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15 cool facts and trivia about actress Carrie Fisher and a character she played called Princess Leia Organa

December 27, 2016, 12:55 pm
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15 cool facts and trivia about actress Carrie Fisher


Princess Leia is one of the quintessential Star Wars characters, one of the so called 'Big 3'. 

Every epic adventure needs a princess to be rescued and Leia was that damsel in distress.

Or was she?

Carrie Fisher was one of Hollywood’s more interesting creatures. Made a star by Star Wars, her private life has maintained her legendary status amongst the fans, what with her coke addition and mental health challenges.


So given Leia is Carrie and Carrie is Leia, there’s 15 facts and trivia about the actress and character.
  • Princess Leia never actually gets to 'meet' Obi Wan Kenobi. She sees him from afar when she's escaping the Death Star and Obi Wan is about to let Darth Vader kill him but that's it. Unless you count Obi Wan being present for her birth in Revenge of the Sith...
  • As Adele would say, rumour has it that Carrie Fisher had a massive drug problem during the filming of Return of the Jedi. Cocaine was apparently her powder of choice. Apparently. OK, there is no apparently, in Jedi you can see she wears and extra long finger nail which is just a perfect instrument to assist with the distribution of nose candy up the nose.
  • Carrie Fisher has spoken many times of her struggles with bipolar disorder. You wouldn't wish this on any anybody. Watch this interview she did with the great Steven Fry.
  • Princess Leia was subject to one of the most famous ad libs in cinema history - that being Han Solo's response to her declaration of love - "I know". Harrison Ford apparently made it up at Irvine Kershner's suggestion. Leia got to return the line in Jedi during the Battle of Endor.
  • According to Fisher in her novel, The Princess Diarist, she and Harrison Ford had a three month fling during the making of A New Hope.
  • Carrie Fisher appeared as nun in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. This movie was a weird Kevin Smith homage to Star Wars and featured an appearance by Fisher as a nun and Mark Hamill as a parody of himself. Carrie's cameo was the one that got the laughs...
  • A lot of people forget this but Fisher appeared in the classic movie When Harry met Sally. She was the 'friend' of Sally who ended up marrying Harry’s best friend.
  • Carrie Fisher wrote an actual bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge and screenplay for the film based on her writing. The book was about her drug addiction and her relationship with her mother. Fisher has managed to parlay her writing talent with a few turns at playing script doctor for a few Hollywood movies, most notable Dustin Hoffman's Outbreak. Her appearance in Scream 3 was apparently scripted by herself. Beauty and brains eh?
  • Speaking of mothers, Carrie Fisher's mother is actually a famous actress in her own right, Debbie Reynolds. 
  • Fisher was once married to one half of Simon and Garfunkel. It was Simon.
  • Fisher delivered some classic quotes:
    • Help me Obi-wan Kenobi, you're my only hope
    • Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader’s leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board.
    • Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?
    • Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking Nerf herder. 
    • I'd just as soon kiss a wookie!
  • If you asked the average Star Wars fan what was Leia’s home world, they would be correct in answering the planet Alderraan and they could go to the head of the class. If you asked the most hard core fan, they might also quickly add that Leia and Luke were actually born at a medical facility on Polissa Massa – if you’ve seen Revenge of the Sith you might recall that is where Obi Wan Kenobi took the injured Padme for medical assistance.
  • Leia's character has her own musical theme titled "Princess Leia's Theme". It is represented by the musical leitmotif method which is famously used across the films. The piece was composed by John Williams and was used several times. It first appeared in A New Hope, heard when Princess Leia is captured by the evil Sith Lord, Darth Vader. Later, it surfaces as R2-D2 plays her holographic message to Obi-Wan Kenobi. The also theme plays when Kenobi is killed by Vader and it makes an appearance in the credits of the movie. It also is used in the two follow up movies and the Revenge of the Sith prequel when her adoptive father Bail Organa introduces her to her adoptive mother. 
  • Leia's golden metal bikini that she wore while strangling the slug Jabba the Hutt in Return of Jedi is perhaps one of the most famous bikini in the history of bikinis. Its iconic status in film history is perhaps only rivalled by Ursula Andress’s exit from the beach in James Bond’s Dr No. Many women (and the odd male!)  like to dress as Leia and attend conventions dressed in the bikini. Bless. Bless them all…
  • In a New Hope, Leia was kept captive on the Death Star in cell number 2187. This was a deliberate choice as 2187 is the year that the Lucas directed film THX 1138, was set. 
  • Leia says the last line of the movie Rogue One "What Is It They've Sent Us? Hope." It's a clever set up for the title of A New Hope and ties in thematically well. In saying this last line, that takes Leia's tally of saying the final line of a Star Wars movie to three - the other two being The Force Awakens and Return of the Jedi.
And there you have it! 

Do you have any thing else to add? If so, leave a note in the comments. 

RIP Carrie.
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26 interesting Star Wars facts you need to know today

December 27, 2016, 5:00 pm
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Luke Skywalker always took his bath time very seriously...

27 random as Star Wars facts that you might not know


Here's some random as nuggets of triva and facts about the Star Wars movies. As the legend and lore of Lucas's world grows, these factoids become even more awesome!


