The Galaxy Far, Far Away
“Go strap yourself in, I’m going to make the jump to light speed.” — Han Solo
One of the things I love the most about Star Wars is that it takes you on a tour. A tour around the galaxy far, far away. You get to see beautiful places and alien species. A lot of them are very believable.
The movies take the audience for the ride and you never know what you will find after landing.
The planets mostly replicate the environments we know from Earth: sand, snow, forest, city, lava, water, cloud, dust, swamp, rock.
Star Wars is able to show us that there can be beauty everywhere.
The Expanded Universe
Apart from the movies, the books of the Expanded Universe added many new planets to the GFFA. I remember clearly the planet Vortex, from the first Star Wars book I read.
It had a Cathedral of Winds. It had carvings that were supposed to resonate unique music when the strong winds, that were part of the atmosphere, hit the building. The species that lived there, the Vors, had their lives molded by their coexistence with the strong winds found in Vortex’s atmosphere.
Have a look at a Star Wars Galaxy Map to have an idea of the depth and the variety of the trips you can make when watching the movies and the cartoons, or reading the books.
Tatooine
For many fans, this shot is the most beautiful and emotional moment of the whole Saga.
Of course, there is the whole meaning of the scene itself, but the shot is also visually stunning.
There is awe in the desert too.
The whole concept of the moisture farms in Tatooine is amazing too. The farm where Luke lived and worked at deployed moisture vaporators that gather humidity from the atmosphere and produce water.
Naboo
Let’s talk about a place where I’d like to live.
Naboo has abundant water, with beautiful lakes and waterfalls. Green landscapes with forests and grasslands. Clean cities with amazing palaces and constructions.
It has a special value for me personally, as it is one of the locations I was able to visit.
Don’t forget that the underwater Gungan also have awesome cities, that look fantastic!
The concept of an underwater city, whose atmosphere is contained by force field bubbles is stunning as well.
Dagobah
When Luke crashes his X-Wing in the swamps of Dagobah, the viewer gets to look around the environment: swamps, dark water, closed vegetation, no sunlight, insects and other bizarre creatures lurking around. Not a single person. When Luke asks: “Oh, Artoo, what are we doing here?” — You think the same thing. What a dump!
However, after he finally meets Yoda and continues his Jedi training, you start seeing things differently.
“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?”
The Master continues.
“And well you should not. For my ally in the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you… me… the tree… the rock… everywhere! Yes, even between this land and that ship!”
Then, you start to appreciate Dagobah. You notice how a seemingly dead place actually is full of life. Every little insect and leaf matter.
Yavin IV
The first detail here is that Yavin IV is the fourth moon that orbits the Yavin Prime planet. We are used to think that planets are inhabitable and moons are just dust balls. This is an example that it could be just the opposite. Open your mind!
The moon itself is just a huge rainforest.
The touch that makes it interesting is the presence of the Massassi Temples. Huge stone buildings that exhale History and mystery.
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Guatemala for work. Friends invited me to go to Tikal, the largest Mayan city and the most well preserved Mayan city. I had no idea. I just went along so I wouldn’t be alone during the weekend.
When I arrived at the National Park, the guide who was helping us said that “Return of the Jedi” was filmed there. I was already a fan at the time and thought to myself: “No way! Endor is in the United States!”. That one I knew.
Then, I climbed one of the Mayan temples and there I was: Yavin IV.
The guide had the wrong movie.
From that moment on, I was no longer at the ruins of a Mayan city. I traveled to another planet.
Star Wars makes me travel!
