16. The Incredibles (2004)
In the Normanisan jungles Dash and Violet encounter a series of Syndrome's henchmen, who happen to be piloting aircraft. The two siblings plot to run rings around their pursuers, hightailing it over land and water. Their chase through the tropical foliage mimics the chase scene from Jedi where Luke and Leia commandeer a couple of Imperial speeders to track down fleeing scout troopers. And that's not the only wink to Lucas: one of the big bads The Incredibles fight is an Omnidroid.
15. Men In Black (1997)
Agent Jay and Agent Kay's line of work steers them into plenty of dangerous scenarios. "There's always an Arquillian battle cruiser, or a Corellian death ray, or an intergalactic plague intended to wipe out life on this miserable little planet," Kay rants to his partner, as the pair question whether or not to use their weapons in public. Force fans might recognise the name of the death ray: Corellia is the planet where Han Solo was born, and his ship the Millenium Falcon is referred to as Modified Corellian Transport. George Lucas shouldn't mind: he nabbed the term Corellia from Isaac Asimov.
14. Star Trek (2009)
Years before he landed the sweetest of all directing gigs with The Force Awakens J.J. Abrams made no attempt to hide his love for Star Wars. Several eagle-eyed fans caught sight of a familiar droid flying past the USS Enterprise's bridge in Star Trek. Floating in the Starfleet wreckage is none other than R2-D2. You can spot him on the left hand side of the above image. He makes a similar re-appearance in the sequel.
13. Serenity (2005)
Joss Whedon's band of space cowboys were die-hard Star Wars fans right from the start. Apparently the props team on the original series Firefly had an ongoing bet to see if they could insert a figurine of Han Solo in carbonite into the background of as many scenes as possible. That frivolity continued into the movie. At one point in the movie there's a reference to "rebel activity in the outer rim." The Outer Rim is, in the Star Wars canon, a large swathe of the galaxy that's relatively unexplored.
12. Poltergeist (1982)
Steven Spielberg pays homage to the trilogy by cramming tons of memorabilia and toys into Poltergeist. Aside from an Alien poster plastered to his wall, Robbie's bedroom is pretty much a commercial for Kenner's line of Star Wars merchandise. Bed sheets, posters, figurines, models, shirts, pins... you name it, this kid's got it. It's an impressive showcase for the type of original Star Wars gear that has now passed into legend. His room's worth thousands.
11. Twister (1996)
Quoting a line of dialogue from one of your favorite films that's suited to a situation is, in a word, rewarding. You might wait years for an opportunity to lay down a beloved one-liner in the perfect scenario. That's what makes this moment at the end of Twister so awesome: any film fan can relate. "That's no moon," cries one of the young scientists as torrents of data on the tornado flood his computer, "it's a space station!" An apt way to describe that you've figured something out.
10. Team America: World Police (2004)
Two of the members of Team America have extra-sensory abilities that are very similar to the Jedi's use of The Force. Gary attempts to infiltrate Kim Jong-Il's palace decked out in a hooded cloak like Obi Wan's. He waves his hand and speaks in a deep, booming voice, convincing the guards that they don't need to see his credentials. Inside the palace, Sarah soothes the predatory black panthers and tricks them into believing their real enemies are the guards.
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
All those years buried deep in the ice changed a lot for Steve Rogers. His friends, the state of his career... in short, the whole world moved on. One thing that remains the same, however, is the importance of pop culture in society, so Cap carries with him a notepad for jotting down any references to things he's missed. A glimpse of his cultural catch-up list shows two popular sci-fi series: Star Trek and Star Wars..
8. Back to the Future (1985)
Marty McFly plays fast and loose with contemporary culture to either blend in (adopting the name Clint Eastwood in the third movie) or in this case, to make sure his parents hook up. Wearing a radiation suit and wielding a hair dryer, he breaks into would-be dad George's room at night to scare him into asking his future mom Lorraine on a date. "Silence Earthling. My name is Darth Vader. I'm an extra-terrestrial from the planet Vulcan." Nice intermingling of sci-fi, McFly. He then threatens to melt his dad's brains if he doesn't comply.
7. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Future Star Wars director Colin Trevorrow planted his franchise expertise into his first movie. The topic of the Imperial henchmen stirs up debate between Darius and Amau. Darius repeatedly defends Jeff's technical ignorance over time travel and lasers - "How would he know, he's not a Stormtrooper" - while Amau rebuffs those comparisons. He states that Stormtroopers aren't the brains of the operation. "They don't know anything about lasers or time travel. They're blue-collar workers." Did Trevorrow's knowledge of Stormtrooper logistics help land him a place in the director's chair?
