Watch WIRED Smash an Epic LEGO Star Destroyer & Trek Alum Explain 'Star Wars' To celebrate "Star Wars" day today (May 4), the folks at Wired put together (and then shattered) a truly epic LEGO Super Star Destroyer and filmed the bricktacular carnage in this awesome slow-motion video. "What better way to celebrate the upcooming Star Wars Day than by watching a Super Star Destroyer shatter in slow-motion?" Wired wrote in a caption for the video posted on its Battle Damage series. The title: Episide XV: A New Smash. "In celebration of May the 4th, we spent 16 hours building an $800 LEGO Super Star Destroyer set ... so we could do THIS to it," read the appropriately "Star Wars"-esque scroll in the Battle Damage video. (Go ahead and watch it again. What follows is a one-minute video of the Star Destroyer crumbling into pieces, as minifigures fly out of its miniature bridge (sorry Darth Vader). As a father to a die-hard 6-year-old LEGO fan, watching the Battle Damage video is both awesome and heartbreaking, especially after knowing how long it takes to put such a huge set together in the first place!
(It took my daughter and I nearly 12 hours over three days to build Benny's spaceship from The LEGO Movie after all. But hats off to Battle Damage for making the sacrfice for May the 4th! Meanwhile, "Star Trek: Voyager" alum Tim Russ (who portayed the Vulcan Tuvok for those unaware) gives a completely hilarious, yet totally logical, explanation of "Star Wars" in a video by Pocketwatch, courtesy of Laughing Squid, which you can - and SHOULD - watch here. I would watch Russ' version of "The Star Wars." In fact, I'd watch it twice. Now if you're not as well-versed in "Star Wars" lore as Tim Russ, you can get caught up online with the "Star Wars" Digital Movie Collection, which became available for streaming for the first time on April 1. You might even want to search the hyperspace sales for everything "Star Wars". But if you're a die-hard "Star Trek" fan, you'll have to wait until September to celebrate its origins. May the Fourth (and the Force) be with you all! or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+.
Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+For other uses, see Ravager. "I know that you have wrested control of not only the , but of the , too. And likely the fleet that goes with it. Little Rae Sloane, manning an entire Super Star Destroyer all by herself. Our last, isn't it?" ―Valco Pandion, to Rae Sloane[src] The Ravager was an Executor-class Star Dreadnought of the Imperial Navy. It was also one of the largest and most powerful military warships ever constructed by the Galactic Empire. By the time of the Rebellion on Akiva, the Ravager was the last remaining Super Star Destroyer in the Imperial Navy, commanded by Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax, who in the months following the Battle of Endor was presumed dead by the majority of the Imperial remnant. One of the largest and most powerful vessels ever created for the Galactic Empire, the Ravager was 19,000 meters long, and boasted more than 5,000 turbolasers and ion cannons. Like other Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts, the center of its arrowhead-shaped hull was covered by a city-like superstructure, while the underside hosted most of the engineering systems.
The aft end of the Ravager was marked by a trapezoid command tower crowned by two geodesic communication and deflection domes. At the bottom end of the hull were 13 engine thrusters responsible for its movement. Constructed by Kuat Drive Yards,[1] the Ravager served as the flagship of Gallius Rax.[2] In the months following the pivotal battle of Endor that saw the Alliance to Restore the Republic destroy the Galactic Empire's second Death Star and the Executor, flagship of Darth Vader's Death Squadron,[7] it eventually became the last Super Star Destroyer in Imperial possession. Due to this, the Ravager became the most prized ship in the Imperial Navy, sought by self-appointed Grand Moff Valco Pandion. Aware of its power, Pandion attended the Imperial meeting on Akiva to seize control of the Ravager, rumored to be in possession of Admiral Rae Sloane, commander of the Vigilance. Secretly an envoy of Rax, Sloane returned to the bridge of the Ravager, then located near the Vulpinus Nebula, to report the failed negotiations to him after the Rebellion on Akiva.
