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Breaking down the most controversial Star Wars movie of all time.
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00:00Okay, so let's face facts here. There is, simply put, no more divisive Star Wars movie than The
00:05Last Jedi, which, depending on who you ask, is either a masterpiece or a flaming dumpster fire.
00:11This blockbuster took one look at the Force Awakens' safe, unambitious franchise resurrection
00:17and offered up a more daring, boundary-pushing sequel that carved its own subversive path
00:22and split the fanbase right down the middle. Yet, love it or hate it, the discourse surrounding
00:26The Last Jedi is so pervasively exhausting that you couldn't really be blamed for dipping out and
00:31just not engaging with the movie one way or another. And so, away from all of the toxicity,
00:36there's probably plenty that you actually don't know about The Last Jedi, from fascinating aspects
00:41of its production to sneaky easter eggs, cameos, and happy accidents that ultimately made the movie
00:46what it is. So let's take a look at them today. As I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:50and this is 20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Wars The Last Jedi.
00:5520. Mark Hamill Hated Luke's Characterization
00:58Perhaps the single most divisive aspect of The Last Jedi was Luke Skywalker's characterization,
01:04reinventing him as a more world-weary, beaten-down, exiled Jedi, and one who even considered killing
01:10Kylo Ren years prior. Fans weren't the only one upset by this, as even Mark Hamill himself
01:15wasn't best pleased with how Luke was written, enough so that he made it very clear to the director,
01:20stating in an interview during the movie's press tour that he said,
01:23I pretty much fundamentally disagree with every choice you've made for this character.
01:28Now, having said that, I've gotten it off my chest, and my job now is to take what you've
01:32created and do my best to realize your vision. Hamill did, however, later apologize for
01:37voicing his doubts and insecurities in public, and added that despite his creative misgivings,
01:43that Johnson made an all-time great movie.
01:4519. The Porgs Were Created For One Specific Reason
01:49Another relatively polarizing aspect of The Last Jedi was the introduction of the Porgs,
01:54a species of bird native to the planet where Luke exiled himself. The creatures were compared to
01:59Ewoks by some fans, who felt that they were blatant merch bait intended to appeal to very young
02:05children. Yet in actual fact, the Porgs actually came about as a result of practical problem-solving
02:10during shooting. While filming the scenes on the Irish island Skellig Michael, the shoot was
02:15constantly interrupted by native puffins who would fly into shot. And so, because the puffins were a
02:20protected species and couldn't be touched, the director simply decided to include the puffins in
02:25the film, but alter their appearance with CGI, because this was actually cheaper and easier than
02:30having them all painted out digitally. And so, the Porgs were born.
02:3418. Obi-Wan Was Almost In It
02:37Rian Johnson admitted after the film's release that he did toy with the idea of having Obi-Wan Kenobi
02:42appear as a Force ghost instead of Yoda, and yet rejected the idea for one major reason,
02:47and that was the casting. Due to the original Obi-Wan actor Alec Guinness having passed away
02:52many years ago, Johnson would have had to either use a CGI double or simply bring Ewan McGregor into
02:58the fold. And while McGregor was eager to reprise the role, Johnson wasn't quite as convinced.
03:03Ultimately, Johnson felt that having Mark Hamill interact with the McGregor version of Obi-Wan,
03:07an iteration of the character he's never shared the screen with before, wouldn't feel authentic.
03:11As fun as it would have been to see Obi-Wan in the movie, Johnson was probably right here.
03:1617. Carrie Fisher Helped Polish The Script
03:19You may or may not know that the late, great Carrie Fisher spent many years in Hollywood working
03:24a side gig as a script doctor. And in that job, she helped polish the scripts for numerous huge
03:29movies such as Hook, Sister Act, and The Wedding Singer, and even punched up the dialogue for the
03:34Star Wars prequels. Though Fisher more or less retired from script doctor work after the prequels came
03:39out, she did end up helping Rian Johnson complete the script for The Last Jedi.
03:43According to Johnson, he visited Fisher's house and they went over the entire script in fine detail,
03:48with Fisher making numerous suggestions, including rewriting much of Leia's own dialogue.
03:53Script doctors typically go uncredited for their work and their contributions may only be revealed
03:57years or even decades later. Yet due to Fisher's untimely passing before The Last Jedi's release,
04:03it was fitting for Johnson to make that information public during the press tour.
