10 Subtle Movie Homages You Definitely Missed
6. ET & The EVA Pod - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (Homage To ET & 2001)
Star Wars is one of the most referenced pieces of media in cinematic history, spawning parodies, knock offs and three Family Guy specials. As well as having multiple homages paid to it (with two coming later in this list), in The Phantom Menace gave a little nod to two iconic sci fi franchises.
Both of them just kind of drift by in the background, to the point where if you didn’t know they were there, you might not notice them. However, once you catch them, you’ll notice them every time.
The more noticeable one is also less well known, so it probably balances out over all. In the junkyard behind Mos Espa on Tatooine, one of the scrapped machines is an EVA Pod from Stanley Kubrick’s seminal sci fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick actually designed the craft after NASA’s own FlexCraft, so it added a slice of realism to proceedings too.
The second little Easter egg adds a little bit of fun to the Senate, a famously dry part of the prequel trilogy. Towards the bottom left corner, some of the aliens from ET can be seen gathered together.