- 2 months ago
What is Cloud City?
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:0010 secrets of Cloud City you need to know.
00:03Number 10. What is Cloud City exactly?
00:06Cloud City resides on a gas giant called Bespin in the Anode Sector.
00:10And since this planet is similar to Jupiter, you'd think it would be the last place in the cosmos where
00:15life could thrive.
00:16But as the Star Wars franchise proves, there is no world where people aren't eager to set up civilization.
00:21I mean, people live on Mustafar for Christ's sake.
00:24Despite the fact that the planet isn't even solid, Bespin is a hotspot for the Elite.
00:28Since it naturally produces one of the most desirable resources in the galaxy, that being Tabana Gas.
00:34Because Tabana is the central component for hyperspace travel, space weaponry and repulsor technology, it's coveted by virtually everyone.
00:41When the Tabana miners discovered then that there was a breathable atmosphere 36,000 miles above Bespin's core, a habitable
00:48base was constructed there called Cloud City.
00:50Now, originally Lando Calrissian hoped to govern the city without any interference from the Empire.
00:55But when the Imperials found the planet and discovered it was mining trillions of tons of Tabana Gas, they immediately
01:01took over the city, hoping to use its resources to advance the Empire.
01:05Number 9. How does the city function?
01:07Even though we didn't get to see a lot of Cloud City, you can tell just by looking at it
01:11that it's bloody enormous.
01:12I mean, just look at how long it took for Luke Skywalker to fall to the bottom.
01:16It's never been specified how large the structure is, but Cloud City does consist of 392 stories.
01:23By comparison, the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, consists of 160 stories, which is around 2,700 feet.
01:30However, only the first 50 levels of Cloud City are open to the public, since the bottom 342 levels are
01:36for mining and processing precious Tabana Gas.
01:39However, even though the gas is a valuable commodity, it is very expensive to filter.
01:43Also, the 36,000 engines and tractor beam generators, which keep the city in the air, aren't cheap either.
01:49So, to bring in some cash, Cloud City was turned into a luxury resort, and tourists can also hire a
01:53flying car to sightsee or check out the local mines.
01:56Put simply, it would be way out of my price range.
01:59Number 8. It was supposed to appear in the first movie.
02:02It's common knowledge among Star Wars fans that George Lucas redrafted the script for the original movie about 10 bajillion
02:08times, give or take.
02:10At one point, the story was meant to focus on Samuel L. Jackson's character, Mace Windu, and in another draft,
02:15Luke Skywalker was a 60-year-old general who trained a pupil called Starkiller.
02:20Lucas also considered having giant bush baby aliens in the climax for some reason.
02:25I don't know, this was like the 70s, wasn't it?
02:27But another alteration that the Star Wars screenplay went through was the removal of Cloud City.
02:31In the second draft, concept artist Ralph McQuarrie designed a floating territory, which served as an imperial prison for Princess
02:37Leia's homeworld of Alderaan.
02:39And even though scenes of Alderaan were meant to be filmed, they were ultimately cut.
02:43However, Lucas loved the idea of a habitat hovering in the sky and didn't want to abandon it.
02:48As a result, he repurposed McQuarrie's floating imperial prison for the sequel, and then turned it into what we know
02:53now as Cloud City.
02:55Number 7. The Ugnaught keep everything working.
02:58As Darth Vader's forces freeze Han Solo in carbonite, several small pigmen called Ugnaughts can be seen operating the machinery
03:05in the background.
03:06Because these creatures are merely in the background and have no dialogue, you would assume that they're not particularly that
03:11important.
03:12But as will become abundantly clear on this list, everyone and everything in Star Wars has an unnecessarily complex backstory.
03:19When Cloud City was devised, for instance, the Ugnaught tribes were brought in to work on its construction, since they
03:24were known for performing monotonous tasks skillfully for an extended period of time.
03:28Because the Ugnaughts' territory as well was being taken over by the Galactic Empire at the same time, they agreed
03:33to this deal to avoid their people being enslaved by imperial troops.
03:37But when Darth Vader sees Cloud City, the Ugnaughts were forced to work with the Empire anyway, against their will.
03:43Even though these critters turned Han Solo into a popsicle and tried to melt C-3PO into slag, the Ugnaughts
03:48aren't evil.
03:49Like many creatures throughout the galaxy, they just do what they must to survive.
03:54Number 6. Who or what is Lobot?
03:56One of the most mysterious citizens of Cloud City is Lando Calrissian's trusty aide and personal chef, Lobot.
04:03Despite never uttering a word, the cybernetic implants on his head help the character stand out, making viewers curious of
04:09Lobot's purpose on Bespin.
04:11And originally, he was a regular human who performed battlefield calculations for the Empire.
04:16After meeting Lando, Lobot became a smuggler and, although he lost his original memories, personality and even the ability to
04:21speak, became instrumental in the growth of his home Bespin.
04:25Since Cloud City's central network was implemented directly into his mind.
04:29As a result, Lobot is tailored to the city's entire mainframe, making him arguably the most significant person on the
04:35whole planet.
04:36Number 5. What's that vein that Luke hangs on?
