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Not very long ago, in a bunch of famous, non-Star Wars movies...
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00:00So, everybody knows Star Wars, right? We know the text crawl, we know the light side,
00:05we know the dark side, and we definitely for damn sure know about the lightsabers.
00:09But apparently this love for George Lucas' and Disney's work isn't just contained within their
00:14own franchise, as numerous films have provided nods, references, easter eggs, and just full-on
00:19cameos from the Star Wars universe. And that's what we're here to talk about today. As I'm Jules,
00:23this is WhatCulture.com, and these are the 10 best times Star Wars appeared in other movies.
00:2810. X-Men
00:30The original X-Men movie hit cinemas in 2000, one year after Star Wars' long-awaited return in the
00:36form of The Phantom Menace. As such, the timing couldn't have been better for X-Men to sneak
00:40in a Star Wars reference somewhere. And during the final battle between Halle Berry's Storm and
00:44Ray Park's Toad, that's exactly what happened. Park had just played Sith apprentice Darth Maul
00:50in The Phantom Menace, a character whose insane lightsaber skills allowed him to battle Qui-Gon
00:55Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who are obviously two trained Jedi, at the same time and come out on
01:00top. Well, almost. Jumping back to X-Men though, Park paid homage to those lightsaber skills in that
01:05aforementioned fight against Storm by twirling his weapon around in a very Maul-esque way,
01:10shortly after kicking the weather-manipulating heroine down an elevator shaft. Park is known
01:14for the great physicality he brings to his characters, and this moment worked out not only
01:18as a cool tip of the hat to Maul, but as a way to make Toad feel even more skilled in the combat
01:23department. 9. Superbad
01:26Raunchy teen comedy Superbad isn't exactly somewhere you'd expect. These mostly come from
01:31Seth Rogen and Bill Hader's buddy cop duo, who frequently mention Star Wars after picking up
01:35McLovin from the convenience store. During their subsequent car journey, these cops, Slater and
01:40Michaels, start talking about Attack of the Clones, with Slater saying that the Force is strong with
01:44his rookie partner, before breaking out into a surprisingly convincing Yoda impression and
01:49calling Michaels his Padawan. Later, Slater and Michaels start using their torches like lightsabers,
01:54battling one another while adding their own sound effects. Slater is proceeding to run down Jonah
01:58Hill's character with his car, which if you think about it, is a pretty fittingly evil act for a
02:02dastardly Sith Lord. Star Wars humor may be a cheap way to draw a laugh, but Superbad executes these
02:07jokes so well that we can't really complain. 8. Indiana Jones
02:11With both franchises having George Lucas as a creative spearhead, it would be a genuine shock
02:16if the Indiana Jones movies didn't pay homage to Star Wars in some small way, but fortunately,
02:21they do. The most famous of these homages is found in Raiders of the Lost Ark, with a pair of R2-D2
02:27and C-3PO hieroglyphs appearing next. There's another lesser-known nod at the start of the movie as
02:32well, with the text OBCPO emblazoned on the side of Jock's airplane at the end of the opening
02:37sequence, a shout-out to Obi-Wan Kenobi and C-3PO. Temple of Doom continued to dish out the Star Wars
02:43goodness with the club that Willie sings in at the beginning called Club Obi-Wan, while the sound
02:47effect used for the crashing plane's engine failure is the same sound heard in The Empire Strikes Back
02:51when the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive fails. And finally, while The Last Crusade is surprisingly
02:56light on Star Wars nods, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has Indy utter the iconic line,
03:01I've got a bad feeling about this, which has been spoken in almost every single Star Wars flick to
03:05date. 7. Toy Story
03:07Going all the way back to the first Toy Story movie, it's been something of a trend for Pixar to include
03:12Star Wars nods in its movies. Some of the best of these include the Dash Forest chase in The Incredibles
03:17harking back to Return of the Jedi's speeder bike chase, or the fight of Pilot Dogs in Up referring to
03:22themselves as Grey Leader, Grey 2, and Grey 3, parodying the Red Squadron call sign in A New
03:27Hope. But it's the Star Wars references in the Toy Story series that people will remember most fondly.