  1. In a New Hope, Leia was kept captive on the Death Star in cell number 2187. This was a deliberate choice as 2187 is the year that the Lucas directed film THX 1138, was set. 
  2. In Return of the Jedi, listen to the music very carefully as Darth Vader picks up the Emperor and throws him down the Death Star shaft. This is the only time the Jedi theme music plays over a shot of Vader, reflecting his return to the light side of the Force and him actually being the Chosen One. 
  3. Darth Vader was actually the only Star Wars film character to lose an arm three times! And both his legs as well. Obi Wan Kenobi got 3 of his limbs in Revenge of the Sith! He did have the higher ground after all...
  4. The Bantha milk drank by Luke and Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in A New Hope is blue! It's become the stuff of Star Wars legend. I never noticed the colour until I was an adult with a mortgage!
  5. Anakin Skywalker really is the ‘Chosen one’. While Yoda and Obi Wan may have thought a mistake had been made in the reading of the prophecy, Anakin was the one who actually killed Sith Lord Palpatine by throwing him down the Death Star’s reactor shaft in Jedi and thus restored balance to the Force. 
  6. Harrison Ford famously was never intended to be Han Solo, he was just hanging around after American Graffitti and was helping other actors read their lines as Lucas was in the casting process. Eventually Lucas wised up and realised Harrison already had the part down cold. 
  7. Princess Leia was subject to one of the most famous ad libs in cinema history - that being Han Solo's response to her declaration of love - "I know". Harrison Ford apparently made it up at Irvine Kershner's suggestion. Leia got to return the line in Return of Jedi during the Battle of Endor. 
  8. Carrie Fisher appeared in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. This movie was a weird Kevin Smith homage to Star Wars and featured an appearance by Fisher as a nun and Mark Hamill as a parody of himself. Carrie's cameo was the one that got the laughs.... do you follow the good book?
  9. A lot of people forget this but Fisher appeared in the classic movie When Harry met Sally. She was the 'friend' of Sally who ended up marrying Harry’s best friend. See, there is life outside of Star Wars! Fisher also had a cameo in the Blues Brothers!
  10. Carrie Fisher wrote an actual bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge and screenplay for the film based on her writing. The book was about her drug addiction and her relationship with her mother. Fisher has managed to parlay her writing talent with a few turns at playing script doctor for a few Hollywood movies, most notably Rene Russo's Outbreak. 
  11. Yoda’s species has never been mentioned. In official records he is simply an ‘unknown species’. He'll always be Kermit's ugly cousin to us.
  12. For the prequel film Attack of the Clones, Yoda was performed by Frank Oz. The next two prequels featured a CGI Yoda and the DVD release of Clones saw a CGI version replace the puppet. 
  13. While many think Yoda had Darth Sidious beat in his famous duel in Revenge of the Sith, it was actually Mace Windu, a former student of Yoda who firmly beat the Sith Lord (of course Anakin came in and ruined it all..). 
  14. The original drafts for Star Wars show that the Skywalker family was actually called Starkiller. Indeed the drafts featured a General Starkiller and didn’t focus on the young moisture farmer from Tatooine. His son was called Deak. He eventually became Luke.
  15. During Revenge of the Sith Bail Organa and Yoda step into the hallway of Organa's ship and have a nice coversation about becoming rebels or something. It's the same ship that Darth Vader boards to capture Princess Leia Organa in the start of A New Hope. 
  16. Does the name “Annikin Starkiller” sound familiar? That's the character's original name for the Skywalker line.
  17. During the assault on the Rebels ice base on Hoth, it is Hamill who speaks the line, “the first transport is away!”. This line is later used as a reference to Star Wars in Mass Effect 3. 
  18. Carrie Fisher had to stand on a box for most of her scenes with Harrison Ford in the original Star Wars films because she is a foot shorter than him. This was done so the actors would look better in the frame shot together. 
  19. Master Yoda is 66 cm tall. As a comparison, R2D2 stands taller at 96 cm! 
  20. In the very short lived T.V. show Firefly, a model version of Han Solo frozen in carbonite can be seen in many places - the props department would move it around as a running gag. Presumably this was kind of like how Superman appeared in every episode of Seinfeld. 
  21. Princess Leia never actually gets to 'meet'Obi Wan Kenobi. She sees him from afar when she's escaping the Death Star and Obi Wan is about to let Darth Vader kill him but that's it. Unless you count Obi Wan being present for her birth in Revenge of the Sith... 
  22. Harrison is the only actor to have appeared in films directed by all three of these directors: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola
  23. Yoda's original name was 'Minch'.
  24. Everyone assumes Luke only appeared in the three original Star Wars films. Think about if for a moment and you’ll realise Skywalker appears a baby at the end of Revenge of the Sith. He of course appeared for 30 seconds in The Force Awakens making 5 film appearances. 
  25.  following Padme Amidala giving birth to him and Leia at the medical facility on Poliss Massa. 
  26. In A New Hope, Darth Vader has only 12 minutes of screen time! Talk about screen presence.
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Red vs Blue lightsabers and the duality of Anakin Skywalker

December 28, 2016, 12:50 pm
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In what may or not be case of over reading into things, Dan Zehr has provided some pretty cool insight into some of the themes that revolve around Anakin Sykywalker in Revenge of the Sith.

His article on the official Star Wars site features a consideration of modern 'man or machine' discussion and the ability of evil to 'subvert the natural order' and the two faces of Palpatine.

What really got my attention however was the duality drawn by Anakin's use of two sabers to behead the quite surprised Count Dooku in Revenge of the Sith.

If you recall at the beginning of the movie, Obi-Wan and Anakin are on a mission to rescue the conniving Palpatine which ends with Anakin being encouraged by the Chancellor to end Dooku's life and thus ending the Clone War (at face value anyway).




While this scene is obviously a deliberate signal to the viewer that Anakin has dipped his toes into the Dark Side of the Force, the message of the double saber may not have been have been picked up by all viewers (certainly not this author who has seen Revenge of the Sith 11 times by his reckoning).

So what is this duality Dan wrote of?

"On General Grievous’ flagship, Anakin captures Dooku’s lightsaber in dramatic fashion, thereby crossing both blades at the neck of the Sith Lord. 

The symbolism here is strong: the blue blade represents Anakin’s optimism, hope, and rationality, while the red blade (which Anakin will soon wield in another form) represents his anger, despair, and inherent violence. 

Both blades work in tandem, further demonstrating the conflict and dichotomy of the tragic hero."

Pretty heavy stuff but it turns our Dan is a school teacher who takes English classes so he's probably read enough Shakespeare to have enough authority to make such connections ;)

This is a great example of the talent of George Lucas. He's a wonderful story teller and this small moment of visually representing the duality of Anakin's journey is a nice small moment that reinforces the character's journey to the dark side. 

