Death Star

• 1. Origins And Design Evolution

  ›

  George Lucas did not include the Death Star in his initial outline for the first film. He borrowed the concept from the third act of that early draft when he began writing the feature script. Concept artist Colin Cantwell received the task to design a spherical space station. Cantwell had previously collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey. The model was originally constructed as two separate pieces that failed to fit together properly. Engineers decided to add a trench around the equator of the station to solve the assembly problem. John Stears created the final model incorporating this trench design. The buzzing sound used during the countdown sequence comes directly from the Flash Gordon serials.

  123

• 2. In-Universe Construction History

  ›

  Archduke Poggle the Lesser led Geonosian engineers who designed the weapon while it appeared in Attack of the Clones. General Grievous traveled to Utapau to acquire kyber crystals needed to power the superlaser. Director Orson Krennic oversaw the project on the rainswept world of Eadu. Weapons designer Galen Erso was forcibly recruited to complete the design under Krennic's supervision. Prisoners at Narkina 5 worked on Imperial equipment that became parts for the superlaser. The Empire destroyed Jedha City to demonstrate operational status before the Rebel Alliance stole the plans. Galen secretly sabotaged the reactor to create a vulnerability within the massive structure. The station measured hundreds of kilometers wide and housed millions of personnel including military staff and civilians.

  252648

• 3. The Battle Of Yavin And Destruction

  ›

  Princess Leia transported schematics of the station to the Rebel Alliance aboard her ship. Governor Tarkin ordered the destruction of Alderaan to force Leia into revealing the location of secret headquarters. Luke Skywalker launched torpedoes into an exhaust vent leading straight to the reactor core. This action triggered a catastrophic explosion that destroyed the station before it could fire on Yavin 4. Obi-Wan Kenobi sacrificed himself during a duel with Darth Vader to allow others to escape. The trench run sequence required precise timing as X-wing fighters flew through the narrow channel. The blast eliminated the threat posed by the planet-destroying weapon entirely.

  202130

• 4. The Second Station And Endor Campaign

  ›

  The DS-2 Orbital Battle Station orbited the forest moon Endor while under construction in Return of the Jedi. Emperor Palpatine sent false information claiming weapons systems were incomplete to lure the Rebel fleet into a trap. The station's superlaser was fully operational and began firing on capital ships during the battle. Han Solo led a ground assault team that disabled the shield generator protecting the station. Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian flew their Millennium Falcon into the reactor chamber. They fired upon the core causing another catastrophic explosion that destroyed the second Death Star. The critical weakness found in the first station had been removed from this new design.

  73031

• 5. Legacy Superweapons And Variants

  ›

  Starkiller Base was constructed out of the existing planet Ilum instead of being assembled in deep space. The First Order drew raw firepower directly from a nearby star to power the massive weapon. It obliterated five planets in the Hosnian Prime system simultaneously from extreme range. Resistance forces infiltrated the base at faster-than-light speeds to bypass its defensive shield. Poe Dameron and Nien Nunb destroyed the thermal oscillator and fuel cells resulting in an energy release. Sith Eternal forces built Xyston-class Star Destroyers each carrying axial superlasers capable of destroying planets. Sidious used one of these warships to destroy Kijimi as a show of force before his fleet was defeated.

  383947

• 6. Special Effects And Production Techniques

  ›

  Larry Cuba developed a grid plan animation at the University of Illinois Chicago alongside Tom DeFanti. George Lucas recruited Cuba after becoming familiar with work done by Gary Imhoff at CalArts. Industrial Light & Magic salvaged the original model and surface setpieces after filming concluded. A Praxis Effect rendered explosions where a flat ring of matter erupted from the blast site. Only the front side of the second Death Star model was completed for Return of the Jedi. The image was flipped horizontally to create the illusion of a complete sphere for the final film. Matte paintings combined with physical models depicted both stations throughout the saga.

  12345

• 7. Cultural Impact And Real World Parallels

  ›

  A 2008 poll placed the Death Star ninth among the most popular film weapons ever created. AT&T Corporation's logo introduced in 1982 is informally referred to as the Death Star by critics. KTCK SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket in Dallas became the first media outlet to use the term for Cowboys Stadium. Enron gave the name Death Star strategy to one of their fraudulent business practices manipulating California energy markets. Astronomers noticed a resemblance between Saturn's moon Mimas and the fictional station following Voyager spacecraft flights. A satirical White House petition gained over 30,000 signatures urging the government to build a real version. Estimates calculated the cost at $850 quadrillion which equals about 13,000 times worldwide gross domestic product.

  1419496987