Friday, October 03, 2008
This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
You said it, Obi-Wan. Of course, we had to debut Weapons Locker with the lightsaber, which is perhaps the most awesome onscreen weapon ever created. This is the device which has inspired generation after generation of kids (and adults) to conduct make-believe duels in their backyards -- while also searing our love of the Star Wars franchise -- and popcorn movies in general -- into the collective psyche like the burning hot blade of the saber itself.
Speaking of which, the blade of a lightsaber, we're told, is made up of focused energy or plasma, powered by rare crystals (those same crystals dictate the color of the blade -- red, blue, green, etc.). Perhaps just as important as the energy blade of this piece, though, is the hilt -- the metallic grip that is unique to each Jedi. Also adding to the iconic appeal of the saber is the sound effects (designed by Ben Burtt)… the electronic hum, the thunder-like clap when two sabers clash, and so on.
There have been many great lightsabers not just in the films but also in the Expanded Universe of Star Wars, and perhaps we'll focus on other sabers in future installments of Weapons Locker. But today we're highlighting three of our favorites: Luke Skywalker's from Return of the Jedi, Darth Maul's double-blade, and Count Dooku's curved hilt.
After losing his original blade in The Empire Strikes Back, Luke was seemingly saber-less… until he found himself above a Sarlacc pit in Jedi, at which point he prompted R2-D2 to launch his newly made (from Obi-Wan's leftovers) laser sword. And it was green! This new color alone was a revelation back in 1983. And Luke's complete and utter Jedi-style decimation of Jabba the Hutt's army was no small matter either.
After many years of no new Star Wars movies, the arrival of the evil and alien Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace was exciting. And equally cool was his lightsaber, a double-bladed number that could be used to take on two Jedi at once just as easily as it could impale Qui-Gon Jinn right through the gut. That's gotta hurt!
Count Dooku's saber, first seen in Attack of the Clones, was more noteworthy for its ornate handle than anything else, a curved and polished hilt that somehow seemed to befit a "count" -- though only the Maker knows what Dooku was the count of. We're told in Star Wars tech manuals that the curved hilt was often used for Form II saber combat, but we mostly just think it looked wicked awesome.Be sure to check back tomorrow for another installment in our Star Wars Weapons Locker series!
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