04:0616. Kylo Ren's Scar Was Actually Changed Between Movies
04:11Near the end of The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren takes a shot to the face from Rey's lightsaber,
04:16leaving him with a significant scar running from his hairline down to his jaw. However,
04:20a few eagle-eyed fans noticed that Kylo's scar had subtly changed between the movies,
04:25shifting from between his eyebrows to instead cutting through his right eyebrow and going further
04:30down his right cheek. In a now-deleted tweet, Johnson said that he made the call himself,
04:34and it was purely for the sake of his own aesthetic preferences. While it's unlikely that the fans
04:39would have been hugely bothered by the original scar placement, this just goes to show the many
04:43hundreds of tiny creative decisions that go into even the most seemingly mundane parts of a massive
04:48blockbuster movie.
04:4915. Tatiana Maslane, Gina Rodriguez, Olivia Cooke, and others were considered for Rose.
04:55The role of Resistance member Rose Tico was heavily sought out in Hollywood, as of course eventually went to
05:00the largely unknown Kelly Marie Tran. It's especially impressive on Tran's part, considering that she
05:06had to fend off competition from a bevy of considerably more established and well-known
05:10actresses. This included the likes of Tatiana Maslane, Gina Rodriguez, and Olivia Cooke, all of whom
05:15made the shortlist and may have been even screen-tested for the part. Ultimately, hiring an unknown actor
05:20to play Rose may have been for the best, though, allowing her to function as an easy audience surrogate
05:25without the distracting potential a more high-profile performer might have brought to the role.
05:2914. Mark Hamill Also Plays a Secret Second Role
05:33In addition to finally giving Luke Skywalker a full reprise in The Last Jedi, Mark Hamill also
05:38plays a secret second character in the film who appears in the movie's divisive Canto Bight sequence.
05:44Hamill asked Rian Johnson if he could play a CGI creation in the film in addition to his upfront
05:49duties, and ended up being cast as Dobu Skay, the mischievous drunk amphibian gambler who hilariously
05:55mistakes BB-8 for a slot machine and inserts a coin in him. Hamill not only provided the small voice
06:00role for the character, but according to Hamill himself, also wore a motion capture suit on set
06:05to act out his movements.
06:0613. It was the first Star Wars film to show books and paper
06:10You probably remember that Luke Skywalker had custody of a collection of sacred Jedi text on his
06:16exiled planet, but you may not have put two and two together and appreciated that this is actually
06:20the first time that we've ever seen books and paper in the canonical cinematic universe.
06:25The presence of the Jedi text confirms once and for all, after so many decades, that paper does
06:30indeed exist as we know it in the world of Star Wars, despite information typically being stored
06:35and presented digitally. It's a fascinating sliver of low-key world-building that has evidently been
06:40taken for granted by most fans, confirming just how damn ancient those Jedi texts truly are.
06:4512. The DJ character was almost Lando Calrissian
06:49Benicio Del Toro has a small but vital role in the film as DJ, an underworld codebreaker who ends
06:55up double-crossing the resistance to General Hux in order to win his own freedom. In the early
06:59scripting stages, however, the role was actually written for Lando Calrissian, but Rian Johnson
07:04ultimately decided to reinvent the part as an entirely new character because he didn't want to
07:08have Lando categorically betray the heroes. Lando's certainly no stranger to subterfuge or looking out for
07:14number one, but at least he usually does the right thing in the end. DJ, on the other hand,
07:19well, he never gets his redeeming moment and effectively just disappears out of the story
07:22after turning on Finn and Rose. Lando, of course, finally returns to the franchise in The Rise of
07:27Skywalker, albeit only in a piecemeal, strictly fans-serving capacity.
