Star Wars Facts

Star Wars has had such a huge impact on the movie idustry and the world. It has become one of the most succesful and lucrative franchises ever. Starting as movies, it has gone on to expand into the realms of books, comics, toys and video games, becoming such a huge part of everyday life for a lot of people.

Below are 10 facts you may or may not know about the galaxy far, far away...

***May contain some SPOILERS ahead***

Number 1 - Liam Neeson came with an extra cost.

Even the most casual of fans will know Liam Neeson was in Star Wars Episode 1, playing the controversial Jedi - Qui Gon Jinn. What most people won't know though is, Liam stands at an impressive 6 foot 4 inches and this wasn't accounted for on the original set builds for Phantom Menace, so an additional $150,000 needed to be spent to rebuild the sets and accomodate his height.

Number 2 - ''I have a bad feeling about this''.

The above line is said in every film.

Phantom Menace - Obi-Wan says it at the beginning of the film to Qui Gon just before the negotiations.

Attack of the Clones - Anakin says it in the arena on Geonosis as they are about to face the beasts.

Revenge of the Sith - Obi-Wan says it again, to Anakin this time as they approach the Invisible Hand to rescuse Chancellor Palpatine.

A New Hope - Luke says it as the Millenium Falcon approaches the Death Star.

Empire Strikes Back - Princess Leia says it inside the belly of the space slug they believe to be an asteroid cave.

Return of the Jedi - C-3PO says it to R2 when entering Jabba's Palace, also by Han Solo when the Ewoks start prepping the fire to roast them.

Force Awakens - Han Solo says it again when he realises the Rathras have been set loose on his freighter.

Rise of Skywalker - Lando says it when the First Order army lands on the planet Pasaana.

Solo: A Star Wars Story - Han Solo says it when he takes over piloting the Falcon out of the Maelstrom.

Rogue One - K-2SO says it when entering an elevtator with Jyn Erso and Cassian Jeron.

Now you will notice The Last Jedi is not written above. This is because you don't actually hear the line in the film, however Rian Johnson confirmed BB-8 says it in binary during the evacuation of D'Qar, to which Leia replies ''I'm with the droid on this one''.

Number 3 - Not a single Clone Trooper in the prequels is real.

In Attack of the Clones, we are introduced to the Bounty Hunter Jango Fett who is used as a template to create clones for an army of the Republic. Whilst he is real, the rest of the clones in this film and Revenge of the Sith are all completely CGI. Not a single piece of real armour was made for the films.

Number 4 - Shaving money on communicators.

In the Phantom Menace, there is a scene where we see Qui Gon and Obi-Wan talking to each other on their communicators. If you look closely, you may recognise the communicator as it is actually a resin cast of a ladies Gilette razor.

Number 5 - Ewoks

The word Ewok is never mentioned at any point during the original trilogy. It appeared on script directions, the novelisation and the movies credits along with other spin offs and promotional material, but never in the films themselves.

Number 6 - Lack of Diversity

In the original trilogy, there is only one female fighter pilot. Her name is Sila Kott. She appears in Return of the Jedi and is played by British actress Poppy Hands, however her voice is inexplicably dubbed over by an American man's voice in the final cut of the film.

Number 7 - Lightsaber Sounds

The distinct 'lightsaber hum' was developed by sound designer Ben Burtt and is actually a combination of the hum of idling interlock motors in aged movie projectors and interference caused by a television set on a shieldless microphone.

Number 8 - Jedi Mind Trick

In all 9 films of the Skywalker Saga, there are numerous examples of the Jedi mind trick and it is used by various different characters. Both Anakin and Rey use the ability once to success, but Obi Wan is the only character to use it more than once and have it be successful every time.

He uses it a total of 4 times on screen and never fails. Other characters have attempted more than one, such as Qui Gon and Luke, but not all of them have been successful, suggesting Obi Wan is particular skilled in this specific force ability.

Number 9 - The Emperors Full Name

In the original Star Wars Trilogy, we only ever hear the Emperor referred to as such and nothing else (except for Master of course). It isn't until the prequel trilogy we learn the Emperor started life as a Senator from Naboo named Palpatine.

We also learn he has a Sith name, Darth Sidious, before taking on the title of Emperor in Revenge of the Sith.

In 2014, the novel Tarkin by James Luceno was released and is the first time we are given his full name, which is written as 'Sheev Palpatine'.

........and Number 10 - ET was from the galaxy far, far away?

ET was a film directed by Steven Spielberg (for those few people who didn't know) who was a good friend of Georg Lucas. In this film, during Halloween, we see a young child dressed as Yoda from Star Wars. When ET sees him, he stops and stares as if he recognises him. As ET was released in '82 this was passed off as just a little nod to the Star Wars films by Lucas' friend, however in the Phantom Menace, released in '99, there is a scene which takes place in the senate when Queen Amidala calls for a vote of no confidence in, then Chancellor, Valorum.

The camera pans away towards a bunch of characters part of the senate and for a few seconds, you see three aliens who look suspiciously like ET. These aliens are known as Asogians and suggest ET is from the galaxy far, far away.

Could this mean his powers in ET are actually him using the Force??

I hope you enjoyed these Star Wars facts and as always...

May The Force Be With You!!