Mos Eisley
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Mos Eisley is a spaceport [1] town on the planet Tatooine in the fictional Star Wars universe. In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi described Mos Eisley as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy." It is also the home of the Mos Eisley Cantina and Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes.
From a distance, the spaceport looks like a haphazard collage of low-grade concrete, stone and plastoid structures that spread outward from a central power-and-water distribution plant like the spokes of a wheel. Also, at a distance, the smooth circular depressions of launch stations look like craters pockmarked the landscape.
The town is really larger than it looks, as a good portion of it lies underground. In fact, the town has a population of around 40 to 60 thousand people, varying seasonally. It had been built from the beginning with commerce in mind. Even the oldest of the town's buildings had been designed to provide protection from the twin suns. The buildings looked primitive from the outside and most of them actually were. The Mos Eisley Cantina used to be one of the spaceport's original blockhouses.
Incidentally, the first view of Mos Eisley in "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" is actually a shot of Death Valley in California, USA from near the "Dante's Peak" lookout, with a matte painting added in the distance. Also of note, one of the Stormtroopers here carried an MG-34 machine gun, used by Germany in World War II.
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[edit] History
Mos Eisley was actually one of the early settlements on Tatooine. [1] The starship Dowager's Queen crashed into the desert, and from the remains a settlement spread out. As the town developed, the city center moved away from the burnt-out remains of the ship. Mos Eisley increased in importance, as many residents of Anchorhead considered their city too expensive, and an inflow of Rodian refugees helped to build the city's many docking bays. The nearby city of Mos Espa decreased in prominence with the shrinking interest in Podracing, and Mos Eisley became the defacto captital of Tatooine when Jabba the Hutt moved part of his crime empire to the city. As the Galactic Empire took over the planet, it installed a prefect in Mos Eisley, along with a contingent of stormtroopers.
[edit] Docking Bay 94
Docking Bay 94 is a dock for parking ships in Mos Eisley for either maintenance or simply to take a break after a long day's work. It is also referred to as Dock 94.
Until it housed the Millennium Falcon in its hangar, Docking Bay 94 was the same as the other hundreds of docks in Mos Eisley. It is simply a circular area surrounded by white walls and had an opening on the top for ships to enter and exit. There is a sole door to the dock, which was flanked by sandtroopers from the 501st Legion in its most famous moment.
In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Garindan, a spy who was working for the Empire, tracked Han Solo and Luke Skywalker to the hangar where Solo's ship was parked. The squad of Sandtroopers from the 501st were called in and entered the bay. Solo, who was making some last minute exterior adjustments on his ship, was suddenly interrupted by the shout of one of the troopers, "Stop that ship! Blast 'em!" As the sandtroopers filed in and opened fire, Solo, who evaded their shots, managed to lay down suppression fire in return until he boarded the Millennium Falcon and took off.
[edit] Mos Eisley Cantina
The Mos Eisley Cantina, officially named Chalmun's Cantina, or the "double-c" or "ceecee" (by city militia), is a bar located in Mos Eisley. It is the haunt of freighter pilots and a host of other dangerous characters and contains booths, a bar counter, and some free-standing tables. At times, a band of musicians named Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes performs there.
The Cantina was featured in the popular MMO Game, Star Wars Galaxies, which revealed the cantina as having 3 back rooms and one entrance room with seating area.
It is also the start location for Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, where players can access both standard and unlockable levels and items. Mos Eisley as a whole is featured in the game as the setting of Chapter 3 of Episode IV: A New Hope, "Mos Eisley Spaceport".
[edit] References in popular culture
Mos Eisley Grijpze is a chiptune song by Dalezy named after the Star Wars spaceport town.
Mos Eisleys Tattoos and Piercings is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The name was taken from that of Mos Eisleys Cantina in Star Wars.
In the online game Star Wars: Galaxies, the player can travel to Mos Eisley and access the spaceport, the shuttleports and talk to the mayor. In the game, Mos Eisley is run by Imperials.
Indie rock group Eisley also take their name from Mos Eisley.
Mos Eisley is also the name of an emcee from British Columbia. He is a part of Dirty Circus and Sweatshop Union, among other hip hop groups.
The Track "A Night In Mos Eisley" appears on Chris Thile's album "Stealing Second"
[edit] See also
[edit] References
1. [2]
