How A Record Heatwave Secretly Changed A New Hope's Starfighter Pilot Outfits

Summary Rebel pilots in A New Hope wore shorts under their iconic costumes due to a record-breaking heatwave.

Star Wars had to creatively adapt to extreme heat during filming to ensure safety and comfort for the actors.

The ingenuity of the franchise is showcased by the hidden adjustments made to the Rebel starfighter pilot outfits.

The Star Wars Rebel starfighter pilot outfits have become iconic since they first appeared in A New Hope, but it seems a record-breaking heatwave in the British Isles caused a major, completely hidden change to the suits. The first in the chronology of Star Wars movies and TV shows, A New Hope had a number of obstacles to overcome, many of which pertained to the success of the movie being uncertain. In fact, despite A New Hope now being considered one of Star Wars' best movies, at the time, the franchise did not have the massive resources it has today.

The simple—and hilarious—adjustment made to A New Hope's starfighter pilot suits is a great example of Star Wars' beginnings and the way the franchise has always embraced challenges. When faced with unbearable heat, Star Wars needed to enact some quick thinking for the safety and comfort of the actors. To do so, they had to get creative.

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The 1976 British Isles Heatwave Affected Star Wars' Filming

While A New Hope may have been partially set on the hot, barren desert planet Tatooine, that doesn't mean production was prepared for those to be the actual conditions. In fact, when a 1976 heatwave in the British Isles brought about record-breaking high temperatures, A New Hope faced a number of obstacles. The heatwave itself meant that areas such as Heathrow and Southampton were reaching temperatures in the 80s and 90s for days on end. Tragically, in addition to causing a serious drought, the heatwave caused a number of deaths.

Given these conditions, it's unsurprising that the bulky, orange Rebel starfighter pilot suit now well-known in Star Wars proved to be too hot for the actors. In fact, in light of the temperatures and the related issues, the suits may have posed health and safety risks. To avoid such problems, Star Wars had a fairly straightforward solution: the actors didn't wear pants. According to Mark Hamill, many actors instead opted for shorts, only wearing the visible top half of their costume.

Why Star Wars' Starfighter Pilot Outfits Could Ignore This Change

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This creative way to beat the heat in part worked because of the nature of the pilots' roles in A New Hope. For the most part, the pilots were seated in their X-wings, meaning that at the very most, their upper torsos were exposed on camera. Because of that, they were able to wear just the tops of their pilot costumes and opt for more breathable shorts below.

While there are more substantial examples of the ways the original Star Wars trilogy adapted their visual and sound effects, many of which were remarkable moments in cinema history in light of their technological limitations at the time, this nevertheless shows the franchise's ingenuity from the beginning. Moreover, it's delightfully funny to imagine these incredible Rebel pilots rushing to destroy the Death Star while Darth Vader hunts them down, secretly wearing shorts off-camera. Though charming, this truly is an excellent example of how inventive not only A New Hope but also all of Star Wars has been over the years.

Source: Mark Hamill

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