10 Most Paused Star Wars Moments

10. Wait, Was That E.T.?!?! - The Phantom Menace

While so many choose to forever lambast The Phantom Menace, one of the more positive elements of that 1999 return to a galaxy far, far away is the sheer number of new alien creatures and races that the first leg of George Lucas' prequel trilogy served up.

Not a new alien race, per se, but the film is also notable for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scanning shot that features what looks like E.T. and his family. As such, that one shot led to plentiful pauses from viewers looking to check if they'd seen what they really thought they'd seen.

Lucas, of course, has long been best buds with Steven Spielberg - the director of 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - and this nice little Easter egg was done as a nod to Spielberg featuring Star Wars toys in that '82 picture.

In Star Wars lore, this alien species is classified as Asogian, with three of its race being a part of the Galactic Senate in Episode I. Despite numerous Galactic Senate scenes in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the Asogians have yet to make a further appearance in the Star Wars series.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 26th Nov 2020

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