Not very long ago, in a bunch of famous, non-Star Wars movies...
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00:00 So, everybody knows Star Wars, right?
00:03 We know the text crawl, we know the light side, we know the dark side, and we definitely
00:07 for damn sure know about the lightsabers.
00:09 But apparently this love for George Lucas' and Disney's work isn't just contained
00:14 within their own franchise, as numerous films have provided nods, references, easter eggs,
00:18 and just full-on cameos from the Star Wars universe.
00:21 And that's what we're here to talk about today.
00:23 As I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are the 10 Best Times Star Wars
00:26 Appeared In Other Movies.
00:28 10.
00:30 X-Men
00:31 The original X-Men movie hit cinemas in 2000, one year after Star Wars' long-awaited return
00:35 in the form of The Phantom Menace.
00:37 As such, the timing couldn't have been better for X-Men to sneak in a Star Wars reference
00:42 somewhere.
00:43 And during the final battle between Halle Berry's Storm and Ray Park's Toad, that's
00:46 exactly what happened.
00:47 Park had just played Sith apprentice Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, a character whose
00:51 insane lightsaber skills allowed him to battle Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who are obviously
00:57 two trained Jedi at the same time, and come out on top.
01:00 Well, almost.
01:02 Jumping back to X-Men, though, Park paid homage to those lightsaber skills in that aforementioned
01:06 fight against Storm by twirling his weapon around in a very Maul-esque way, shortly after
01:11 kicking the weather-manipulating heroine down an elevator shaft.
01:14 Park is known for the great physicality he brings to his characters, and this moment
01:17 worked out not only as a cool tip of the hat to Maul, but as a way to make Toad feel even
01:22 more skilled in the combat department.
01:24 9.
01:25 Superbad
01:26 Raunchy teen comedy Superbad isn't exactly somewhere you'd expect Star Wars to appear,
01:31 but the movie does have a couple of hilarious nods to the sci-fi franchise throughout its
01:35 runtime.
01:36 These mostly come from Seth Rogen and Bill Hader's buddy cop duo, who frequently mention
01:40 Star Wars after picking up McLovin from the convenience store.
01:43 During their subsequent car journey, these cops, Slater and Michaels, start talking about
01:47 Attack of the Clones, with Slater saying that "the force is strong" with his rookie
01:51 partner, before breaking out into a surprisingly convincing Yoda impression and calling Michaels
01:55 his Padawan.
01:56 Later, Slater and Michaels start using their torches like lightsabers, battling one another
02:00 while adding their own sound effects.
02:03 Slater then pulls out a Palpatine impression from his repertoire, before proceeding to
02:06 run down Jonah Hill's character with his car, which if you think about it, is a pretty
02:10 fittingly evil act for a dastardly Sith Lord.
02:13 Star Wars humour may be a cheap way to draw a laugh, but Superbad executes these jokes
02:17 so well that we can't really complain.
02:19 8.
02:20 Indiana Jones
02:21 With both franchises having George Lucas as a creative spearhead, it would be a genuine
02:25 shock if the Indiana Jones movies didn't pay homage to Star Wars in some small way,
02:29 but fortunately, they do.
02:31 The most famous of these homages is found in Raiders of the Lost Ark, with a pair of
02:35 R2-D2 and C-3PO hieroglyphs appearing next to Indy when he uncovers the Ark of the Covenant.
02:41 There's another, lesser-known nod at the start of the movie as well, with the text
02:45 OB-CPO emblazoned on the side of Jock's airplane at the end of the opening sequence
02:50 – a shout out to Obi-Wan Kenobi and C-3PO.
02:53 Temple of Doom continued to dish out the Star Wars goodness, with the club that Willie sings
02:57 in at the beginning called Club Obi-Wan, while the sound effect used for the crashing plane's
03:01 engine failure is the same sound heard in The Empire Strikes Back when the Millennium
03:04 Falcon's hyperdrive fails.
03:06 And finally, while The Last Crusade is surprisingly light on Star Wars nods, Kingdom of the Crystal
03:11 Skull has Indy utter the iconic line "I've got a bad feeling about this", which has
03:15 been spoken in almost every single Star Wars flick to date.
03:18 7.
03:19 Toy Story
03:20 From the movie all the way back to the first Toy Story movie, it's been something of
03:23 a trend for Pixar to include Star Wars nods in its movies.
03:26 Some of the best of these include the Dash Forrest chase in The Incredibles' harking
03:30 back to Return of the Jedi's speeder bike chase, or the fighter pilot dogs in Up referring
03:34 to themselves as Grey Leader, Grey 2, and Grey 3, parodying the Red Squadron call sign
03:39 in A New Hope.
