Let me put it out there that I am a huge Star Wars fan. I'm talking way back to the original trilogy. I make that distinction because I know a lot of Star Wars fans who started with the prequels. No disrespect to those fans, but I'm just saying that I go way back.
If you don't like Star Wars, I don't want to talk to you. There's a lot you could do to me that wouldn't make me upset, including hitting me with your car, but saying you don't like Star Wars isn't one of them. My heart is all Star Wars love - even the stuff no one likes (Jar Jar).
These rare Star Wars photos will make even the biggest hater feel the love for this amazing franchise. How could you not when you see what goes into making the creatures and spaceships we all know as iconic. And yes, there will be some photos of Leia in a gold bikini.
The creations in Star Wars are a culmination of dozens if not hundreds of people's work, but I don't think there's anyone who would disagree with calling them George Lucas' creations simply because if it weren't for him, none of it would have ever been possible. No one would have had the courage to create these iconic designs and bring them to life if it weren't for George paving the way, despite everyone telling him it was a bad idea. That's why we can call George Lucas the father of Star Wars, even though many have contributed to its success.
It's eerie to see all those creations surrounding him. It's like they're swallowing him, which is a metaphor for what Star Wars has done for his life. Even after he's sold the rights to Disney, he's still surrounded by his creations.
It's wild to think that they actually created a life size Millenium Falcon. If they can do that, why not put a couple of rockets in it and make the thing actually fly? I'd go into blistering debt for the chance to ride a Millenium Falcon around town. I can't imagine it's the easiest thing to pilot, especially since the cockpit is all the way to the right. The British or Japanese might have an easier time driving it since that's how their cars are.
I went to the red carpet premiere of Solo (yes, I'm bragging), and they had a life size Millenium Falcon that people could walk under. It was made of 20% plastic and 80% cardboard, but it was still really cool. You could feel the energy emanating from it, or maybe I was just standing by a space heater.
Emperor Palpatine is hands down my favorite character in all of Star Wars. The actor who plays him, Ian McDiarmid, is an absolute gem. He's iconic in the role, and I especially love him in Revenge of the Sith. A lot of people hate on that movie (as well as all the prequel trilogies), but you can't deny Palpatine's performance in that movie. He gave us so many quotable lines like, "I am the senate!" and the story of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise.
If you look back at the first time you ever see the Emperor in Star Wars films, he looks totally different than how he looks in later movies. You can barely see his face in the shadows of his cloak, but he definitely looks much more deformed. Go back to A New Hope and see for yourself.
The rancor is a huge creature the size of a building, and that's pretty terrifying. You know what's also terrifying? Any other size of the rancor. If the rancor was the same size as you, still scary. That's no less scary than a werewolf. Hell, more scary. Even if the rancor was the size of a dime, that would be terrifying too. You would always be worried that there was a rancor in your hair. "Ew, I stepped on a rancor."
The rancor was one toy that I never had, but I wish I did. I might have to write a few extra articles so I can go shop for one on Ebay. That is, unless one of my fans would like to send me a rancor. Just speak up in the comments. Don't be afraid. Giving is awesome.
It's hard to believe that the only reason we have some of these iconic creatures and robots is because an actor was willing to be stuck inside the costume for hours. Those costumes are not comfortable. Imagine if I shoved you in a trash can and made you roll around making beeping noises? You probably couldn't pull it off. I mean that you couldn't pull the trash can off. You're too fat. OOOH! Burn! But really, it would be hard to act while inside some of these costumes, so major props needs to be given, even if all the acting you're doing is rolling around.
Thank god for the little people. They definitely need to give more roles to little people, but their stature has made for some iconic roles, like the munchkins in Wizard of Oz, or any short robot/creature in Star Wars.