As an aside, our favourite 'small thing' in this movie occurs later when Anakin is covered by shadow, whereas in front of him Obi-Wan Kenobi is lit up, foreshadowing where each character's destiny ultimately lies in the movie. 

While this movie came after Jedi, in terms of story telling,  Luke Skywalker also followed his father's footsteps in terms of duality and his struggle to keep the dark side at bay - however this was explored in terms of Luke realising he was becoming his father when he severed Vader's arm, mirroring himself in the process. 

While at face value the Star Wars franchise is a kid's set of movies, look for the hidden depths as an adult you may just enjoy all six films all the more...

We really suggest you read Dan's full article and check out his Star Wars site, Coffee With Kenobi.
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Bet you didn't know a bloke called Moebius was the inspiration for ESB's Imperial Droid

December 28, 2016, 12:56 pm
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Kitbashed has done it again with a flash of brilliance in demonstrating how (for this author) one of the coolest things in The Empire Strikes Back came to be in the film.

I'm talking about the Imperial Probe Droid that finds the Rebel Base on Hoth. Some keen folk call it the Viper droid or Probot.

So every usually goes on about how Ralph McQuarrie or Joe Johnston had the most artistic sway over how the Star Wars universe looked and felt. And this is true, but on this occasion, another very famous person contributed in the most minor way but that contribution left a pretty cool mark on Empire.

Mobieus draw a very small robot in the corner of a frame in what became a well known piece of science fiction called The Long Tomorrow:

imperial droid found in the long tomorrow by Mobieus

As to how the production crew of The Empire Strikes Back came to use the robot, Kitbashed ponders:

"The story supposedly goes (which is my way of saying that I’ve heard, but have so far found no evidence of) that the production team received permission from Mœbius to use his design. That may be true, after all Mœbius did himself go on to produce a number of drawings in the Star Wars universe, and Dan O'Bannon had worked with him, etc. But given how most of the other inspirational borrowings for Star Wars have gone down, I see little reason to believe that this one would be any different."

So there we have it. Another example of Star Wars taking an idea from another piece of media and making something awesome.

Extra for Experts:

Leigh Bracket, who is credited on Empire also wrote a story called The Long Tomorrow, her story was different in nature being set in a post apocalyptic America. It was published in 1955.
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Admiral Raddus quotes from Rogue One

December 30, 2016, 1:25 pm
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Admiral Raddus lines from Rogue One.
This guy has raditude.

We're pretty sure Gareth Edward's choice of Admiral Raddus to lead the Rebel fleet in Rogue One had anything to do with his name or that the Mon Calamari General would be so actually rad a character. 

Or maybe they got the name joke. Either way, Raddus was a key minor character from the movie.

It's quite possible that Raddus will overtake Admiral Ackbar in the popularity stakes over time. Hey! Calm down, nothing will ever beat Ackbar's 'it's a trap' quote from Jedi.

But Raddus himself had a few things to say in Rogue One. His quote
"Rogue one, may the force be with you" is a classic line, and surely one to endure with fans.

The actor who did Raddus' voice over work, Stephen Stanton, was told was to come up with a few versions of a voice that would be a cross between Winston Churchill and the General George S. Patton and that the character was a military leader. He came up with a couple of versions. He later got a call back and then found out it was for the role of the Admiral.

Here's Raddus' quotes:


"I say we fight!" - When the Alliance is discussing their options.

"This is Admiral Raddus of the Rebel Alliance..." - Said just as he and the rest of the fleet exit hyperspace and come face to face with the Scarif defence systems.

"Get me a Hammerhead Corvette, I have an idea." - During the battle Raddus commands a Hammerhead ship to ram the disabled Star Destroyer into the other ship.

"Rogue one, may the Force be with you" - said as he realises all is lost for the Rebels on the Scarif's beach.
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11 crazy stories, facts and myths about Darth Vader you probably want to know about

December 30, 2016, 1:31 pm
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Darth Vader doing the Force choke

Darth Vader


We only needed to write those two words and you know exactly to whom's face they belong to.

The fallen Jedi and one of the great Sith Lords, Darth Vader is one of the most famous movie villains of all time.

His imposing presence, magical powers which include the infamous ability to force choke a man just by thinking about and ultimately tragic personal story have inspired all kinds of acclaim and a place in most Star Wars fans hearts.

But enough of this chit chat, here’s 11 crazy stories, facts and myths about Darth Vader that any Star Wars fan would be keen to know!




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1. While Lucas had said post release of A New Hope that he had 9 Star Wars movies all mapped out, he didn't really. It was only on when developing the second draft of Empire Strikes Back with Leigh Bracket that Darth Vader became Luke's father. Indeed, in original drafts of A New Hope, Vader and Anakin Skywalker were different characters.

2. The famous reveal of the father and son relationship between Vader and Luke is often misquoted as "Luke, I am your father". The line is actually "No, I am your father". It's kind of like how Star Trek's Captain Kirk never actually said "Beam me up, Scotty".


Sebastian Shaw as Darrth Vader in Return of the Jedi
Sebastian Shaw as Vader in Jedi
3. The character of Vader has been played by several actors. In the original trilogy David Prowse is famous for wearing the suit and Sebastian Shaw as the 'face' of Vader in  Return of the Jedi. 

The prequels saw an idealistic Jake Lloyd tackle Anakin in The Phantom Menace and Hayden Christensen covered the next two movies as well. Bob Anderson also stepped in for sword fighting scenes and C. Andre Nelson helped out a bit with the redux versions of the original trilogy.

4. Hayden also appeared as the costumed Vader in Revenge of the Sith. He apparently begged Lucas to let him play him. The suit had to be designed to accommodate his smaller stature than Prowse's.

