Skip to main content

Visit the Mos Eisley Cantina with vintage looks behind the scenes at Star Wars

han shot someone made lot meticulous models drawings star wars mos eisley cantina 5
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The excellent Raiders of the Lost Tumblr has unearthed a collection of models, set and character drawings, and production stills from the Mos Eisley cantina scene in Star Wars: Episode IV. The gallery is a fascinating look behind the scenes at one of the most seminal sequences in science fiction. (via Dangerous Minds)

The scene, which introduces Han Solo, is one of the most iconic pieces of sci-fi world-building in cinema, igniting imaginations for decades with its colorful array of shady aliens that set the tone for the Star Wars universe as a living, breathing place that extended beyond the camera’s frame.

star wars cantina
Image used with permission by copyright holder
star wars cantina 2
Image used with permission by copyright holder
star wars cantina 4
Image used with permission by copyright holder
star wars cantina 3
Image used with permission by copyright holder

As the geekosphere waits with bated breath to see if J. J. Abrams can return the franchise to its former glory, at least we have a near-endless trove of material from the original trilogy to mine for nostalgia and inspiration. Check out the full gallery here and re-confirm that Greedo shot first with the early rough cut of the scene below.

Editors' Recommendations

Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
The best Star Wars shows on Disney+
Rosario Dawson in Ahsoka.

Disney+ began with a promise that the much-hyped Disney streaming service meant that multiple Star Wars live-action series could finally be made. It took a few years after the 2019 premiere of The Mandalorian, but we're finally at a point where we can make an actual list of the best Star Wars shows on Disney+. In fact, the live-action series are almost as numerous as the animated shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels that kept the franchise going between the films.

Ahsoka is the latest Star Wars series to join Disney+, and it serves as a bridge between the animated programs and the live-action shows that may carry the franchise back to the big screen. Ahsoka is not as gritty or political as Andor, but there's a lot to like. If you're new to the franchise or a Star Wars veteran who just wants to know where to catch up on your favorite space opera, we've put together this guide to the best Star Wars shows on Disney+. May the Force be with you when streaming!

Read more
Did Andor ruin Ahsoka, and maybe the entire Star Wars franchise, by being too good?
Ahsoka Tano holds one of her lightsabers in Ahsoka episode 4.

Disney+’s Ahsoka is a lot of things: A quasi-sequel to Star Wars Rebels, a spinoff of The Mandalorian, a rollicking space adventure. Above all else, though, Ahsoka is a show made by and for Star Wars fans. Created by George Lucas’ chosen protégé, Dave Filoni, the series is overflowing with details, Easter eggs, and characters from past Star Wars films and TV shows — namely, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels. These various references have all been collected in a story that seems designed to serve as the bridge between the Rebels finale and Filoni’s now-announced Star Wars crossover film, which will purportedly close out the New Republic story first introduced in The Mandalorian.

At the center of said story is the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and the Imperial Remnant’s quest to bring him back into the fold. That mission is the driving narrative force of Ahsoka, which pits the show’s heroes against those who wish to find Thrawn and rescue him from his years-long exile in a foreign galaxy. The series is, in other words, a lot less about Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and her personal journey than its title would lead you to believe. In fact, of all of its concerns, Ahsoka’s characters feel increasingly less like its top priority.

Read more
The 10 best lightsaber duels in Star Wars, ranked
Luke Skywalker lunges towards Darth Vader during their lightsaber fight on Cloud City.

Star Wars has contributed countless indelible moments and images to our popular culture, but if there’s one artifact that is most intrinsic to the Galaxy Far, Far Away, it’s the fantastical weapon of the Jedi Knights, the lightsaber. From the very first time audiences saw Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader cross glowing, humming swords aboard the Death Star in 1977, we’ve been absolutely obsessed, and storytellers across multiple media and nearly half a century have been only too happy to indulge our craving for increasingly elaborate lightsaber duels.
Lightsaber fights come in all shapes and sizes, from emotional one-on-one bouts in live-action to wild animated free-for-alls, and selecting our 10 favorites from the franchise to date was no easy task. There are a lot of metrics by which to judge — the excitement of the action itself, how it’s shot, the story behind it, the use of environment, even the music to which it’s set — but the cream of the crop are those duels that either dominate one category or harmoniously balance each one. Will your favorites make the list? You’ll find we’re full of surprises …

10. The Ronin vs. the Bandit Leader (The Duel - Visions, season 1, episode 1)

Read more