We were watching Empire Strikes Back scared that Luke was going to fall to his death. Turns out that he would have been just fine. There was a pile of pillows under him the entire time. It's like Darth Vader is trying to put Luke to bed but Luke wants to stay up for one more story. "Come on, Dad. Tell me the story about how you killed those Tusken Raiders." / "Don't forget, son. I killed the women and the children too."
It's amazing how much of that set that they built. That's a serious structure if they can fight on it and have Luke hang onto it. I figured they'd just use paper mache or something like that. All I'm saying is that if you want to redesign your home to feel like Star Wars, it's doable.
It's amazing how big these seem in the movie, yet they are so tiny. What really gets me is the textures. The textures don't feel like you're looking at a zoomed in piece of plastic or plaster. It all feels and looks heavy. People talk about Picasso and other painters as true artists. This to me is worth much more than any painting. People won't look at this as high art because there are lasers and aliens, but this is higher than high art. We don't have a word for that yet, but this is definitely that.
I'm still sore about this kid who asked to borrow my AT-AT for a short film, but then he never brought it back. That could have been part of my collection. Now I have to go and buy a new one.
Nowadays you can just open up iMovie and make this title sequence about as fast as you can type the words. It's supremely easy. That wasn't always the case. We're all spoiled now when it comes to editing in general. Computers let us do things in seconds that used to take hours and required a skilled hand. My two year old nephew could make the Star Wars title sequence right now if he wanted to. That's insane to me.That's why we have to appreciate how Star Wars had to be made. Star Wars forged the way for future filmmakers.
The opening title sequence seems so cliche now, since it's been around for half a century now, but you have to understand that at the time, that title sequence was crazy. No one had experienced anything like that.
Why does it seem that masked men are always picking on Carrie Fisher? Oh, well. She seems to love it, so we're all good. Stormtroopers look like masked villains with no personality, almost like robots, but inside each one of them is a human being yearning for human connection. You can hear it in their voices when they talk to each other. These aren't trained killers. These are just dudes trying to get through the day.
I bet being stationed on the Death Star felt like the best job. "No one is going to kill us while we're stationed here on the main base. This is awesome." Oh, how wrong they were. The Death Star ended up being the absolute worst place to be if you wanted to live. All thanks to Luke Skywalker, that terrorist.
Here we have a great droid by the name of R2-L2. She's a little different than other droids. You have to feed her human food, and sometimes you might hear human sounds coming from inside of her. In fact, you might begin to think that she's just a human in disguise as a droid. You might even begin to think that her outer shell is nothing more than a garbage can, but you would be wrong.
All kidding aside, Carrie Fisher is doing a great R2-D2 impression here. I hope that's a clean trash can though. The kind of trash can that you just throw scripts in or something like that. Not the kind of trash can that you throw old food inside of. That's no place for a princess. Then again, Carrie Fisher was a different kind of princess.
You know you're part of the social elite when you have your own personal hair comber. We're talking about so much money that you can't even be bothered to comb yourself. That's the type of life that Chewbacca is living. Then again, you don't really have a choice when your body is completely covered in hair. That's a lot of time per day spent combing hair. You'd need an assistant. Not to mention all those hard to reach places. Although some of those places might be best combed in private, if you know what I mean.
It's crazy how many jobs there are on a movie set. Someone was paid good money just to make sure Chewbacca's hair stayed nice and fresh. You thought Trump was going to be a job creator? The film industry is the ultimate job creator.
"Hey, Mark, Carrie, and Harrison. The Stormtroopers want to take a photo with you. I know you hate it, but let's just do it." That's what it looks like happened here. Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford were not into it, but Carrie decided to make the most of it, which is very typical of Carrie Fisher. I think you can see in this picture why she was known for being such a delight on set. She could make a dark room turn bright as the sun.
At the time this probably seemed like a photo just like any other these people might have taken. But for fans, this is a special moment to see. We probably all have pictures that are like this (sans the Storm Troopers), but ours don't carry the weight that this photo does. Star Wars truly is something special.