5. While Return of the Jedi saw Luke return the favour to Vader and cut his arm off, the idea for it actually came from the expanded universe novel, ‘Splinter of the Mind's Eye’. This book was intended to be turned into a sequel to Star Wars but when that movie became so popular, the idea was abandoned.

6. Vader was actually the only Star Wars film character to lose an arm three times! And both his legs as well. Obi Wan Kenobi got 3 of his limbs in Revenge of the Sith! (he had the higher ground...).

7. Darth Vader was referenced in the film Back to the Future by Marty McFly as being from the planet Vulcan. No one was sure who was more upset - Star Wars fans or Trekkies!

8. Vader has his own theme song written by John Williams. Known as the Imperial March it was introduced in the Empire movie and used in Jedi and in the prequels to show when Anakin was turning to the dark side of the Force.

Darth Vader concept art by Ralph McQuarrie

9. James Earl Jones is famed for providing the voice for Vader however he didn't do the famous breathing sound effect. This was done by the now famous Ben Burt placing a microphone inside the mouth piece of a breathing apparatus and recording it being used. Burt has since become world reknown for his sound recording skills and I believe he worked on every Star Wars movie to date.

10. George Lucas at one stage considered using the great Orsen Welles as the voice actor for Vader. Welles eventually voiced the planet destroyer Unicron in the animated Transformers movie.

11. Anakin Skywalker really is the ‘Chosen one’. While Yoda and Obi Wan may have thought a mistake had been made in the reading of the prophecy, Anakin was the one who actually killed Sith Lord Palpatine by throwing him down the Death Star’s reactor shaft in Jedi and thus restored balance to the Force.

Bonus fact - Darth Vader only appeared on screen in A New Hope for a total of 12 minutes. It's amazing that for such a short amount of screen time that his character become one of the most loved bad guys in movie making history!

We think these were some pretty cool bits of trivia about the Dark Lord.

Do you have any others to share? Leave them in the comments!
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How many times has "May the Force be with you" been said in Star Wars?

December 30, 2016, 1:31 pm
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How many times has "May the Force be with you" been said in Star Wars?

It all starts of course with A New Hope.

The line is first said by General Dodonna to his rebel troops just before the Battle of Yavin. Han Solo then somewhat surprisingly says it to Luke shortly after. Given Han had questioned the value of hokey religion, he used it as a sign of friendship and genuine good will to Luke.

In George Lucas's first draft of Star Wars, the concept of the Force was not fully formed, a character that never made it into the final version of the film called King Kayos, said the blessing "May the Force of Others be with you all".

There was a lengthy development of the concept before it became what we know it to be today.

Amusingly, Obi-Wan Kenobi is sometimes credited with using the phrase first but here are the quotes for when he uses it:

"The Force will be with you... always."
"Luke, the Force will be with you."
"Use the Force, Luke."
"Remember, the Force will be with you always."

There are plenty of other phrases when the force is used too.

But what is it based on? It's likely that George Lucas was inspired by the salutation or blessing that is often said in Catholic mass, "The Lord be with you'.

The Force is mentioned several times in the Star Wars movies but there are three main ways that this phrase we are talking about you is said

"May the Force be with you" is used 16 times in the 7 movies.

"May the Force be with us" is spoken twice and "The Force will be with you" is also used twice.






Here's the use per movie breakdown:

A New Hope

General Dodonna say it to his troops and Han Solo says it to Luke just before the Battle of Yavin

Number of times = 2

The Empire Strikes Back 

When Luke is speaking with Lando and Chewie, he says "Chewie, I'll be waiting for your signal. Take care, you two. May the force be with you."

Number of times = 1

Return of the Jedi

It is not said in Jedi. Admiral Ackbar says before the Battle of Endor, "May the Force be with us"

Number of times = 0

The Phantom Menace

Qui-gon Jin says it to young Anakin just before the pod race starts.

Mace Windu and Yoda exchange this pleasantry between them. Yoda says it another time.

Number of times = 4

Attack of the Clones

Anakin and Obi-Wan each make the exchange before Anakin leaves the planet Corusant with Padme.

Mace says it to Obi-Wan

Obi-Wan gets as far as "may the" before his transmission is cut off. We don't count this.

Number of times = 3

Revenge of the Sith

Yoda says the line to Obi-Wan just before he travels to the Wookie home planet.

Obi-Wan and Anakin say it to each other, the last time they speak as friends.

Yoda and Obi-Wan wish each other it as luck just before Yoda goes to take on Darth Sidious.

Number of times = 5

The Force Awakens

Finally, it is Commander Organa (Leia) who says the classic line to Rey at the end of the The Force Awakens. This makes 'May the Force be with you'the last line spoken in TFA. This line is not only one of 'good luck', it's Leia truly wishing that the Force be with Rey as she begins her journey to becoming a Jedi.

Number of times = 1

So it looks like Obi-Wan says it the most with three times, Yoda and Mace both twice.

Rogue One

Jyno Erso says to her band of merry Rebels "May the Force be with us"

Special mention should go to Admiral Raddus who said "Rogue one, may the Force be with you".

K-2SO also tries to the get the quote out but is told to shut up by Jyn and Cassian.

Number of times = 0

Did I miss any? I went through the scripts, I could have well missed some. If I have, please gently let me know in the comments. May the Force be with us all.
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When is a Jedi not a Jedi? When the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs says so.

January 1, 2017, 6:34 pm
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Luke at Jabba's Palace concept art


When is a Jedi not a Jedi? When the NZ Department of Internal Affairs says so.


The Department of Internal Affairs has rejected a request by the Jedi Society Incorporated to be recognised as a legitimate charitable endeavour, with all the tax-free benefits that entails.

The Jedi Society was formed partly due as a response to the New Zealand official Census not recognised as an official religion of forms that are required to be filled out in NZ when the Census occurs every four years.

This was despite the Church of Scientology managing to get on the list, that being a religion apparently founded on science fiction novels.

