EPISODE III: DROIDEKA ATTACK!

Now aboard the Invisible Hand enemy cruiser, Anakin and Obi-Wan, on their way to rescue the Supreme Chancellor, soon encounter more enemy attack fire, this time from newly arrived, formidable Droidekas, in this scene from EPISODE III.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: ROLLING DEATH!

Qui-Gon Jinn has almost broken his way through to the Trade Federation vessel's bridge with his lightsaber, but enemy re-enforcements are on the way. Heavy-duty re-enforcements, in fact- rolling death bringers called Droidekas (aka 'Destroyers'), armed with shield generators that soon have our heroes make a speedy retreat and an escape to Naboo!

EPISODE I would give us an excellent introduction to a formidable new droid arsenal that would appear and oppose throughout the Prequel saga.

A visual guide of how a Droideka unlocks into combat mode.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: STAND OFF!

Obi-Wan stands defiant against the incoming Droidekas. Production art by Doug Chiang.

"At one time, the Jedi were going to be like a UN peacekeeping force, with regimented costumes. Obi-Wan's age changed all over the place- at one time he was a youngish 50. For a long time we had a character who was samurai-like, with a ponytail and long sideburns. But it evolved, it suited the story better to split (the character) into Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn. Now here was an older mentor, and it told us a lot more about who the Jedi were. It's wasn't like a peacekeeping force- it was more like a temple, with an apprenticeship. When that happened, we revised the look. In the end, in order to make a really strong connection between the Obi-Wan we know and the Obi-Wan in the Prequel, we went back to the original costume design."

Ian McCaig - The Face magazine (1999)

Doug Chiang character concept for Obi-Wan, circa 1995.

THE CLONE WARS: SURROUNDED!

Down but not out from his conflicts with former master Count Dooku and the agile warrior Asajj Ventress, Savage Opress must escape to lick his wounds and fight another day. But first there's the additional firepower of varying Trade Federation battle droids to tackle, in a scene from The Clone Wars Season Three classic episode Witches of the Mist.

CLASSIC ART: RISE OF THE WAR MACHINES!

Their Battle Droids may have shown incompetence during the battle of Naboo, but their creators on the creepy world of Geonosis are always out to make improvements- powerful improvements, as seen here with the front and centre Super Battle Droids soon unveiled into battle against the mighty but small in numbers Jedi force newly arrived on that outer rim hellspot. The infamous The Clone Wars begin, in this great art linked to EPISODE II.

If anyone knows the artist behind this spectacular piece, please get in touch.

CLASSIC IMAGE: SPEEDY ESCAPE!

In the main corridor to the bridge of the Trade Federation command ship orbiting Naboo, two unique and deadly Droidekas pursue the fast moving Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi during their retreat action, in a revised ILM effects shot from the EPISODE I Blu-ray release of 2011.

THE CLONE WARS: WAVE OF TERROR!

They may not be marching into battle, but the Droidekas are certainly rolling into it, unleashing their weapons on Yoda and his surviving Clone Troopers in The Clone Wars animated TV series opening episode, Ambush.

THE CLONE WARS: THE DROID UNIVERSE!

C-3PO and R2-D2's appearances throughout THE CLONE WARS animated series were always welcome- the duo intriguingly involved in quirky stories that often caught viewers delightfully off guard, but let's also not forget and celebrate the many other interesting, truly diverse and visually marvellous robot/android creations that graced its official five-year run, working both for the good of the Republic and against it, as seen here in this excellent composite shot from LUCASFILM Animation.

CLASSIC IMAGE: AMBUSHED!

On their way to capture the Trade Federation Viceroy, Queen Amidala and her loyal soldiers (including, end left next to Captain Panaka, a cameo from Ray Park!) are cornered by lethal Droidekas, from EPISODE I.

CLASSIC IMAGE: SURROUNDED!

Darth Sidious's long-gestating plan to cripple, then destroy, the Jedi Knights begins with the first battle of Geonosis, as our heroes Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Padme Amidala, are trapped by squads of lethal Droidekas within the Geonosian Death Arena.

CLASSIC IMAGE: "MASTER, DESTROYERS!"

Outside the bridge of the Trade Federation control ship, fearless Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn are caught in a stand-off against the newly arrived rolling balls of death, the Droidekas, in this exciting moment from EPISODE I.

