What is Cloud City?
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00:0010 Secrets of Cloud City You Need To Know
00:04What is Cloud City exactly?
00:06Cloud City resides on a gas giant called Bespin in the Anode Sector, and since this planet
00:11is similar to Jupiter, you'd think it would be the last place in the cosmos where life
00:15could thrive.
00:16But as the Star Wars franchise proves, there is no world where people aren't eager to
00:20set up civilization.
00:21I mean, people live on Mustafar for Christ's sake.
00:24Despite the fact that the planet isn't even solid, Bespin is a hotspot for the elite,
00:28since it naturally produces one of the most desirable resources in the galaxy, that being
00:33Tabarna Gas.
00:34Because Tabarna is the central component for hyperspace travel, space weaponry and repulsor
00:38technology, it's coveted by virtually everyone.
00:42When the Tabarna miners discovered then that there was a breathable atmosphere 36,000 miles
00:46above Bespin's core, a habitable base was constructed there, called Cloud City.
00:50Now originally Lando Calrissian hoped to govern the city without any interference from the
00:55Empire, but when the Imperials found the planet and discovered it was mining trillions
00:59of tons of Tabarna Gas, they immediately took over the city, hoping to use its resources
01:03to advance the Empire.
01:06How does the city function?
01:07Even though we didn't get to see a lot of Cloud City, you can tell just by looking at
01:11it that it's bloody enormous.
01:12I mean, just look at how long it took for Luke Skywalker to fall to the bottom.
01:16It's never been specified how large the structure is, but Cloud City does consist
01:21of 392 stories.
01:23By comparison, the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, consists of 160 stories,
01:28which is around 2,700 feet.
01:30However, only the first 50 levels of Cloud City are open to the public, since the bottom
01:35342 levels are for mining and processing precious Tabarna Gas.
01:39However, even though the gas is a valuable commodity, it is very expensive to filter.
01:43Also the 36,000 engines and tractor beam generators which keep the city in the air aren't cheap
01:48either.
01:49So, to bring in some cash, Cloud City was turned into a luxury resort, and tourists
01:52can also hire a flying car to sightsee or check out the local mines.
01:56Put simply, it would be way out of my price range.
02:00It was supposed to appear in the first movie.
02:02It's common knowledge among Star Wars fans that George Lucas redrafted the script for
02:06the original movie about 10 bajillion times, give or take.
02:10At one point, the story was meant to focus on Samuel L. Jackson's character, Mace Windu,
02:14and in another draft, Luke Skywalker was a 60-year-old general who trained a pupil called
02:19Starkiller.
02:20Lucas also considered having giant bush-baby aliens in the climax for... some reason, I
02:25dunno, this was like the 70s wasn't it?
02:27But another alteration that the Star Wars screenplay went through was the removal of
02:30Cloud City.
02:32In the second draft, concept artist Ralph McQuarrie designed a floating territory, which
02:36served as an imperial prison for Princess Leia's homeworld of Alderaan.
02:39And even though scenes of Alderaan were meant to be filmed, they were ultimately cut.
02:43However, Lucas loved the idea of a habitat hovering in the sky and didn't want to abandon
02:47it.
02:48So he repurposed McQuarrie's floating imperial prison for the sequel and then turned it into
02:52what we know now as Cloud City.
02:56The Ugnaughts Keep Everything Working
02:58As Darth Vader's forces freeze Han Solo in carbonite, several small pigmen called
03:03Ugnaughts can be seen operating the machinery in the background.
03:06Because these creatures are mainly in the background and have no dialogue, you would
03:09assume that they're not particularly that important.
03:12But as will become abundantly clear on this list, everyone and everything in Star Wars
03:17has an unnecessarily complex backstory.
03:20When Cloud City was devised, for instance, the Ugnaught tribes were brought in to work
03:23on its construction, since they were known for performing monotonous tasks skillfully
03:27for an extended period of time.
03:29Because the Ugnaughts' territory as well was being taken over by the Galactic Empire
03:32at the same time, they agreed to this deal to avoid their people being enslaved by imperial
03:37troops.
03:38But when Darth Vader seized Cloud City, the Ugnaughts were forced to work with the Empire
03:41anyway against their will.
03:43Even though these critters turned Han Solo into a popsicle and tried to melt C-3PO into
03:47slag, the Ugnaughts aren't evil.
03:50Like many creatures throughout the galaxy, they just do what they must to survive.
03:536.
03:54Who or What is Lobot?
03:56One of the most mysterious citizens of Cloud City is Lando Calrissian's trusty aide and
04:01personal chef, Lobot.
04:03Despite never uttering a word, the cybernetic implants on his head help the character stand
04:07out, making viewers curious of Lobot's purpose on Bespin.
04:11Described originally, he was a regular human who performed battlefield calculations for
04:15the Empire.
04:16After meeting Lando, Lobot became a smuggler and, although he lost his original memories,
04:20personality and even the ability to speak, became instrumental in the growth of his home
04:24Bespin, since Cloud City's central network was implemented directly into his mind.
04:29As a result, Lobot is tethered to the city's entire mainframe, making him arguably the
04:33most significant person on the whole planet.
04:365.
04:37What's that vein that Luke hangs on?