The reportof the Charities Registration Board considered that Jedi Society could not be recognised as a charity under the act and noted at paragraph 2:

“The Board considers that the Society does not meet the requirements for registration under the Act. The Board is not satisfied that the Society is established and maintained for exclusively charitable purposes. Specifically, the Board considers that the Society does not advance religion or promote a moral or spiritual improvement in a manner consistent with the case law”.

This ruling of course flies in the faces of established Star Wars canon as even the great Han Solo himself recognises that the religion practiced by Old Ben Kenobi was ‘hokey’ but a religion none-the-less. 

That said, the Board specifically appears to reject Jedi’s mythological content coming from the Star Wars films as a reason for its credibility as a religion:


Maybe there is a Sith Lord on the board? A hidden Knight of Ren pulling strings in the Wellington beltway? We jest. There’s no way the Wellington beauracracy would let such a thing happen…

Bacvk to reality, if you want to know more about churches in Star Wars, check out The Church of the Force and it's part in The Force Awakens.
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A brief design history of Darth Vader, Nazi inspiration and all.

January 1, 2017, 6:35 pm
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Early concept of a young Starkiller dueling Vader

A brief history of the design of Darth Vader


Kylo Ren may be obsessed with Darth Vader but the rest of the world got there well before him.

It was in 1977 to be exact when Vader stepped into the Tantive IV and threw a few Rebels about.

As he did so, he stepped into movie infamy as one of the greatest villains ever.

We have a theory that one of the key reasons why that happened was the look of Vader.

He was like a caped black knight, spewing evil from that robotic face. Not to mentioning that terse, measured breathing that was utterly terrifying.

It was just sinister. Vader was a big deal, even before the most infamous reveal of his fathering Luke Skywalker.

Indeed Pierre Christin, a noted comic creator who had some influence over Star Wars, had this to say on why we love Vader, “A villain like Darth Vader is simply a cinematic flash of genius, destined to be a great film icon forever. The reason we fear him so much is because he partly reflects ourselves.”

So we love Vader because we fear him.

Got it, thanks French dude.

So what were the elements that went into the design of Darth Vader? Who came up with him and his look? Read on, Star Wars fan, read on.


How did the concept of Vader come to being?


George Lucas is the father of Darth Vader.

When Lucas was throwing around ideas for his ‘Journal of the Whills’ concept he wrote down the name of ‘General Vader’ who he noted was an imperial commander.

The character was described as a “tall, grim looking general”. Lucas also wrote down ideas for 'Knights of the Sith', a character called 'Kane Starkiller' who was a cyborg.

Eventually Lucas fashioned the character as a 'Black Knight of the Sith' who served the 'Master of Sith'.

Initially Vader did not have his famous helmet. Lucas had suggested his face be obscured by a black silk scarf.

This was during 1975 at which time Lucas asked Ralph McQuarrie to turn this concept into a drawn character.

When McQuarrie learned that Vader (as it was then in the script) was to cross through the cold vacuum of space to enter Leia’s spaceship, he added the mask.

Obviously the reasons for Vader needing the mask were made more interesting later on.

McQuarrie delivered duly delivered some concept art:

Early Darth Vader concept designs
Early Darth Vader concept designs
A costume designer by the name of John Mollo was given these sketches and told to get to work. He was inspired by samurai influences (which would have pleased Lucas given his penchant for Akira Kurosawamovies) and Nazi uniform and armour that was used in the trench battles of World War I.

In keeping with this minor Nazi influence, Stormtroopers were named after specialist German soldiers from the same era.

Brian Muir made the actual helmet and mask, fashioning early sculptures out of clay. He did his sculpting over a plaster head of David Prowse.

Here’s a great interview with Muir explaining the process.

Fun fact: Vader’s armour was given the serial number E-3778Q-1M.

That voice


During filming, David Prowse did the actions and also voiced the character believing he would be doing the final recordings as well.

Lucas had other ideas and tried to hire the great film maker Orson Welles (speaking or Welles, check out our Theory About Director Krennic's name) with no success.

This was just as well for James Earl Jones got the gig and Vader’s final ingredient was found. Jones recorded his lines in 2 and half hours.

Jones also chose to not receive an on screen credit as he thought his role was too small.

This was eventually rectified when Star Wars become a global smash again with Empire Strikes Back.


That breathing


Ben Burtt invented the sound by recording him using a scuba breathing apparatus.

The microphone was placed in the regulator.

To get the sound just right, these recordings were played in empty rooms and re-recorded to get that ‘from the helmet’ sounding effect.


Who was that guy that played Vader in Jedi?


During ANH and TESB, David Prowse did the body work for the character. Bob Anderson did the heavy lifting. Come time for the finale of Jedi, there was a need to show Vader’s face.

It was the big reveal moment, father and son eyeballing each other for the first, and last time in their lives.

Veteran English actor Sebastian Shaw was hired. His scene was filmed in secret so as to hold off on the ‘surprise’ as long as possible.

It is Shaw who stands as a Force ghost with Yoda and Obi-Wan in the original form, replaced by Hayden Christiansen in the Special Edition.

Coming back to Kylo Ren for a moment – When Luke Skywalker ceremonially cremated his father's armour on the moon of Endor in Jedi, Vader’s helmet featured on the pyre.

In the real world specific prop was an old promotional mask that was used from the promotional touring that took place after the premiere of A New Hope.

In the movie realm, the mask and helmet that Kylo Ren is holding when he talks to his grandfather Vader in The Force Awakens has been retrieved from the pyre.

By whom?

We'll probably never find out.
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"I know" - is most possibly the most famous ad lib in history but what was the original line?

January 3, 2017, 1:44 am
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Original response to Leia's I love you


Han Solo could have made the original “I’ll be back quote!” rather than Arrrnuld.


Princess Leia was subject to one of the most famous ad libs in cinema history - that being Han Solo's response to her declaration of her love for him in The Empire Strikes Back- "I know". That line and the look on Carrie Fishers' face solidified the love between the two. There would be no more arguing about 'Committees' between them.

