ReadersDigestAustraliaNewZealand-March2018

March• 2018 | 67

been one of the greatest special

effects achievements in the film. As

Mental Flosspoints out, the text was

filmedpractically“bycarefullyplac-

ing2-foot-widedie-cutyellowletters

overa6-foot-longblackpaperback-

ground with a camera making a slow

pass over them to mimic the crawl.”

4 THE GARBAGE IN THE

DEATH STAR COMPACTOR

SCENE WAS REAL

“Into the garbage chute, flyboy!”

orders Princess Leia. Apparently, the

smell was so bad that Mark Hamill

burst a blood vessel 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.

1 LUKE SKYWALKER

WASALMOSTAGIRL

Alongtimeago(January1975,to

beexact)afledglingscreenwriter

namedGeorgeLucaswasworking

on the second draft of an epic sci-fi

space opera.

Of the many, many problems with

this clunky script that would eventu-

ally becomeStarWars:ANewHope,

onethatseemedeasilyfixedtoLucas

wastheseriouslackoffemalecharac-

ters.So,Lucasdidsomethingradical:

he rewrote his story’s main character,

Luke Starkiller, as an 18-year-old girl.

Butafewmonthslater,withLucas’s

next draft, Starkiller was a boy again.

2 NOTABLE NOISES

ThesoundofDarthVader’sbreath-

ing was recorded by putting a

microphone inside a

scuba diving regulator;

Chewbacca’s signature

Wookie gargle is a com-

bination of bear, walrus,

lionandbadgersounds.

The sound of Vader’s pod

door closing inEmpireis

reportedly the sound of

awholeblockofAlcatraz

cell doors slamming shut.

3 THE OPENING

TEXT CRAWL TOOK

3HOURSTOSHOOT

The famous floating text

that opensStar Wars:

A New Hope may have

How do you capture a

presenceasbigasDarth

Vader? Cast four men.

The on-screen body of

Vader is bodybuilder

David Prowse; his stunt

doubleforactionscenes

is professional fencer Bob

Anderson; the voice of

VaderisthegreatJames

Earl Jones; and the de-

helmeted face of Vader

inReturn of the Jedi

is Sebastian Shaw.

5 IT TOOK FOUR MEN TO

PORTRAY ONE VADER

PHOTOS: iSTOCK