Skellig Michael, Ireland

 
At the end of THE FORCE AWAKENS, the first movie of the third Star Wars trilogy and episode 7 of the entire series, Rey (Daisy Ridley) goes in search of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). The young resistance fighter hopes to receive training as a Jedi master from him. Together with Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew/Joonas Suotamo) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), Rey travels in the spaceship Millennium Falcon to the ocean planet Ahch-To.

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Luke Skywalker leads a reclusive life on a remote island. This final scene was filmed on Skellig Michael, a twin-pinnacled crag in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) west of mainland Ireland. Instead of creating the planet in a studio with digital effects, director J.J. Abrams preferred to use existing locations, as was done in the original trilogy. The shooting period for the entire film was from 16 May to 3 November 2016.

Besides Ireland, filming took place in Great Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Iceland. Filming on Skellig Michael began on 28 July and would last for three days. The island is uninhabited and open to visitors from May to September, depending on weather conditions. Skellig Michael has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. There are several shipping companies offering boat trips from Portmagee and Coarha More.  

Kerry Cliffs, 7 July 2024

The number of visitors is limited to 180 per day so advance booking is essential. We went with The Skellig Experience. This shipping company also has a visitor centre which is worthwhile, unfortunately with no information on Star Wars. There are no facilities on board or on the island but we ordered a packed lunch from O’Connells Foodstore in Portmagee the day before departure. The boat trip takes about an hour.

The day before visiting Skellig Michael, we already saw the island from the Kerry Cliffs. These cliffs are about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Port Magee and offer spectacular ocean views. It is private land but accessible to the public for a fee of € 5 per person. The view of the island is somewhat similar to the scene when the Millennium Falcon arrives. Next to Skellig Michael is the smaller island Little Skellig which cannot be visited.

The Force Awakens, 2:04:38

Skellig islands, 7 July 2024

The boat arrives at the northeast side of the island. As the purple line on the map indicates, visitors walk to the south side and then walk up the stairs. Here is a monastic village founded somewhere between the 6th and the 8th century by a small group of monks. With few food supplies and sometimes harsh weather conditions, they must have led a Spartan's life.

Map Skellig Michael

The monks also constructed the steps that pose a challenge to visitors. The irregular steps are flat stones or carved into the rocks, with no handholds. In the film, Rey walks up on the north side while Chewbacca and R2-D2 stay behind by the spaceship.

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Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

As Rey continues her journey upwards, Little Skellig can again be seen in the background. The horizon has been digitally altered.

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Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

The film ends with Rey meeting Luke Skywalker. This scene was filmed on Christ's Saddle, a part of the island halfway up the climb. However, the part where actors stand is not open to the public and shielded by a fence.

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Christ's Saddle, Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

 

In THE LAST JEDI, the second movie of the third Star Wars trilogy and episode 8 of the Skywalker Saga, Rey manages to persuade Luke Skywalker to give her three lessons in the ways of the Force. For these scenes, production returned to Skellig Michael for five days.

Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

Since episode 8 continues where episode 7 ends and filming on the island is not an easy undertaking, I was surprised when a guide told me that shooting for both films was not done at the same time. One reason could be that Rian Johnson took over directing from J.J. Abrams. Shooting on Skellig Michael was supposed to start on 14 September 2015 but had to be postponed for a day due to bad weather.

Filming continued on 15 February 2016 and was completed on 22 July. Besides Pinewood Studios in England, there were on-location shoots in Croatia, Iceland, Bolivia and mainland Ireland. Not all scenes set on the island where Luke is hiding were filmed on Skellig Michael. According to the guide, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca never came the island. The monastery village with its beehive-shaped buildings were recreated on the Dingle peninsula.

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Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

So the moment when Rey and Luke meet was filmed twice. There was more than a year between the first shot in July 2014 and the second shot in September 2015.

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Christ's Saddle, Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

From April to July, thousands of puffins come to Skellig Michael to breed. The birds are not afraid of humans and were easy to photograph. Instead of digitally removing the puffins, Rian Johnson came up with the idea of replacing them with a self-conceived species, the porg. This beakless seabird is native to Ahch-To and was designed by Jake Lunt Davies.