Harrison Ford apparently made it up at Irvine Kershner's suggestion.

And it’s probably with good reason that Kershner suggested the line to Han Solo as it looks like Lawrence Kasdan had scripted “just remember that, cause I’ll be back” which on paper just seems a little naff.

But was it really an ad lib?






Half of that line is of course is something that a certain Austrian cyborg sent from the future to the year 1984 said in The Terminator…. If Han had of said it, would the line have become so famous? Possibly not but who cares as “I know” is even better.

Leia got to return the by then then famous line to Han Solo in Jedi during the Battle of Endor.

Update: Harrison Ford did an AMA on Reddit and made some comment:


So this completely contracts the notion above that Kershner came up with the line. The key thing to note is that Ford recognized publicly that it was subject to a collaborative process.
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Is it true that George Lucas wrote 12 Star Wars films?

January 3, 2017, 1:53 am
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Yes, Virginia, it kinda is. and it kind of isn't.

The truth is that

George Lucas truly wanted to make many Star Wars movies but he did not write completed scripts for 12 movies!


George Lucas has created much myth and legend about the number of Star Wars films.

He’s stated things in the media that showed he intended to make many Star Wars films and indeed at one timehe did say:

“As I was writing, I came up with some ideas for a film about robots, with no humans in it. When I got to working on the Wookiee, I thought of a film just about Wookiees, nothing else.

So, for a time, I had a couple of odd movies with just those characters. Then, I had the other films, which were essentially split into three parts each, two trilogies.

When the smoke cleared, I said, 'This is really great. I'll do another trilogy that takes place after this.' I had three trilogies of nine films, and then another couple of odd films.

Essentially, there were twelve films.”

That’s the legend but the mythology of it has grown over the years. 

The nutshell is that Lucas wrote a great deal of material when he was developing his little sci-fi adventure. Being the visionary he is, he clearly had many ideas and concepts for his first movie.

Based around a so called “Journal of Whills”, Lucas script eventually was cut up, rehashed, rewritten and eventually Star Wars as we know it was filmed. 

It was not until Empire Strikes Back came out that the term Episode 5 was mentioned officially.

So basically wee Georgie wrote and wrote so much material he had mapped out a series of films in his mind.

Were they fully realized visions as he oft would claim throughout the years?

No.

This penciled planning on the Lucas's infamous 'yellow binder' shows exactly how far George actually went:

Which is to say not very far.

It would appear he said too much to the media about all these films that the concept of them all stuck around and he simply had no choice but to keep up appearances.

He eventually said he would do 9 films – as he knew of 3 trilogy stories he wished to tell – the others were simply one offs about wookies or robots.

To his credit Lucas actually ended up making 6 Star Wars films – more than any fan could dream of really!

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What happens when R1 scriptwriter @garywhitta retweets you

January 4, 2017, 6:43 pm
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You may have been surprised when you watched Rogue One to notice that there was no yellow text slowly crawling up the screen. This was a deliberate decision according to director Gareth Edwards.

He is also on the record as stating that there was a crawl in Gary Whitta's original draft. 

I thought, that sounded interesting, so I tweeted to Gary:
I didn't really expect a reply and nor did I get one. I reasoned that he didn't actually have any rights to the script (that's how Hollywood works, scripts are effectively sold by writers to the studios) and that he couldn't share anything thing he wrote, even if he wanted to.

But The Book of Eli writer did check out my tweet history and found something he liked. It was the awesome poster of Jyn in 'old school' movie poster style for Rogue One:


Gary quoted the tweet asking if anyone knew where it came from and the reaction was amazing.

As of writing this post, the tweet had received 154 retweets and 349 likes. It also made some 23K impressions across twitter users accounts and I gained about 40 new followers.

Those are some incredible stats so thanks Gary!

Kindred spirits on the internet let us know who designed the poster - it's Alexy Kot and Gary was good enough to tweet them out and here they are - you can purchase a copy of the poster if you like!

The next day someone else asked Gary the same question about the draft Rogue One crawl in a different way and he was drawn into a response:
It's clear Gary is perfectly happy with the way things are. I'm still keen to see it as I love things that give insights into how Star Wars movies are made! It's certainly not an obsession though, Star Wars never get obsessed abut anything...




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Where is Chopper in Rogue One?

January 4, 2017, 11:58 pm
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So you heard that Star Wars Rebels 'Chopper' was in Rogue One, only for you to miss him? If you look at this screen grab below, you can see our robot friend at the bottom left. Blink and you will miss him!

Rogue One: Where to find Chopper roboit



This was a pretty cool Easter egg but would it blow your mind to know also that the 'Ghost' also appears?

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Check out TJ's rebel pilot Halloween costume from 1977!

January 8, 2017, 1:05 am
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Check out this awesome X-Wing Pilot cosplay from 1977!

Found on Reddit, it shows a keen lass called TJ dressed as a Rebel pilot in a home made costume. 

Maybe Luke or Wedge? 

While the word cosplay was not yet invented, make no mistake, Star Wars fans have been doing this since the moment the first movie came out!

Given back in 1977 there were no VCR or Blu Ray editions of Star Wars (as it was called then!) this is a most impressive rendition of the costume. Sure there may have been the odd picture floating around in a magazine but who knows. 

Rebel pilot costume 1977 halloween star wars girl

Actually we do know! The creator of the costume is actually the girl wearing it. She said in this post "Made entirely by myself ... with no helpful freeze-frame DVD player, BTW. I sat in the movie theatre and took sketches by hand!
Oh yeah, I made the fanboys drool when I was 16".

And TJ, you're making the fan boys and girls on Reddit drool 40 years later!



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Got the post Rogue One blues?

January 8, 2017, 3:46 pm
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What to do now that you've seen Rogue One four times and that there's 339 day left until Star Wars VII comes out? 

We've got the cure.

Check out these 37 bits of fact and trivia about Rogue One. Did you spot the blue milk or Chopper?

