The ship, a YT-1300 Corellian light freighter, is primarily commanded by smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca, and was previously owned by gambler/con-artist Lando Calrissian.
[4] Johnston did not want to produce a "basic flying saucer", so he created the offset cockpit, forward cargo mandibles, and rear slot for the engines.
[5] To this, sound designer Ben Burtt added the hum of the cooling fans on the motion-control rig at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).
The interior set included the starboard ring corridor, the boarding ramp, cockpit access tunnel, gun turret ladder, secret compartments, and the forward hold.
The ship was represented by a matte painting when Princess Leia sees it for the first time, showing the full upper surface.
In spring 1979, Marcon Fabrications, a heavy engineering firm that served the UK's petrochemical and oil industries,[10] was hired to build a movable full-scale external model capable of "moving as if it were about to take off.
"[10] Built in secrecy under the project code name Magic Roundabout,[10][11] the company leased the 1930s Western Sunderland Flying Boat hangar in Pembroke Dock, West Wales.
This model was able to be mounted on a gimbal that allowed ILM to simulate very difficult maneuvers as the ship attempted to outrun Imperial TIE fighters during the asteroid-field-escape scene from the film.
The internal set was slightly refitted from A New Hope and featured a sliding cockpit door, a larger cargo hold, an additional corridor to port, and an equipment room.
This version of the ship is a digital recreation[21] of the original 1977 five-foot model, with additional detailing reflecting the passage of time.
You’re braver than I thought.Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in the card game 'sabacc' several years before the events of the original Star Wars film.
[24] In that movie, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker charter the ship in the Mos Eisley cantina to deliver them, C-3PO and, R2-D2, and the stolen Death Star plans to Alderaan.
When the Falcon is captured by the Death Star, the group conceal themselves in smuggling compartments built into the floor to avoid detection during a search of the ship.
Solo later collects his fee for delivering them to the hidden Rebel base on Yavin IV and departs under bitter circumstances, but returns to assist Luke in destroying the Death Star.
Solo pilots the Falcon, with Chewbacca, Leia, and C-3PO aboard, to elude the Imperial fleet in The Empire Strikes Back, which is a notable struggle due to a damaged hyperdrive.
Calrissian again captains the Falcon during the climax of Return of the Jedi, with Nien Nunb as co-pilot, to destroy the second Death Star.
In The Last Jedi, Rey uses the Falcon's escape pod to board Supreme Leader Snoke's flagship, the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy.
[26] In The Rise of Skywalker the Falcon is piloted by Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca and Wedge Antilles in the final battle of Exegol, leading the entire fleet of free worlds against the Sith Eternal forces.
[28] On the film's DVD audio commentary, Lucas further explained that in the Star Wars universe, traveling through hyperspace requires careful navigation to avoid stars, planets, asteroids, and other obstacles,[29] and that is because no long-distance journey can be made in a straight line, the "fastest" ship is the one that can plot the "most direct course", thereby traveling the least distance.
[29] In The Force Awakens, Rey references the Kessel Run but describes it as being completed in fourteen parsecs, after which Solo corrects her.
After integrating the memory module of Lando's damaged L3 droid into the ship's navigation, Solo is able to take a "shortcut"[28] (which is dangerously close to a black hole).
[38] Kenner,[39] Hasbro,[40][41] Steel Tec,[42] Master Replicas,[43] Code 3 Collectibles and Micro Machines have all released Millennium Falcon toys and puzzles, including a Transformers version of the ship.
Hot Wheels has made a model of the ship for their Star Wars starship line[44] and a version of it as a car.
[47][48] In September 2017, Lego released an updated Millennium Falcon set in the Star Wars "Ultimate Collectors Series".