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Lucas Film

Film company fined €1.75 million over Star Wars accident which broke Harrison Ford's leg

The actor was struck by a hydraulic door on the set of the Millennium Falcon.

A FILM PRODUCTION company was fined €1.75 million ($1.95 million) over an accident on the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens that broke the leg of star Harrison Ford.

The actor was struck by a hydraulic door on the set of the Millennium Falcon — his character Han Solo’s spaceship — at Pinewood Studios near London in June 2014.

Production on the film was suspended for two weeks after the accident.

Prosecutors said Ford, who was 71 at the time, could have been killed by the door, which struck him with a force comparable to the weight of a small car.

Foodles Production (UK) Ltd had acknowledged breaching health and safety law.

A judge at Aylesbury Crown Court north of London said that Foodles — which is owned by the Walt Disney Co. — should have informed Ford of the risks.

“If only they had included Mr Ford in all the discussions, he might have at least been alert to the dangers that he had to avoid,” Judge Francis Sheridan said.

The Force Awakens is the seventh installment in the space saga and has taken in more than $2 billion at the box office worldwide since its release last year.

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15 Comments
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    Mute eastsmer
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    Jul 7th 2018, 6:14 PM

    Fabulous, Delighted that some of our fading culture, traditions, music & language are being saved

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    Mute WoodlandBard
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    Jul 7th 2018, 6:40 PM

    There is an archive of 17,400 Alan Lomax recordings online. Here is the first page of the Irish ones
    http://research.culturalequity.org/get-audio-ix.do?ix=recording&id=IE&idType=countryCode&sortBy=abc

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    Mute WoodlandBard
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    Jul 7th 2018, 6:35 PM

    Alan Lomax, and amazing man. This looks like being an amazing film.

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Jul 7th 2018, 8:05 PM

    @WoodlandBard: yep can’t wait to see it

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    Mute Garreth Byrne
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    Jul 7th 2018, 8:25 PM

    Obair mhaith. TG4 has made some innovative documentaries on a range of topics in recent years. Incidentally, did Lomax ever meet up with Ciaran MacMathuna, who did so much steady work over five decades talking to traditional Irish musicians and recording their skilled renditions?

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    Mute andrew
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    Jul 7th 2018, 8:20 PM

    No mention of Seamus Ennis. Could the Journal ever get some decent journalists?

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Jul 7th 2018, 10:27 PM

    @andrew: what’s the Seamus Ennis connection with Lomax?

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    Mute Sean
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    Jul 7th 2018, 11:03 PM

    @Dermot Lane: He was Lomax’ guide in Ireland.

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    Mute Sean
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    Jul 7th 2018, 11:04 PM

    @Dermot Lane: His guide in Ireland, recommended to him by the BBC, was the Dublin piper and singer Seamus Ennis, then an employee of Radio Eireann and formerly a collector for the Irish Folklore Commission. Both institutions also supported Lomax during his time here by giving him sound-recording facilities and access to their archives.

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Jul 8th 2018, 8:28 AM

    @Sean: thanks Sean it was a genuine question

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