29 incredible Easter Eggs, callbacks and references in Star Wars: The Last Jedi

“A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind,” he said at the time.

“This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things.”

22. "That is why you fail"

And Yoda’s classic maxim that Luke’s lack of faith is why he fails is also given a new riff.

“The greatest teacher, failure is,” he tells the older Skywalker.

23. Hardware wars

Classic fan film Hardware Wars, which saw a dedicated Star Wars fan recreate the first film using only power tools and household items, is celebrated in The Last Jedi in a scene where what appears to be a landing spaceship is revealed to be an iron smoothing out some crisp First Order uniforms.

"I'm quite proud of my Hardware Wars reference," Johnson told RadioTimes.com of the gag.

"Hardware Wars was the original kind of fan film, back in the 70s when the first film came out - I think it was the first movie. Some dude made a short named Hardware Wars, which was Star Wars but using irons and appliances.

"And so the fact that we got a Hardware Wars reference in here makes me very happy."

24. Return of the Return of the Jedi

A scene where Rey (Daisy Ridley) is handcuffed in a lift with Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren closely resembles a scenes from Return of the Jedi when Luke is similarly restrained beside his father Darth Vader.

The subsequent scenes, where Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) taunts Rey with her friends’ impending deaths in his throne room while holding her lightsaber on his chair (and using his Force powers to torture her) is also a close match for scenes featuring Ian McDiarmuid’s Emperor Palpatine in the same film.

25. Rule together

Kylo’s suggestion to Rey that they "can rule together and bring order to the galaxy" closely mirrors Darth Vader’s similar offer to Luke in The Empire Strikes Back.

“Join me, and together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son!” Vader says – though in The Last Jedi it’s Rey’s lack of family that Kylo attempts to use to persuade her.

26. "I’ve got a bad feeling about this…"

Every Star Wars film to date has included this famous phrase spoken by one of the characters, and for a while it seemed like The Last Jedi was the exception – at least until director Rian Johnson revealed that cute droid BB-8 actually says the line in the film’s opening battle in his trademark beep-boop language.

27. "Rebel Scum"

The classic Imperial insult is somewhat reclaimed from its derogatory use in the original trilogy, with John Boyega’s Finn happily self-identifying as “Rebel scum” towards the end of The Last Jedi while he faces Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie).

28. Strike me down…

One of the most famous quotes in Star Wars history comes in 1977’s original film just before the death of Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi, who tells Vader: "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

Just before Luke fades into the Force like his mentor after projecting his image onto the salt flats of Crait, he tells Kylo:

“Strike me down in anger and I’ll always be with you – just like your father.”

Gotta play the hits, man.

29. Luke’s beginning is his end

As Luke takes his last breath before becoming one with the Force once again, he gazes out at the twin sunset of Ach-To while the Star Wars Force Theme plays – an overt look back at one of the character’s most iconic moments in the first Star Wars film, when the young Skywalker watches the suns go down on Tatooine to the same music.

The perfect end to both Luke Skywalker's time defending the galaxy, and this article.

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