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The coolest Star Wars facts in the galaxy

Originally published on Total Film

March 27, 2023, 7:00 AM

<p> Here are some fantastic Star Wars facts, ranging from those about the major installments, to others touching on the spin-offs.  These are, indeed, the Star Wars facts you have been looking for.  </p> <p> <em>By Total Film staff</em> </p>

<p> You probably know that Harrison Ford broke his ankle on the set of The Force Awakens in 2014, after one of the Falcon's hydraulic doors slammed down on his leg. What you perhaps didn't know is that JJ Abrams broke his back... while trying to rescue Ford. According to Vanity Fair, the director attempted to lift the door off Ford's ankle when he heard a 'popping sound'. A few days later he visited the doctor and was told he'd actually broken his back. A trooper to the end, Abrams never told the cast and crew, and returned to work wearing a back brace… </p>

<p> Rogue One’s naming has a curious history, and remains the only Star Wars movie where the title of the film is actually spoken as a line of dialogue. One of the alternative titles of the movie was Dark Times, but that was rejected shortly into pre-production. And there was an opening crawl to the movie, but it was never used.  </p> <p> “Rogue One is a military call sign to some extent,” said director Gareth Edwards at the time, but he also acknowledged that it was the first Star Wars movie “that’s gone off-piste and is not part of the saga – or the Anakin story." So yup, that's why it's the "rogue" one.  </p>

<p> Remember the scene from The Force Awakens, where Rey uses the force to free herself from Kylo Ren's interrogation chair? Daniel Craig (yes, James Bond) is the Stormtrooper who lets her out. Speaking in an interview during July 2015, he said: “Why would I ever bother doing something like that? F------ hell! Pffft. Play an extra in another movie?” but it was none other than Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg who let the cat out of the bad, telling the Sun “I wasn’t a stormtrooper. Daniel Craig, he was a stormtrooper,” before adding: “I shouldn’t have said that.” </p>

<p> Shove a lightsaber in any grown man's hands and they're immediately transformed into a giddy kid. Even Ewan McGregor's not immune: during the lightsaber duels in The Phantom Menace, he kept unconsciously imitating the noise of the lightsaber during his fight scenes, even though George Lucas kept reminding him that the real sound would be added in by the special effects team in post-production. "I keep getting carried away," he said, blaming a life-long and unconscious habit forged by all the pretend lightsaber duels he had as a child. McGregor wasn't the only one, either. Apparently, Hayden Christensen kept doing the same… </p>

<p> During filming on Return of the Jedi, the film went under the working title of Blue Harvest in order to keep curious fans from attempting to get on-set or guess what the story could've been about (a title that was, of course, later used in Family Guys loving spoof). Meanwhile, the working title for Episode 2 was - believe it or not - Jar Jar's Big Adventure, which would certainly have put many fans off attempting to infiltrate the film's production, let's face it. The Last Jedi went under the working title 'Space Bears', and Rogue One was called 'Los Alamos'. </p>

<p> Kylo Ren’s lightsaber - with the two hand-guards poking out of the side - is an ancient design, not a modern modification, and is said to have been made sometime around 34 ABY. These features are known as quillions, a real-life word that's used to describe the crossguard on a sword. Apparently, they poke out of Kylo Ren's handle as a result of a cracked Kyber crystal housed inside. Barely able to contain the weapon's power, the lateral vents divert heat to either side of the hilt, and it's those that give the lightsaber its unique appearance. As you may remember, it was hugely publicised in the lead up to The Force Awakens. </p>

<p> Peter Mayhew was working as an orderly at a hospital in Yorkshire when he was cast as Chewbacca in A New Hope. According to Star Wars legend, Lucas knew he was perfect within 10 seconds of meeting the Englishman, mostly because he was 7'2" (so it appears that sometimes, size does matter). As for the word Wookiee, the name came about after Terry McGovern did some voiceover work on THD 1138, in which he said: "I think I ran over a Wookie back there". Lucky for us, Lucas liked the made-up word so much he noted it down for later use. </p>

<p> Steven Spielberg was George Lucas' first choice to direct Return of the Jedi. However, because Spielberg was part of the Directors Guild (which Lucas had left on bad terms), Spielberg was forbidden from taking the gig. Years later, though, The Beard did end up helping on Episode 3. When Lucas realised how massive the film was going to be, he asked Spielberg to help him with certain sequences, including the epic lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Rumours reckon Spielberg went on to make War of the Worlds having gained invaluable experience with modern day visual effects. </p>

