Our Star Wars Contest has officially ended. Thank you all so much for entering and congratulations to all of our winners! We are so excited to see you tomorrow evening for Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
We hope that everyone enjoys the film. We are all so excited to see the next installment of this classic science fiction franchise that has united so many fans. This iconic film series is one of the few with the power to unite generations. Though it takes place in a galaxy far, far away Star Wars will always remain close to us in our hearts.
For fans everywhere Star Wars represents more than just a series of films. This cultural phenomenon has helped shape the world we live in today with its timeless story, iconic characters and breathtaking sets.
To help tide you over until the film tomorrow night here is some classic Star Wars trivia:
Episode IV: A New Hope
- Stunt doubles were not used for the scene in which Luke and Leia swing to safety. Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill performed that stunt themselves, shooting it in just one take.
- James Earl Jones and David Prowse, who play the voice and body of Darth Vader respectively, have never met.
- While George Lucas was filming on location in Tunisia, the Libyan government became worried about a massive military vehicle parked near the Libyan border. Consequently, the Tunisian government, receiving threats of military mobilization, politely asked Lucas to move his Jawa sandcrawler farther away from the border.
- The lightsaber sound effect is a combination of the hum of an idling 35mm movie projector and the feedback generated by passing a stripped microphone cable by a television.
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
- The shots where Luke uses his Jedi powers to retrieve his lightsaber from a distance were achieved by having Mark Hamill throw the lightsaber away and then running the film in reverse.
- Mark Hamill had to bang his head 16 times on the ceiling of Yoda's hut before Irvin Kershner was satisfied.
- Carrie Fisher stood on a box for many of her scenes with Harrison Ford in order to make up for the height difference and have her appear in the frame with him. Carrie Fisher (5'1) is about a foot shorter than Harrison Ford (6'1)
- Han Solo is the only non-Jedi/Sith in the entire original trilogy to ever wield a lightsaber, which he used to cut open the tauntaun's belly.
Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
- Nien Nunb, Lando's co-pilot, speaks a Kenyan dialect called Haya. According to sound designer Ben Burtt, the lines were delivered by Kipsang Rotich, a Kenyan student living in the US, and are actually correct Hayan translations of the English text. Audiences in Kenya were reportedly very thrilled to hear their language spoken in proper context.
- Fake scripts were distributed to some cast members that were considered likely to leak information to the media. Some of these phony story elements were indeed leaked, such as Lando being revealed as the "last hope" for the Jedi mentioned by Obi-Wan and Yoda in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
- Jabba's sail barge was filmed in Yuma, Arizona. The film crew had problems avoiding the 35,000 dune buggy enthusiasts in the area. To preserve secrecy, the producers claimed to be making a horror film called "Blue Harvest" with the tagline "Horror beyond imagination", and even had caps and t-shirts made up for the crew. A chain-link fence and a 24-hour security service could not prevent die-hard fans from entering the set and sneaking some photographs.
Happy Holidays from StyleLabs and may the Force be with you!
