TOP 10 STAR WARS MOMENTS
Can you pick your favourite ever moment from the Star Wars movies? Just one, and no more than that? If you can, kudos to you. There are so many moments that stand out - we've tried to select the very best of them here...
10. Opening Shot – As the familiar opening crawl to the original 1977 Star Wars movie ends, we see a tiny silver spacecraft racing through space. It is pursued by a giant Imperial Stardestroyer that literally eats up the screen; the Stardestroyer gets bigger and bigger and bigger. At that point we knew that this was no ordinary space movie...
9. Something In The Air – 'Revenge Of The Sith' opens with a bang. We're thrust into a thrilling air battle over the city planet of Coruscant as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker try to rescue Chancellor Palpatine. This air battle not only has great visual panache, it is absolutely thrilling.
8. Double Trouble – One of the few unforgettable moments in 'The Phantom Menace' occurs when the evil Darth Maul fights Qui Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Two lightsaber bearing Jedis against a Sith Lord wielding a double-bladed lightsaber!! And the ensuing battle doesn't disappoint; it's a belter.
7. Sealed With A Kiss – The bickering, the baiting, the sexual tension from Hoth to the cloud city of Bespin, it had all been leading up to this. A last passionate kiss produces "I love you," from a distraught Princess Leia just as Han Solo is about to be frozen in carbonite. "I know," he responds without a single trace of his trademark cockiness. A love scene that manages to be cool and gut-wrenching at the same time.
6. Size Matters Not – In 'Attack Of The Clones', the tap of a stick alerts us to Yoda's presence. But it doesn’t prepare us for what happens next. After staring at the fallen Obi-Wan and Anakin, Yoda draws his lightsaber and faces Count Dooku. Cue a loud gasp from a shocked audience...Yoda's gonna fight? And then realisation dawns...Yoda's gonna fight! and there's just time to pick our jaws up off the ground before the battle rages.
5. Ice Ice Baby – The Empire Strikes Back's exciting ice battle on the planet of Hoth is one of the best in the entire Star Wars saga. First we hear an ominous sound, and then we see what's making it: the fearsome All Terrain Armoured Transports (AT-ATs). The AT-ATs looked unbeatable but Luke Skywalker's team of snowspeeders used their magnetic harpoons and tow cables to bring them down.
4. Vader's Redemption – In 'Return Of The Jedi', Luke senses that his father, Darth Vader, is conflicted by his feelings. Just before he faces the Emperor, they share a conversation that deeply unsettles the Dark Lord. Luke's sadness at the choice Darth Vader makes manifests itself when he says, "Then my father is truly dead" as he is led away. Darth Vader silently stares after him; there are no words. But none are needed.
3. Tatooine Sunsets – In the original 1977 Star Wars movie, Luke craves excitement and adventure - but his uncle needs him on the farm. Staring wistfully at Tatooine's twin suns, he dreams of adventure beyond the stars, something that's as out of reach for him as the suns themselves. The lush music of 'Luke’s Theme' by John Williams swells and in that moment we share his utter desperation, his yearning – but also his hopes. If this scene doesn't move you, you’re inhuman.
2. The Dark Lord Riiiiiiiiises – In 'Revenge Of The Sith', we see how metal, in the form of cyborg implants, coupled with the flesh that remains finally completes Darth Vader's transformation. The Emperor commands him to rise...and our hearts are in our mouths.
1. "I Am Your Father" – Luke Skywalker is battered to physical exhaustion by his lightsaber duel with Darth Vader. But then the Dark Lord strikes the killer emotional blow...
Nobody saw it coming. If anyone tells you that they did, they're lying. The cinema audience I watched 'The Empire Strikes Back' with all those years ago emitted the loudest collective gasp I've ever heard in my life. And I've never heard it again since. Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father??! We stumbled out of that cinema shell-shocked. Not only a masterpiece of a plot twist but also, the emotional centre of the entire Star Wars saga.
And The Ones That Didn't Quite Make It...
Just outside the Top 10 are: Yoda's spectacular lightsaber duel with Darth Sidious in 'Revenge Of The Sith'. Obi-Wan's Jedi mind trick (both Alec Guinness' in 'A New Hope' and Ewan McGregor's in 'Attack Of The Clones'). Darth Vader choking Admiral Ozzel in 'The Empire Strikes Back'. The destruction of the Death Star in 'A New Hope' and The Endor speed chase sequence in 'Return Of The Jedi'. Yoda using The Force to rescue Luke's X-Wing fighter in 'The Empire Strikes Back'.
Not forgetting the walls closing in on Chewbacca, Luke, Han Solo and Princess Leia and Obi-Wan's death in 'A New Hope'. Luke's terrifying failure at the cave in 'The Empire Strikes Back', Obi-Wan's too cool for words lightsaber fight with General Grievous in Revenge Of The Sith, Darth Vader's theme, The Imperial March, which ominously pervades every single inch of 'The Empire Strikes Back' and finally, the return of a Jedi as Luke Skywalker displays his new powers in 'Return Of The Jedi'.
