I’m not even sure of how I came across this, but last night I was reading something on the Wired web site from 1997. The article was about the improved sounds in the “Special Edition” versions of the original Star Wars movies. Ben Burtt, the sound designer from the original trilogy also worked on the sound of the Special Edition. He said this:
“George wanted sounds that would be familiar from other areas of experience, but not recognizable,” Burtt told Wired News. The sound of Darth Vader using the Force that rumbles out of THX-certified subwoofers, for instance, is older than Vader himself, Burtt says.
“I made a sound for a student screening back at USC [the University of Southern California]. This was in the days of Sensurround,” remembers Burtt. “I recorded Niagara Falls, enhanced the sound, and played it through the bass speakers. We called it ‘Infernaround.'”
According to the Star Wars web site, it seems that the sound of Niagara Falls was also used for the “low rumble of the very first Star Destroyer we see on screen.”