Hardware Wars/Trivia

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Trivia about Hardware Wars includes:

• Creator Cameo: Ernie Fosselius appears as the fellow giving the pre-battle briefing.
• Credits Gag:
  • Ernie Fosselius is credited with (among many other things) "Special Defects".
  • The song in the bar is credited to "Slim Chance and Derange Riders".
  • After the copyright, we are informed that it was "Filmed on location in space".
  • The Special Edition adds its own gag after displaying its own credits:

All scenes depicting violence toward animals were deleted from the film. Also, some animals tasted better than others. People with special dietary needs should consult with a physician before digesting the flesh of once-living things.

• Hey, It's That Voice!: The narrator is Paul Frees, better known as (among many other characters) Boris Badanov, The Ghost Host from Disney's Haunted Mansion, and just about every male voice other than Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney in Santa Claus is Comin' to Town.
• No Budget: Hardware Wars was, relative to its budget, one of the most profitable films of all time, making over one million dollars on a budget of eight thousand. As one review put it, they had to borrow the shoestring it was made on.
• Recursive Fan Videos: Half a century later, people are still making their own trailers for Hardware Wars "sequels".
• Retroactive Recognition: An admittedly obscure one -- Fluke Starbucker was played by future multi-platinum, award-winning music producer Scott Matthews.
• Sdrawkcab Graffiti: Written on the wall of the garbage compactor is "S Raw Rats -77" ("77 - Star Wars" for those who can't reverse it in their heads.)
• Shout-Out:
  • 4-Q-2 is the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz with a pair of Cool Shades. At one point he invokes Laurel and Hardy by telling Artie Deco, "Here's another fine mess you've gotten us into."
  • Artie Deco is himself named for the Art Deco style, of course.
  • Augie "Ben" Doggie is a reference to the Hanna-Barbera character Augie Doggie.
  • "Chewchilla the Wookie Monster" is a Cookie Monster puppet dyed brown. At one point he realizes Princess Anne-Droid's buns are actual edible bakery goods and goes after one.
  • "Darph Nader" is a reference to consumer crusader Ralph Nader.
  • Part of the Special Edition's "Dyna-space" sequence copies the opening of The Twilight Zone
  • When trying understand Darph Nader in their first scene, Princess Anne-Droid quotes Travis Bickle: "Are you talking to me?"
  • Ham responds to the Princess telling him "you'll get us all killed" with a classic Steve Martin line from the period: "Well, excuuuuuse me!"
  • Reddy Kilowatt appears and delivers a report about a dangerous overload when Artie Deco plugs into the Death Star's main computer.
  • There are Shout-Outs to this film within the Star Wars movies:
    • Boba Fett's Slave One was allegedly inspired by the steam iron space ships.
    • A confirmed case (acknowledged by director Rian Johnson) is seen in The Last Jedi when a ship appears to be landing amid jets of steam, but turns out to be an actual steam iron with the camera positioned so as to initially obscure its actual size and position.
  • Non-Star Wars works have also made reference to the film:
    • In The Gallatin Divergence, one of L. Neil Smith's North American Confederacy novels, the narrator notes that "Like the legendary planet Basketball, the Confederacy's a peaceful place."
    • At one point in the Mega Crossover fanfic No Tendo, a small robot is referred to as "Artie Deco".

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