04:40After Vader famously defeated Luke Skywalker and lopped off his hand, the young Jedi jumped
04:44down the airshaft, seemingly plummeting to his doom.
04:47Even though Luke looked like he had no chance of surviving, he just happened to land on
04:51a perfectly placed vein, where he was rescued by his companions.
04:55Now most first-time viewers had the exact same thought upon seeing this moment.
04:59Why is there a freaking weather vein just out there?
05:02But as all Star Wars fans know, everything has a backstory.
05:06Malicious Crumb has a backstory, Han Solo's jacket has a backstory and yes, even the weather
05:11vein has a backstory.
05:13First off, it's actually not a weather vein, I've been wrong this whole entry, it's
05:16actually a gas processing vein.
05:18These instruments are designed to filter, stabilise and store Tibanna gas, as you probably
05:22have guessed, and they are positioned at the bottom of Cloud City, since that is where
05:25the mineral is the most potent.
05:26So yeah, that's right, George Lucas gave a backstory to a piece of metal to justify
05:31a plot convenience.
05:324.
05:33There were some significant changes in the special edition.
05:36In 1997, Lucasfilm released the first of several special editions of the original Star Wars
05:41trilogy.
05:42Even though fans did appreciate seeing the classic movies in perfect quality with crisp
05:45sound, they were also horrified to learn that George Lucas had made some absolutely unnecessary
05:50changes.
05:51I mean, why he thought the world wanted to see Psy's Snoodles perform a music solo in
05:54Return of the Jedi is just, well that's anybody's guess isn't it?
05:57Despite viewers grumbling, several changes in the Empire Strikes Back though were quite
06:01welcome.
06:02While the corridors are running around the corridors in the original version for instance,
06:05it was obvious that the actors were just on a soundstage.
06:08But in the special edition, digital effects were used so the walls in the background were
06:11replaced with windows showing off the futuristic landscape of the city.
06:15Even though many changes in the special edition are totally, totally irritating, these little
06:19tweaks are acceptable since they make the scenes more distinctive without ever feeling
06:23too distracting.
06:243.
06:25The actors were drunk in their Cloud City scenes.
06:28While filming The Empire Strikes Back, Carrie Fisher stayed at one of Eric Idle's flats
06:33for five whole months.
06:34And when the Rolling Stones came over, Fisher invited her co-star Harrison Ford over because
06:39hey, who doesn't want to party with Keith Richards?
06:41Even though Fisher was allergic to alcohol and Ford wasn't much of a drinker apparently
06:45either, they knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and so got absolutely
06:49smashed with the legendary musicians and the Monty Python comedian throughout the night.
06:53The following morning, Fisher and Ford headed straight to the set and filmed the scene where
06:57their characters arrive in Cloud City for the first time.
07:00Since they hadn't slept a wink, because why would you, Fisher and Ford were completely
07:04drunk while performing their scenes.
07:06And considering they consumed a beverage known as the Tunisian Death Drink, it's probably
07:10no surprise that it took a while for the effects to wear off.
07:132.
07:14What is that running man doing?
07:16After watching the Star Wars films a dozen times, you might notice tiny details in the
07:19background that you would never give a second thought to upon your first viewing.
07:23Such an example occurs in The Empire Strikes Back when multiple Imperial workers dash through
07:27Cloud City after the Rebel forces take over.
07:30Although a lot is going on in this scene, some eagle-eyed viewers only had one question
07:35in their mind.
07:36Why is there a guy in the background holding an ice cream maker?
07:39Well despite appearing for just a split second, this character, Willrow Hood, has a backstory
07:44because of course he does.
07:45He was working on the Harbinger Star Destroyer but was asked to evacuate after the Rebel
07:50Alliance hijacked the facility.
07:51Grabbing whatever valuables he could find, Willrow stuffed them into a container called
07:55a Comptono, aka the ice cream maker, and then just fled.
07:59Of course, this container became so iconic that it has actually been implemented into
08:03other Star Wars properties, including recently the Mandalorian.
08:061.
08:07A Cloud City May Actually Be Possible As entertaining as the Star Wars universe
08:11is, we all know that it's just pure fantasy, right?
08:15Right?
08:16Well, maybe not entirely.
08:18And even though a city hovering in the clouds sounds like utter fiction, astrophysicists
08:22suggest otherwise.
08:24According to NASA researcher Jeffrey Landis, a floating cloud city could exist over an
08:28inhospitable world like Venus.
08:31Despite the fact that it snows metal and rains acid on Earth's neighbouring planet, the
08:34atmosphere just above Venus is surprisingly tolerable for human life to thrive.
08:39And because the sun's second closest planet is overstuffed with floating gases like nitrogen
08:43and oxygen, the idea of keeping a city in the air isn't that far-fetched, at least
08:47according to Landis.
08:48So, the next time you hear someone tell you that Cloud City is completely ridiculous and
08:52it doesn't make any sense, well, set them straight.
08:54So that's our list, why don't you guys think down in the comments below, did you
08:58know all of these facts about Cloud City, and are there any really interesting ones
09:02I missed off here?
09:03While you're down there as well, could you please give us a like, share, subscribe,
09:05and head over to What Culture's Star Wars for more lists like this on the regular.
09:09Even if you don't though, I've been Josh, thank you so much for watching, and I'll
09:12see you soon.