10 More Most Paused Star Wars Moments
6. Darth Luke - Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Of the many, many unforgettable moments in The Empire Strikes Back, one of the few that immediately burned itself into fans' brains was Luke's iconic trip to Dagobah's Dark Side Cave which, in Yoda's (Frank Oz) words, is "a domain of evil."
As part of Luke's training, he must battle the dark manifestation of the Force that resides within the cave, embodied as Darth Vader himself.
The brief fight of course concludes with Luke decapitating Vader with his lightsaber, at which point Vader's helmet falls to the floor and the faceplate explodes open, revealing Luke's own severed head underneath.
It's a totally haunting image which represents Luke's fear of himself succumbing to the Dark Side and can also be said to visually foreshadow Empire's final familial twist.
It's one of the most horrific shots in the entire Star Wars saga, but also one that'll have you examining the frame to try and figure out how they pulled it off.
The answer is actually rather simple, though: Mark Hamill hated the prop head they were originally going to use for the scene, and so simply poked his real head up from underneath the set.