<p> By the time Episode 3 rolled around, Lucas had become so reliant on digital effects that the film contains over 2,200 digital effects shots. That might not sound a lot, but to put it into context, that was more than the combined total of special effects contained in Episodes 1 and 2. By contrast, A New Hope had just 350 visual effects shots. Somewhat ironically, despite all the effects in Episode 3, it was the only Star Wars film not to receive an Oscar nomination in the Best Visual Effects department. Sadly, that dubious honour has now gone to Rogue One, too. </p>

<p> There's not a single live-action clone in Revenge of the Sith. No, really. They were all created using CGI, meaning that not a single clone helmet or costume was physically created for the threequel - every single one was artificially made via CGI. We can't decide if that saved a lot of money or cost a lot of money, but either way, it means if you see a helmet pop up on eBay, it's a fake... </p> <p> Ironically, for The Force Awakens, the blasters fired by the First Order troopers were based on compressed air guns, so they actually packed a real punch when fired. So, no fakery there. </p>

<p> The droid factory sequence in Episode 2 wasn't in the film's original script: it was added later by George Lucas. Speaking of droids, Lucas original idea for R2-D2 came after he saw Silent Running and its trio of drones (Huey, Dewey and Louie). The likeness of R2-D2 and the drones prompted a lawsuit from Universal Studios, which was retracted when Fox countersued, noting the similarities between Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars. Sadly, The Force Awakens was the first movie that didn't feature original actor Kenny Baker as R2... although he is in the movie's credits as an R2-D2 consultant. </p>

<p> Harrison Ford coined a phrase that stuck when he found himself struggling with Lucas's dialogue on A New Hope. Frustrated, he raged: "George, you can type this s---, but you can't say it!" It's a quote that's been attributed to both Ford and Carrie Fisher. Though we could buy either of them saying it, according to Anthony Daniels, it was Ford who voiced what everybody was feeling on set. Proving that she could also be a quip machine, Fisher joked about having her breasts taped down under her costume: as we all know, there is no underwear in space. </p>

<p> The asteroid sequence in The Empire Strikes Back is legendary for its special effects stories. Over the years we've heard a whole host of stories leaking out from numerous SFX crew members, including rumours that one of the asteroids in the sequence is actually a shoe, while another is a potato. The shoe was reportedly chucked in when one of the SFX animators became really annoyed by Lucas' continuous requests to make adjustments to the sequence… </p> <p> "I was always trying to stick stuff into shots,” said Ken Ralston in a 2003 interview with  Star Wars insider. “Jedi has my tennis shoes and also a yogurt container as part of the ships in the background! Who would know? It’s like there’s all this stuff going on – and I thought, ‘Hey, it’d be fun.’ It was my way of just saying, ‘See what you can get away with?’ Some people noodle this stuff so much, fretting about it, but it’s like, you know, you can’t tell what this stuff is – just stick it out there!” </p>

<p> During scripting of A New Hope, the Force was originally envisioned as a kind of galactic holy grail called - wait for it - the Kyber crystal. We now know that Kyber crystals are the rare components at the heart of a Jedi's lightsaber, and Rogue One deals with the mining of them to form the heart of the Deathstar's giant laser. That wasn't the only thing that changed during pre-production. While the Force became more of an energy, Luke and his relatives were originally imagined as dwarves, while Han Solo was going to be a green-skinned monster who had a set of gills and no nose. </p>

<p> Though he was originally envisioned as some kind of Swamp Thing (we really weren't kidding about the green skin and gills thing, we swear), Han Solo was later reimagined by Lucas to be a person of colour, which prompted him to audition the likes of Glynn Turman and Billy Dee Williams. After a change of heart, Lucas auditioned everybody from Jack Nicholson and Nick Nolte to Christopher Walken, before finally settling on Harrison Ford. </p>

<p> The flags hanging outside Maz Kanata’s castle in The Force Awakens contain a host of iconic symbols, and eagle-eyed fans have spotted Ziro the Hutt’s Black Sun tattoo, Boba Fett’s Mythosaur skull, and Hondo Ohnaka’s pirate symbol. </p> <p> Less known, however, is the icon on the flag depicting the 501st Legion (and the Legion itself). Whilst a reference to the Clone War regiment known as Vader's Fist who fought the Jedi Order, it's also the name of an international fan organisation that prides itself on re-creating and wearing a host of Star Wars replica items, including screen-accurate Clone Troopers, Imperial Stormtrooper armour, Sith Lords, the bounty hunters, and, naturally, a range of heroes and villains. </p>