AFICIONADO REVIEW: DK's 'STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE' - THE EXPANDED VISUAL DICTIONARY

Dare you discover the secrets of the Sith? Images: DK BOOKS/LUCASFILM

STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE – THE EXPANDED VISUAL DICTIONARY

Written by David West Reynolds and Jason Fry

Published by DORLING KINDERSLEY

Reviewed by Scott Weller

Since the dawn of time, mankind has always been good at telling stories, either via artful and evocative cave man drawings of epic journeys and hunts to captures animals for food and sport, to the written and visual realisations of our modern worlds of mystery, action, drama and love seen either in multiplexes or our TV screens on a daily basis. Basically, we love storytelling, and we love heroes and villains in all shapes and forms. Especially when its all part of the STAR WARS Saga, created by that bearded wonder, George Lucas. Remaining as exciting and relevant to audiences hearts as ever, it has comfortably found its place in our interpretations and viewpoints towards modern day myth with its tales of Sith and Jedi, of peace and war, of love and hate in a galaxy a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It continues to resonate and keep us spellbound with every new visitation to its universe.

Audiences young, old and worldwide flocked to, and were thrilled and impressed by, the incredible new universe of the ground-breaking EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE: its talented creators chance to see and show us the turmoil, and final end, of the Galactic Republic and its noble Jedi Knight protectorates, in a manner that had long existed unfettered in his mind, and now finally realised through the birth of CGI, without the kind of effects limitations he felt had previously hampered his work on the earlier, though no less beloved, Classic Trilogy of seventeen years prior. And the end cinematic result was a new stage of the phenomenon, the Prequel universe, which continues to tap into the imaginations and collective awe of a new generation. Now, with the passing of a further thirteen years from that first jaw-dropping effects and design bonanza, we all get to see these then new creatures once again, back on the big screen, after a long absence, and better than ever within its new existence and reality within stereoscopic 3D: an epic experience of which STAR WARS was made for, and for fans and families to enjoy anew or all over again as it enters the lives and custodianship of a third generation…

As these iconic friends and foes begin their mighty return, several previous equally ambitious and important book titles released in 1999 that rode the crest of the merchandise wave have now been re-released or expanded upon to co-incide with the 3D extravaganza, the most important of which has to be DORLING KINDERSLEY’s meticulously updated and revised in every department THE PHANTOM MENACE: THE EXPANDED VISUAL DICTIONARY, out now in all good books shops and online stores worldwide. And it’s a wonderful nostalgic treat back to that bright new universe, which, alongside the Classic Trilogy of Luke, Han, Leia and Vader, etc., has now firmly become a part of our modern film world lexicon, with the likes of the heroic Anakin Skywalker, gangly Gungan comic figure Jar Jar Binks, and the feral evil that is Darth Maul.

A selection of villains, heroes and technology: part of the great new and revised spreads within the book.

Originally written by David West Reynolds- the 90’s Indiana Jones of his time, who did much fine work for LUCASFILM, and now expanded by Jason Fry, the new Keeper of the DORLING KINDERSLEY Jedi information Holocron, the title has an incredible 40 pages of new and revised content, attentively well-written and deeply informative, which puts EPISODE I into context with regards to the continued Prequels and the rest of the Expanded Universe of fiction and spin-offs that has since followed its original tornado like debut from May 1999. A rich universe has become even richer, alongside an enhanced and pleasing to the eye interior design that’s handled with great care and unparallelled detail on all our favourite characters, planets, environments, aliens and technology leaping out of George Lucas’s imagination, that STAR WARS fans expect and relish.

Superb annotated photography packs the pages, with lots of never-before-seen imagery including an exclusive cross-section view of Darth Maul’s lightsaber, whose original activation of it’s double ended red blade, seen way back in that first sneak-peek trailer for EPISODE I in 1998, sent fans into the stratosphere with overload anticipatory excitement.

THE EXPANDED VISUAL DICTIONARY is also a fine tribute to the many hundreds of talented and dedicated craftsmen and women behind the scenes that worked on the Prequel films in the respective lands of practical and electronic creation. Their Five Minutes of Fame predicted by Andy Warhol has incredibly and deservedly stretched into thirteen years and looks likely to continue further whilst there are people that love and zeitgeist into STAR WARS. 13 for EPISODE I and 35 years on for the entire saga, there’s no sense that such adoration and appreciation is going to die out anytime soon. And the world is a much richer place for its existence if you ask me…

Back to its original publication size of the 1999 edition, with a cover that firmly puts everyone’s favourite Sith assassin Darth Maul firmly in the spotlight, the new EXPANDED VISUAL DICTIONARY is a winner- the equivalent of the Boonta Eve Classic victory of new Prequel Books- for fans young and old to enjoy and immerse themselves in.

Well worth adding to your bookshelf, it remains the definitive guide for the first movie, and we look forward to future revised volumes accompanying the hopefully yearly 3D releases.

AFICIONADO RATING: 5 out of 5

Get the new edition here: Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace- The Expanded Visual Dictionary: Amazon.co.uk: DK: 9781405392532: Books

Check out the available range of DK STAR WARS books here: Star Wars - search results - Dorling Kindersley