8 Movies You Won't Believe Are Set In The Same Universe

2. Star Wars & E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial

Like Tarantino, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are well known for dropping subtle tips of the hat towards their previous films into other projects. The best example would be the multiple Star Wars references made in the Indiana Jones series, such as C-3PO and R2-D2 appearing on the Ark of the Covenant, or Club Obi Wan in Temple of Doom. But it is a pair of movies the two did individually which provides the most intriguing link, as there appears to be a parallel between Spielberg's classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Lucas' first Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace. First, in E.T., the scene wherein Elliott attempts to smuggle the eponymous alien through the trick or treater-filled Halloween streets, E.T. pauses and begins to chant "home" at a child dressed as Yoda. This suggests that E.T. has previously encountered Yoda's species, and may even live within close proximity to his kind. However, this was likely to be a tongue in cheek gag left by Spielberg to give everyone a quick chuckle. However, in The Phantom Menace, we get a glimpse of a platform of suspiciously familiar-looking aliens in the Galactic Senate. They aren't given lines, and you can't tell whether you specifically hear them or just the crowd in general, but there is most certainly a representative panel of E.T.'s species taking part in the debate on how Liam Neeson is due to be killed off as a tragic father figure for the 17th time that week. It's a rare piece of genuine subtly by Lucas, and it works brilliantly, keeping the sci-fi nerd in all of us content, without overdoing it and making E.T. ask Padme to produce Reece's Pieces.