From costlow Wed Jun 29 14:18:52 1994 Received: (from costlow@localhost) by swcp.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) id OAA05300; Wed, 29 Jun 1994 14:18:51 -0600 Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 14:18:51 -0600 From: Mark Costlow Message-Id: <199406292018.OAA05300@swcp.com> X-within-URL: http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/M/title-trivia?AF200 To: pcaskey, synth Subject: title-trivia?AF200 Status: RO MOVIE TRIVIA. _________________________________________________________________ Star Wars Director George Lucas had trouble getting funding for this movie, most studios thinking that people wouldn't go to see it. The Director's Guild of America (DGA) didn't like the fact that there were no specific credits at the beginning of the film. They ``ordered'' Lucas to recut the film and put some credits at the beginning. Lucas refused, claiming that this would destroy the opening of the film. The DGA fined Lucas, who paid up, and promptly quit the DGA. Derived from (among other things) a Japanese movie called _Hidden Fortress_ (QV). Obi Wan Kenobi was modeled after a Samurai warrior, and C-3PO and R2-D2 are derived from a couple of petty crooks he conscripted to help rescue a princess. The word ``Jedi'' is derived from the Japanese words ``Jidai Geki'' which translate as ``period drama.'' A period drama is a Japanese TV soap opera program set in the samurai days. Lucas mentioned in an interview that he saw a ``Jidai Geki'' program on TV while in Japan a year or so before the movie was made and liked the word. Jodie Foster was Lucas' second option for Princess Leia, Christopher Walken was second in line for Han Solo. Lucas also considered Nick Nolte for the role of Solo. A great deal of the film was shot by vintage 1950's VistaVision cameras, because they were of higher quality than any others available. After the film was released, the prices of these cameras skyrocketed. The episode number and subtitle ``A New Hope'' did not originally appear in the film's opening crawl. These were added in a later re-release to be consistent with those seen in Empire Strikes Back, The. There is a rumor that while Lucas and a co-worker were editing American Graffiti, the co-worker asked Lucas for ``Reel Two, Dialog Two'', which abbreviated to ``R2D2'', a name which stuck in Lucas' mind. Scene of escape pod leaving Leia's ship was the first ever done by ILM. C-3PO originally scripted as a ``used car salesman'' type, and designed after the robot from Metropolis. The Tatooine scenes were filmed in Tunisia. There is a town in Tunisia called ``Tatahouine''. Some of the interiors of Luke's house were filmed in a hotel in Tunisia. The sounds of the lasers were made by striking one of the guy wires of a power pylon. There is a rumor that Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) was having trouble timing his conversations with R2-D2, as R2-D2's dialog was to be dubbed in later. Supposedly, Daniels asked Lucas to make some kind of noise to help him, but when Lucas forgot, the matter was dropped. Chewbacca was modeled after Lucas' dog, Indiana. See also Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. C-3PO loses an arm when attacked by the Sandpeople. Ben cuts off a creature's hand in the Cantina. See also Empire Strikes Back, The and Return of the Jedi. The following characters ``have a bad feeling about this'': Luke and Han. See also Empire Strikes Back, The, and Return of the Jedi. A small pair of metal dice can be seen hanging in the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon as Chewbacca makes preparations to depart from Mos Eisley. They don't appear in subsequent scenes. Han and Luke ``transfer'' Chewbacca from cell block 1138: Lucas directed a film called THX 1138. "THX-1138" was going to be the serial number of the guard with the faulty transmitter on the Death Star, but this was changed. Harrison Ford deliberately didn't learn his lines for the intercom conversation in the cell block, so it would sound spontaneous. When the stormtroopers enter the room where C-3PO and R2-D2 are hiding, one of them ``accidentally'' bumps his head on the door, complete with sound effects. Scenes featuring Luke and his Tatooine friend ``Biggs'' were cut from the film. Biggs was a young pilot who left the Imperial Academy to join the Rebellion. Luke mentions him to his ``aunt'' and ``uncle'' during the breakfast scene, and the character later shows up as a Rebel pilot who accompanies Luke down the final run on the Death Star trench (and is killed by Darth Vader). James Earl Jones supplied the voice of Darth Vader, but specifically requested that he not be credited, as he felt he had not done enough work to get the billing. David Prowse was supposedly extremely annoyed at not being told that his voice would be dubbed. Cardboard cutouts are used for some of the background starfighters in the Rebel hanger bay. Mark Hamill held his breath for so long during the trash compactor scene that he broke a blood vessel in his face. Subsequent shots are from one side only. Luke's other wingman on the trench run is named Wedge Antilles, and is played by Dennis Lawson. See also Empire Strikes Back, The and Return of the Jedi. [rumor] When Luke returns to the Rebel base after destroying the Death Star, he gets out of his X-Wing and greets Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) who is running towards him. He says ``Carrie!''. Most of the crowd watching the heroes receive their medallions are cardboard cutouts. FTP site wpi.wpi.edu is the official rec.arts.sf.starwars archive. SEQUEL(Empire Strikes Back, The) _________________________________________________________________ If you'd like to add some trivia to the database, please read this guide first. _________________________________________________________________ Additional information... Miscellaneous Star Wars home page Review. Plot Summary. Movie Quotes. Trivia. Goofs. Ratings. (this page was taken from the cache) _________________________________________________________________ Search Menu. [Name Search Form | Page] [Title Search Page] Robert.Hartill@cm.cf.ac.uk