LUKE Skywalker’s severed hand and lightsaber from his epic fight with Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back has sold for a record-breaking £2.7m at auction.
The prop was used in the famous scene where tells Skywalker he is his father in the 1980 hit movie.
Luke Skywalker’s severed hand and lightsaber have sold for a record-breaking sum at auction Credit: Alamy
Vader cuts off the young Jedi’s hand and it falls into the abyss still clutching his lightsaber Credit: ACN / Heritage Auctions
As they battle in Cloud City with , Vader cuts off the young Jedi’s hand and it falls into the abyss still clutching his lightsaber in one of the most iconic movie moments ever.
The hand was created from a resin cast of ‘s hand by a team led by Academy award winning make up artist Stuart Freeborn.
The rig consists of a resin-cast wrist section concealed beneath actor Mark Hamill’s costume sleeve and a separate resin severed hand fitted to the lightsaber hilt.
During filming, Hamill would grip the concealed wrist mechanism while a spring-loaded trigger released the hand-and-lightsaber assembly at the precise moment required for the effect – all achieved entirely in-camera without digital enhancement.
The hand was created from a resin cast of Mark Hamill’s hand by a team led by Academy award winning make up artist Stuart Freeborn Credit: TNI Press
The moment Vader severs Skywalker’s hand as the pair duel Credit: ACN / Heritage Auctions
With the hand and wrist assembly attached, the complete rig measures 14″ x 9″.
It suffered paint loss to the black metal handle, along with surface cracking to the resin hand and wrist shaft.
Heritage Auctions, in Dallas, , said: “Offered here is the original screen-used Luke Skywalker lightsaber seen during the climactic Cloud City duel between Luke and Darth Vader, culminating in one of the most shocking and influential moments in motion picture history.
“The confrontation atop Bespin’s reactor shaft irrevocably altered the trajectory of the narrative and delivered an image forever etched into popular culture: Luke’s severed hand, still clutching his lightsaber, disappearing into the abyss below.
“This extraordinary artifact remains the very lightsaber wielded by Luke Skywalker in that legendary sequence – a tangible relic from the precise cinematic moment when Star Wars transcended blockbuster entertainment and entered modern mythology.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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