In 5 ABY, the Ravager continued to serve as the headquarters of the now-Grand Admiral Sloane, who commanded Imperial forces in the Vulpinus Nebula. In reality, Sloane served as a front for Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax, who posed as her adviser. Under Rax's orders, Sloane convened the Shadow Council to rebuild the Empire. The Ravager also had a private upper garden for Rax, who used it for recreational purposes. Rax used the Ravager to initiate the attack on Chandrila. Following Sloane's disappearance on Chandrila, Rax used the ship to command the remnants of the Imperial fleet scattered across the galaxy. Months later, during the Battle of Jakku, the Ravager was lost to heavy fire, with significant damage to the ventral portion. The craft descended into Jakku's atmosphere and slowly inverted before crashing into what became known as the Graveyard of Giants.[8] Approximately twenty-nine years after its crash, Rey piloted the Millennium Falcon through the wreckage of the Ravager while evading a First Order TIE fighter while escaping, with Finn and BB-8, from Jakku.
Ravager first appeared in the 2015 canon novel Aftermath. In the video game Star Wars Battlefront, the vessel was seen crashing during the beginning of matches on the Graveyard of Giants map. The Ravager's wreckage then appeared in the film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ultimate Star Wars ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Aftermath ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 ↑ 4.0 4.1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary ↑ 5.0 5.1 Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Aftermath: Life Debt ↑ Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi ↑ Star Wars Battlefront - "The Battle of Jakku" A pair of Star Destroyers and a group of TIE fighters pursue the Millennium Falcon. Star Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. The Imperial Star Destroyer, which first appears in the first seconds of Star Wars (1977), is "the signature vessel of the Imperial fleet".[1] The term "Star Destroyer" also refers to other vessels in the franchise.
Numerous Star Destroyer models and toys have been released, and the iconic scene featuring the vessel's first appearance has been called "a milestone in special effects history". In draft scripts for the film that would become Star Wars, the term "Stardestroyer" refers to two-man fighters flown by what would become the Galactic Empire.[1] The film's second draft features four Star Destroyers chasing a single Rebel ship,[2] but the tremendous costs incurred by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) when production began helped lead Lucas to use a single "terrifyingly large" Star Destroyer instead of four.[3] ILM built a 91-centimeter (36 in) shooting model that was about half the size of the model for the Tantive IV the Star Destroyer was chasing.[1] Lucas asked ILM to build a larger Star Destroyer model to match the Tantive IV's scale, but ILM convinced him that the Dykstraflex camera invented for the film made this unnecessary.[4] Nevertheless, they added additional hull details to the Star Destroyer model.
[4] The 13-second opening shot was the first special effects piece ILM completed,[4] and its success was an essential test for the Dykstraflex. ILM built a 259-centimeter (102 in) Star Destroyer, equipped with internal lighting to provide a better sense of scale, for The Empire Strikes Back (1980).[1] During production, Lucas decided that every Star Wars film would open in space with a shot of a Star Destroyer.[5] The Empire Strikes Back also introduces the "Super Star Destroyer", also referred to as a "Star Dreadnought".[6] The shooting model for the Super Star Destroyer Executor in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi was 282 centimeters (111 in) long. The design of the Venator-class Star Destroyers appearing in Revenge of the Sith (2005) are meant to bridge the appearance of the Acclamator-class transports in Attack of the Clones (2002) and the Imperial class in the original trilogy. The iconic Star Destroyer first appears in the opening scene of Star Wars, as Darth Vader's flagship The Devastator chases the Tantive IV above Tatooine.
