50 facts about Darth Vader

Facts Facts about Darth Vader   1 As a human, Darth Vader was 1.88 metres tall. After his transformation into a cyborg, he was 2.03 metres tall! Anakin Skywalker was born 41 years before the Battle of Yavin and died 4 years after the Battle of Yavin as Darth Vader, making him 45 years old in total. 2 3 Although Vader is the main antagonist in Star Wars Episode 4 – A New Hope, he only appears in the film for 12 minutes! That’s still 7 minutes longer than Tarkin’s 5 minutes. A variety of actors were involved in portraying the dark Sithlord: Jake Loyd (Episode 1), Heyden Cristasen (Episode 2 & 3), Sebastian Shawn (Episode 6). David Prows played the iconic villain in episodes 4 & 5 and Bob Andason in the fight scenes. David Prows’ voice was later replaced by that of James El Jones. In addition, 7 other actors have voiced the Dark Lord in various video games and series. 4 5 It is rumoured that the swordsman Bob Anderson had to take over the fight scenes for Darth Vader in the original trilogy, as David Prows was too brutal and rough with the prop swords and they kept breaking as a result! David Prows didn’t realise until the release of Star Wars Episode 4 – A New Hope that his voice would be replaced with that of James El Jones. After learning of this, Prows simply stopped learning most of his lines in Episode 5 and Episode 6 and sometimes narrated nonsense on camera! 6 7 The reason for replacing the voice of David Prows was that the voice of the embodiment of the iconic villain sounded so banal that the other actors simply called David Prows ‘Darth Farmer’. A dispute between the creator of Star Wars George Lucas and David Prows escalated due to the teasing of David Prows’ banal-sounding voice. The actor David Prows, who felt he had been treated unfairly, began to slander the Star Wars films in public, which ended in a legal dispute between George Lucas and Prows. The result of the dispute was that Prows was banned from all Star Wars conventions. 8 9 Darth Vader is the most profitable character in the entire Star Wars franchise! Merchandise featuring Palpatine’s dark henchman is the best selling item in the Star Wars franchise. Darth Vader is described in both canon and Legends as a master of the aggressive Lightsaber IV form, which he had to adapt somewhat to his new circumstances after his transformation into a cyborg. 10 11 The fact that Darth Vader is the father of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa was kept a closely guarded secret during the filming of Episode 5 at the end of the 70s. The script said that Darth Vader told Luke that Obi Wan had killed his father! The only person who knew the truth was Marc Hemmel (Luke Skywalker), as he needed the information to be able to play his role authentically. After filming, the correct text was recorded by James L. Jones. The idea that Darth Vader could be Luke’s father only came to Lucas during the second revision of the script for Star Wars Episode 5. Until then, Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were two different characters. 12 13 Darth Vader is ranked third on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 most iconic film villains, just behind Hanibal Lekter and Norman Bades. The film ‘A New Hope’ is the only film in which Darth Vader’s musical theme – The Imperial March – is not played, as the piece had not yet been written at the time. 14 15 Darth Vader is the only villain to lose his arm three times! Once in the battle against Count Dooku on Geonosis, once against Obi Wan Kenobi on Mustava and once against Luke Skywalker on the second Death Star. Darth Vader is one of 4 characters who appear in all of the original 6 films. The other 3 are Obi Wan Kenobi, C3PO and R2D2. 16 17 Darth Vader and C3PO share first place for ‘most limbs cut off in the first 6 films’. They amount to a total of 5! Originally, the voice of Darth Vader was not supposed to come from James El Jones, but from Orson Welles. However, the creator of the Star Wars epic decided against the voice of Welles, as his voice was too well-known. 18 19 Due to the decision against the voice of Orson Welles, the trailer for Star Wars Episode 4 was recorded by him. In canon, Darth Vader has no father. In Star Wars Legends, it is heavily implied that Darth Plaigus created Anakin using the Force. 20 21 In Star Wars Legends, Darth Vader’s suit would not actually have been necessary. However, Darth Siddious had it made to weaken his henchman and subsequently keep him under control. Darth Vader’s suit, when closed, created a closed atmosphere that kept Anakin alive. 22 23 In canon, it is known from several sources that Darth Vader became even stronger than before after his transformation into a cyborg! The canon refutes this statement. In some early drafts of Star Wars Episode 4, Darth Vader wasn’t always supposed to wear his suit. Originally, Vader was a normal Imperial general who was supposed to fly to Auntie-4 in a suit at the beginning of Episode 4. 24 25 In another early version of Star Wars Episode 4 – A New Hope, Darth Vader was supposed to die at the end of the film to complete the film! In Back to the Future, Darth Vader was described as a person from the planet Vulcan. 26 27 Vader’s helmet had to be filled with cotton wool because David Prows’ head was too small for the helmet. The idea of having Luke Skywalker cut off Darth Vader’s arm in Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi came from the first Star Wars novel “Splinter of the Minds Eye”