We taken a moment to look at A New Hope in A New Light comparing how the two movies match up with each other so well.

We also played a game of spot the cameo appearance in Rogue One.

Finally, we had some thoughts on dear Carrie Fishers' passing. May the Force be with you Carrie.

Have a great New Year!

James
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Original 'The Empire Strikes Back' concept artwork by Ralph McQuarrie

January 9, 2017, 1:17 pm
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Concept art for The Empire Strikes Back


The Empire Strikes Back is often considered the best of the entire set of 6 Star Wars films. It’s certainly considered one of the best sequels in film history.

While Lando Calrisian is no Don Corleone, it’s up there with The Godfather Pt II in that regard. Anyways, one of the reasons why Empire is a great Star Wars movie is because of the vision of Ralph McQuarrie who backed up from A New Hope to put Lucas’s ideas on to canvas.

Here’s some of McQuarrie’s designs for Empire, that largely feature that Attack on the Rebel Base on the ice plant of Hoth.

I'm looking for a great warrior, Yoda.
Luke and Yoda walking around the swamp of Degobah
Found one!
Don't look back, he might be gaining on you!

No, I am your Father!
Looking out for AT Walkers
The Hangar
space cave empire concept art
Watch out for space slugs Han!
The first transport is away!

If you want do explore a really crazy science fiction concept, check out what Municipal Darwinism means.
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What is this Had Abbadon that people talk about in very hushed whispers?

January 9, 2017, 1:17 pm
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had adaddon star wars jedi
Look, two moons!

What is Had Abbadon?


I'd never heard of Had Abbadon until I saw this concept art by Ralph McQuarrie and was curious as to why it featured two half constructed Death Stars.

That planet below is Had Abbadon.

In early drafts of Return of the Jedi, Had Abbadon was actually a proposed name for the Imperial capital which later became Coruscant and featured heavily in the prequel films.

The concept was for it to be a city-planet orbited by two Death Stars that were being built.

It was even to have a moon called Endor!

The  lowest levels of Had Abbadon were intended to be home to Emperor Palpatine's throne room which was surrounded by a lawa pit.

Luke Skywalker's fight against  Darth Vader was set to take place their until it was set on the second Death Star.  Revenge of the Sith fans may recognise Vader and Kenobi eventually had a duel in a lava pit!

emperor throne concept art had abbadon
Strike me down!
The Star Wars Legacy Comics eventually made use of Had Abbadon in a story line involving a descendant of Luke Skywalker, namely Cade Walker where he took on a Sith.
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10 facts about Cloud City from The Empire Strikes Back. #3 will blow your mind and convert you to being a Vegan!

January 13, 2017, 9:04 pm
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cloud city concept art by Ralph McQuarrie

10 facts about Cloud City from The Empire Strikes Back 


  • Cloud City was an outpost and a tibanna gas mining colony above the planet Bespin
  • It is so named as it is perpetually surrounded by giant clouds. 
  • The city sits 60,000 kilometers above the core of the gas giant. It is kept in place by an anti-gravity pod.
  • The city's economy is centered on tibanna gas. The gas is used on the production of weapons and hyperdrives. Extended Universe tales tell of tourism and gambling being other things to do.
  • Cloud City appeared in Empire Strikes Back film and featured Lando Calrissian who administered the city. 
  • Calrissian won his role from Baron Administrator Dominic Raynor in a Sabacc tournament. Thus he was in charge when Lord Vader arrived and made his 'deal'. When it was clear Vader did not intend to keep his end of the bargain, Calrissian betrayed him and ordered his citizens to flee.
  • Three key plot points then occurred that were a pretty big deal in terms of Star Wars:
    1. Lei and Han's love was confirmed (freezing out Luke) with the immortal words, "I Know"
    2. Han was frozen in carbonite by Vader and thus thus claimed as a bounty by Boba Fett
    3. Luke faced Vader only to lose his arm and learn he was his son. 
Cloud City over Bespin with an X-Wing

  • In an early rough draft of Star Wars written by Lucas in 1974, a city on Alderaan, was described as a giant gas planet. That concept eventually became Bespin. When concept designer Ralph McQuarrie began conceptual work for the second draft of the script, he designed was could have been an Imperial capital on Alderaan. Whilst that idea never made it to the final pages, the art designs McQuarrie drew were eventually used as the the inspiration for the look of Cloud City, differing only in minor respects from the city as seen in Episode V.
  • Bespin has one sun and a rotation is 12 hours and an orbital period around that sun of 14 years.  
  • Many a Empire viewer has wonder who that bald guy with Lando is. He is Lobot. Lobot served as Lando's aide. His brain was permanently connected to the Cloud City's central computer which allowed him to communicate directly with the city's computer network. Lobot was played in the film by John Hollis. Hollis went on appear in minor roles in Blake's 7 Superman I, II and IV and Flash Gordon.  Flash! Aaaa AAAAAA!

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9 great moments Obi-Wan Kenobi had in Star Wars (from our certain point of view)

January 14, 2017, 2:09 am
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eWAN mCgREGOR IN ATTACK OF THE CLONES AS OBI-WAN

Here's some of Obi-Wan's greatest Star Wars moments (from our certain point of view)


Luke Skywalker once referred to Obi-Wan Kenobi was ‘Old Ben’ which belies the truth of the greatness that rests on the shoulders of one of the few Jedi that actually, truly made a difference in the struggle to bring balance to the Force.

Obi-Wan has appeared in every Star Wars movie in some shape or form so he’s had plenty of opportunity to get in on the action. Here’s what are our favourite moments of the character, be they quotes, saber fights or misdirection.

This little one's not worth it


By the time Obi-Wan and Luke visit Mos Eisley's cantina bar, we haven't quite got the measure of Obi-Wan. He's demonstrated some smarts with dealing with the sand people and showed us a Jedi mind trick to great effect. But he's just a creaky old man right?

 Not so young Padawan!