07:3111. BB-8 Says I've Got a Bad Feeling About This
07:35It was initially reported that The Last Jedi was the first film in the Skywalker saga to omit a
07:39variation of the iconic phrase, I have a bad feeling about this, but yet that's actually not
07:44the case. Instead, Rian Johnson decided to get a little cute with this one and include the one-liner
07:49in a highly concealed form. Johnson confirmed that BB-8 actually says the very same phrase to Poe
07:54Dameron in the movie's opening scene, making a series of binary beeping noises as they take on the
07:59first order. Upon hearing and understanding BB-8's anxiety, Poe responds with,
08:04Happy beeps here, buddy, come on. And Johnson said of the inclusion,
08:07It seemed like a fun character to deliver that line. I think originally I had Poe respond,
08:11Oh, I got a good feeling about it, keep your chin up. And then I made it a little less
08:15explicit just
08:16to make it more fun. 10. George Lucas Thought That It Was Much Better Than The Force Awakens
08:21Back in 2019, then-Disney CEO Bob Iger released his memoirs, which included the revelation that George
08:27Lucas wasn't actually too keen on Star Wars The Force Awakens. He said,
08:31He didn't hide his disappointment. There's nothing new, Lucas said. In each of the films
08:35in the original trilogy, it was important to him to present new worlds, new stories,
08:39new characters, and new technologies. In this one, he said, there weren't enough visual or
08:43technical leaps forward. It's perhaps fitting, then, that Lucas was reportedly far more impressed
08:48with the more original boundary-pushing The Last Jedi. After seeing the film, Lucas called it
08:52Beautifully Made and spoke directly with Johnson to praise him further. To date, Lucas hasn't offered
08:57up his opinion on The Rise of Skywalker, though the fact that he was absent from its world premiere
09:02could definitely be telling. 9. Carrie Fisher's Dog Gary Has A Cameo
09:06If you know much about Carrie Fisher's personal life, you're very likely aware that she adored her
09:11pet French bulldog, aptly named Gary Fisher. In addition to travelling with Fisher everywhere she went,
09:17Gary actually ended up making a sneaky cameo appearance in The Last Jedi,
09:20showing up as an alien pet by an unidentified creature in the Canto Bight sequence. It's a
09:26fleeting appearance that's tricky to spot, but it was indeed confirmed by Rian Johnson on the eve of
09:30the film's release, and better yet, apparently Gary had quite the bull watching himself on the big
09:34screen at the movie's premiere. 8. Maz Kanata's Role Was Cut Down During Rewrites
09:40After Maz Kanata was given such a strong and memorable introduction in The Force Awakens,
09:44fans understandably expected to see more of her in The Last Jedi. But alas,
09:48Maz shows up for just a minute-long cameo appearance in the film and left fans both
09:52mystified and disappointed. However, Maz originally had a much larger role in the story,
09:57as she was initially supposed to appear at the Resistance base on Crait, with the concept art
10:02from the book The Art of Star Wars The Last Jedi confirming this. J.J. Abrams even shot a scene
10:07for
10:07The Force Awakens which showed Maz returning to the Resistance base, yet because there wasn't anything for
10:11her to do but simply sit around, it was decided to remove it. And so, this had a knock-on
10:16effect on The
10:16Last Jedi, resulting in Maz's role being reduced during rewrites. And in the end, this is all we
10:21got. 7. Frank Oz Helped Direct And Edit The Yoda Scene
10:25One of The Last Jedi's biggest surprises was the unexpected appearance of Yoda, who shows up in
10:30Force Ghost form not as a digital creation, but as a classic, practical puppet. In addition to Frank
10:36Oz providing the voice for Yoda and operating the Yoda puppet, he actually helped direct the scene on set
10:41and then went into the editing room with Rian Johnson to provide added assistance. Given Oz's
10:45decades of experience working with puppets, Johnson invited him to help shape the Yoda scene
10:50in post-production. Oz primarily aided Johnson in editing around the puppet to maximize its presence
10:55on screen and make Yoda feel real to the audience. And you know what? This was definitely a success.
11:016. Anthony Daniels Was Disappointed By C-3PO's Small Role
11:05Now, Mark Hamill wasn't the only legacy actor a little miffed about his character's treatment in the
11:10movie. Anthony Daniels was also unhappy with C-3PO's role in The Last Jedi. In Daniels' case,
11:15it was less about the creative particulars of C-3PO's presence than the sheer size of his role,
11:20with Daniels saying, In The Last Jedi, I became a table decoration, which I regretted because C-3PO
11:25was worth more than that. Now, Daniels isn't really wrong, in that C-3PO spends most of the film
11:30aboard Vice Admiral Holdo's ship and doing little of major consequence. Ironically, Daniels was decidedly
11:36far more enthusiastic about his part in The Rise of Skywalker, with the film giving 3PO far more to do.
11:415. Rose's Personality Was Changed During Production
11:45Curiously, the movie's most, air quotes, controversial and divisive character was one
11:49who underwent a fair reworking during production. Though when we first meet Rose, she's something of
11:54a resistance fangirl and remains a pillar of chirpy optimism throughout, Rian Johnson originally wrote
11:59her as a more dour and cynical character. Once he cast Kelly Marie Tran and saw how she interacted
12:05with John Boyega, he tweaked Rose to be less surly and more hopeful. He said the character was written
12:10as more of an Eeyore type initially in the script, so she was a little more grumpy and didn't really
12:15trust Finn. The more I got to know Kelly, she just has this open, beautiful spirit, and I thought you
12:19have to see that at the beginning of this character. That's got to be what this character is about.