Making Of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

Making Of Making of Star Wars Episode 1   All I need is an Idea. George Lucas – 11.01.1994 vor seinem Schreibtisch sitzend A desk in front of an open window. To his left, you can hear cheerful film music coming from a tube TV. It is the summer of 1999 and George Lucas is sitting at his desk, writing the beginning of his legendary epic. The creator and creative mind behind the most famous science fiction saga, which was to leave its mark on viewers across generations, took advantage of the technological progress that was rapidly advancing at the time and created the first part of the Prequel trilogy. And he did it like most creative people: without pressure in a harmonious environment to allow his mind and soul to unfold completely I think about sceens all the time. And they come in an mosaic. Than there come some messy ones. Therfore I have to sit down and write them down. It starts with me sitting here, doodling little miner, but it ends up with 1.000 People, who working togetter, in a very emotional creative way. George Lucas – 11.01.1994 vor seinem Schreibtisch sitzend Cpater 1 Vorbereitungen           5 months before filming begins: George Lucas, the mastermind behind the complex films of the Star Wars universe, is in a room with his assistants. In front of him is a huge screen on which various scenes from the upcoming film are sketched in black and white. George Lucas is using a coloured pencil to mark all the relevant scenes for the upcoming filming of the sketched scenes. George Lucas holds two coloured pencils in his hands. With the help of these pens, the mastermind behind the film marks which scenes are ‘real’ and which are ‘unreal’ and therefore have to be added in post-production so that the scene corresponds to how the script and George Lucas imagined it. Casting for the role of Anakin Skywalker In order to cast the role of the ‘Chosen One’ in the best possible way, George Lucas casts various children in the age range 9-10 years. At the end of the day, the child who plays the scene most authentically gets the role in the film ‘Star Wars Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace’. The children are carefully and sympathetically prepared for their casting on the set of the film. George Lucas and his colleague explain the content of the scene to the children before they start filming. When all the children have played the scene with Nathalie Portman, who plays Padmé Amidala in the Prequil triology, George Lucas stands in front of the computer with Robin Gurland, the casting director and his crew and looks at all the film material that they had previously recorded at the casting. Jacke Loid was chosen for the role because, according to Robin Gurland and George Lucas, he looked the most natural of all the participants in terms of his body language. In addition, Jake Loyd and Sam Majord were visually compared with Mark Hamill at the time of the filming of the 4th part of the Star Wars saga in order to create a realistic line between son and father. Chapter 2 Makeover Ewan McGregor Actor Ewan McGregor, known for his portrayal of Obi Wan Kenobi, underwent a complete makeover for the role of Obi Wan Kenobi. His long hair was shortened to one centimetre with a hair clipper. Some hair was left a little longer on the side so that the stylists could create Obi Wan Kenobi’s typical hairstyle from the first part of the Prequil Triology. As in all important events, the director and mastermind behind Star Wars was also present here. With his friendly and calm manner, he watched as the restyling process progressed and McGregor looked more and more like Kenobi from George Lucas’ mind. Jar Jar Binks The actor Ahmed Best, who embodies the role of Jar Jar Binks, slips into the costume for the first time, which gives the goofy companion his visual appearance. A million saved, is a million earnd! George Lucas on his directors cutting the budget for Jar Jar Binks In plain language, the statement from the mastermind behind Star Wars means that the scenes featuring Jar Jar Binks were cut and they were able to reduce the film’s budget by 1 million US dollars just by reducing the clumsy Jar Jar, who adds cost to the character’s animations every time he appears! The plan was that they wanted to speed up Ahmed Best’s movements in post-production to give the lovable klutz his iconic ‘slobbery movements’. Chapter 3 Filming We are in Watford, England. George Lucas’ team rented the Rolce Roys Factury for the filming. The 850,000m2 area was remodelled into various set locations in which they were able to construct various backdrops. Over 600 people were involved in the filming, working in shifts for 24 hours. Steven Spielberg is welcomed in the courtyard of the site and given a short tour. He is given exclusive insights into various sets and props used in the final battle on Nabo. Afterwards, the team gathers in a smaller room of the facility. Chris Newman, the assistant director, sits down with the mastermind of the Star Wars stories and discusses important details for the rest of the filming process. Final scheduling co-ordinations are discussed as well as minor details and habits of the individual characters during filming Action sequences Fight choreograp Nick Gillard, who plays the role of ‘Stunt Coordinator’ in the movie Star Wars Episode 1, watches two colleagues as they fight one of the many battles with metal rods. The metal rods are used here as dummies for the lightsabers used in the fights in the final film. We see the young Ewan McGregor training with his sparring partner as he practices his choreography with the lightsaber against Darth Maul in the movies’s final showdown. The metal rod has bent due to too many