As the ninth live-action film in the franchise, Star Wars: The Last Jedi includes some overt references to the galaxy far, far away's rich history, but other homages are a little more subtle. Though Episode VIII has been out since last December, debate about the movie continues to circulate, especially now that it's available for home viewing. It went down as one of the more divisive blockbusters in recent memory, with the most vocal detractors accusing writer/director Rian Johnson of not understanding what makes Star Wars great. A number of his creative choices, including the death of Supreme Leader Snoke, were quite polarizing.However, like many of the Star Wars directors working on the modern films, Johnson is a passionate fan who has deep knowledge of what came before him. He used that to inform The Last Jedi, particularly on a visual level. As fans continue to spot hidden connections between Episode VIII and its predecessors, we've assembled a list of the ones we've noticed so far.

The Opening Music

Every film in the Skywalker saga starts out with John Williams' iconic fanfare playing over an opening crawl. In The Last Jedi, the similarities extended to the opening notes of the score right after the text faded away. Back in 1977, before the Tantive IV came shooting down the screen, audiences were left on the edges of their seats with a mysterious little cue that indicated anything was possible. Perhaps it's fitting that section of the New Hope music was repurposed for Last Jedi. Right after the crawl, the first few beats are eerily reminiscent (or identical) to the original film.

It's possible this was just Johnson (or Williams, who wrote the score) tipping a hat to the past, but film music is rarely chosen at random. Whether it's a classical score or a licensed soundtrack, the songs are meant to invoke certain feelings within viewers. Perhaps this was the filmmakers' non-verbal way of telling moviegoers that The Last Jedi was going to be a different kind of ride from what we've become accustomed to in the Star Wars series, and that once again anything was possible. As Luke said, it wasn't going to go the way you thought.

Luke's Lightsaber Toss

The Force Awakens ended with the now-iconic and majestic image of Rey holding out Luke's old lightsaber to Skywalker, asking him to pick up the sword and rejoin the fight. For two years, audiences waited to see how that cliffhanger would be resolved, so it was quite a shock to see Luke throw the weapon so nonchalantly over his shoulder. As Johnson explained, this was a blatant illustration of Luke's current mindset. In his elder age, Luke rejected the fight due to his sense of guilt and shame, turning his back on his friends in the process. But this wasn't the first time Skywalker so vehemently tossed aside his lightsaber.

While not an exact replication, this Last Jedi moment calls to mind the scene in Return of the Jedi after Luke defeats Darth Vader in a duel. Told by the Emperor to kill his father and become the new Sith apprentice, Luke throws it off-camera and stands his ground. In both cases, Luke was refusing a more violent path - though his psyche was in very different places. In the original trilogy, he triumphantly stated he was a Jedi, but many years later became convinced the Order was a sham. It's still indicative of his character. When Luke achieved his final victory over Kylo Ren, he never made an aggressive move.

Chewie Cooks A Porg

In one of The Last Jedi's funnier scenes, Chewbacca settles down by a campfire ready to dine on fine porg cuisine, before being guilted by the shocked expressions of the native Ahch-To creatures. Eventually, the Wookiee befriended (or at least grew to tolerate) the porgs, but their relationship got off to a rocky start. It's not anything personal, however, as food is typically the first thing on Chewie's mind.

Chewbacca's fondness for snacks was specifically highlighted in Return of the Jedi, when Chewie set off an Ewok trap trying to eat a dead animal. As the group searched for a way out of their predicament, Han accused his friend of "always thinking with your stomach." So it's fitting that Chewie's first inclination when seeing the porgs isn't to adopt one as a pet, but to make one into a meal. To be fair, it's not like Ahch-To had many dining establishments to choose from. Catching a porg is probably easier than Luke's pole-vault fishing.

Luke Enters The Falcon

Luke Skywalker sadly never got a final moment with Han Solo before Han was murdered, leaving the Jedi to mourn his fallen friend in regret. In The Last Jedi, he steps aboard the Millennium Falcon one last time, having a fateful reunion with R2-D2. But before encountering his old astromech companion, the sequence has a far more somber feel to it, as Luke remains haunted by his previous life and the family that was fractured because of his failure. The first time audiences saw an original trilogy hero be reacquainted with the Falcon, the atmosphere was very different.