This appearance shows the Imperial ship's massive size in comparison to the Tantive IV. Imperial-class Star Destroyers appear not only throughout the original trilogy, but also in Star Wars Rebels and Rogue One (2016). Rey scavenges material from a crashed Imperial-class Star Destroyer in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). The original trilogy also feature a massive Super Star Destroyer that serves as Darth Vader's flagship in The Empire Strikes Back, and it is the Imperial command ship at the climax of Return of the Jedi.[7] Rey pilots the Millennium Falcon through the wreckage of the crashed Super Star Destroyer Ravager during a chase scene in The Force Awakens. Other Star Destroyer varieties appear in the Star Wars prequel and sequel films. Star Wars creator George Lucas calls the cigar-shaped Separatist cruisers visible at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith "Star Destroyers" in the movie's DVD commentary track.[9] Venator-class Star Destroyers are introduced in Revenge of the Sith and later appear throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
[8] The Venator-class ships initially appear with a red and grey Republic color scheme. However towards the end of Revenge of the Sith the Venators are gray and white, signifying the Empire's rise to power. The Force Awakens introduces the Resurgent-class of Star Destroyers belonging to the First Order, one of which, The Finalizer, is commanded by Kylo Ren. Star Wars Expanded Universe materials offer details about the Star Destroyers shown in Star Wars film and television, and they also introduce other varieties. The Empire had a dozen Super Star Destroyers in service during the time of the Battle of Endor,[10] including Vader's Executor command ship.[11] The final surviving Super Star Destroyer, the Ravager, is the vessel whose wreckage appears in The Force Awakens. The Ravager's crash onto Jakku is depicted in the game Star Wars Battlefront (2015). In April 2014, most of the licensed Star Wars novels, games, and comics produced since 1977 were rebranded by Lucasfilm as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise.
According to Star Wars roleplaying books and other texts, Imperial-class Star Destroyers are constructed by Kuat Drive Yards and hold a distinguished place in the Imperial Navy, symbolizing the Empire's military might with a peak number of more than 25,000 vessels.[14] Like the Victory- and Venator-class ships that precede it, this Star Destroyer is notable for its massive size and overwhelming firepower; a single Imperial-class ship is capable of overwhelming most starships or devastating a hostile planet, and its mere presence is often enough to deter rebellion.[14] At 1,600 meters (5,200 ft) long, Imperial-class Star Destroyers are armed with turbolasers, ion cannons and tractor beam projectors.[14] They carry 72 TIE fighters, numerous ground forces (including stormtroopers, 20 AT-ATs and 30 AT-STs), a prefabricated base for rapid deployment to planetary surfaces, and a variety of support craft.[14] After the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance captured several Imperial-class ships and added them to their own fleet.
[15] Although the New Republic eventually upgrades its starfleet with newer ship types, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer remains in service well into the New Jedi Order era and fights during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Kevin J. Anderson's novel Darksaber describes a Super Star Destroyer as being "worth twenty Imperial Star Destroyers".[17] Described in A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (1984) as being 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) long, Executor-class Super Star Destroyers were later described as being 19 kilometers (12 mi) long.[18] In addition to Vader's command ship, Star Wars novels introduce the prison ship Lusankya and stealth-armored Night Hammer as ships in the class. The labels "Star Destroyer" and "Super Star Destroyer" are applied to several other massive Star Wars warships, such as the Pellaeon-class in the Legacy comic series (2006–2010), the reborn Emperor Palpatine's flagships Eclipse and Eclipse II in the Dark Empire series (1991–1995), and the Victory class first described in the early Star Wars novella Han Solo's Revenge (1979).
Lego has released numerous Star Destroyer kits, including a 1-metre (3 ft 3 in) 3,104-piece Imperial-class Star Destroyer[22] and a 50-inch (130 cm) 3,152-piece model of the Executor. The Super Star Destroyer has also been merchandised. Kenner wanted to use a less ominous name than Executor for the toy playset of Darth Vader's meditation chamber.[7] An advertisement agency's list of 153 alternatives included Starbase Malevolent, Black Coven, Haphaestus VII, and Cosmocurse;[7] ultimately, the toy was labeled "Darth Vader's Star Destroyer".[7] In 2006, Wizards of the Coast created an Executor miniature as part of its Star Wars Miniatures Starship Battles game.[24] An electronic Super Star Destroyer toy released by Hasbro "is the rarest among Hasbro's Collector Fleet". ^ a b c d ^ Taylor, p. 115 ^ Taylor, pp. 121-22 ^ a b c d Taylor, p. 171-73 ^ Taylor, pp. 247-48 ^ a b c d e ^ a b c ^ Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith DVD commentary