What Makes Star Wars and Star Trek So Great, Part IV
What Makes Star Wars and Star Trek So Great, Part IV
Star Wars Features Great Sequel Ships
As I discussed in previous parts of this little discourse, Star Wars and Star Trek before it, offer superbly designed spaceships and interesting and advanced tools used alike by the heroes and villains. However, they have since fallen from the lofty heights of their best days. In Part 3, I explored the ships in Star Trek sequels.
In regard to Star Wars, I note two interesting two aspects about the ships featured in sequels. One is that, as the original trilogy progresses, we are presented with new variations on ships we came to know so well from A New Hope. And, two, we are introduced to interesting new designs in each of the next two movies.
The Empire Strikes Back
The sequels of Star Wars began with the The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. Here we see the ships from the first movie, the Star Destroyers, the X-Wings, the TIE Fighters, and the Millennium Falcon. But then we are introduced to a fearsome new variation on the Star Destroyer, in particular, the Super Star Destroyer. Just when we thought that Star Destroyers were gigantic, we find that they are mere toys compared to Darth Vader’s ship, the Executor. She is introduced in a dramatic fashion as tiny Star Destroyers, in comparison, float around her like pilot fish. It seems that destroying the Death Star was not a knock-out punch by the rebellion. We are awed by her size and power.
We are then a given new variation of the TIE Fighter—the TIE Bomber. It looks like Darth Vader’s “advanced prototype” TIE Fighter from the first movie with its semi-folded wings, only it’s bluer and bigger and features a side-by-side cockpit and bomb bay layout. It’s super cool!
On the Rebels’ side, the new fighter introduced is a planetary-based one—the Snowspeeder. These are given the unenviable job of fighting the Imperial AT-ATs. In my opinion, this is the greatest battle scene in all of Star Wars.
These little ships have a simple design, basically flying wedges. And they have so many fun and interesting qualities to them. Among other things, they are another ode to WWII, reminding us of attack aircraft of that era that had pilots and rear gunners. And the rear seat guy has a function. He operates the countermeasure weapon to pull down the Imperial walkers—the harpoon and cable.
Another feature that I always found particularly fun were the Snowspeeder’s wind flaps that pop up and down to assist with maneuvering in the air. And yet, when I think about it, the most interesting feature is the sound of the Snowspeeder’s engines as they pass by. So well done.
We are also introduced to Slave 1, an unusual ship belonging to the bounty hunter, Boba Fetta. This side character was always a fan favorite and part of that, I believe, stems from the design and sounds of his ship. This thing is crazy unusual. When landed, the ship reminds one of a manta ray with a round body with wing flaps and a long tail. But when it flies it looks more like the head of an elephant; the flaps become its ears and the tail now looks more like a trunk hanging down. The guns at the bottom look like its tusks. And, like the Snowspeeders, the sounds of Slave 1’s engines are masterfully done. They help to evoke an unsettling strangeness, exhibiting an evil that is stalking the heroes on their journey.
Return of the Jedi
Variations on previous designs continues in Return of the Jedi, and we, for the first time since A New Hope, are introduced to new Rebel space fighters, adding to the ranks of the X-Wings and Y-Wings. But first, let’s talk about the Imperial vessels.
Of course, right away we see a variation of a sort at the beginning of the movie, as we witness the new and even larger Death Star under construction. It is somehow more sublimely awesome to see this unfinished behemoth in the distance and as a moon in the sky.
Another variation on a known ship is the TIE Interceptor. This design continues the trend of folded wings, as the TIE Bomber had in Empire, yet the TIE Interceptor’s wings now exhibit forward projections with the addition of embedded laser cannons. This evolution of the TIE Fighter sports a sleeker look and a “practical” improvement of greater firepower. It is a much cooler design than the original, but as it is not the first, it cannot be as memorable. Regardless, it is a worthy successor to the original TIE Fighter.
As for the introduction of new ships, we are given the Imperial Shuttle. A triangular, graceful bird of a ship with a large overhead vertical stabilizer and two wings that fold up at landings. This continues the trend of having movable features on a ship, like the X-Wing, for example. The wings are not self-explanatory as to function. It’s not clear why they are needed (but then again, we aren’t ever quite sure what the TIE-Fighters wings were needed for either). One of the shuttle’s main purposes in the movie is to provide a grand entrance for the chief villains, first Darth Vadar and then the Emperor himself. The ship always looks so elegant as it flies through space, escorted by two TIE Fighters.
I should also note that the rebels (with Han and company within) use a captured Imperial Shuttle to sneak troops onto the moon of Endor. As well, Luke uses his father’s shuttle to escape the destruction of the second Death Star. Thus, it plays a significant role in the plot of movie.
Return of the Jedi presents us with new rebel space fighters for the first time since A New Hope. The A-Wing is a little hotrod of a ship, like a “Snowspeeder” in space, and looking quite outmatched by its opponents. The A-Wing’s biggest role in the movie occurs when a rebel pilot unintentionally takes out the bridge of a Star Destroyer while being shot down by TIE Fighters. This was almost certainly intentional on the part of the showrunners to have a totally outmatched little ship being the cause of destruction of an entire gigantic vessel. It harks one back to the desperate attacks of the Japanese Kamikazes against the American Fleet in the Battle of Okinawa. These, of course, were intentional suicide missions, but the effect is the same—a single, outmatched opponent takes on an enormous ship and causes great death and destruction.
The second new fighter introduced is the B-Wing, another crazy design with transforming parts. The cockpit module resembles that of the Millennium Falcon. The ship’s body, which can rotate around this module, projects out with embedded engines and foldable spoils in the middle and a laser cannon at the bottom. Its design, which could seemingly only be successful in space is so alien in nature, it’s always been hard for me to really understand how it could be a good fighting vessel. Maybe that’s the point. It takes one out of our preconceived notions of how a space vessel would operate and fight. We really have no idea at all how that would work, and the B-Wing goes toward demonstrating that fact.
The ships featured in the sequels of the original trilogy of Star Wars represent the best ship designs in the franchise’s history. In my next installment, I will go through the designs of the ships in the “prequal” trilogy of Star Wars and those of Star Trek. These are not all bad designs, but they mostly fall short of the achievements of the originals.
See you soon!