The shot of Luke walking into the ship's cockpit is quite similar to the one of Han in Force Awakens. The two almost feel like mirrors of each other and help underscore their films' tones. Han stealing back the Falcon for good was a crowd-pleasing moment, complete with light-hearted music and Solo sporting a giant smile on his face. He was home again. In contrast, Luke's has far more weight and gravity to it, as he walks through the hallways to a darker rendition of the classic Force Theme. Han's scene is even brighter in terms of the cinematography, illustrating it's a moment we're supposed to celebrate, not watch in hushed reverence. Another wrinkle here is originally J.J. Abrams filmed a shot where Han hung up his famous gold dice, but it was later cut. So Luke's would have been a complete inverse if the sequence was left untouched.

Extras On The Raddus

In a deleted scene available on the Blu-ray, Poe Dameron fills Finn in on everything that happened from the time Finn went into his coma. As the pilot recaps, the two friends stop in a hallway, where a number of extras pass through on-camera, often times coming right in between Finn and Poe. This imagery should ring a bell for anyone well-versed in the original trilogy. It's a trick pulled straight from The Empire Strikes Back.

When the Rebels are in their base on Hoth, Han and Leia get into an argument about Han leaving the Alliance, where some of their fellow soldiers make their way through the narrow passageway by squeezing between them. In his deleted scenes commentary, Johnson admitted he borrowed this tactic from Empire, saying that it helped bring the scene to life a bit. It's unfortunate this fun callback didn't make it to the theatrical cut (it's also a nice moment between Finn and Poe), but fans can experience it on the home media release.

Spinning Is A Good Trick

Kylo Ren deeply admires the all-powerful Sith Lord his grandfather became, but he might have more in common with Anakin Skywalker than he'd like to admit. In addition to being another member of the family forever conflicted in his feelings, the former Ben Solo has some piloting skills that are displayed in Last Jedi. Kylo leads an attack on the Raddus, flying his special TIE fighter. As he navigates the space battle, he pulls off a spin maneuver that's quite similar to a stunt Anakin pulled off as a boy during the Battle of Naboo.

It's one of the more infamous lines in The Phantom Menace. As a young Anakin familiarizes himself with the controls of the N1 star fighter, he tells R2 he'll try spinning because "that's a good trick." This is perhaps evidence of Ben's piloting abilities coming from his mother's side. Han is definitely no slouch, but a case can be made he exaggerated his talents a tad. The Force Awakens stresses the need to have a co-pilot in the Falcon, yet Chewie traverses the salt mine on Crait all by himself (with porgs flying through the cockpit for good measure). And the latest trailer for Solo sees Chewie appoint himself as Han's first mate, obviously displeased with the way a situation is going. Maybe the Wookiee was the real flying ace of the dynamic duo.

Mother and Son

Sadly, The Last Jedi features the closest we'll get to a Kylo/Leia scene. In the attack on the Raddus, Kylo is about to destroy the command ship's bridge, but can't bring himself to do it when he senses the presence of his mother. The short sequence employs a few cross dissolve transitions, cutting between closeups of Leia and Ben's tortured expressions. Kylo is even on the verge of tears as his finger rests on the trigger. The editing of this scene has a very specific influence in regards to the original trilogy.

In his feature commentary on the Blu-ray, Johnson stated he staged Kylo & Leia this way in order to reference a scene towards the end of The Empire Strikes Back when Vader communicates with Luke using the Force. As the Empire hunts down the Millennium Falcon, Vader reaches out to his son, asking Luke to join him. Luke, whose life has just been completely wrecked, is dealing with several emotions at once and wondering why his mentors lied to him. There are similarities here besides the staging. In both cases, a calm and reserved (at least on the outside) parent tries to communicated with their conflicted child in an attempt to help them. Whatever Leia did worked, since her feelings discouraged Ben from blasting the bridge.

The Dark Side Tempts Luke

Many longtime fans were appalled by the revelation Ben Solo's turn was driven by one of Luke's most shameful actions. In one of the flashbacks, Luke confesses to Rey that after sensing the dark side in his nephew, he temporarily contemplated ending Ben's life. He went so far as to stand over Ben's bed with lightsaber ignited, but changed his mind in a fleeting moment. Unfortunately, it was too late, as Ben saw what his uncle was about to do and destroyed Skywalker's temple. It was a very human moment for Luke, and it wasn't the first time the dark side took a hold of him.

On the second Death Star, Luke channeled the dark side to get the upper hand on Vader, relentlessly attacking him out of fear Leia would be turned to the Sith. In his blind rage, Luke completely overpowered Vader and disarmed the Dark Lord, much to the Emperor's delight. When it hit Luke what had happened, he immediately regretted his actions, realizing he was one step closer to becoming Palpatine's new apprentice. His facial expressions in both scenes are even similar, so this callback feels very intentional.