Look at Darth Maul's tan lines! He needs to get his arms as dark as his face or else he's going to look foolish when he goes to the beach. Can you imagine if they made him paint his whole body though? "I know we don't see your body, but we want you to feel more like the character so that we get a very honest performance." One hundred and twenty degree heat in full make up? No thanks!
Darth Maul is one of my favorite characters. Many people don't realize that he's not dead. Although he gets cut in half during The Phantom Menace, the series The Clone Wars tells the story of how he survived being cut in half by drawing upon the dark side. Eventually he got robot legs and tried to exact revenge on the Emperor for using him as a pawn.
Yoda is such a life like creature that this just looks disturbing. Even though we know Yoda is a puppet, he feels so real. It's not even that he looks one hundred percent realistic. It's just the overall humanity that Frank Oz gives the character through his voice acting and puppet work. That's why I don't like the sight of a big hand up Yoda's butt controlling him. Even though we know it's real, I'm not ready for it.
I have several Yoda figures which all look incredibly different. My favorite Yoda figure, even if it isn't my favorite Yoda, is the Episode 1 original Yoda. That's the one who is infamous for saying "how feel you?" He looks like an old man, even though it's supposed to be decades before when we originally saw him. I don't know why, but I think that's cool.
If you weren't super familiar with Star Wars and lacked an encyclopedic knowledge of all the character and actors, you might think this is just an interesting picture. All Star Wars relation aside, this is an interesting picture. You've got a little person and a normal-size person riding a motorcycle together. That's going to turn some heads. A keen Star Wars viewer, however, would notice that that is R2-D2 and C3PO riding together.
If they made an opposite version of Star Wars where all the humans were droids and all the droids were human, this is how C3PO and R2-D2 would look. They'd still need some kind of rolling contraption to feel like them, so a miniature motorcycle is perfect. I'd love to see a movie like that, but can you imagine how much it would cost? That's way too many droids to build.
Imagine if during this epic battle there were actually people on the Death Star watching like those guys in the background. Just some random crew members or something. They'd be like, "should we do something about this?" / "Nah, man. That's Darth Vader. He's got this." / "It looks like he's losing though." / "Don't let him hear you say that. He'll kill you." Could you blame them for not wanting to intervene? Those are just normal dudes, not Jedi or Sith.
It looks like Darth Vader is just lounging there. I guess I'd be lounging too if I had a thirty pound helmet on my head. None of the costumes in Star Wars seem very comfortable or easy to be in. In Star Wars lore it is said that Darth Vader's costume is meant to constantly hurt him so he can feel more pain and draw on the dark side.
The Sarlacc Pit is a deep pit with teeth covering the inside of it. What we're looking at is a deep pit with teeth covering it. Somehow by making a fake Sarlacc Pit, you end up making something nearly as deadly as a real Sarlacc Pit. That's not true for the other things in Star Wars, like an AT-AT or a lightsaber. If you fell into this fake Sarlacc Pit, you'll get just as hurt as if it were real. The only upside is that you wouldn't be digested for a thousand years. That's definitely a plus.
We're so used to seeing CGI creations that it's hard to believe that some of the things we see in movies actually exist. You could reach out and touch them if you were on set, or in this case, fall into them and break both of your legs.
I've said something similar to this before, but it's amazing how many of these creatures and contraptions were actually built. These are real schematics for building R2-D2. This is the thing that would have needed to exist in the real Star Wars universe. Someone would have gone through all the same steps that the visual effects team went through to create R2-D2. Of course the Star Wars universe would have a could of extra steps, like building the working inside instead of a hollow base for a little person to climb inside of.
There's an actual R2-D2 that you can build piece by piece that I saw while I was in the UK. It's not a simple recreation. It's very detailed. I think there are at least 12 packs of pieces which require not only model-making skills, but electrical skills as well. Very cool stuff.
