Skip to main content

star wars - Does the number 327 hold any significance to George Lucas?


In A New Hope, the number of the docking bay used to hold the Millenium Falcon is 327. In The Empire Strikes Back, the number of the Cloud City landing platform used is also 327. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine are captured in hallway 328. (It's the prequels, so everything has to be different, right?) And this one's a little shaky, but the last four digits of the trash compactor in A New Hope are 3827. Yep, 3_27.


So is there an actual reason that the number 327 appears multiple times in the Star Wars series, or could this just be subtle cross-episode allusion?




Answer




327 is mentioned a lot in Star Wars, so there is obvious some significance.


As well as the Docking Bay on the Death Star and the Landing Platform on cloud city that you have mentioned, there is also the following mentioned in Canon:



  • The J-type 327 Nubian starship used by Queen Amidala - which had a Nubian 327 hyperdrive core in The Phantom Menace

  • The Vulptereen 327 Podracer that Dud Bolt raced with in The Phantom Menace

  • The Rian 327 Airspeeder owned by Padmé Amidala in The Revenge of the Sith

  • Outpost 327 where the shuttle Tydirium was stolen from according to the Junior Novelisation of The Return of the Jedi

  • The Hurid-327 Load lifter droid at Maz Kanata's in The Force Awakens



It also had many further mentions in Legends materials.


The number makes an appearance in Lucas' earlier film American Graffiti where the '32 Deuce Coupe had a Chevy 327 engine, this car also had the number plate THX 138 - (a reference to the even earlier Lucas film THX 1138


Chevy327Engine


I cannot remember nor find any mentions of 327 in THX-1138 nor in any Lucas related films after Star Wars (Indiana Jones, Willow etc)


So it appears to be something brought into Star Wars & kept within that universe, unlike THX-1138 which has appeared through most of his works.


It is possible that this is a nod to the film American Graffiti, whose commercial success gave George Lucas chance to develop LucasFilm, Skywalker Sound, and Industrial Light & Magic which were all crucial in allowing Star Wars to be made.



As an aside the hatch number for the trash compactor 326-3827 is widely reported to have been Mark Hamill's phone number. This has a symmetry with THX 1138 which (using the keypad map of T=8, H=4, X=9) was 849-1138, George Lucas' telephone whilst at college.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more