The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980, a time long before today’s norms where you can wait a few months for any film in theaters to make it to streaming. So it was not uncommon to go back and see a film in the theater again.
Alas, unbeknownst to us young Star Wars fans, Empire had an additional enticement for cinema-goers in the UK, Australia, and Scandinavia. George Lucas liked the idea of playing a short film before the feature and art director Roger Christian supplied that film. It’s something our dad would have absolutely taken us back to the theater to see had that been an option (and I’m sure he would have liked a newsreel and a cartoon to complete the experience).
In any case, I hope you find this a special treat on May the Fourth. Between the gorgeous cinematography by Roger Pratt and Trevor Jones’ score, you may get some Excalibur vibes.