10 Dark Facts About Star Wars That Are Never Spoken About

9. The Cut Torture Scene

Star Wars
LucasFilm

What did that machine that Darth Vader used to torture Han Solo in Empire Strikes Back actually do?

Like, it had all the needles and stuff, but where were they going to go? Were they all going to jam into Han's face all at once? Yeah, that would hurt, but that's a bit overkill, don't you think?

We almost got more information on this odd device, as a much longer scene of Solo being tormented had to be cut from the final draft. Originally, we would have seen sparks shooting out of the machine and heard a much more disturbing scream from our hero, until the powers that be stepped in.

Director Irvin Kershner explained that, when he showed the rest of the crew the machine in action, they felt it was a bit too much for a movie aimed at kids. Gotta think of the toy sales after all!

In the end, the scene was pared back, and the gristly details of Vader's work were left to our imaginations.

Maybe Solo was screaming with joy because he was having so much fun?

Yeah, probably not.

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Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.