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Millennium Falcon
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The Millennium Falcon is a fictional spacecraft in the Star Wars universe commanded by smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). The highly modified YT-1300 light freighter first appears in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), and subsequently in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) and, in a cameo, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). The Falcon also appears in a variety of Star Wars expanded universe materials, including books, comics, and games; James Luceno's novel Millennium Falcon focuses on the titular ship.
rding to Star Wars creator George Lucas, the Falcon's design is inspired by a hamburger, with the cockpit being an olive on the side.
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The Millennium Falcon is a fictional spacecraft in the Star Wars universe commanded by smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). The highly modified YT-1300 light freighter first appears in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), and subsequently in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) and, in a cameo, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). The Falcon also appears in a variety of Star Wars expanded universe materials, including books, comics, and games; James Luceno's novel Millennium Falcon focuses on the titular ship.
Origin and design
According to Star Wars creator George Lucas, the Falcon's design is inspired by a hamburger, with the cockpit being an olive on the side. The ship originally had a more elongated appearance, but a vessel called the Eagle with a similar appearance in Space: 1999 prompted Lucas to change the Falcons design. The original model was modified, re-scaled, and used as Princess Leia's ship, Tantive IV.
Models & Sets
Visually, the Millennium Falcon was represented by several models and external and internal sets. For A New Hope, a partial exterior set was constructed and the set dressed as Docking Bay 94 and the Death Star hanger. An additional support had to be added to hold up the structure and was disguised as a fuel line. The interior set included a the starboard ring corridor, the boarding ramp, cockpit access tunnel, the gun turret ladder, the secret compartments in the deck, and the forward hold. The cockpit was constructed as a separate set that could be rocked so the actors wouldn't have to pretend to be shaken when the ship was supposed to shake. Several inconsistencies exist between the internal set and the external set, the cockpit access tunnel angle being the most noticable.
The effects models for An New Hope matched the design of exterior the set. The primary model was 5 feet long and detailed with various kit parts. The ship was represented as a matte painting when Princess Leia sees it for the first time as the shot shows the full upper surface. For the 1997 Special Edition, a CG model replaces the effects model in several shots plus a new shot of the Falcon lifting off from Docking Bay 94.
For The Empire Strikes Back a new external set was constructed in a hangar by Marcon Fabrications in Pembroke Dock, West Wales. Once completed, it weighed over 25 tons and used compressed air hover pads for movement around the set. It was disassembled and shipped to the studio for filming. Like in A New Hope, the location set was changed around the ship set. The only major design change was to add a landing pad where the disguised fuel line had been in A New Hope. As this set included the port side, that gave the set 7 landing pads. The internal set was slightly redressed from A New Hope and featured a larger cargo hold, an additional corridor to port, and an equipment room. Two new interior sets were created that aren't shown to connect to the rest of the set. A top hatch that Lando uses to rescue Luke, and the compartment where Luke is laying on a bunk.
The 5 foot long effects model from A New Hope was modified to reflect the additional landing pads, and several new models were built, including one roughly the size of a U.S Quarter. For the 1997 Special Edition, the CG model replaced the effects model during the landing on Cloud City.
The Falcon plays a smaller role in Return of the Jedi. No new models or sets were created. A portion of the full-scale ship was used for a scene cut from Return of the Jedi where they board the Falcon in a sandstorm on Tatooine. Only the cockpit set was used. In the scene where Han is exacting a promise from Lando not to let the Falcon get a scratch, the Falcon is represented by a backdrop painting behind the actors. It's also in a matte painting of the entire hanger bay.
The internal and external sets were scrapped after filming on Return of the Jedi ended. The effects models were kept by Lucasfilm and some have been on display from time to time.
A CG version of the Falcon appears briefly on Coruscant in Revenge of the Sith. George Lucas has stated that it specifically is the Falcon and not just a similar design like was seen in Attack of the Clones.
Depiction
Han Solo won the Falcon from fellow rogue Lando Calrissian in a game of sabacc. In A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) charter the ship to deliver them, C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), and the stolen Death Star plans to Alderaan. Skywalker appraises the ship as "a piece of junk", but Solo counters by noting that the ship "may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts." The group conceal themselves in hidden smuggling compartments when the Falcon is captured by the Death Star. Solo seemingly abandons the Rebels before they attack the Death Star, but his return in the Falcon allows Skywalker to destroy the space station.
Solo flies the Falcon, with Chewbacca, Leia (Carrie Fisher), and C-3PO aboard, to elude the Imperial Starfleet in The Empire Strikes Back. They take refuge at Cloud City, where Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones) captures Solo and freezes him in carbonite. Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) helps the others escape and, at the film's end, he and Chewbacca set out aboard the Falcon to rescue Solo. Calrissian again flies the Falcon during the climax of Return of the Jedi, leading the Rebels' successful attack on the second Death Star.
The Falcon is often connected to the Kessel Run, a pathway from Kessel past the Maw Black Hole Cluster used by smugglers to transport precious Glitterstim spice. Solo in A New Hope brags that the Falcon made the Kessel Run in "less than twelve parsecs". As this is a unit of distance, not time, different explanations have been provided. In the Expanded Universe, it refers to his ability to move the ship closer to the Maw's black holes and therefore cut the distance traveled. On the A New Hope DVD audio commentary, Lucas comments that, in the Star Wars universe, traveling through hyperspace requires careful navigation to avoid stars, planets, asteroids, and other obstacles, and that since no long-distance journey can be made in a straight line, the "fastest" ship is the one that can plot the "most direct course", thereby traveling the least distance. By the original film script, it is clear Solo only means to be boastful, and that he does not intend this statement to be taken as truth.
Solo's twelve-parsec Kessel Run, the bet that won him the ship from Calrissian (a big Sabacc game in Cloud City), and how he modified it over time, are all depicted in "Rebel Dawn" by A. C. Crispin. (However, the Falcon makes its debut in the previous book in the three-book trilogy series, "The Hutt Gambit", as Calrissian's personal ship.) In Dark Horse Comics' "The Kessel Run", Solo mentions a scam that Lando uses to win money back from Solo after losing the Falcon to him.
Cultural impact
Joss Whedon credits the Millennium Falcon as one of his two primary inspirations for his Firefly television show. The Falcon and the Falcon's distinct shape appear in Star Trek: First Contact, Blade Runner,, Space Balls, and Starship Troopers. The manga series Berserk includes a "Millennium Falcon" arc.
Kenner, Hasbro,, Steel Tec, Master Replicas, and Micro Machines have all released Millennium Falcon toys and puzzles. including a Transformers version of the ship. LEGO released multiple versions of the Millennium Falcon in varying sizes. The 5,195-piece LEGO model, designed by Jens Kronvold Fredericksen and built to scale with the existing minifigs of the characters, was the largest LEGO set ever sold by the company until their 5,922-piece Taj Mahal.
External links
- - Lucasfilm essay on constructing the full-scale Falcon for The Empire Strikes Back
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