In the 38 years since the release of the original film in 1977, Star Wars has become part of pop-culture landscape. Phrases such as "May The Force be with you" have entered everyday language, while references to the franchise can be found in countless films, TV shows, music, books and other art forms. Here are a few of our favourites.
Clerks
Randal's hilarious monologue on the plight of "innocent" building contractors working on the second Death Star when the rebels attack it in Return of the Jedi is one of the funniest moments in one of the funniest films of the 1990s. "You'r a roofer," says Randal. "Some juicy government contract comes along. You've got a wife and kids, a two storey in suburbia. This is a government contract with all sorts of benefits. Then along come these left-wing militants and blast everything within a three-mile radius with their lasers. You didn't ask for that, you had no personal politics, you're just trying to scrape out a living."
Spaced
Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes's hit 1990s British sitcom was full of Star Wars references, but perhaps the greatest of them is the episode in which Pegg's Star Wars-loving character, Tim Bisley, burns all of his (extensive) Star Wars memorabilia collection in despair after watching Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The scene is a direct pastiche of Luke burning Obi Wan's robes at the end of A New Hope and wins bonus post-modern points for riffing on Star Wars specifically to criticise the poorly received prequels.
Spaceballs
Mel Brooks's 1987 film goes much further than merely referencing Star Wars – the whole movie is a parody of the original trilogy. From Princess Vespa to Dark Helmet, Captain Lone Starr and Pizza the Hut, the references are far from subtle. George Lucas was in on the joke too – his company, Lucasfilm, handled the post-production and Lucas sent Brooks a note telling him how much he had enjoyed the movie.
DJ Shadow – Hindsight
Hindsight, from DJ Shadow's 1998 singles compilation Pre-emptive Strike, only samples a short, obscure piece of stormtrooper dialogue – "The tracks go off in this direction" – but in doing so, he completed the rare dual task of exciting vinyl geeks and Star Wars fanboys. Could it be the most geek-friendly single ever released?
George Lucas Strikes Back
This spoof trailer for a fake film posits the theory that George Lucas was kidnapped after the original trilogy was released and locked up for 20 years while an impostor made the prequels. Lucas finally escapes and recruits the cast of the original movies to look for revenge: "When I heard about midi-chlorians, only one thought kept me going," says Lucas. "Find the man who made the prequels."
Friends
When you're being parodied by ratings-topping prime-time sitcoms, you know you've hit the big time. In the Friends episode, The One With the Princess Leia Fantasy, Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) acts out Ross (David Schwimmer)'s Leia slave fantasy, to the delight of fanboys across the globe.
