'Star Wars' exhibit lands at OMSI.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

PORTLAND - May the force of Interstate 5 traffic not be with you - because this exhibit is here only through New Year's Day.

All six of George Lucas's "Star Wars" films - from 1977's original to 2005's "Revenge of the Sith" - were hugely popular, and now you can see the costumes and props from the movies at a $5 million exhibit that opened Oct. 11 at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

"This is a really unique opportunity to get to see this stuff up close," says Lee Dawson, an OMSI spokesman, as he walks through the exhibit.

Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder. The Millennium Falcon model. C-3PO and R2-D2. Sebulba's podracer. Obi-Wan's lightsaber. Anakin and Luke Skywalker's prosthetic hand props. Yoda, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Mace Windu - they're all here. Or at least their costumes are.

Even a couple of wookies.

The Jawas' Sandcrawler - the combination tank and scrap-yard vehicle that rides across the Tatooine desert - from 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back" is here, too. Only it's, uh, not quite as big as it seems in the film. In fact, it's the size of a small trunk.

"There it is," Dawson says. "Yeah, it kind of messes with your head a little bit."

Developed over three years by the Boston Museum of Science in conjunction with Lucasfilm - George Lucas's film and entertainment company - the exhibit opened last fall in Boston. This is its West Coast debut before it moves on to Los Angeles, Dawson says. At 10,000 square feet and spread across two large rooms on separate floors of the museum, it's one of the largest exhibits in OMSI history, he adds.

As cool as it is to look at, the exhibit is also here to teach. Two major themes form its foundation: "Getting Around" focuses on hovering vehicles such as Luke's Landspeeder from the Star Wars' film "Episode IV: A New Hope." The exhibit compares Landspeeder to technology being researched today that might make traveling on air, a few feet above the ground, a reality for the everyday Earth traveler in the future.

"Robots and People" introduces visitors to C-3PO and R2-D2 and explores how people relate to the robots not only in the films, but in the real world, too.

The exhibit includes video interviews with filmmakers, scientists and engineers, and interactive, hands-on exhibits. You can also experiment with magnetic levitation and program a robot to navigate through a droid factory to Padme's ship.

In addition to being able to look at the models that seem so real and larger than life on the big screen - such as Hans Solo's Millennium Falcon, which is just 4 feet across - you can also take a ride in a full-scale replica of the ship's cockpit for an extra $5. The "Jump to Light Speed Experience," kept in a separate part of the museum for space reasons, is not an actual motion simulator. It's a multimedia presentation that gives the illusion of moving around in space.

If you've ever seen the first "Star Wars" film made 30 years ago (and what galaxy do you live in if you haven't?), then Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder is definitely one of the more eye-catching exhibits. On display for the first time, the vehicle was built from an old British three-wheel car, Dawson says. And although it indeed appears to hover in the film, it actually has wheels underneath it.

There is also a small model of the Landspeeder created for far-away scenes. In it sits a Luke Skywalker doll and an Obi-Wan Kenobi doll, although the latter is actually a "Six Million Dollar Man" doll - covered with Obi Wan's brown robe - that looks like the actor who played him, Lee Majors. "Some little known Star Wars trivia," Dawson says.

You're not allowed to touch the Landspeeder, as the sign in front of it clearly says - with an exclamation point! And if you do?

"Remember those prosthetics we saw upstairs?" Dawson says.

STAR WARS: WHERE SCIENCE MEETS IMAGINATION What: New exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry featuring the props and costumes from all six "Star Wars" films, plus interactive exhibits designed to teach children about the future of science and technology When: Through Jan. 1 Where: OMSI, 1945 S.E. Water Ave. in Portland Admission: $3 for members; $15 for ages 14 to 62, and $13 for ages 3 to 13 and 63 and older (includes museum admission); Millennium Falcon ride is $5 Contact: (503) 797-OMSI or www.omsi.edu

STAR WARS TRIVIA Some little known facts from the films are available upon entering the OMSI exhibit: Quick Zulu: The strange language spoken by the Jawas was created by recording people speaking African Zulu and then electronically speeding it up. So wise you look: A photograph of Albert Einstein was on the wall behind Yoda sculptures during the film's development and the wrinkles around Einstein's eyes got worked into the Yoda design. Is that the ... Cookie Monster? Actor Frank Oz was the voice of Yoda, as well as the hand inside him when Yoda was a puppet in the earlier films. Oz also was the voice of Miss Piggy of Muppet fame, as well as Grover and the Cookie Monster from "Sesame Street." Heavy breathing: Darth Vader's breathing is a recording of sound designer Ben Burtt breathing from a scuba respirator. A "wand"-erful sound: The lightsaber sound is a combination of the hum of an idling 33mm movie projector and the feedback generated by passing a stripped microphone cable by a television. Big dog: "My dog Indiana used to ride on the front seat of my car. He was a big dog, and when he sat there he was bigger than a person, so I had this image of a huge furry animal riding with me. That's where the inspiration for Chewbacca came from." - George Lucas