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An ice-cutter (left) mounted to a Rebel cannon sled in the hangar of Echo Base.
The laser-ice cutter was a laser cannon used to sheer through ice.[1] In 3 ABY,[2] the Rebel Alliance Corps of Engineers used laser-ice cutters to carve hallways within the ice on the frozen planet Hoth[1] in a matter of weeks[3] with their singular industrial lasers in the construction of Echo Base.
On Hoth, laser-ice cutters were mounted to Rebel cannon sleds. One could be found in Hangar 7 during the Battle of Hoth.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
Luke Skywalker mans the ice cutter in a promotional photo for The Empire Strikes Back
This cannon appeared, unnamed, in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.[4] It was mounted on the Rebel cannon sled vehicle. The original blueprints for the vehicle label the laser-ice cutter prop as an "existing cannon unit."[5] The reference book Star Wars: Complete Locations identifies the laser-ice cutter, while later material clarifies the vehicle it is attached to is a Rebel cannon sled.[6]
On set footage of the cannon and vehicle was included in the rare documentary by Michel Parbot, The Making of "The Empire Strikes Back".[7] There were a number of publicity photos of Luke Skywalker manning cannon which, according to Lucasfilm Story Group executive Pablo Hidalgo, were not deleted scenes but rather on-set photos taken with the prop.[8]
Appearances[]
Laser-ice cutter and Rebel cannon sled in Echo Base
- Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (First appearance)
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back junior novelization (Indirect mention only)
- "A Good Kiss"—From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back (Indirect mention only)
Sources[]
- Star Wars: Complete Locations (First identified as laser-ice cutter)
- Star Wars: The Rebel Files
Every Surface Vehicle in Star Wars Movies | Star Wars By the Numbers on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)- Hoth in the Databank (backup link) (Picture only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Star Wars: Complete Locations
- ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
- ↑ Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back junior novelization
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
- ↑ Star Wars: The Blueprints
- ↑
Every Surface Vehicle in Star Wars Movies | Star Wars By the Numbers on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑
The "Lost" Empire Strikes Back Documentary by Michel Parbot (1980) on the Adywan revisited YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑
Pablo Hidalgo (@pabl0hidalgo) on Twitter: "You may occasionally find photos of Luke in his snowspeeder pilot manning the guns online labeled as a 'deleted scene'. It's not. It's more like a photo opportunity, as this prop / vehicle was on set that day" (backup link)
External links[]
- The "Lost" Empire Strikes Back Documentary by Michel Parbot (1980) on the Adywan revisited YouTube channel (backup link) (Behind the scenes footage and interviews including the cannon sled)