12:24It was really because of Kelly that the whole dynamic of the character changed, thank God.
12:28Would a less open-hearted take on the character have changed fan perception of Rose? Well,
12:33considering the bigoted basis of many fans' issues with Rose, probably not, unfortunately.
12:374. Joseph Gordon-Levitt Voiced The Alien Slow and Low
12:41Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in Rian Johnson's stellar directorial debut Brick,
12:45and later his 2012 sci-fi masterpiece Looper, and has made cameo appearances in all of Johnson's
12:50other films since. Gordon-Levitt had a voice cameo in The Last Jedi, portraying the alien creature
12:55known as Slow and Low during the Canto Bight sequence. The character's peculiar moniker
13:00is a reference to the Beastie Boys song Slow and Low, what with executive producer J.J. Abrams
13:05being a huge fan of the rap group. With Gordon-Levitt having appeared in every single Johnson movie in
13:10some capacity to date, we can expect to either see or hear him in the Knives Out sequel Glass Onion
13:15due out later this year.
13:163. It's the only main Star Wars movie without a lightsaber duel
13:21The Last Jedi is the first mainline film in the series without a lightsaber duel. Though Rogue
13:26One lacked a saber fight the year before The Last Jedi, this is the first of the nine main Skywalker
13:31saga movies without one. For despite Kylo Ren and Rey using their laser swords to dispose of Snoke and
13:37his Praetorian guards during the iconic throne room scene, they're the only ones using lightsabers in
13:42this sequence, so it's not actually a duel. And of course, just when it seems like we're going to get
13:46an epic showdown between Kylo Ren and Luke at the film's end, we learn that Luke's simply
13:50force-projecting himself onto that location, preventing the possibility of a duel. It's a
13:55totally on-brand move for a Star Wars movie so concerned with upending audience expectations,
14:00even if, like some of the movie's other creative calls, it did leave some fans firmly disappointed.
14:052. Tom Hardy's Cameo as a Stormtrooper Was Cut
14:08Just about everybody wants to make a cameo appearance in Star Wars, and after Daniel
14:13Craig made a brilliant appearance as a Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens, fans were eager to see who
14:18would show up in The Last Jedi. Yet despite persistent pre-release reports that Tom Hardy
14:22would be playing a Stormtrooper, he was nowhere to be seen or heard, and Rian Johnson later revealed
14:27that his role was actually cut. The deleted scene was eventually released, showing Hardy playing a
14:31southern-accented Stormtrooper who knows Finn, and seeing him suited up in Captain's uniform for his
14:37mission, sees him express surprise that he's climbed the ranks, while seemingly oblivious
14:40to Finn's defection from the First Order. Johnson hasn't ever confirmed why Hardy's role was cut,
14:45though it's safe to say that it was either due to pacing – I mean, after all, the final cut
14:49was
14:49152 minutes long – or because Hardy's southern caricature was perhaps a little bit too silly
14:54for its own good.
14:551. Actor Timothy D. Rose Was Left In Tears Over Admiral Ackbar's Death
14:59Many fans were left disappointed by the death of Admiral Ackbar at the hands of Kylo Ren,
15:04but nobody was more crestfallen than Timothy D. Rose, who played Ackbar in 1983's Return of the
15:10Jedi and returned to portray him in both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. In addition to expressing
15:15frustration with the secrecy on set while shooting both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, Rose felt
15:20that Ackbar's death was treated as a joke on set. He said,
15:23We finished all of our bits and they asked me to come down to camera and I thought,
15:27oh well, maybe they're going to say thank you for being one of the heritage characters and giving 30
15:31years and all that, but what they did was ask me to look at the camera and say,
15:34it's a wrap. I was actually in tears in the suit because I thought, after everything,
15:38after hoping there'd be something, after knowing that there wasn't going to be anything else,
15:42Ackbar's final moment before he went into the box was a big joke about it's a wrap.
15:47Rose's comments have earned him a lot of sympathy from fans, who also felt that Ackbar should have
15:51received a more ceremonious and meaningful demise, rather than being disposed of so flippantly.
15:55To compensate for this though, General Ackbar's son was introduced as a minor character in The
16:00Rise of Skywalker. And there we go my friends, those were 20 things you didn't know about Star
16:05Wars The Last Jedi. I hope that you enjoyed that and please let me know what you thought
16:08about it down in the comment section below. As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me
16:12over on Twitter at RetroJ, but the O is a zero, or we can swing by Instagram where it's the
16:17same
16:17handle, RetroJ, but the O is a zero. As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome,
16:22never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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