Say hello to one part of the real Darth Vader. He's one part white man, and another part black man. If anyone can save America's racial divide, it's Darth Vader. James Earl Jones voiced him, and then David Prowse was the body. If they can coexist, why can't white and black America? Maybe it's because we have a Darth Vader in the White House. I think that might have to do with some of the divide. Yikes. We're getting political. Time to move on!
I wonder what it's like to be one of the Star Wars actors whose face no one has seen. Those people are just as famous as everyone else in the Star Wars universe, but they can at least walk around without getting swarmed by people. It's like being a hidden celebrity.
I used to work on film sets, mostly in the art department, though none of the movies I worked on were as demanding on the art department as Star Wars is. I had plenty of time to nap. Sets are full of nap times. There's so much down time and long hours that you need to learn how to sleep anywhere and everywhere if you're going to stay sane. Learn how to sleep sitting up and you pretty much have a filmmaking super power.
It's a little hard to see a picture like this of Carrie Fisher. It's just her vulnerably taking a nap. It's so peaceful and so human. It reminds me of the great loss that her death brought us, but then I remember all the joy she brought to the world. RIP Carrie. We love you.
If a Wookie wants to steal your girl, a Wookie is going to steal your girl. That's just the fact of the matter. We know that a Wookie can rip your arms off with one pull. Imagine what else they could rip off. I'd rather keep all my parts and go find a girl in another galaxy. One where I don't have to compete with Wookies for ladies. I stand no chance. All Wookies are at least 6'5", and we know that ladies love tall men.
I bet Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) cuddled up with all the ladies on set. Why wouldn't you want to cuddle up with a big hairy beast like that. He must be so cuddly. I'd even be jumping into his arms whenever I had the chance. We talked about napping on set. Well, I think I found the perfect on set napping spot: Chewie's arms.
Have you ever left a piece of metal in a hot car and it turned into a searing piece of metal? Now imagine being in a suit of metal as it slowly heats up to a searing heat. That's what C3PO had to go through in that suit. I can feel for him. They have a little standing gurney set up for him just so he won't fall down and pass out. "Guys, if I fall, I'm not getting back up."
This is what the characters at your favorite amusement park have to go through every day. It might not be as hot as the desert, but it might as well be inside of one of those giant costumes. Next time you're letting your kid tug on Mickey and chase him around, remember that there's a person inside that costume who is dying a slow and painful death.
Right now I could download an app, take a video, and put multiple explosions in it with the click of my finger. It's that easy with computer. Back in the 70s it wasn't so easy. If you wanted an explosion, you had to explode things. That's just how it went. There was no safety behind computer code. These were real camera men pointing expensive cameras at real explosions. Star Wars is a movie with a lot of explosions, so it could not have been easy or safe to shoot.
I worked on a movie that used explosives to explode some toilets and it took about six hours to get the shot. It took so long because there were so many precautions that had to be taken. I can tell you one thing, they didn't let the camera anywhere near as close as Star Wars did.
It's funny that we'll look at the creatures in Star Wars and think how special they are. Whether it's a small little slug-like thing or a huge creature like a bantha, they seem so otherworldly and special. What's the real difference between an elephant and a bantha though? Apparently there's not much of a difference since they used elephants for Banthas. Monkeys and apes aren't that different from some of the cool creatures in Star Wars either. What I'm trying to say is that maybe the alien world we need to discover is the one in our own backyards.
There are some animals that are so weird that I bet if you put them in a Star Wars movie people would think they were made up. Just look at any of the weird deep sea creatures they discover every years. Those things are straight from space.
This looks like George Lucas sitting on Santa's lap. "What do you want for Christmas, George?" / "A million dollar franchise." George Lucas got his wish. Star Wars just keeps making money. Hell, I keep spending money on Star Wars stuff. Whether it's new stuff or old stuff, I buy it. It's becoming a real problem. I don't even have anywhere to display all the stuff I have. All the while I just keep making George Lucas richer and richer. You're welcome, George. I expect a Christmas card this year.