03:32From dickbag neighbor Sid interrogating Woody with the Where's the Rebel base? to an Obi-Wan
03:37action figure in Toy Story 4, to the fact that Emperor Zurg is a clear riff of Darth Vader,
03:42there's a small piece of Star Wars in all four movies, some obvious and some less so.
03:47Zurg telling Buzz, I am your father, and Buzz yelling, No! is one of the funniest
03:52easter eggs in movie history, inadvertently foreshadowing Vader's own pained scream in
03:56Revenge of the Sith six years later. Pixar and Star Wars actually have a shared history,
04:01with George Lucas himself proving an instrumental player in the studio's formative years.
04:05This in mind, it's almost like the Star Wars nods are a neat way for Pixar to honour its own past.
04:116. Star Trek 2009
04:13Star Wars and Star Trek have been closely intertwined for decades, with George Lucas once stating that
04:18Star Wars wouldn't exist if Star Trek hadn't softened up the entertainment arena,
04:23and original Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz revealing that Trek was a big influence on Lucas when creating
04:28his own space-set franchise. However, by the time lifelong Star Wars fans,
04:33J.J. Abram and Damon Lindelof, were handed the keys to the Trek franchise for the 2009 movie reboot,
04:38the order of influence had changed, with Trek now drawing from the Star Wars movies that those
04:43two creatives had grown up revering. Not only were two scenes in Star Trek 2009, aka young Kirk staring
04:49at the under-construction Enterprise and old Spock saving Kirk from a monster, intended to echo two
04:54scenes from the original Star Wars films, where Luke stares at the binary sunset and Obi-Wan stops
04:58the Tusken Raiders from attacking Luke, but also a small piece of Star Wars also appears in the movie
05:03physically, or at least digitally, but you catch our drift. This appearance comes in the form of none
05:07other than R2-D2, who can be seen floating through the wreckage of several Starfleet ships after the
05:13Enterprise emerges from the warp. R2 also pops up in the sequel's Star Trek Into Darkness in a similar
05:18manner, because apparently appearing in the vast majority of Star Wars movies just wasn't enough
05:22for this attention-seeking droid. 5. Captain America Civil War
05:26With Marvel Studios' Kingpin Big Kev being such a huge fan of Star Wars, it's also a surprise that the
05:31Marvel Cinematic Universe is littered with nods to the Empire that Luke has built. Many movies in the
05:36franchise include a scene where a character loses a limb, such as Thor's arm being lopped off in
05:40Thor The Dark World, all of which were intended as a wink to Vader chopping off Luke Skywalker's arm
05:45in The Empire Strikes Back. Ongoing gags aside, though, arguably the best singular Star Wars reference
05:50in the MCU is delivered by Spider-Man in Captain America Civil War, who uses his knowledge of the
05:55sci-fi franchise to help Team Tony take down Giant Man. Asking his fellow Avengers if they've ever seen
06:00that really old movie The Empire Strikes Back, Spidey proceeds to reference the scene where the
06:05Rebels use a cable to topple an at-at on Hoth, before using the same technique on Giant Man.
06:10Civil War was chock-full of crowd-pleasing moments, but the pop in the theatre when Spidey
06:14mentioned Star Wars was one of the biggest of the lot.
06:174. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
06:19Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one of the most rewatchable movies ever, and can effortlessly
06:23put a smile on your face whenever you sit down for another viewing. It's also a treat for Star Wars fans,
06:28with one of the most memorable moments of the movie featuring a hysterical nod to the franchise's
06:32famous music. The moment in question sees two parking attendants going for a joyride in Cameron's
06:37dad's Ferrari. Soaring through the air in slow motion, their epic leap is scored with John
06:42Williams' main Star Wars theme tune, which then carries on playing as they hit the ground and
06:46drive off into the distance. It's among the most iconic moments in any John Hughes movie,
06:51which is saying something considering the guy's incredible filmography, primarily because John
06:55Williams' music makes everything it touches a thousand times better.