As Ponda Baba and his mate Dr. Evazan try to pick a fight with Luke, Obi-Wan politely intercedes with a friendly, "this little one's not worth it" which brings no result. As Ponda presses further Obi-Wan cuts his arm off with his own lightsaber.

We learn at that moment Obi-Wan was a take no prisoners kind of guy and to be regarded quite seriously.

Fun fact: Empire's assassin droid IG-88 was made from recycled Cantina bar parts!

When he took down General Grievous 


Grevious had been fairly sucessfull in his turn as Supreme Commander of the Droid Army so much so that he was a feared opponent for all those taking part in the Clone Wars. So it would have been hugely pleasing for General Kenobi to beaten him in their fight in Revenge of the Sith. If Jedi were to have feelings, that is.

We think this fight with Grevious was great as it was a battle of wills, featured some bad ass saber movies by Grevious and ending with Kenobi delivering a classic line about guns being "So uncivilized".

When he took down Darth Maul


Admit it, you felt pained when Darth Maul killed Qui-Gon Jin in the Phantom Menace. But you damn well loved it when Obi-Wan did a Force flip, grabbed his saber and split Maul in two. Arguably one of the best sword movements in Star Wars, it was a stand out moment in TPM.

That 'look' he gave Vader just after he saw Luke on the Death Star


As a young child watching Star Wars for the first time, I was slightly confused when Kenobi appeared to give up his fight with Vader when he saw Luke.

Why would you do that?

I was even more surprised when Kenobi's body seemed to have disappeared as if by some magic. Turns out that was the Force, yolo!

As an older child I understood the look that Old Ben had. He knew he was about to become more powerful than Vader could have ever imagined and in doing so he would be able to guide and inspire young Luke. And so he gives Darth Vader this telling look and adds a wry smile to it.

That took balls.

And anyway, like 13 seconds later Obi-Wan is telling Luke to "Run Luke, Run" via the Force...

"Use the Force Luke!"


This was the summation of every part of Obi-Wan in A New Hope. He had taught Luke as much as he could in the short time they had together. In the knowledge he could become a Force ghost to watch over him, he had died in the hope that it (c)would spur Luke on to defeat the Evil Empire.

His guidance at this very moment in the Battle of Yavin directly led to Luke bringing down the Death Star and setting him on a path to assist with Vader's ultimate redemption (though he probably now believed Luke was actually the Chosen One).

When he fought Vader for the second time and left him for dead


Then you are lost! The final saber duel between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader was the culmination of three movies that explained how Darth Vader become Darth Vader. And at the end of the day, one moment of anger and rage and fear lead to Anakin thinking he could best his mentor even though it was clearly explained to him that Obi-Wan had the higher ground.

Obi-Wan had no choice but to defend him self and so cut off Anakin's legs and arm. And then he picked up Little Orphan Annie's saber and walked away leaving him to die.

That was brutal.

"And these blast points, too accurate for sand people. Only imperial storm troopers are so precise"


A classic line that became mocked by many fans for being very incorrect as the original trilogy showed the storm troopers were pretty bad shots.  But at that point in the movie it served a purpose to show how strong willed and evil the Empire was. If you'd managed to live through Order 66 like Obi-Wan had, you could forgive him for thinking about storm trooper precision when being confronted with the Empire for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Anyway's the whole missing their targets thing was all part of the ruse by Tarkin.


When he passes Luke to Aunt Beru at the end of Revenge of the Sith


The passing of the torch in a sense. Kenobi's world had fallen apart, his Jedi life over, his friends all dead. He was going to ‘watch over the boy’ and this moment gave way two the final shot of ROTS, Luke’s two new guardians against the back ground of Tatooine’s two suns setting– echoing the famous scene of Luke doing the same in A New Hope.

Rey! These are your first steps...

We are throwing in Obi-Wan's brief words to Rey during her flashback sequence as it was so unexpected in The Force Awakens. It's great to know someone is looking out for her. This call from the Force echoes prior calls Obi-Wan made to Luke and also how Qui-Gon Gin reached out to Anakin in Attack of the Clones.

When he lied to Luke

We did not know it at the time but when Obi-Wan took Luke to his home on Tatooine, he lied to Luke about the nature of his father's death. Obi-Wan told Luke that his pupil Darth Vader killed his father Anakin. The sequel proved this to be a lie, and the so called Dark Father naming conspiracy began.

For clarity Old Ben did not lie when he said he couldn't recall owning any droids. As he didn't. He never owned R2 nor C3PO.


More things Kenobi:

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Have you spotted Wedge Antilles in Rogue One yet?

January 15, 2017, 11:56 am
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david amkrum rogue one cameo

That's right, Wedge Antilles has a wee cameo in Rogue One. 

The Rebel pilot whose quote 'look at the size of that thing' is the stuff of Star Wars legend, has a cheeky cameo that's harder to find than the robot Chopper!

So where is he?

It's not where, more of a case of 'hear'.

Wedge's character is famously played by English actor Denis Lawson. However, in the original version of Star Wars, Lawson did not do the voice work for the character, it was done by American David Ankrum.

This is where Rogue One's Supervising Sound Editor Matthew Wood had some fun with the movie. He decided to add a pretty cool Easter egg into the film and he needed David Ankrum to do it...

He asked David to come into the recording studio to some lines to be the announcer for the public addresses system the Rebel's base on Yavin IV.

I don't think I would ever had picked up with cameo Easter Egg unless it was specifically pointed out to me!

It was reasoned by the film's production staff that Wedge Antilles couldn't make a cameo in Rogue One because in ANH when he sees the giant Death Star for the first time he states in amazement the line we mentioned about, 'look at the size of that thing!' If he had taken a part in the the battle over Scarif, he would never had said that line in ANH and thus there would have been a continuity error in the movie.

Thus Wood, wanting to do the Easter egg, had to get Ankrum in for the voice over. 

Extra for Experts:

Rogue One had many other cameo appearances including some familiar pilots...
Here's some trivia about Wedge

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