04:39After Vader famously defeated Luke Skywalker and lopped off his hand, the young Jedi jumped down the air shaft, seemingly
04:45plummeting to his doom.
04:47Even though Luke looked like he had no chance of surviving, he just happened to land on a perfectly placed
04:52vein, where he was rescued then by his companions.
04:54Now, most first-time viewers had the exact same thought upon seeing this moment.
04:59Why is there a freaking weather vein just out there?
05:02But as all Star Wars fans know, everything has a backstory.
05:06Celestious Crumb has a backstory, Han Solo's jacket has a backstory, and yes, even the weather vein has a backstory.
05:12First off, it's actually not a weather vein, I've been wrong this whole entry, it's actually a gas processing vein.
05:18These instruments are designed to filter, stabilize, and store to burn a gas, as you probably have guessed.
05:22And they are positioned at the bottom of Cloud City, since that is where the mineral is the most potent.
05:27So yeah, that's right, George Lucas gave a backstory to a piece of metal to justify a plot convenience.
05:33Number 4. There were some significant changes in the special edition.
05:36In 1997, Lucasfilm released the first of several special editions of the original Star Wars trilogy.
05:41Even though fans did appreciate seeing the classic movies in perfect quality with crisp sound,
05:46they were also horrified to learn that George Lucas had made some absolutely unnecessary changes.
05:51I mean, why he thought the world wanted to see Cy Snootles perform a music solo in Return of the
05:55Jedi is just, well, that's anybody's guess, isn't it?
05:57Despite viewers grumbling, several changes in the Empire Strikes Back, though, were quite welcome.
06:01While our heroes are running around the corridors in the original version, for instance, it was obvious that the actors
06:06were just on a soundstage.
06:08But in the special edition, digital effects were used, so the walls in the background were replaced with windows showing
06:12off the futuristic landscape of the city.
06:15Even though many changes in the special edition are totally, totally irritating,
06:18these little tweaks are acceptable since they make the scenes more distinctive without ever feeling too distracting.
06:25Number 3. The actors were drunk in their Cloud City scenes.
06:28While filming The Empire Strikes Back, Carrie Fisher stayed at one of Eric Idle's flats for five whole months.
06:34And when the Rolling Stones came over, Fisher invited her co-star Harrison Ford over because, hey, who doesn't want
06:39to party with Keith Richards?
06:41Even though Fisher was allergic to alcohol and Ford wasn't much of a drinker, apparently, either,
06:45they knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and so got absolutely smashed with the legendary musicians
06:51and the Monty Python comedian throughout the night.
06:53The following morning, Fisher and Ford headed straight to the set and filmed the scene where their characters arrive in
06:59Cloud City for the first time.
07:00Since they hadn't slept a wink, because why would you, Fisher and Ford were completely drunk while performing their scenes.
07:06And considering they consumed a beverage known as the Tunisian Death Drink,
07:09it's probably no surprise that it took a while for the effects to wear off.
07:13Number 2. What is that running man doing?
07:15After watching the Star Wars films a dozen times, you might notice tiny details in the background that you would
07:20never give a second thought to upon your first viewing.
07:23Such an example occurs in The Empire Strikes Back when multiple Imperial workers dash through Cloud City after the Rebel
07:29forces take over.
07:30Although a lot is going on in this scene, some eagle-eyed viewers only had one question in their mind.
07:36Why is there a guy in the background holding an ice cream maker?
07:39Well, despite appearing for just a split second, this character, Wilro Hood, has a backstory because of course he does.
07:45He was working on the Harbinger Star Destroyer, but was asked to evacuate after the Rebel Alliance hijacked the facility.
07:51Grabbing whatever valuables he could find, Wilro stuffed them into a container called a Comtono, aka the Ice Cream Maker,
07:58and then just fled.
07:59Of course, this container became so iconic that it has actually been implemented into other Star Wars properties, including recently
08:05the Mandalorian.
08:06Number 1. A Cloud City May Actually Be Possible
08:09As entertaining as the Star Wars universe is, we all know that it's just pure fantasy, right?
08:15Right?
08:15Well, maybe not entirely.
08:18And even though a city hovering in the clouds sounds like utter fiction, astrophysicists suggest otherwise.
08:23According to NASA researcher Jeffrey Landis, a floating cloud city could exist over an inhospitable world like Venus.
08:30Despite the fact that it snows metal and rains acid on Earth's neighboring planet,
08:34the atmosphere just above Venus is surprisingly tolerable for human life to thrive.
08:39And because the Sun's second closest planet is overstuffed with floating gases like nitrogen and oxygen,
08:44the idea of keeping a city in the air isn't that far-fetched, at least according to Landis.
08:48So the next time you hear someone tell you that Cloud City is completely ridiculous and it doesn't make any
08:53sense, well, set them straight.
08:55So that's our list.
08:56What you guys think down in the comments below, did you know all of these facts about Cloud City?
09:00And are there any really interesting ones I missed off here?
09:03While you're down there as well, could you please give us a like, share, subscribe,
09:05and head over to WhatCultureStarWars for more lists like this on the regular.
09:09Even if you don't though, I've been Josh.
09:10Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.
Comments