The Falcon On Crait

In one of the biggest crowd-pleasing moments in all of Star Wars, Rey and Chewie make a daring last-minute rescue to aid the Resistance on Crait. They draw the attention of the First Order's TIE fighters and lead them on a merry chase, which calls to mind the several other instances the Empire/First Order played cat-and-mouse with the freighter. As the set piece progresses, it begins to draw some parallels to one in particular: Rey and Finn's escape from Jakku in The Force Awakens.

In that action sequence, one of the standout moments was when Rey flew through the inside of a fallen Star Destroyer in an effort to lose her pursuers. When Chewie takes the Falcon to the mines, it feels similar to the Force Awakens scene, particularly since the ship is soaring through a very narrow alley where the potential risk is quite high. Fortunately for the Falcon, it has pretty good luck when it comes to its owners, and Chewbacca was able to emerge without a scratch. He didn't even lose the radar dish, like Lando did while navigating the Death Star in Return of the Jedi.

Luke's Projection

The Last Jedi features arguably the most emotionally cathartic scene in all of Star Wars, when Luke has a heartfelt reunion with Leia. Real-life circumstances (Carrie Fisher's death) gave their last meeting a greater sense of importance, since Episode VIII was the last time Mark Hamill and Fisher could share the screen. Even at the time when it was written and acted, when everyone thought Leia would be back for Episode IX, the gravity of the moment was clear. For Johnson, it was a clever way of bringing Luke's story full circle.

Fans have started to point out now that Luke's story in A New Hope truly begins when he sees Leia's hologram projection, desperately pleading for help. Skywalker's life ends in The Last Jedi when he decides to astral project himself across the galaxy to help Leia and the Resistance. George Lucas' infamous mantra of Star Wars being like poetry is widely mocked today, but there is some truth to that sentiment. It doesn't always mean plot beats from the movies are repeated, and something like this connection is proof of that.

Kylo Enters The Crait Base

After he got defeated by a ghost in front of the very people he hoped to lead, Kylo Ren makes his way into the Resistance base on Crait to see if there are any rebels remaining. Much to his dismay, there are not, but this scene does include another nod to the prequels. Johnson shoots Kylo's entrance from an overhead angle, as stormtroopers march dutifully behind Ren. One only has to listen to his director commentary to learn what this is in reference to.

Johnson pulled this image from Revenge of the Sith, in the scene where Anakin fronts the assault on the Jedi Temple, flanked by clone troopers. There appears to be a thematic connection between these shots as well. In Episode III, the Jedi purge began after Anakin pledged himself to the dark side and became Darth Vader. Kylo's entrance is just moments after he tells Luke he will destroy Rey and whatever's left of the Jedi, which many have interpreted as confirmation Ben Solo is completely gone and will never be redeemed. This might have been Johnson's way of illustrating the fallen Skywalker is the galaxy's ultimate evil and needs to be stopped in order for freedom to be restored.

Kylo Ren's Eyes

The parallels between Ben Solo and his grandfather continue in Kylo Ren's final scene in The Last Jedi, where his connection with Rey is severed. Johnson touched on this earlier this year, saying the closeup on Kylo's eyes was meant to emulate a similar shot in Revenge of the Sith, where Vader's helmet is lowered over Anakin's face. There's something striking about the eyes, and it's ambiguous to the audience what exactly the character is feeling. It isn't definitively stated if Kylo is overcome with fear, regret, or something else, but it serves as a great springboard into Episode IX.

Kylo's life choices have placed him in a very isolated position, with few (if any) true allies to count on. It does harken to Vader in a sense, since Anakin's turn to the dark side destroyed his friendships with Obi-Wan and Padmé. Yes, Palpatine was his master, but by the time Vader ended up in the suit and learned his wife was dead, he had to have known he was just being used as a pawn to advance Palpatine's agenda. It will be quite fascinating to see how Kylo adjusts to his new life, especially since Rey and Leia seem to have given up on him. Ben doesn't have a Luke to believe the light is still there.

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These are just some of the references and homages we noticed, and our list is not meant to be all-inclusive. Johnson faced large amounts of criticism for his handling of the material, but it's apparent he's as steeped in the lore as anyone, noticing small things he can expound upon to serve as threads between all the films. He definitely understands the franchise and its mythology, so it'll be very exciting to see him add more to the franchise when his new trilogy finally gets going.

MORE: The Last Jedi Removed Weakest Parts of Force Awakens

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