<p> It seems sound editor Ben Burtt's genius knows no bounds. He turned to numerous unusual sources to create the many (and we mean MANY) sound effects that he needed for Star Wars, many of which have now become as iconic as the story and visuals themselves. Chewbacca's growls, for instance, were a mix-tape of various large mammals (mostly bears), while R2-D2's signature whistles are actually baby sounds manipulated to sound electronic. Meanwhile, the lightsaber sound effect was achieved by combining the sound of a movie projector with the feedback made by holding a stripped cable by a TV set. Amazing, right? </p>

<p> A pop version of the original Star Wars theme that appeared in original A New Hope was remixed and released by Meco, the brain behind the disco version that included some of the Cantina Band song. In a sure sign of the film's sky-rocketing success, the song climbed to the number one spot on the Billboard Pop Chart in October 1977 and stayed there for two weeks, much to fans' delight. Time for a reissue, we say - maybe it could secure a spot as Christmas number one, anyone? We'd love this to pop up on our Spotify party playlist... </p>

<p> If Yoda looked familiar the first time you saw him (in The Empire Strikes Back), it's probably because part of his likeness was based on eminent scientist, Albert Einstein - in particular, his wise eyes. The puppet was so lifelike, in fact, that director Irvin Kershner often gave it directions instead of puppeteer Frank Oz. Interestingly, Oz only landed the job when original choice Jim Henson turned it down and recommended the puppeteer. Lucas was so impressed with Oz's work that he lobbied for him to receive an Oscar nomination. Sadly, it wasn't to be. </p>

<p> The saga's most-repeated line is: "I have a bad feeling about this". It originated in Episode 4 (uttered by Luke), before being repeated by Han Solo in the same movie, then Leia in Episode 5, and C3-PO in Episode 6. The prequels continued the trend with Obi-Wan saying it in Episode 1 and Episode 3, and Anakin in Episode II. Han picked up the line once again in The Force Awakens when the Rathtars are set loose on the Millennium Falcon. In Rogue One, it becomes a joke, when K-2SO gets half way through the line and Jyn tells him "Quiet". </p>

<p> During production of A New Hope, Lucas and his team constantly butted heads with the studio's cleaners, who kept cleaning up the sets, despite continuous requests to leave the environmental props alone. It was particularly annoying for Lucas, who wanted his sets to look dirty and lived in, contributing to the movie it's authenticity. Inspired by Gerry Anderson's work on Thunderbirds, Lucas attempted to dirty up everything that would go on camera. Very little escaped abuse to achieve the effect Lucas wanted; even the R2-D2 models were not exempt, as they, in particular, were often kicked around and rolled in dirt. </p>

<p> The budget on A New Hope was so limited that when it came to location shooting, Lucas and his cast and crew decided to fly to England from the States in economy class rather than turn left when they got on the plane. When Carrie Fisher's mother, Debbie Reynolds, discovered this, she was horrified, and called Lucas to express her disdain. Luckily, Fisher herself was nearby and took the phone from Lucas to say: "Mother, I want to fly coach, will you f--- off?!" Which is something we can all imagine Princess Leia saying, too, right? </p>

<p> Though we'd already seen examples of Yoda's formidable power in The Empire Strikes Back, Episode 2 was the first time the little green fella wielded a lightsaber - something the puppet had trouble with previously, as you might well imagine. During rehearsals of Yoda's fight with Count Dooku, a small Yoda model was put in place for Christopher Lee to use as a reference… although this particular Yoda model had been given a pair of vampire fangs as a joke about Lee's historic role as Dracula. How Lee was able to take it seriously after that, we have no idea... </p>

<p> Ever been in the shower and thought that the communicator used by Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) in The Phantom Menace looked sort of familiar? That's probably because it's actually a Sensor Excel Razor for women, only resprayed, redecorated and with a couple of solder lugs and gadgets glue on to give it an even glossier sci-fi sheen. So the next time you're cosplaying Jinn and looking for inspiration when pulling together your costume, there's no need to visit a fancy craft shops - just head to the razor aisle in your local supermarket and job done. You're welcome. </p>

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