Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Star Wars Fans Fix Up Luke Skywalker's Home

Posted by samzenpus on from the extreme-makeover-star-wars-edition dept.

An anonymous reader writes "How far would a Star Wars fan go to preserve a relic from the iconic film series? One devoted fan traveled to Tunisia to rescue Luke Skywalker's boyhood home, also known as The Lars Homestead, as seen in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. On a trip to Tunisia in 2010, Belgian traveler Mark Dermul came upon the modest dome-shaped hut that George Lucas built in the mid-1970s to serve as Luke Skywalker's home. The structure was falling apart when Dermul found it, so he hatched a scheme to restore it. After two years and a lot of cement and plaster, Luke's house is looking better than ever."

61 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. 65k Split pages by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    That url has 19 trackers and loads a new page for each individual image. Deplorable.

    1. Re:65k Split pages by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I actually like Ghostery better (and of course ABP).

      I can never seem to configure NoScript to my liking; I'm either always having to manually allow things after realizing something is broken (sometimes takes some troubleshooting) or the settings are so relaxed as to be nearly worthless.

    2. Re:65k Split pages by formfeed · · Score: 1

      That url has 19 trackers and loads a new page for each individual image. Deplorable.

      And only one of these trackers has to get through, for the Empire to find your home planet.

    3. Re:65k Split pages by Meski · · Score: 1

      I felt a great disturbance in the net, as if millions of pages suddenly downloaded.

  2. Better? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Luke's house is looking better than ever.

    Am I the only one who thinks that it looked better in the "before" photos? The new white plaster makes the contrast with the surrounding landscape so dramatic that the dome looks out-of-place.

    1. Re:Better? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That guy didn't get the "used future" thing

    2. Re:Better? by Z00L00K · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This is an example of a movie that did have an impact for the general public. So there's no wonder that there are people that takes interest in the history of the sets.

      The white makes sense since it reflects heat, and it will over time be worn down and get colored by the sand. The building itself doesn't look out of place in the desert but is actually of a design that you would expect there.

      Add to this that this will be a bonus tourist trap for Tunisia.

      And I don't think that George Lucas will make much fuzz about that restoration since it will end up creating a lot of badwill.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    3. Re:Better? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And I don't think that George Lucas will make much fuzz about that restoration since it will end up creating a lot of badwill.

      Ehm, excuse me?

    4. Re:Better? by Nimey · · Score: 1

      Restated: if Lucas interferes, it'll piss of the great unwashed mass of fanboys.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    5. Re:Better? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Maybe. However, it's in the desert. It'll look beaten up soon enough. Creaky Old West towns were new at *some* point.

      Plus, the "used future" aesthetic probably doesn't include visible wood support structures for a supposedly fully adobe building...

    6. Re:Better? by jimicus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That's never bothered Lucas before.

  3. calling it now by trdtaylor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    George Lucas will promptly sue him and everyone involved for copyright infringement

    http://motherboard.vice.com/2011/5/12/george-lucas-owns-the-universe-a-timeline-of-star-wars-copyright-battles

    1. Re:calling it now by cpu6502 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If Lucas (or RIAA or MPAA) ever tries to sue me, and I end-up owing millions of dollars of supposed "damages", they can eat a bullet. If I'm going to receive a life sentence as my punishment, make it for something worthwhile, not fake rights.

      --
      My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
    2. Re:calling it now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Make sure you kill the attorneys, in addition to the executives. If MAFIAA attorneys started dropping dead from assassins' bullets, they wouldn't be able to find any attorneys to take their bogus cases.

    3. Re:calling it now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There would need to be a well-researched list. Make sure you start at the bottom and work upwards - harder for them to discern the pattern that way.

    4. Re:calling it now by kamapuaa · · Score: 4, Funny

      Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997!

      --
      Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
    5. Re:calling it now by couchslug · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997!"

      Since when it is "anti-social" to kill your masters who are your deliberate and malicious enemies?