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Puffins, Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

Walking up the stairs you soon will pass a rock known as Wailing Woman, seen from the steps it looks indeed like a weeping female. In the film, Rey practices here with Luke's lightsaber who is watching her from a distance. The fourth picture also shows a helipad. The captain who took us to Skellig Michael told us that the film stars came to the island by helicopter, the other members of the film crew came by boat.

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Wailing Woman, Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

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Wailing Woman, Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

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Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

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Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

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Wailing Woman, Skellig Michael, 8 July 2024

Screenshots © Lucasfilm Ltd.

Death Valley CA, USA

 
With STAR WARS (since 1981 with the addition Episode IV: A New Hope) one of the most financially successful film series was launched in 1977. To date, 12 feature films, 23 series and three television specials have been released. The franchise is still going strong as no less than seven new films have been announced. Each film begins with the phrase "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." but exactly how long ago and in which galaxy is not known. 

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Besides shooting at England's Elstree Studios, several locations in Tunisia were chosen for the first film to depict the desert planet Tatooine. On 22 March 1976 in Tunisia production began where filming was to take place for two-and-a-half weeks. Due to technical problems and an unexpected rainstorm, production was delayed and not all the planned shots could be made.

In early 1977, extra funding was released to film the missing scenes in Tikal National Park in Guatemala and in Death Valley and China Lake Acres in California.

Furnace Creek Visitor
Center, Death Valley,
12 July 2023

At the time of filming Death Valley was a National Monument, since 1994 it is a National Park. It is a desert valley with mountains, rocks, salt flats and dunes. Located below sea level, it is one of the hottest places in the world in the summer. At the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, which by the way is airconditioned, is a thermometer outside showing the temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. During our visit it was 'only' 44 °C (111 °F); a few days later the temperature would rise to over 50 °C (122 °F). At the parking lots were signs with warnings not to hike after 10 am, an advice that some people neglected. It should be clear that in the summer visitors should prepare well by bringing enough drinking water and dress according to the extreme weather conditions. At the time of writing this blog post the entire area is closed due to flooding caused by Hurricane Hilary. Up-to-date information can be found on the website of the Death Valley National Park.

The planet Tatooine is introduced when the droids C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) have landed there in a capsule. They have been sent by Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) with a message for Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). They argue which way to go and each droid goes its own way. The scene where R2-D2 moves across the sand was shot at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, an area with dunes named after the trees that grow here, the mesquite. This location is next to a car park so I did not have to walk far to take the photo.

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Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley, 12 July 2023

As night falls, R2-D2 finds himself in a rocky area where the droid is taken by Jawa's, the pint-sized inhabitants of Tatooine. These scenes were filmed at Artist's Palette. This area gets its name from the coloured rocks and is easily accessible by car. Note the digitally changed background in the first screenshot.

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Artist's Palette, Death Valley, 12 July 2023

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Artist's Palette, Death Valley, 12 July 2023

Artist's Drive, the road to Artist's Palette, can also be seen briefly when the Jawa's take R2-D2 to their vehicle. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo here. Because of the heat we did not visit two locations in Death Valley also featured in the film, Desolation Canyon and Golden Canyon. We did however visit Dante's View. At this viewpoint, Obi-Wan Kenobi points out the spaceport Mos Eisley to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). In reality, there are no buildings here.

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Dante's View, Death Valley, 12 July 2023

 

For RETURN OF THE JEDI production returned to Death Valley. The film is Episode VI in the original series and the third film made, after Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Filming began on 11 January and ended on 20 May 1982.

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Once again, filming took place at Elstree Studios in England. According to the end credits, shooting on location was in Buttercup Valley, Death Valley and Smith River, all in California. Several websites report that the Yuma Desert in Arizona is also seen in the film as the planet Tatooine. This desert is adjacent to Buttercup Valley, chances are that filming took place in both states.

The scene filmed in Death Valley lasts less than 30 seconds and, according to the book The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, was made on 11 December 1982, six months after the official filming period.

C-3PO and R2-D2 are on Tatooine on their way to Jabba the Hutt. His palace was digitally added. They walk through Twenty Mule Team Canyon, an unpaved road of about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers). Its name dates back to the late 19th century when mules were used for mining. It took us a while to find the exact location. The mudstone hills have remained largely the same despite erosion but the road running through the area has changed over the years.

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Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Death Valley, 12 July 2023

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Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Death Valley, 12 July 2023

Screenshots © Lucasfilm