At the time, I don't know if George knew Star Wars would be as big as it is now. I think he always believed in it, but when you believe in something you don't necessarily see that thing still being culturally relevant over half a century later.
Here's a gift for you Boba Fett cosplayers. We saw that R2-D2 blueprint earlier. This is the Boba Fett blueprint. Some of these pieces are easier to get than others, but I never said I'd build the suit for you. I can only show you the parts to use. They say that women take a long time to get ready. Can you imagine waiting for Boba Fett to get ready? He's got a lot of pieces to deal with. You're probably looking at forty five minutes of prep time. At least Boba doesn't have to do his hair and makeup.
People get mad at the new Star Wars movies for introducing cool character that don't end up doing much, like Captain Phasma, but how is that different than Boba Fett? We still love Boba Fett even though he didn't do anything cool.
C3PO had one demand: make sure I have a straw hole inside of my mask. It's just supposed to be a costume, not a torture device, so I hope they not only had a straw hole but they also had a pee and poo hole. I'm not saying that's the best way to use the restroom, but it's better than holding it in when you really have to go. Just hose the costume down at the end of the day and you're fine.
This reminds me of when I played Santa and delivered presents to sick kids. I had to wear a glued on beard which didn't allow me to drink anything. We didn't have any straws on hand so I just slowly died as the night went on. This was a California Christmas, so it's not like it was cold. I think it was still about eighty degrees.
This is a much better situation to sign autographs in than any other I've ever seen. Usually the celebrity gets so overcrowded with people desperate to shove their piece of memorable in that it can seem claustrophobic. With a fence in between them it's really not so bad. Maybe celebrities should walk around with a small fence around them so people can't overcrowd them. You just have to hope that crazy fans don't start climbing the fence to get inside with you. A signing session turns into a cage match.
Nowadays Star Wars is so big that they have to hide where they're filming so that people don't come swarming the set. Things were a little more manageable in these early days, but you can still see how popular Mark Hamill was even before all three original movies had come out.
Here are more brave men who had to wear very uncomfortable costumes to create an iconic scene in Star Wars. This the Mos Eisley cantina crew chilling without their masks on. I wonder if they all felt a kinship together since they had to go through the same thing in the same scene. They should go to a bar every year and hang out to commemorate. That's what I'd want to do if I were them, though I'd leave the costume at home.
These were the types of characters whose figures I wanted as a kid. A lot of people felt that way because these characters didn't have any huge backstories. As children, we could imagine and play out their backstories, unlike some of the main characters who already had their history set in stone, or should I say holodeck.
This picture is very subtle in the way that it shows us the metaphorical strings behind this Star Wars creature, but when you see it you automatically think, "so that's how they made this creature." While watching the movie you never once stop to think about how the creatures move or how big they are in reality, which is a testament to the realism of Star Wars. Now that I've seen this, all I can imagine is some guy holding this big worm and wriggling it around.
I think that there is no better way to make a sci-fi/fantasy movie than with miniatures. As good as computer effects are, they don't look as good as practical effects. A lot of the effects in Star Wars still hold up today. The only effects that don't stand the test of time are the CGI effects. That should tell you something.
Warwick Davis is the actor who played Wicket in The Return of the Jedi, but he's also been in many other Star Wars movies. It's kind of like the phrase, "I have a bad feeling about this," when it comes to Star Wars movies. You have to have that phrase in a Star Wars movie, and you have to have Warwick Davis play a role in a Star Wars movie. Those are the two requirements for every Star Wars movie. It doesn't even have to be about the Jedi, but it does have to have those two things.
If you're thinking that the name Warwick Davis is familiar, you probably have heard is name in reference to the fantasy film, Willow. He plays the titular character, Willow. It's a great fantasy movie, considered a classic among fans.
