There's a scene early in the new "Star Wars" movie when Rey and Finn are on Jakku. The two have just met and before they even learn each other's names, they're on the move trying to escape capture from a couple of First Order Stormtroopers.
Not long after, we see a flock of TIE fighters barreling across the desert sands toward our two heroes.
It's a gorgeous shot. But it may also look familiar.
Many fans were quick to note how similar the shot looked to these ones from Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Oscar-nominated war movie "Apocalypse Now."
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The shots come from around the 36-minute mark in "Apocalypse Now" as a fleet of helicopters are preparing to raid a village during the iconic "Ride of the Valkyries" scene.
It's not a coincidence.
Concept artist Doug Chiang explained how "The Force Awakens" scene was a nod to the iconic film in book, "The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
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"This is a moment of TIE fighters coming in — our riff on 'Apocalypse Now.' Some of those moments are so powerful that all we have to do is put in something different like TIE fighters, and it totally works," said Chiang.
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It's not the only scene in the movie that appears to borrow from that sequence.
Later in the film, we see Poe Dameron lead Resistance fighters across a waterfront to chase off the First Order at Maz Kanata’s Palace.
It's a moment that also feels similar to the scene in "Apocalypse Now" when a fleet of helicopters are seen swarming toward the beach-front village across the ocean.
It's a weird choice for the "The Force Awakens" to emulate in this moment. As I noted, it’s not a heroic scene — the military group blows up the village. They're kind of the bad guys.
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In "Star Wars," however, Dameron's squadron is warding off the evil First Order. Perhaps movie creators just really loved the sequence.
Here are a few more comparison shots.
"The Force Awakens" is currently in theaters and has already made over $1 billion worldwide in theaters.
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