      Laws are for the rich. If you decide you have nothing to lose, why not take some of your enemies with you instead of being crushed by the legal system they own?

      It's the ultimate way of saying "NO!", and he who doesn't fear punishment cannot be enslaved. Our masters don't fear us. They only fear brute violence, nothing else. As long as we are cozy enough not to inflict it upon them, they win.

      I'm comfortable enough that I don't feel any need to act. Someone in a different situation might say "enough" and open fire. I'll not call that choice "anti-social". My choice not to act is much more selfish.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    6. Re:calling it now by dlingman · · Score: 1

      We provide sheeps to the anti-social weirdos too? When did we start that? Must have been in 2003 or something.

    7. Re:calling it now by SciBoy · · Score: 2

      Actually, the definition of "Anti-social" is to do by direct action or indirect action damage to society. The rich ruling the world is how society works right now, so killing them is indeed anti-social behaviour. But in the same way, if your actions cause a major upheaval of the social structure the definition of what is anti-social may change until killing the rich is no longer deemed anti-social.

      The french did that in 1790.

      --
      "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
    8. Re:calling it now by cpu6502 · · Score: 1

      >>>Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997!

      If I have been hit with a multimillion dollar fine as they did with Jamie Thomas, then what do I have to lose? I'm already a wage slave for the rest of my life, where every dollar I earn goes to paying-off that fine.

      So as long as I *already* have a life sentence, I might as well go kill the RIAA CEO. What are they going to do? Give me *another* life sentence? I'm already beyond their ability to touch me. (It's kinda like that movie D.O.A. where the guy was already poisoned, already sentenced to death, so he could murder the men who poisoned him without restriction.)

      --
      My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
  4. Conflicting reports by argux · · Score: 2

    Weren't there supposed to be people living there now? I remember reading about it about a week ago. Did they arrive after this guy restored the place?

  5. Only part of Luke's home by dpilot · · Score: 5, Informative

    The more interesting part was the desert-sensible underground portion. From what I can see the two parts weren't anywhere near each other, just spliced together on film. From the igloo you could only see the berm around the atrium.

    The rest of the house was actually the Hotel Sidi Driss...
    http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293756-d523724-r32974695-Hotel_Sidi_Driss-Matmata_Gabes_Governorate.html
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c3Mdk_di7Q

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    1. Re:Only part of Luke's home by old+man+moss · · Score: 1

      I visited this site in the late 70's as part of a camel ride into the desert. I was only a child, but don't remember seeing the dome part at all. The below ground part was recognisable from the movie - and I remember the guide explaining that the white paint was not a traditional feature - it was added for the movie but the people living there liked it and left it like that afterwards.

      --
      rt
  6. So pretty by sentientbeing · · Score: 5, Funny

    It would be gorgeous in the summer. Great place for Luke to have a barbecue with his family

    What. What did I say?

    --

    ------
    beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his mind he dreams himself your master
    1. Re:So pretty by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      It would be gorgeous in the summer. Great place for Luke to have a barbecue with his family
      What. What did I say?

      You must have a deep burning desire to hurt them, or you wouldn't be so inflammatory.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:So pretty by kenj0418 · · Score: 5, Funny

      It would be gorgeous in the summer. Great place for Luke to have a barbecue with his family

      You insensitive clod. Luke lost both his aunt and his uncle and has no family. I'm sure he'd give his right hand to have a family again.

    3. Re:So pretty by kenj0418 · · Score: 1

      Sigh...

      Father. Sister.

      What about Leia? Isn't she Luke's twin sister?

      Did you not see this part:

      he'd give his right hand to have a family again.

      He lost his hand fighting Vader in Empire, then right after that Vader told him he was his father. He then discovers Leia was his sister in Jedi.

      But it's not funny if I have to explain it. I'm betting ACs are young whippersnappers that watched the movies in *gasp* numerical order.