After seeing this photo I can't help but always imagine George Lucas flying behind every Star Destroyer as if he were some kind of ghostly power behind them. In a way, he is the ghostly power behind all Star Wars creations, so it's not that far off. He's looming over that Star Destroyer like he's Darth Vader, isn't he? It's hard not to see him as some kind of evil overlord. He wields so much power being the creator of the Star Wars universe, but he also possesses so much good. He's kind of like his own creations of the Jedi and Sith.
That might be a miniature, but that Star Destroyer still is massive. It has to be considering there are other miniatures that have to fly around it. If they made it too small then the X-Wings would need to be the size of gnats.
If you were in line for this signing and were smart enough to keep your signed item in good condition, you might have some retirement money in your back pocket. At the time I'm sure this felt very special, but looking at it years later it feels even more special. The fact that we'll never get these three in the same room together again is heartbreaking, but this photo reminds us of those magical times, and serves as a reminder to cherish our heroes who are still alive today.
Rumor is that Harrison Ford hated being Han Solo because that's all he'd ever be. So what does he do to combat that? He becomes Indiana Jones. Good going, Harrison Ford. You're now two iconic characters. I guess he just can't help but play iconic roles, but how come no one talks about his character in the movie Firewall?
I wonder where those scripts are today. Maybe they were shredded, maybe both actors kept theirs, or maybe some lucky fan has them framed on their wall. I would love the chance just to hold them and read them. I'm a screenwriter (with credits, but we won't get into that), and there's something special about holding and reading a script. It's different than reading it off of an ipad. When you hold it in your hands, it feels like a piece of art. Maybe that doesn't make sense to you non-writers, but it's how us writers feel. That's why I print out every article I write for this website.
Not many people know that Carrie Fisher was a noted script doctor and screenwriter. A script doctor is someone they hire to make screenplays better. She even helped write some scenes in The Last Jedi. The lady knew her stuff.
If you aren't aware of the "Han shot first" argument in Star Wars, then you're not a real fan. The argument is about whether Greedo or Han shot first. If Han shot first, it means that he's a killer. If he shot in response to Greedo, then it means he's just a man who skirts the law to defend himself. People didn't want to see Han Solo as a ruthless killer. Too bad. Han shot first. It's official. In the new movie, Solo, we discover why Han would have shot first. I'm not going to spoil it any more than that in case you haven't seen it. If you're reading this and enjoying yourself, go see Solo.
Anyone else notice Greedo's footwear? I didn't know Greedo was female. That's an interesting choice. Also an interesting choice of footwear for a desert planet. I'd avoid anything with a heel while on Tatooine.
I would love to have one of those in my living room. It looks like it should smell really bad, but I'm sure it doesn't. That's a credit to the special effects team who built it. The fact that it looks like it's been rolling around in dirt all of its life is a testament to the realism. It helps that this guy is holding the tauntaun like it's the love of his life. It's like I can feel the love between them. The tauntaun is like, "now, cut me open and get inside me."
My dream is to have an emu and llama farm. My plan is to dress the llamas up as tauntauns, just like the elephant we saw in the earlier slide. I could charge people to take photos. Ten dollars a photo, and one hundred thousand dollars if you want to cut it open and crawl inside.
Here's one of those famous on set naps that I was telling you about. I bet it's way easier for a little person to find a good place to nap on set than it is for someone of normal size. Sure, many other things are harder for them, but you can curl up and get cozy nearly anywhere, so it's a trade off. Warwick Davis looks so young in this picture. It brings a tear to my eye. Oh, how time passes.
A common thing to do to people who are napping on set is to prank them. Imagine the crew of the Jackass movie. They were doing the craziest pranks to each other. The only solace was that those pranks would be part of the movie too. At least the prank wouldn't go in vain.
Here's the most important part of Boba Fett's life: his death (?). I put a question mark because many still hold out hope that Boba Fett is still alive. There's some evidence out there, but we have yet to see. My question is, why? Maybe he was nothing more than what he was. He's the Captain Phasma of the original trilogy, and that's OK. She's dead. He's dead.
