David Lean's 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia, a key influence on Star Wars, features one of the most iconic train attack scenes in film history. Two different Star Wars scenes involving Boba Fett pay homage to Lawrence of Arabia's train attack, and the way Boba's role shifts from one scene to the other highlights his changing values.
At the beginning of Lawrence of Arabia, the British T.E. Lawrence is an outsider among the desert-dwelling Arab tribes, but after he proves himself to be a charismatic (if eccentric) leader, they welcome him as one of their own. Although the Arabs are oppressed underdogs, harassed by the more technologically advanced and well-equipped Turks, Lawrence leads his allies in an effective campaign of guerilla warfare against their enemies, including a daring attack on a Turkish train in the desert.
In "Bounty" (The Clone Wars 4.20), Boba Fett and his team of bounty hunters are hired to protect a train against raiders. However, it turns out that the raiders have more noble motives than Boba's employers. The "cargo" he is "protecting" is a young woman who is being forced into a marriage with a gluttonous, greedy lord, while the raiders are led by her brother, who is trying to rescue her. Boba is unmoved by the young woman's plight, though. He does not care that she has been ripped away from her home and her family; he just wants to do his job and get paid. The raiders' costuming, with black, flowing robes and headdresses, evokes T.E. Lawrence's Arab allies, and they ride on animal mounts, indicating that they are a less technologically advanced culture than Boba's employers. Unlike Lawrence, Boba is fighting on the side of the oppressors, against the oppressed underdogs.
In "Tribes of Tatooine" (The Book of Boba Fett 1.2), Boba Fett – like T.E. Lawrence – is an outsider who has been taken in by a tribe of desert-dwelling warriors and become a member of their tribe, fulfilling his desire to find a new home and be part of a family. Boba Fett wins the Tusken Raiders over with his skill as a leader and leads them in a daring attack against a more technologically advanced train operated by the greedy Pyke Syndicate. Boba has effectively reversed his earlier position: he is now fighting on the side of the oppressed underdogs against their oppressors.
In "Bounty," Boba Fett is the one defending the train, while in "Tribes of Tatooine," he is the one attacking it. The shift speaks to a change in his character: in "Bounty," the young Boba prioritizes money over family, but in "Tribes of Tatooine," Boba has grown to prioritize family over money.
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Characters: Boba Fett
Shows: The Clone Wars / The Book of Boba Fett
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Influences: Lawrence of Arabia
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