Published April 18, 2019

May The Fourth Be With You (Seven Facts About Star Wars)

Written by Shanna Day Team

May The Fourth Be With You (Seven Facts About Star Wars) header image.

TRASH TALK...

NUMBER 1:

The trash in the Death Star garbage compactor scene was REAL. Apparently, the smell was so bad that Mark Hamill burst a blood vessel from trying to hold his breath, and the camera angle had to be adjusted for the rest of the scene so as not to show his injury. As for Peter Mayhew’s yak-hair Chewbacca suit? It reeked for the rest of production.

Bonus Star Wars fact: At the start of A New Hope, the original Star Wars release, Chewbacca is 200 years old.

BAD FEELINGS...

NUMBER 2:

"I have a bad feeling about this" became a running gag for the franchise. The phrase "I have a bad feeling about this" or "I have a very bad feeling about this" is said in every Star Wars movie.

VADER DIDN'T KNOW...

NUMBER 3:

“I am your father” was the best-kept secret in film Lucas kept the twist ending of Empire so well guarded, he even wrote fake text in the script to throw the actors off. During filming, David Prowse (whose voice was later dubbed by James Earl Jones reciting the actual line) yelled to Mark Hamill: “Obi-Wan killed your father!” The cast and crew thought this was the real line—only Hamill, who had been told the truth about Vader moments before filming the scene, knew otherwise.

Bonus Star Wars fact: Of course, if you spoke Dutch or German, you’d already know by A New Hope that Darth Vader literally translates to “Dark Father.”

INSPIRED THEY WERE...

NUMBER 4:

Yoda’s facial features (primarily the tired and wise eyes) were inspired by Albert Einstein, the smartest person the costume designers knew of.

SO SMOOTH...

NUMBER 5:

Qui-Gon Jinn used a Gillette razor for his communicator. In Episode 1, the personal communicator is actually made from a resin cast of a Gillette Ladies Sensor Excell Razor. Now that's smooth.

NO TOURISTS...

NUMBER 6:

You cannot visit any of Episode III's film locations. This is partly because there aren’t any locations to speak of. There was no live-action location shooting during principal photography on Revenge of the Sith. The entire movie was shot on sound-stages composed primarily of blue screens and sets. In post-production pick-ups, background imagery of Phuket, Thailand was put into scenes as the Wookiee home-world of Kashyyyk ; the Bernese Alps near Grindelwald, Switzerland stood in for Alderaan; and footage of the eruption of Mount Etna in Italy was used for the end planet of Mustafar.

NOW THAT'S VALUE

NUMBER 7:

You can use Star Wars collectible coins as real money. The tiny South Pacific island of Niue accepts limited edition Star Wars collectible coins as legal tender.