03:40 But it's the Star Wars references in the Toy Story series that people will remember
03:43 most fondly.
03:44 From dickbag neighbour Sid interrogating Woody with the "where's the rebel base?"
03:48 to an Obi-Wan action figure in Toy Story 4, to the fact that Emperor Zurg is a clear riff
03:53 of Darth Vader, there's a small piece of Star Wars in all four movies, some obvious
03:58 and some less so.
03:59 Zurg telling Buzz "I am your father" and Buzz yelling "Noooooo" is one of the funniest
04:04 easter eggs in movie history, inadvertently foreshadowing Vader's own pained scream
04:08 in Revenge of the Sith six years later.
04:10 Pixar and Star Wars actually have a shared history, with George Lucas himself proving
04:14 an instrumental player in the studio's formative years.
04:17 This in mind, it's almost like the Star Wars nods are a neat way for Pixar to honour
04:21 its own past.
04:23 6.
04:24 Star Trek 2009
04:26 Star Wars and Star Trek have been closely intertwined for decades, with George Lucas
04:30 once stating that Star Wars wouldn't exist if Star Trek hadn't softened up the entertainment
04:34 arena, and original Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz revealing that Trek was a big influence
04:39 on Lucas when creating his own space-set franchise.
04:42 However, by the time lifelong Star Wars fans, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof were handed
04:47 the keys to the Trek franchise for the 2009 movie reboot, the order of influence had changed,
04:52 with Trek now drawing from the Star Wars movies that those two creatives had grown up revering.
04:57 Not only were two scenes in Star Trek 2009 - aka young Kirk staring at the under-construction
05:02 Enterprise and old Spock saving Kirk from a monster - intended to echo two scenes from
05:06 the original Star Wars films, where Luke stares at the binary sunset and Obi-Wan stops the
05:10 Tusken Raiders from attacking Luke, but also a small piece of Star Wars also appears in
05:14 the movie physically - or at least digitally, but you catch our drift.
05:18 This appearance comes in the form of none other than R2-D2, who can be seen floating
05:22 through the wreckage of several Starfleet ships after the Enterprise emerges from the
05:26 warp.
05:27 R2 also pops up in the sequel Star Trek Into Darkness in a similar manner, because apparently
05:31 appearing in the vast majority of Star Wars movies just wasn't enough for this attention-seeking
05:35 droid.
05:36 5.
05:37 Captain America Civil War
05:38 With Marvel Studios' Kingpin Big Kev being such a huge fan of Star Wars, it's little
05:43 surprise that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is littered with nods to the Empire that Luke
05:46 has built.
05:47 Many movies in the franchise include a scene where a character loses a limb, such as Thor's
05:51 arm being lopped off in Thor The Dark World, all of which were intended as a wink to Vader
05:55 chopping off Luke Skywalker's arm in The Empire Strikes Back.
05:58 Ongoing gags aside, arguably the best singular Star Wars reference in the MCU is delivered
06:03 by Spider-Man in Captain America Civil War, who uses his knowledge of the sci-fi franchise
06:08 to help Team Tony take down Giant-Man.
06:10 Asking his fellow Avengers if they've ever seen that really old movie, The Empire Strikes
06:14 Back, Spidey proceeds to reference the scene where the Rebels use a cable to topple an
06:18 AT-AT on Hoth, before using the same technique on Giant-Man.
06:22 Civil War was chock-full of crowd-pleasing moments, but the pop in the theatre when Spidey
06:26 mentions Star Wars was one of the biggest of the lot.
06:29 4.
06:30 Ferris Bueller's Day Off
06:31 Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one of the most rewatchable movies ever, and can effortlessly
06:35 put a smile on your face whenever you sit down for another viewing.
06:38 It's also a treat for Star Wars fans, with one of the most memorable moments of the movie
06:42 featuring a hysterical nod to the franchise's famous music.
06:46 The moment in question sees two parking attendants going for a joyride in Cameron's dad's
06:50 Ferrari.
06:51 Soaring through the air in slow motion, their epic leap is scored with John Williams'
06:54 main Star Wars theme tune, which then carries on playing as they hit the ground and drive
06:58 off into the distance.
06:59 It's among the most iconic moments in any John Hughes movie, which is saying something
07:04 considering the guy's incredible filmography, primarily because John Williams' music
07:08 makes everything it touches a thousand times better.
07:11 3.
07:12 The Lego Movie
07:13 The Lego Movie was an absolute dream for pop culture enthusiasts, with famous faces like
07:17 Batman, Gandalf, Wonder Woman, Superman, Dumbledore, and even Shaquille O'Neal appearing throughout
07:22 its runtime.
