10 Best Times Star Wars Appeared In Other Movies

2. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Ryan Reynolds Free Guy lightsaber
Universal Pictures

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have been best buds for decades, even going back to before they collaborated on Indiana Jones. In the '70s, the pair even traded backend points on Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars, with Lucas believing that Spielberg's sci-fi classic would be the far bigger hit.

Needless to say, Spielberg emerged from that gamble with heavier pockets.

With Star Wars proving such a smash-hit in 1977 (followed by The Empire Strikes Back in 1980), Spielberg decided to pay homage to the franchise in his 1982 flick E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, with a few different references dotted throughout.

At one point, we see a child walking down the street in a Yoda costume, which is accompanied by the same Yoda musical cue heard in The Empire Strikes Back. Elsewhere, lead character Elliot's bedroom is stuffed with Star Wars action figures - including Boba Fett, Greedo, and Lando - and right before Elliot introduces him to E.T., his older brother Michael mocks him by doing a Yoda impression.

Brilliantly, Lucas would later return the gesture, with a few members of E.T.'s species appearing on Coruscant in The Phantom Menace. Small universe, huh?

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.