06:583. The Lego Movie The Lego Movie was an absolute dream for
07:03pop culture enthusiasts, with famous faces like Batman, Gandalf, Wonder Woman, Superman,
07:08Dumbledore, and even Shaquille O'Neal appearing throughout its runtime. The Star Wars gang also
07:12gets some cameo action, with the Millennium Falcon interrupting Batman when he talks about obtaining
07:17a hyperdrive, musing aloud, what do you think, a spaceship is just going to appear out of the blue?
07:21Well, Batsy, yes, that's exactly what happens. The Falcon parks up as the Star Wars theme plays,
07:26before Han Solo, Lando, Chewbacca, and C-3PO emerge from various compartments of the ship,
07:31talking about a sweet party on Naboo that they were supposed to be attending.
07:35Though Harrison Ford didn't return to voice Han, Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Daniels did return
07:39for Lando and C-3PO respectively, adding a layer of extra awesomeness to the scene.
07:44Also awesome is watching Lando talking to Batman, which is almost too much cool for a single screen to
07:48handle. Things don't end well for the Star Wars crew, though, when Batman steals the hyperdrive and
07:53they're eaten by a space slug. But they certainly gave audiences a memorable time in their brief
07:57trip across the Lego multiverse. 2. E.T. The Extraterrestrial
08:02Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have been the best of buds for decades,
08:05even going back to before they collaborated on Indiana Jones. In the 70s, the pair even traded
08:10back-end points on Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars, with Lucas believing that
08:15Spielberg's sci-fi classic would be by far the biggest hit. Needless to say, Spielberg emerged from
08:20that gamble with heavier pockets. With Star Wars proving to be such a smash hit in 1977,
08:26Spielberg decided to pay homage to the franchise in his 1982 flick E.T. The Extraterrestrial,
08:31with a few different references dotted throughout. At one point, we see a child walking down the
08:35street in a Yoda costume, which is accompanied by the same Yoda musical cue heard in The Empire
08:39Strikes Back. Elsewhere, the lead character Elliot's bedroom is stuffed with Star Wars action figures,
08:44including Boba Fett, Greedo, and Lando. And right before Elliot introduces him to E.T.,
08:49his older brother Michael mocks him by doing a Yoda impression. Brilliantly, Lucas would later return
08:54the gesture, with a few members of E.T.'s species appearing on Coruscant in The Phantom Menace.
08:59It's a small universe after all, isn't it?
09:011. Free Guy
09:02Free Guy was one of those movies that felt like it had easter eggs hidden in every frame,
09:07so it really wasn't a surprise that Star Wars made the cut. During the climactic battle between
09:11Ryan Reynolds' hero Guy and his ridiculously buff adversary Dude, Guy is completely outmatched
09:16physically, forcing him to call in a bit of help from some iconic pop culture weapons.
09:21Captain America's shield is first up, followed by a Hulk fist and then, you guessed it,
09:25a lightsaber, which Guy uses with a level of skill that would give Vader a run for his money.
09:30Made possible by Disney's acquisition of Star Wars and Free Guy's distributor 20th Century Fox,
09:35these references were implemented after Reynolds, along with director Sean Levy,
09:38wrote to Disney and asked for permission. Obviously, the studio said yes, and we are glad they did.
09:43Guy using a lightsaber while John Williams' Star Wars score plays made for one of the best movie
09:48theatre moments of 2021. Here's hoping for something just as good in Free Guy's upcoming
09:52sequel. Although, to be fair, that's going to be tough to beat.
09:55And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 of the best times that Star Wars appeared in other
09:59movies. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the
10:02comments section below. As always, I've been Jules, so you can go follow me over on Twitter at
10:06RetroJ with a Zero, or you can swing by Live and Let's Dice, where I do all of my streaming
10:10outside of work, and it'd be great to see you over there. But before I go, I just want to say one
10:14thing. Hope you're treating yourself with love and respect, my friends, because you deserve all
10:18of the best things in life, alright? And don't go beating yourself up and mistakes that you made
10:21in the past. We all make them. We are all human. And if you have the capacity to forgive those that
10:25have done you wrong in the past, then I urge you to do so, because holding on to hatred and
10:28resentment, it's not good for anyone in the long run. Big love to you, my friend. Now go out there
10:32and smash it, you massive ledge. As always, I've been Jules. You have been awesome. Never forget that,
10:37and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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