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It is one of the most famous scenes in the history of cinema. Luke Skywalker arrives in Cloud City to confront Darth Vader. A lengthy lightsaber battle ensues. Vader gains the advantage and corners Luke on a structure looming over an endless abyss.
And then, when all hope appears to be lost, a little girl in overalls appears, bests Darth Vader in saber conflict, rescues Luke, and restores peace and order to the entire galaxy.
Not how you remember the climax of The Empire Strikes Back? There’s a good reason for that. While the scene played out differently on the big screen, the alternate version I described above served as the grand finale of a forgotten 1993 touring show titled George Lucas’ Super Live Adventure. It is truly one of the strangest stage productions of the 20th century, one that combined all of Lucas’ biggest film franchises — Star Wars, clearly, but also Indiana Jones, Willow, American Graffiti, and even the auto inventor biopic Tucker: The Man and His Dream — into a single narrative.
The backstory: In the early 1990s, Lucasfilm executives approached Kenneth Feld — a theatrical producer whose company runs Ringing Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice, and Monster Jam — with the idea of creating a show that would celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lucasfilm.
The show was initially planned for Japan, where not only was Star Wars very popular, but George Lucas himself was a well-known figure thanks to his status as the star of a series of Japanese commercials for Panasonic. (If you would like to go down a very pleasingly weird YouTube rabbit hole, I recommend searching “George Lucas Japanese commercials.”)
Obviously George Lucas himself was not going to appear in a lavish touring show filled with stunts and special effects. But he did lend his name to its title, along with most of his movies to that time as a director or producer. (Most, but not all — Howard the Duck was a no-show.)
“The concept,” recalled Super Live Adventure production designer Douglas Schmidt in 2013, “was to make a gigantic arena show based on the plotlines of [Lucas’] films. And combine them all together into a big spectacular event.”
He’s not overselling it. The Super Live Adventure was massive. According to TheRaider.net, the stage was “over one-quarter acre wide and the height of a five-story office building” with a cast and crew over around 150 people. It utilized 76 custom speakers, a score recorded by 140 musicians, and “more than 1.000 laser beams … fired from 23 separate locations” over the course of the show.”
Oh, but there was so much more. There was a gigantic castle set with a working drawbridge. There was a gigantic inflatable jukebox as part of Mel’s Drive-In from American Graffiti. There was a nearly ten minute musical number involving a self-driving vintage car in the Tucker sequence. There was a recreation of the infamous melting faces scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. There was at least one onstage beheading. There was a humongous Millennium Falcon that descends from the ceiling and lands on the stage.
Also there was a live horse and a live Bengal tiger for some reason?
The clothesline of a premise upon which George Lucas’ Super Live Adventure hangs each of these disparate elements: A plant in the crowd disguised as a young audience member is chosen by Willow — yes, Willow from Willow — to help him in his quest. The “audience member” is given a magic wand, and then pursued through a series of George Lucas movies, arranged seemingly at random.
After escaping the swords and sorcery of Willow, she wanders into one of Preston Tucker’s car presentations, then gets attacked by giant snakes and rescued by Indiana Jones. (But why did it have to be snakes??) Indy brings the young woman along for a genuinely impressive creation of the suspension bridge battle from Temple of Doom, then to Club Obi-Wan from the start of Temple of Doom, where the “Anything Goes” musical number really captures the vibe of the entire show. Then Indy, Willie Scott, and the girl wander into a composite of scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark, before she makes her way into the American Graffiti and Star Wars portions of the evening.
According to the same interview with the show’s production designer, George Lucas’ Super Live Adventure took nearly two months to rehearse inside an empty arena. But once completed, it only ran for a single summer in Japan; inexplicably, there wasn’t much demand for a show that combined the bombastic action of Star Wars with Tucker’s clear-eyed critique of capitalism. After performances from April to September of 1993, the show closed forever.
Bootlegs and grainy VHS videos of the Super Live Adventure have appeared online in the past. But a few months ago someone uploaded the most complete version I have ever seen. The video runs over 100 minutes, with only one obvious jump cut in the entire thing. It’s also from a better angle than I’d seen before; dead center in the middle of the orchestra, so you can really appreciate the scope of the production and the intricacy of the fight and dance choreography.
Bear in mind that the video is in Japanese with no subtitles. Still, if you pay attention, you can make sense of what’s happening — at least as much as anyone on Earth could make sense of a stage show that combines Willow and Raiders of the Lost Ark into a single fictional reality.
See for yourself below.
READ MORE: Every Star Wars Film, Ranked From Worst to Best
The most upsetting part is the show the end, when the little girl gets a medal from Admiral Ackbar. Chewbacca didn’t get a metal but the Super Live Adventure audience plant got one?!? I guess she did defeat a Sith Lord but still…
It does not seem as if Lucas himself had much involvement in the development and creation of the Super Live Adventure beyond lending his name and famous characters to it. Still, with “George Lucas” in the title, and Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Willow, and, uh, that one guy from American Graffiti all running around, the show does feel like a glimpse into the famous filmmaker’s mind — if only when he’s got a 104 degree fever and the aspirin hasn’t kicked in yet.
Having this near-complete copy to watch is great, but I it’s still not enough. I want a subtitled version so I can fully appreciate how that young woman goes from sitting in a Japanese theater somewhere to stabbing Darth Vader with a lightsaber. I want an HD print so I can appreciate all the best stunts and bits of stagecraft. I want a commentary track by George Lucas where he gives his unvarnished thoughts on this madness.
Come to think of it: George Lucas has a museum dedicated to narrative art opening soon in Los Angeles. To coin a phrase, this thing belongs in a museum — that one specifically.
More on the History of George Lucas’ Super Live Adventure:
Movies You Never Realized Were Produced by George Lucas
George Lucas has made some of the biggest movies in history — and he’s also produced some films you may not have even realized
