Small details that took you FOREVER to notice in the Star Wars films

If you’re like me, you’ve watched the Star Wars series a countless amount of times. During the occasional viewing I find myself noticing a small detail that I hadn’t seen before, and it always leaves me dumbfounded when I consider how many times I had watched the film without managing to see it. I can only assume that the same can be said for everyone else on this site, which is why I pose the following task:

• Post a small detail in a Star Wars film that took you many viewings to notice

I’ll start with an example. This is a pretty recognizable shot from ANH, right?

Well somehow despite having watched this movie over and over, it was only recently that I realized how the troopers in the foreground have these specialized space-backpacks. They might even be jetpacks for all I know, and they obviously don’t match the sandtrooper gear either which makes them an entirely unique design. I don’t think they show up anywhere else aside from this one particular shot.

It just amazes me how many little details and design concepts go into these movies, many of which are completely glossed over by the average viewer. I encourage you to post your own, maybe we can all discover something we didn’t know about.

I didn’t see this very recently though I didn’t notice for many years, but does anyone else enjoy the look of shock from Mon Mothma when Admiral Ackbar starts to talk? Like she hasn’t seen the guy before and is really weirded out the whole time he’s speaking.

SilverWook said:

Great idea for a thread, Booman!

Those guys are officially called spacetroopers and have had action figures in recent years. I’ve seen behind the scenes photos of them being filmed, (back in the states just like the Cantina inserts) and the backpacks and airhoses were pretty much cobbled together as they were never going to be seen in closeup. (My Google Fu is failing me tonight, but the pics are out there.) The hoses just tuck in under the helmet. One of them was played by Joe Johnston.

Damn, I guess I still have a lot to learn. At least I managed to find that BTS shot you mentioned though! I did some more digging and found out that one of the cylindrical parts on the backpack also appears on the Death Star surface, which totally proves the “cobbled together” idea. I guess the person tasked with making the backpacks just saw that part sitting in the shop and said “eh, that looks good enough”.

Also while we’re on the topic of Mon Calamari…

This clueless background guy doesn’t get nearly enough recognition!

Until recently I’d never noticed that when Luke enters the Falcon cockpit after his rescue and says “It’s Vader”, Lando goes past and touches him on the arm like “You all right buddy?” and Luke nods briefly to confirm it. Now that I’ve seen it I like it very much, I don’t think there are many of these interactions in the movies.

Alright here’s one that completley blew me away. Has anyone else noticed the number 94 on the wall next to the docking bay entrance?

I’m honestly not sure if I’m stupid for not realizing this earlier. I always figured that the design was just a jumble of shapes until someone pointed it out for me.

Booman said:

Also while we’re on the topic of Mon Calamari…

This clueless background guy doesn’t get nearly enough recognition!

Haha he’s like ‘wait what are these red lights for, are we in battle?’

I never noticed the gigantic 94 until now either.

Maybe I’m remembering wrong, but didn’t galactic standard numerals kinda/sorta resemble arabic numerals, if only very vaguely?

I’m really gonna sound like a moron here, but I didn’t fully get the Falcon’s interior (in terms of dimensions, what leads where etc etc) until TFA. The fact that the movie makes a point of walking through the set the way it does made me put it together properly after a mere 40 years or so!

LexX said:

I noticed the 94 from this 20 years ago:

I loved all those Galoob sets.