My Personal Top Scenes From All Star Wars Major Media PART II

Posted by Bret on 08/19/21 at 07:05 AM Category:

We’ll continue on with a look at my favorite scenes from each major film/TV show and their corresponding representation (or lack thereof) in the 3.75" line. Here's PART I in case you missed it.

Remember, the only rule for this countdown is a single moment from each source. As there are 17 (by my count), I'll list the the first 12 in reverse order by release date (today's list will have the second half of that group prior the top 5 (in order of my actual favorites).

6 More Favorites That Didn't Make the Top 5:

Rebels

I enjoyed Rebels. Just like The Clone Wars, it got off to a wonky start, but most of the characters eventually became compelling, and I enjoyed how the show depicted the Rebel Alliance in its infancy. It also explored aspects of the lore of Force that had previously gone untold by Lucas. One of the nicely executed surprises was the re-appearance of Ahsoka Tano, who at the time of the show's airing, was last seen walking away from the Jedi Order after being wrongly accused of treason. Ahsoka eventually finds herself facing off against her old master, now known as Darth Vader. Stating that she would avenge the "death" of Anakin Skywalker, Vader suggests mockingly that this is not the Jedi way. Ahsoka sternly declares, "I am no Jedi" just before she launches against him. After a particularly withering attack, Ahsoka damages Vader's mask and partially exposes Anakin's face. With his naked eye taking in his former apprentice before him, he calls out Ahsoka's name with a perfect mix of emotions. Chills.

Toys: We don't have a Rebels Ahsoka (or Rebels anything, frankly). You could fake it and use the recently released Clone Wars Season 7 version, but while similar, it's most definitely not the same. We have a Battle Damaged Darth Vader from The Force Unleashed (TAC 2008), which is also similar to this Rebels version, but again, not the same. In desperation, you could use both of these figures to recreate this epic duel. Ezra, Chopper, and a newly blinded Kanan were present for the duel, as they were readying their ship to escape. We only have animated (or worse - Disney bootleg nonsense) versions of these figures - minus Kanan's hockey mask. Oh, we do have the Phantom shuttle, which is cool.

Scene It: Nope. You'd have to fake every figure with something similar that is either barely passible, 5POA animated, or Disney bootleg. The Phantom is actually the only thing legit here.

Clone Wars Microseries

I don't know anyone that doesn't like the Microseries. And while excellent, the show wasn't treated as true canon even at the time of release, because there were other "canon" sources that directly contradicted the events in the show. Nevertheless, it was a fun ride, and much it told the story of The Clone Wars and Anakin's character arc better than almost anything Lucas himself ever did. But while filled with tons of awesome moments, my absolute favorite sequence is the attempt by Shaak Ti and her fellow Jedi to protect Chancellor Palpatine from the pursuing General Grievous (who was WAY scarier in this cartoon than in ROTS). The whole sequence is great and tension-filled, but I will always specifically remember the group in the image above waiting anxiously for the elevator, while Grievous can be heard approaching in the room down the hallway murdering his way closer through squads of defending clones. In an uncharacteric display of mild panic, Roron Corobb reaches over and jabs the elevator button several times in an attempt to make it go faster. Gold!

Toys: We got 'em all in realistic form! Shaak Ti, Roron Corobb, Foul Moudama, ROTS Chancellor Palpatine, and white phase 2 clones. We also have Grievous and his bodyguard droids to round out the scene.

Scene It: Yes!

Attack of the Clones

Much mocking happens when AOTC is discussed, but almost everyone agrees that the film has some great action and a spectacular ground battle on Geonosis. My favorite moment is when the Jedi show up and the lightsabers light up in sequence as they get set for battle. I remember enjoying the shot of Mace and Dooku, with the little green and blue sabers lighting up the arena in the deep background, indicating tons of Jedi had arrived to save the day. This was finally going to be the epic show of force from the Jedi Order that we were waiting for!

Toys: Amazingly, we have just about everything we need to complete the entire massive scene, so we have all kinds of flexibility to show off any aspect of the Arena Battle we want to display.

Scene It: Hell yes! In fact, we have several Scene Its dedicated to the Battle of Geonosis already, with more on the way!

The Phantom Menace

Time seems to have been kind to this film. While it wasn't necessarily all it was cracked up to be, the film that was 16 years in the making certainly had its moments. I enjoyed so many of the callbacks and fan-service scenes, particularly when they called out R2-D2's number after his heroic actions in saving the Queen's ship. But obviously I'm not alone when I write that my favorite was Darth Maul igniting his double bladed lightsaber in front of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

Toys: We have excellent versions of Maul, Jinn, and Kenobi, even if they might be getting a bit long in the tooth by some measures. We also have a hanger playset with the large doors from which Maul emerges, and we also have the generator playset which is the backdrop for most of the duel. The only thing I wish we had was the room with the security energy doors and the circular pit where Qui-Gon died and where Maul almost died.

Scene It: Yep. Easy peasy.

The Empire Strikes Back

It's my favorite film of the Saga. I thoroughly enjoy everything about it. But the most impactful scene for me will always be the Battle of Hoth, and in particular, the first moment we get a good look at the Imperial Walkers. Juxtaposed with John Williams' brilliant (as always) battle soundtrack, it's one of the coolest things I remember seeing on a screen. I also vividly remember seeing the AT-AT in stores for the first time. Every time I went to Child World (sounds kind of creepy now that I think about it) and gawked at the massive Kenner Star Wars aisle, I dreamed about owning that giant toy that cost a million dollars. One day, I was staring at the box, and someone stepped in front of me and grabbed it off the shelf. When I realized it was my dad, I thought it was the greatest day any kid ever had.

Toys: We have all manner of toys from Hoth, but of course we have the BAT-AT, one of the greatest toys in Hasbro's long history. If you were Jeff Bezos, you could buy 5 of them and recreate the scene exactly.

Scene It: Yes. It will cost you money and real estate, but y ou can otherwise easily recreate almost any aspect of this battle.

A New Hope

The grandaddy of them all. It's full of all kinds of mind-blowing scenes that shaped the childhoods of so many of us. While I love everything about it, clearly the most fun scene for many fans is the Cantina - which is subsequently one of the best in the whole Hasbro line to try to recreate and display. But my favorite part of the film, again largely due to the god-like powers of John Williams, is the space battle. Particularly, there's a stirring flourish of the Force theme right after Red Leader declares that the squadron will give cover to Gold Squadron, and the X-Wings swoop down upon the Death Star. It's the moment I remember most from my childhood introduction to Star Wars.

Toys: It's hard to recreate a space battle, but whether you're looking to have the entire Rebel Fleet face off against TIE fighters hanging from the ceiling of your Nerd Room, or if you just choose to have everything on the ground at Yavin Base, Hasbro has given us a lot of what we need. You can find a breakdown of the pilots and ships that we have (and don't have) from our past look at Yavin HERE.

Scene It: Technically no, but probably good enough for most people. We could still use some pilots, droids, and properly marked X-Wings and Y-Wings from the battle, but for most purposes, we have a great selection of figures and toys to recreate an epic 3.75" version of this iconic space battle.

Almost done. Part III with my Top 5 is tomorrow...