We love how all the movies in the Star Wars are connected. In fact, Rogue One had 15 references to previous films.
Blue harvest
This blue smoothie is very popular in outer space. In this photo, Luke Skywalker’s mom is pouring Luke a glass because this is long before Starbucks existed. In the opening scene of Rogue One, if you look very closely at Jyn’s kitchen, you’ll find a glass of the blue dairy drink.
Bantha
This massive bovine-like beast is called a bantha and lives on Tatooine. Blue harvest is made from bantha milk, but their meat is also edible. A carbonated drink called bantha-blood fizz can also be made by purifying their blood. Yeah, it sounds really gross to us, too.
Dolls
As the Imperial Forces search for Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), one of them finds little Jyn’s Stormtrooper doll. This is similar to the Rebel fighter doll Ren has in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Seeing a doll separated from its child owner immediately signals peril and the image is often used in films.
Kyber crystal necklace
At the beginning of the film, Jyn’s mom, Lyra Erso, gives little Jyn a necklace and tells her to “trust in the Force.” On the necklace is a kyber crystal, a highly prized type of crystal that is used in making lightsabers. The crystals are reactive to the Force, and young Jedis in training are sent to the crystal caves to find them so they may construct their own lightsabers.
Saw Gerrera
This isn’t the first time we’ve met Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). Saw was actually an animated character on Disney’s show Clone Wars. When we see him in Rogue One, he’s a broken man with no legs and has difficulty breathing. We can only assume he got his injuries fighting with the Rebel Forces.
Bail Organa
Jimmy Smits returns to play Bail Organa, Princess Leia’s adoptive father. We first met Bail in Attack of the Clones when he lived on Alderaan. Sadly, Bail dies when his planet is destroyed by the Death Star.
Mon Mothma
Remember Mon Mothma from Revenge of the Sith? Again played by Genevieve O’Reilly, she was the youngest senator ever to serve in the Galactic Senate.
The Force of others
The moon of Jedha is considered a holy site with ancient ruins for those who consider the Force their religion. You can also see the outlines of old Jedi statues in the sand. If you pay attention, you can hear people say, “May the Force of others be with you.” Apparently, this was how the phrase was first worded in the original script. We like the shortened version.
C-3PO and R2-D2
On Yavin 4, our favorite robots make a very brief cameo. We get to see them chatting together, likely planning their journey to deliver the important information to Princess Leia.
Vader’s crib
The volcanic planet Mustafar was first featured in Revenge of the Sith when Anakin and Obi-Wan had a lava brawl. Rogue One reveals that the hellish Mustafar is where Darth Vader’s castle is located.
Bacta tank
In Rogue One, we catch a glimpse of Vader’s mangled body soaking in a bacta tank. The tank is very similar to the one his son Luke previously soaked in. Bacta is a thick fluid that can help repair body tissue and nerves. It’s sort of like their version of stem cell therapy.
‘A bad feeling’
In every Star Wars movie, one character utters the classic line, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” But because Rogue One is a spinoff of Star Wars, fans weren’t sure if they’d get to hear it again. Well, the sassy, reprogrammed android, K-2SO, begins the line, but the doors shut on him before he can finish it.
Death Troopers
Sporting the shiny, black battle armor, you may recognize these Death Troopers from the Jedi 2: Jedi Outcast video game. Under General Krennic’s command, these elite forces are comparable to our own Navy SEALs — only evil.
Oola
On Jedha, inside Saw Gerrera’s cave, we see creatures watching holograms of dancing Twi’lek woman. The green gal sure looks like Oola, the slave Jabba turned into lunch. The hologram could also be a reference to the goofy Star Wars Christmas Special from 1978 that had all that weird singing and dancing.
The famous screen crawl
Star Wars made the opening screen crawl famous because it appears to be in 3-D. In fact, all the Star Wars movies have openings like this except for Rogue One. They decided to skip it, perhaps to separate the spinoffs from the original films.
Rogue One is currently playing in theaters.
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