Even though the Star Wars prequel trilogy came out so long ago and we’ve watched them countless times, there are still plenty of details in and surrounding those films that many will have missed. After all, it’s a densely packed trilogy of films where a great deal happens, and the act of film-making changed radically.
The Star Wars universe is known for its interconnected stories, its cast of many characters, and the awesome scale of its overarching narrative. There are bound to be some cool stories and little tidbits scattered throughout. With that in mind, let’s travel to a galaxy far, far away, and delve into the Star Wars prequels to see what we missed along the way.
An Ode to Spielberg
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
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With a real ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment inEpisode I: The Phantom Menace, you’ll see that E.T. appears in the galactic senate, or at least three members of their race do. This is, of course, a nod to George Lucas’ long-time friend Steven Spielberg who directed the filmE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. This provides an interesting thought - seeing as E.T. made it to Earth, does this mean that the galactic senate knows of Earth and its primitive species of humans?
Get General Grievous a lozenge
General Grievous
This is a little-known fact from behind the scenes; when shooting Star Wars around the time voice work was being recorded for General Grievous, George Lucas had a nasty case of bronchitis, giving him a horrible cough. Knowing that Greivous would also have a cough, the crew used some of Lucas’ coughs and warped the sound slightly. So, when he coughs, that’s George Lucas, otherwise it’s Matthew Wood.
After 2001
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
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The Lucas children
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
George Lucas has put several of his children into his films. Jett Lucas appeared as a youngling Jedi inEpisode II: Attack of the Cloneswandering through the Jedi archives. However, he also turned up wielding a blue lightsaber and battling with troopers. Lucas’ daughter, Katie, appeared in all three of the prequels with one of her appearances being next to Jabba during the pod race, sporting spiked red hair. Lastly, Katie Lucas was cast as one of Anakin’s childhood friends who says, “You’ve been working on that thing for years,” about the pod racer.
Finding Han Solo
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
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InAttack of the Clones, there’s a moment where Obi-Wan is trying to avoid detection while on the way to Geonosis and he hides in an asteroid field. Alongside him are Jango Fett and his son Boba Fett. This act is a call forward to when Han Solo attempts to hide from Boba Fett, now grown and a bounty hunter, in an asteroid field himself. Of course, Fett knows this is a tactic and easily tracks down Han Solo.
A future star
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
It’s easily overlooked that a future Hollywood star appeared inThe Phantom Menace,Keira Knightley. She was dolled up to look like Queen Amidala, and even she forgets she was in Star Wars as seen in one interview where Knightley had to confirm who she actually played. Keira Knightley wasn’t even a teenager when she got the part in Star Wars where she played one of Amidala’s stand-ins. Apparently, the make-up was so good even Knightley’s mum couldn’t tell them apart.
A bad feeling
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
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An important second director
Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith
Many films have secondary directors usually directing other units or pick-up shots.Revenge of the Sithhad a very important director step in for George Lucas to shoot a monumental scene. It was actually Spielberg who directed the iconic final lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin on Mustafar. It’s said that this was because Spielberg wanted to test out some new technology and Lucas allowed him to do it via that scene in the film.
Topics:Star Wars,TV And Film,Disney
