9. The Dagobah System Is A Feat Of Design
The Dagobah System, home of Yoda and a key location in the Empire Strikes Back, is a great feat of set-design. Building upon the horror themes I alluded to earlier - you half expect to see a group of witches gathered around a cauldron in its murky forests - production designer Norman Reynolds (Oscar nominated for his work here) created a putrid swamp on Elstree Studio's Soundstage 3, a marshland silhouetted by ominous trees and swathed in an impenetrable mist. Reynolds, in his first gig as a production designer, flooded the soundstage's concrete floor and planted Old Man's Beard (an eerie looking plant that thrives in the darkness) to accurately depict a long-forgotten planet at the edge of Star Wars' solar system, and the overall effect is one of disquiet, of desolation - fitting for a film steeped in it.