  7. $11,000?? by arcite · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Most of that must have been spent on the airplane ticket and transport. That structure isn't even a real desert structure, its constructed out of cheap wood (which is not used in the desert as there are no trees), and plaster....it's not a 'real' house or building, its a SET PIECE. Wouldn't it have been more useful to rebuild it from scratch from cement blocks and then open it as a B&B? Or perhaps set up a live-web cam showing the sunset to mimic the scene from the movie. This could have provided a few jobs for local Tunisians, who have suffered great economic hardship due to the revolution. Just another useless hipster stunt.

    1. Re:$11,000?? by LordNimon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Did you really expect a hard-core Star Wars fan to have any real-world skills?

      --
      And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
      To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
    2. Re:$11,000?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I suspect SW is too mainstream for hipsters to care...

    3. Re:$11,000?? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      Bet he's pretty good with an E-11 blaster.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    4. Re:$11,000?? by ukemike · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That structure isn't even a real desert structure, its constructed out of cheap wood (which is not used in the desert as there are no trees), and plaster....it's not a 'real' house or building, its a SET PIECE. Wouldn't it have been more useful to rebuild it from scratch from cement blocks and then open it as a B&B?

      Uhm... Duh. Movie sets aren't made to last. Most of the time they aren't made to look good up close either. They aren't made to code, and they aren't intended to be lived in. They are made of cheap wood and plaster, or whatever material are quickest, cheapest, and adequate for the planned shot. Sets are usually torn down the day after shooting on the set is finished.

      If this guy had torn it all down and built it out of stone or cement, then the original set would be gone. His goal was to restore it. Using cheap wood and plaster was entirely appropriate, because he was doing a restoration. Now matching the colors to what was seen in the film would have been nice. Oh well.

      --
      -- QED
  8. Mark Hamill? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    When I read the headline I assumed that Mark Hamill had fallen on hard times and some Star Wars fans were patching his roof or something.

    Maybe while George Lucas threw boulders at it. The actual story is a let down.

    1. Re:Mark Hamill? by PNutts · · Score: 1

      Good golly. Me, too.

    2. Re:Mark Hamill? by tverbeek · · Score: 1

      "Holy crap, I just looked at IMDB. He's a busy guy. Who knew."

      Any nerd worth his salty snacks knows.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  9. My question by Dachannien · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just have one question:

    Did he get rid of the corpses?

    1. Re:My question by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      no, but there was a homeless tusken raider cooking bantha chops and drying his face wrap he was able to scare off with a few well blaster shots

      have you ever seen a tusken raider without his face wraps?

      (shudder)

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    2. Re:My question by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2

      Did he get rid of the corpses?

      please - the indigenous dewbacks cleaned those up within a day or two.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  10. Whatever happened to location, location, location! by Provocateur · · Score: 1

    It's in f***in Tunisia! What are you going to do for water! Wait for the jawas!? I got two words for you, JACK and SQUAT!

    Don't get me started on the A/C!

    --
    WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
  11. Re:Whatever happened to location, location, locati by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Now a cool idea would be contracting with the Tusian government to build the world's first moisture farm.

    Science developments to follow.

  12. Back of the class losers. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I find it interesting that when such an important and effective part of our cultural heritage, something which has the power to make a culture strong, is honored, the sniveling cynics in the audience jump right in with their self-destruct song of nihilistic cynicism.

    Mythology and Stories are the lens through which we perceive reality. Of course it is those who are afraid of reality who recoil from something like this like a Gollum from the light.

    It's too bad Lucas lost his mind, but that doesn't take away from the original story which shaped our lives.

    1. Re:Back of the class losers. by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      Of course it is those who are afraid of reality who recoil from something like this like a Gollum from the light.

      Outside.

