Star Wars is more that just one of the best movies of all time (and my personal favorite) it is a cultural phenomena… a defining element of pop culture from the 70’s through to today. It’s more than just some geek movie in the same way that baseball is more than just some silly game to American’s or that Hockey is more than just some silly game to Canadians. The influence of Star Wars on us as a society is undeniable and unequaled in the world of film.
With that being said, it is appropriate that on the next mission for the space shuttle Discovery, Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber… the weapon of the Jedi Knights, will be going along for the ride. M&C gives us this:
Actors dressed as Princess Leia; Chewbacca, the hairy Wookie; spunky robot R2-D2; green-armor-clad bounty hunter Boba Fett — and a few Imperial Stormtroopers — met the plane to escort a padded aluminum case containing the lightsaber to the space center`s visitor complex where it will be on display through Labor Day.
The force is with the prop, which resembles a fancy flashlight. The lightsaber will remain stowed during Discovery`s 13-day mission to the International Space Station, but there`s no word on whether it will be returned to Lucasfilm, the studio home of ‘Star Wars,’ upon its return from orbit.
I actually saw the lightsaber in question (I believe it was the same one at any rate) during my visit to Skywalker Ranch a few years ago. It was actually like a holy moment for me as a film fan. There in a glass case in front of me was Luke’s lightsaber, and the Gold Totem Indiana Jones snatched at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I felt like I should have been kneeling or something.
