Topical Talkers
Star Wars Day.
May the Fourth be with you! A galaxy far, far away is celebrated on Star Wars Day.
May 4th has become commonly known as Star Wars Day, or National Star Wars Day and who could be surprised? The words, “May the 4th” seem to beg for the rest of the catchphrase to be uttered.
History of Star Wars Day.
Star Wars, an epic space opera written and directed by George Lucas, premiered in 1977 and became an almost instant cult classic. Even today, almost 40 years later, Star Wars remains one of the most financially successful films of all time.
The franchise it began remains the most successful one of all time, earning over 2.5 billion dollars since the release of the first film. However, the money it’s earned over the years is hardly the most impressive aspect of Star Wars.
Star Wars was a real game-changer, beginning a new era of special effect-packed motion pictures bursting with excitement, adventure, and imagination that appealed enormously to younger audiences as well as older ones.
“May the Fourth be with you” was first used by Margaret Thatcher’s political party to congratulate her on her election on May 4th, 1979, and the saying quickly caught on.
However, the first celebration of May 4th took place much later, at the Toronto Underground Cinema in 2001. This first official Star Wars Day’s festivities included a costume contest and a movie marathon. Fans’ favorite parodies of the franchise were also enjoyed, as were some of the most popular mash-ups and remixes.
How to celebrate Star Wars Day.
The way you celebrate Star Wars day will depend on how well you know this cultural phenomenon. If you are a longtime fan of the franchise, you might want to get a group of friends together and attend one of the many Star Wars events organized in different parts of the world.
Such events range from costume contests to museum exhibits to tours of space centers. And if you’re not feeling up to going out, there’s no reason why a Star Wars Day party organized by you at home should be any less fun.
Movie marathons with friends, Star Wars trivia games, and even Star Wars themed snacks (Death Star piñata, anyone?) will guarantee this day is full of fun as well as being very educational.
Watch the films in chronological order.
The Star Wars movies in chronological order sets the movies in a real timeline so you experience the story as it would unfold for the characters. This list does not include the spin offs.
Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars: Episode 4 – A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode 5 – The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Episode 6 – Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens
Star Wars: Episode 8 – The Last Jedi
Star Wars: Episode 9 – The Rise of Skywalker
Revenge of the Fifth/Sixth.
Some recognise the day after, May 5, as “Revenge of the Fifth”, a play on Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and celebrate the Sith Lords and other villainous characters from the Star Wars series rather than the Jedi.
Others celebrate this one day later, on May 6, citing “Revenge of the Sixth” as a better pun on “Sith”, while others refer to the 6th as “Return of the 6th” as a play on Return of the Jedi and the trilogy aspect of the Star Wars films.
Did you know?
Here are a few things you might not know about the Star Wars movies…
The word “Ewok” is never actually spoken out loud in the films.
We all know what to call the furry creatures of Endor, and most people would probably assume we heard the word from our favourite protocol droid C-3PO. Turns out it’s another piece of popular culture that we’ve been remembering incorrectly. However, the word does appear in the final credits of Return of the Jedi.
Jar Jar Binks is responsible for the destruction of the Jedi.
There’s a whole list of reasons as to why he’s the most disliked character in the Star Wars universe. But there’s one that’s forgotten by many – the fact that he directly handed Palpatine the means to execute Order 66. Jar Jar Binks gave a passionate speech to the Galactic Senate and persuaded them to vote in favour of giving the Chancellor emergency powers. That gave Palpatine the power to overthrow the Senate and almost wipe out every living Jedi with one move. Great work Jar Jar.
E.T. is in Star Wars.
OK, so not the original E.T. exactly. But his alien species are present within Star Wars. The Asogians were represented in the Galactic senate, and their first appearance can be seen in The Phantom Menace.
The line “I have a bad feeling about this” is in every movie.
The line has become a beloved running gag to all. It does vary slightly each time, but the sentiment is always the same. The expression was first uttered by Luke Skywalker in A New Hope, and most recently by BB-8 in The Last Jedi. Han Solo was the most sensitive to potential impending doom, as he said it more times than anybody else.
The colours of lightsabers had a meaning.
In earlier times of the Jedi, different colours were used to distinguish between ranks. Lightsabers made with blue or green crystals indicated whether a Jedi was a Guardian or a Consular. The more exotic colours were made with crystals that were very hard to come by, and were often passed down through generations. In later years, this distinction fell out of practice with the Jedi.
“I am your father” was kept a secret, even from the cast…
One of the biggest cinematic reveals of all time was kept a very closely-guarded secret during filming. The infamous “I am your father” line was penned in the script as “Obi-Wan killed your father”. Both cast and crew believed this to be the real line, except for Mark Hammill, who was told literally moments before shooting the scene about the truth of Luke’s heritage.
Revenge of the Sith has more visual effects than any film in history.
The 2005 release has 2,151 separate scenes that use special effects, setting a world record. The film needed 910 artists and 70,441 man-hours to create 49 seconds of footage for the Mustafar duel alone!
Warwick Davis played Wicket because R2-D2 got food poisoning.
Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2, was also meant to play Wicket the Ewok, with Warwick Davis cast as an Ewok extra after his grandmother responded to a radio advert. But when Baker fell ill with food poisoning on the day he was meant to begin shooting his Ewok scenes, Davis got the nod.