6) Misc. Questions

A.  What is Hardware Wars?

Hardware Wars is a thirteen-minute, very funny, very low budget parody of Star Wars. It has been spotted for rent at some Blockbuster Video stores, on a tape called "Hardware Wars and other film farces," which also contains three other short films: "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind", "Bambi Meets Godzilla", and "Porklips Now", which, like Hardware Wars, were made by Ernie Fosselius.

When the "Special Edition" of the Classic Trilogy came out, the people that made "Hardware Wars" also had their movie digitaly patched up.

For more information, point your WWW browser to http://www.mwp.com/pages/filmshardwarespeced.html

B.  What is the Journal of the Whills?

This is mentioned in the intro to the Star Wars novelization and hardly anywhere else. Its significance is unclear, but it might be similar in concept to the Red Book of Westmarch, the fictitious book from which Tolkiens' Lord of the Rings story supposedly comes.

C.  How did Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford get their scars?

Mark Hamill was in a car accident after 'A New Hope' was released. He went through the windshield of his BMW in California. Harrison Ford received his two-inch scar in a one-man car accident in his early twenties.

D.  Why did Han Solo refer to parsecs as a unit of time?

He was lying to Ben and Luke and trying to make himself look good. This is shown in the novel adaptation of A New Hope. If you look at the movie, Ben gives Han a disbelieving face after this line. Kevin Anderson gives an alternate answer in his Star Wars books.

If you need a bit more proof than a novel adaptation, look in Episode II. Obi-Wan clearly knows what a parsec is.

E.  What is Shadows of the Empire?

In 1996, LucasArts started a marketing campaign called "Shadows of the Empire". It was a lot like the hype around a Star Wars movie, and there was all the merchandising, except the movie itself.

It featured a soundtrack and novel for a movie that never existed. They also had toys, a comic book series, posters, and best of all, a great video game that came out on the N64 and PC platforms.

SOTE was a story that took place between Empire and Jedi.

If you're interested in knowing more about the game, go to http://www.lucasarts.com/products/shadows/

F.  Was John Ratzenberger in a Star Wars movie?

John Ratzenberger, who portrayed the Cliff Claven character on Cheers, was Major Derlin in "The Empire Strikes Back". He tells Leia that "there's nothing more we can do tonight. The shield doors must be closed." Later, before the battle on Hoth, Derlin instructs the fighters "Okay. Everybody to your stations. Let's go!".