I know a lot of the Boba Fett fans will get upset about that. I'm not saying that Boba Fett isn't cool, but by not accepting that he didn't end up doing much on screen, you're not accepting reality. The prequels took all the mystery out of Boba Fett in my opinion. Now all I can think of Boba Fett as is that little kid in the prequel movies who played him.
I have a hard time building a Millenium Falcon model kit. I wouldn't even know where to start building the real life thing. Seeing it a quarter of the way built like this makes it pretty apparent how much detail went into building it. Not only did it need to look cool, it needed to be able to support the weight of the actors, have hatches open up, and fit cameras/lights inside. That takes a certain level of genius to plan and accomplish.
In the new Solo movie, the Millenium Falcon has an added piece on the front which is an escape hatch. Han ends up blasting it off the ship and never replaces it, explaining the empty spot in the front when we see it in A New Hope. Who knows what kind of trouble they could have gotten out of if he just would have replaced that hatch.
Before Anakin Skywalker fully became Darth Vader, he transformed into Darth Crispy. This is exactly what will happen to you if you don't take the high ground. Obi Wan would warn that you must always take the high ground. If Anakin would have listened, maybe Hayden Christensen wouldn't have had to suffer eight hours in a makeup chair to look like this. The only thing more uncomfortable than putting all that makeup on is actually getting burned.
If you didn't like Hayden Christensen's portrayal of Anakin Skywalker, but you'd like to see more Anakin, you should watch The Clone Wars series. A lot of it is about Anakin Skywalker and helps explain the events leading up to Revenge of the Sith. It's far more humanizing than the way they treat him in the movie prequels, so I'd definitely suggest it if you felt that Anakin was portrayed poorly.
I can't tell you how excited I was for Episode 7, The Force Awakens. I watched the trailers hundreds of times and got chills every single time. By now we've had several Star Wars movies since then, but before that there was a huge gap in Star Wars films. The anticipation was electric. I loved everything they did with Episode 7. It felt excited, fresh, and like an instant classic all at the same time.
This is a table read of Episode 7, which must have been insane to be a part of. I can't imagine experiencing the movie like this. I'd pay to see it read again, but I'm sure nothing can match the magic of them all reading it together for the first time. That's something special that was only possible because of the years of legacy built before it.
To put this in perspective, this is like seeing a picture of shirtless Ryan Gosling. Harrison Ford was a huge sex symbol at the time. I'm not sure that he still isn't a sex symbol. He might be old, but Harrison Ford can still get it.
There was a big joke in the Star Wars community about The Last jedi. There's a shirtless Ben Solo scene where his pectoral muscles are absolutely massive. I mean massive as in wide like two big chunks of cement. People started calling him Ben Swolo, because he was so swole. That's what I love about the Star Wars community. There are hundreds of inside jokes and memes about it. Some of them are generally funny, and others are so obscure that only the hardcore fans would get them. I love the obscure ones.
How could these guys resist walking around in slow motion making monster noises while hanging out around this set? Anytime I'm around miniatures I just want to pretend like I'm a giant or a monster. I would have loved to play one of the monster in Power Rangers. Wearing one of those costumes while smashing cardboard skyscrapers would be awesome.
Go back and watch this scene from The Empire Strikes Back and it's amazing that it was done with miniatures. I'm not saying it looks so realistic that I actually believe in tauntauns now, but it looks really good. It doesn't take you out of the action at any point. I can't say the same for some other movie effects, including some in the Star Wars movies (the Jabba the Hutt scene in A New Hope).
Be careful, Chewie. The #MeToo movement is going to strike you too, buddy. You can't be acting that way on set towards the women. You should know better. Weren't the Wookies enslaved and subjugated? Chewbacca should know better than this. I would give him a stern warning, but Wookies are known to rip people's arms off if you get them mad. I' just kidding though. She looks to be having a good time. We don't need to lock Chewbacca up with Harvey Weinstein unless it's to rip off Harvey's arms.
