheron and a pretty decent floating Surprise. He couldn't afford to keep them, either in the tank or propped up in cradles somewhere on the studio property. The Acheron had to be destroyed. Any other studio head would have destroyed the Surprise, too, but Charlie didn't want to go that route. He asked around instead for someone to take it off his hands. Basically, if you could arrange to remove it from the property, it was yours. The last time I checked, Charlie had found someone to take it (I don't know if it's been removed from the studio lot yet or not). The Surprise was not your typical prop, either...it was a fully-framed replica of the HMS Rose (which was used for the at-sea scenes), except it had no interiors. It floated, but needed much work before it could be classified as either a working vessel or a floating building."

"Oh, and one last thing...Cameron took some key props for himself. The ship's wheel, binnacle, and telemotor, along with a couple of bridge telegraphs, decorate his office at Lightstorm Entertainment."

One wonders what artifacts George Lucas has kept from the movies. Luke's landspeeder is still around; it was painted green for "The Phantom Menace". One of the only surviving pieces of the full sized Millennium Falcon is the holo chess board Chewbacca and R2-D2 played their epic game on in "A New Hope."

At some point, even STAR WARS fans realize that trying to keep a full sized space freighter is a logistical nightmare. The filmmakers at Mental Ward Films know this all too well.

Special thanks to Peter Briggs, Parks Stephenson. and Dr. Curtis Saxton.