00:00recently taking a look at 1988 Fred Olin Ray sci-fi comedy The Phantom Empire and this starred
00:09Ross Hagen, Don Wildsmith, Jeffrey Combs, Robert Corey, Sybil Danning, and Russ Tamblyn. I did
00:17some other videos on this. A couple different associations I drew from both the visuals and
00:25by way of looking at some of the cast's future and past roles and unrelated works I picked up on
00:32references to Star Wars villain Jabba the Hutt introduced in episode 6 in 1983 and additionally
00:43Crime Lord Pizza the Hutt and Thug Vinny from Mel Brooks parody and comedy Spaceballs 1987. I'll tell
00:52you how you can see this in Phantom Empire. Somewhat similarly framed scenes at 45 minutes 38 seconds
01:00the mutants kidnap Susan Stokey's character Dene Chambers in an attempt to roast her on a spit or
01:09rotisserie. At 10 minutes 25 seconds the characters queue up outside the compound of Russ Tamblyn's
01:17character Bill. For a large portion of the movie the action takes place inside a sprawling cave
01:26complex underground beneath the earth. These two things made me think about the opening of Return of
01:34the Jedi. Droids R2-D2 and C-3PO go through this ordeal outside the entrance of Jabba's palace. Once
01:44they're granted access the entryway not exactly a cave but definitely cavernous. And then another visual
01:52connection to Jabba's court is the fact there's apparently a large rotisserie behind him. Robert
02:00Corey who's Professor Straw played mob boss Morgan in 1974. Crime horror film Sugar Hill. Markie Bay starred in
02:11this as a Don Pedro Culley. There's one link to Star Wars creator George Lucas. Culley had a role in
02:20his 71 dystopian science fiction film THX 1138. Donald Pleasance and Robert Duvall were also in this.
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