      Now.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:Back of the class losers. by Grishnakh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Lucas never was right in the head, but he did get worse over the years. The only reason the first three movies were any good is because 1) his wife (now ex-wife, since he dumped her after those movies) cleaned up the dialog and scripts, particularly in the first movie, and 2) in the latter two movies, he had other people help with writing and direction. The second movie was the best precisely because he didn't direct it or write it, and the third wasn't bad because he didn't direct it and only helped write it (Kasdan is credited first with the screenplay on IMDB). Heck, if his ex-wife didn't clean up his crappy scriptwriting on the first movie, Star Wars would probably have been forgotten and never spawned any sequels; she's probably the one we really have to thank, and she probably got cut out of all his riches.

    3. Re:Back of the class losers. by LienRag · · Score: 1

      I watched the movies recently and found them really awful (though a few scenes are really good, especially in Empire Strikes Back) so I should have no problem believing you. But American Graffiti was an interesting movie, so doesn't this fact contradicts a bit your theory?

  13. Bad summary by PNutts · · Score: 4, Informative

    Surprised? It came straight from the linked bad blog. Here's the link to the Save Lars site. Mark Durmul is a impromptu guide that lead tourists to Tunisian movie locations. In 2010 some fans were surprised by the set's condition and joked about returning to restore it. The rest is in the blog (and very interesting because it contains more Star Wars and Raiders Of The Lost Ark set locations). And at the risk of being a dick, this set was rebuilt in 2002 for the prequels so it isn't known if it appeared in the original Star Wars movie (never episode IV, thank you very much).

    1. Re:Bad summary by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 3, Funny

      this set was rebuilt in 2002 for the prequels

      Ah, so this is a news story - they found a guy who actually cares about the prequels. Turns out he was hiding in Belgium.

      Psychologists and anthropologists shall be dispatched post haste.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:Bad summary by AdeBaumann · · Score: 1

      Turns out he was hiding in Belgium.

      We will not tolerate such foul language on slashdot!

      --
      I gave up sigs almost a year ago.
  14. Obiligitory "Star Wars - Troopers (COPS)" video by PNutts · · Score: 2

    Between what really happened at the Lars Homestead and "Han Shot First" the Empire doesn't look nearly as bad as it did in 1977.

  15. Google Maps location by EvilXenu · · Score: 5, Informative

    After a short bit of searching, I was able to bring up the lat/long coordinates on my navicomputer. Check it out: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.842823,+7.779038&hl=en&ll=33.842618,7.778471&spn=0.001635,0.004128&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=50.644639,135.263672&t=h&z=19

    1. Re:Google Maps location by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      I found Jar Jar in Bing Maps

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  16. Re:Whatever happened to location, location, locati by SScorpio · · Score: 2

    Nah, just get a droid who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators and get them running again. Luke did grow up on a moisture farm.

  17. Re:Whatever happened to location, location, locati by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    It's in f***in Tunisia! What are you going to do for water! Wait for the jawas!?

    Why wait? Buy a JAWA and drive it to the set yourself.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  18. Re:Whatever happened to location, location, locati by tragedy · · Score: 1

    Moisture vaporators would be my guess.

  19. Young Obi Wan's visit by tverbeek · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman visited the original Tunisian set on their motorcycle trek from Scotland to South Africa in 2007. It's included in their travelogue Long Way Down.

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    1. Re:Young Obi Wan's visit by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Chunnel. Ferries.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    2. Re:Young Obi Wan's visit by erroneus · · Score: 1

      ...and he never visited a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

    3. Re:Young Obi Wan's visit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What does Ewan McGregor have to do with Star Wars? ;)

    4. Re:Young Obi Wan's visit by tverbeek · · Score: 1

      It's less impossible than their motorcycle trek from London* to New York City*, which they documented in Long Way Round.

      *also on islands

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    5. Re:Young Obi Wan's visit by tverbeek · · Score: 1

      No, that was the next stop: Libya.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  20. Mark Durmul by a_hanso · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one who read that as Darth Marmul or am I dyslexic?

  21. title misread by ncy · · Score: 1

    anybody else read this as Star Wars Fans Mix Up Luke Skywalker's Home? i thought they threw a surprise party for Mark Hamill but did it at the wrong house :P