Some cool trivia about the Star Wars prequels

What does this post have to do with video games? Not much but who cares when there's a lot to love about the Star Wars prequels. For those of you how love George Lucas' Star Wars backstory, here's 16 sweet facts and bits of trivia that you might want to learn about the prequels!

1. E.T. creatures made a cameo appearance in The Phantom Menace. So did George Lucas in Sith.
2. The Millennium Falcon is spied on landing on Coruscant in Revenge of the Sith. This was prior to Lando or Han Solo owning it!
3. Darth Maul has ten horns on his red head. While Ray Park is famous as playing the Sith Lord, Peter Serafinowicz actually voiced the character. Benicio Del Toro was originally cast to play Darth Maul but he abandoned the role after George Lucas decided to trim Darth Maul's screen time in the film.
4. Hayden Christiansen played Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith as opposed to David Prowse who previously did the role. Hayden apparently begged Lucas to let him play him. The suit had to be designed to accommodate his smaller stature than Prowse's.
5. The sound of the hovering battle tanks used by the battle droids in The Phantom Menace was created by running an electric razor around a metal salad bowl and then digitally lowering the pitch.
6. In Attack of the Clones, Jar Jar Binks stands in for Senator Amidala and puts forth the motion that gives Palpatine supreme powers. This means that Jar Jar, one of the most universally hated characters in the Star Wars films is unwittingly responsible for the fall of the Old Republic and the downfall of the Jedi. 
7. Revenge of the Sith featured 4 hands being cut off in the film. Anakin loses one to Obi Wan, Mace Windu loses one to Anakin and Obi-Wan cuts two of General Grievous' hands off. 
8. When Jango Fett gets into his ship after his fight with Obi-Wan in Attack of the Clones, he bangs his head on the open door. This was intentional and is a reference to a famous goof from the original movie where a cloned storm trooper accidentally bangs his head on a door (the clone being the descendant of Jango Fett and having inherited this character trait).
9. "Phantom Menace" was the name of a villain in the "Flash Gordon" comics. Which shouldn't surprise too many people as George Lucas has often cited Flash Gordon as one of his inspirations for making the original Star Wars.
10. Revenge of the Sith is the only film thus far that does not feature R2D2 in the final shot.
11. The sound effect when Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber is kicked down the reactor shaft in the climactic battle with Darth Maul, is the same sound effect heard when Luke Skywalker throws his lightsaber away in Jedi when he tells the Emperor that he is a Jedi, like his father before him!
12. George Lucas made his first Star Wars cameo in Revenge of the Sith. He dressed as a Pantoran senator, Baron Papanoida. You might not have recognised him as he all dressed up in blue body paint! His daughter also cameoed with him at the same time.
13. When Anakin is slaughtering the Tusken Raider in Attack of the Cliness, Qui-Gon's voice can be heard in the background. This is no accident as Qui-Gon Jinn's Force-Ghost was trying to stop Anakin's rage, but clearly failed.
14. Every clone trooper in Revenge of the Sith is a creation of CGI. No clone costumes or helmets were manufactured for filming.
15. The shipping title of Phantom Menace was "The Doll House", Clones was "Cue Ball" and Sith, "The Bridge".
16. Phantom Menace was the first Star Wars film to be released on DVD.
17. Darth Vader has the best quotes of any character.