‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Crait Battle Featured Clever Homage to Original Star Tours

The latest Star Wars movie ended with yet another epic battle, but this one took place both on the ground and in the sky.

Some fans might be surprised to learn that the skybound-portion of the Crait confrontation in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was heavily inspired by a famous Disneyland attraction. While speaking on the director’s commentary for the film, Rian Johnson revealed that the Millennium Falcon chase sequence borrowed heavily from Star Tours.

“This whole sequence is a little bit of an homage to the original Star Tours ride, when they go through the comet. I always loved that,” Johnson says on the director’s commentary for the movie.

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Chewbacca pilots the Millennium Falcon, alongside his new Porg ally, while Rey sits in one of the turrets to fend off pursuing TIE Fighters. They lure the First Order ships away from the Resistance forces in the ground battle, and take part in an epic chase scene that leads them under the surface of Crait and through its crimson crystalline salt mines.

In Star Tours, the droid RX-24 (voiced by Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens) attempts to take a group of tourists to the forest moon of Endor, where the epic battle in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi took place. But after a series of errors, the group ends up in the middle of a comet and has to navigate through the core safely, similar to what happens in the latest Star Wars film.

The latest Star Wars movie has a lot of references to the older movies, from the overt mentions of the Jedi failures in the prequel trilogy, the twin suns of Tatooine when Luke Skywalker becomes one with the Force, and the BB-8 beeps saying “I have a bad feeling about this.”

The Star Wars saga has always paid homage to its past, and that seems like it will continue well into the future as J.J. Abrams returns to handle the reins on Episode IX.

There are many more references to the classic Star Wars lore that litter throughout The Last Jedi. You can see for yourself when you watch the director’s commentary.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now available on Digital HD, and will be available on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow, March 27th.