07:23 The Star Wars gang also gets some cameo action, with the Millennium Falcon interrupting Batman
07:28 when he talks about obtaining a hyperdrive, musing aloud "What do you think?
07:31 A spaceship is just gonna appear out of the blue?"
07:33 Well, Batsy, yes, that's exactly what happens.
07:36 The Falcon parks up as the Star Wars theme plays, before Han Solo, Lando, Chewbacca,
07:40 and C-3PO emerge from various compartments of the ship, talking about a sweet party on
07:44 Naboo that they were supposed to be attending.
07:47 Though Harrison Ford didn't return to voice Han, Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Daniels
07:50 did return for Lando and C-3PO, respectively, adding a layer of extra awesomeness to the
07:55 scene.
07:56 Also awesome is watching Lando talking to Batman, which is almost too much cool for
08:00 a single screen to handle.
08:02 Things don't end well for the Star Wars crew, though, when Batman steals the hyperdrive
08:05 and they're eaten by a space slug.
08:07 But they certainly gave audiences a memorable time in their brief trip across the LEGO multiverse.
08:11 2.
08:12 E.T.
08:13 The Extra-Terrestrial
08:14 Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have been the best of buds for decades, even going back
08:18 to before they collaborated on 'Indiana Jones'.
08:21 In the 70s, the pair even traded back-end points on close encounters of the third kind
08:25 and 'Star Wars', with Lucas believing that Spielberg's sci-fi classic would be
08:29 by far the biggest hit.
08:30 Needless to say, Spielberg emerged from that gamble with heavier pockets.
08:34 With 'Star Wars' proving to be such a smash hit in 1977, Spielberg decided to pay
08:39 homage to the franchise in his 1982 flick 'E.T.
08:42 The Extra-Terrestrial', with a few different references dotted throughout.
08:45 At one point, we see a child walking down the street in a Yoda costume, which is accompanied
08:49 by the same Yoda musical cue heard in 'The Empire Strikes Back'.
08:52 Elsewhere, the lead character Elliot's bedroom is stuffed with 'Star Wars' action figures,
08:57 including Boba Fett, Greedo and Lando, and right before Elliot introduces him to E.T.,
09:01 his older brother Michael mocks him by doing a Yoda impression.
09:04 Brilliantly, Lucas would later return the gesture, with a few members of E.T.'s species
09:08 appearing on Coruscant in 'The Phantom Menace'.
09:10 It's a small universe after all, isn't it?
09:13 1.
09:14 'Free Guy'
09:15 'Free Guy' was one of those movies that felt like it had Easter eggs hidden in every
09:18 frame, so it really wasn't a surprise that 'Star Wars' made the cut.
09:22 During the climactic battle between Ryan Reynolds' hero Guy and his ridiculously buff adversary
09:26 Dude, Guy is completely outmatched physically, forcing him to call in a bit of help from
09:31 some iconic pop culture weapons.
09:33 Captain America's shield is first up, followed by a Hulk fist and then, you guessed it, a
09:37 lightsaber, which Guy uses with a level of skill that would give Vader a run for his
09:41 money.
09:42 Made possible by Disney's acquisition of 'Star Wars' and 'Free Guy's' distributor
09:45 20th Century Fox, these references were implemented after Reynolds, along with director Sean Levy,
09:50 wrote to Disney and asked for permission.
09:52 Obviously, the studio said yes, and we are glad they did.
09:55 Guy using a lightsaber, while John Williams' 'Star Wars' score plays, made for one
09:59 of the best movie theatre moments of 2021.
10:01 Here's hoping for something just as good in 'Free Guy's' upcoming sequel.
10:05 Although, to be fair, that's going to be tough to beat.
10:07 And there we go, my friends, those were 10 of the best times that 'Star Wars' appeared
10:10 in other movies.
10:11 I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in
10:14 the comments section below.
10:16 As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter @RetroJay with a zero,
10:19 or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice, where I do all of my streaming outside of
10:22 work, and it'd be great to see you over there.
10:24 But before I go, I just want to say one thing.
10:27 Hope you're treating yourself with love and respect, my friends, because you deserve
10:30 all of the best things in life, alright?
10:31 And don't go beating yourself up for mistakes that you made in the past, we all make them,
10:34 we are all human, and if you have the capacity to forgive those that have done you wrong
10:38 in the past, then I urge you to do so, because holding onto hatred and resentment, it's
10:41 not good for anyone in the long run.
10:43 Big love to you, my friend.
10:44 Now go out there and smash it, you massive ledge.
10:46 As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
10:49 to you soon.