What is it about being in costume that lets you get away with anything you want. If one of the normal male actors was doing this it would probably be awkward and violating, but since the dude in the costume looks like a hairy creature, no one bats an eye. That's still a grown man in there!
Do you remember that movie Weekend at Bernie's? It's about two guys who go spend a weekend at their bosses, but he dies so they have to pretend like he's alive so they don't look guilty. That's what might have happened here with C3PO. The actor died of heat exhaustion inside so they just left him in there and had to pretend like everything was fine so the movie wouldn't shut down. "Does he need water?" / "No. He's OK." / "Why are there flies coming out of his breathing hole?"
We already saw from a previous slide that C3PO needed a standing gurney to get rest, so I can see why he would need help walking. Imagine how much the corners of the suit are pinching him. He had to worry about that every time he moved his arms. I get chills just thinking about it.
Once again I'm in awe of the craftsmanship at work here. Try to tell me that you watch Star Wars and think, "well that looks like a piece of wood hand painted blue." You don't. You think that there's really a metal robot rolling around. It's incredible to see a picture like this because it helps snap you back to reality in a good way. It reminds you of all the incredibly talented artists who work on not only Star Wars, but all movies. It's not all about the actors and directors. The crew is just as important.
One of my favorite things about Star Wars is all the backgrounds that were giant mural paintings. I like to point them out every time I watch Star Wars. No one else that I watch it with likes that, but I do, so I do it.
The Slave Leia costume is one of the most iconic Star Wars costumes simply because it's the sexiest. There aren't a ton of sexy Star Wars costumes, so you better bet that the nerds are going to focus on the one bikini in the whole series. Nerds can picture themselves as Jabba the Hutt, chaining a girl up because it's the only way they could get a date. It's ultimate wish fulfillment.
What's better than one slave Leia? Two slave Leias. This must be her and her stunt double doing some sunbathing on the Tatooine desert. They needed a stunt double in case the Jabba the Hutt puppet went crazy and ended up going on a killing spree. You can never be too careful with those puppets, especially if they are the size of a Uhaul truck.
Let's not forget about the horrifying truth that Luke's aunt and uncle were burned alive in search of C3PO and R2D2. Luke came home to that. That's traumatizing. He had zero time to process that. A few days later he was in an X-wing trying to take down the Death Star. Life is funny that way. One day you're moisture farming with your aunt and uncle, the next minute you're killing thousands of people in a terrorist attack.
Have you heard that argument? The argument is that when Luke destroys the Death Star it's very similar to a terrorist attack. There were thousands of people on board, many of them being non-military personnel. That turns the whole story on its head, doesn't it? You could argue that even if that's true it was for the greater good, but still. What about all the janitors?
I'm going to send this photo to a home designer and tell them to use this as the design. We know it can be done, so do it. This is where I want to live. It doesn't have to float around like in the movie, but if they can make that happen, let's do it. I've always wanted a house that moves. Not a mobile home. Something that actually moves. Have you noticed that no mobile homes are really in any type of position to move? I don't get that.
If you're familiar with Return of the Jedi, then you know that a lot of crazy stuff happens on this flying boat. Luke proves that he's the man. Boba Fett dies, and Jabba the Hutt dies. That's one hell of a way to start a movie.
This is crazy. Look at that title, "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker as taken from the 'Journal of the Whills' Saga I: Star Wars." I'm immediately intrigued... by everything. Who is this Luke Skywalker? What is the Journal of the Whills and why is it important? I'm glad it was eventually changed, but there's something cool about it. At the time they weren't so sure that there would be a sequel, let alone a million other sequels, so having such a lofty title wasn't a good idea.
Did you know that the first movie only includes the Death Star blowing up because they weren't sure there would be a sequel? Originally there is only one Death Star destroyed in George Lucas' story. They moved it to A New Hope so that it would have a dramatic finish.
