Broken Frontier

Star Wars, two words that conjure up a whole world of imagination. Movies that are connected to a whole cultural zeitgeist of adventure and exploration. It's a bit of a shame then that  the travelling exhibition does nothing of the sort in conjuring up those magical feelings. It features items and original props of the old and new movies; thankfully there's a bit more of the old though (oops, gave myself away here, I'm an old geezer who likes only the first trilogy). 

Everything is presented in a very stark manner. All rooms are black and all items are displayed in glass cases. And that's it. There's an occiasonal life size item but no effort has been undertaken to rebuild sets or have some audio input or visual background elements to spice up the exhibition.

It's located in Brussels at a beautiful old site that used to be the warehouse of the royal family of Belgium. It's a huge location but, unfortunately, the exhibition itself only takes up a few rooms. There are actors running about, dressed as Jedis and Stormtroopers and such. It's nice, but for a movie touted as the summit of imagination, I found it a bit lacking. It's more for the fans so don't take your girlfriend. Make sure to stop at the SFX video of Industrial Light and Magic though, it shows some insight into the groundbreaking special effects of the first movies. But let's delve into those photos ...

As you enter the hallway, you are greeted by a lifesize Naboo fighter.

R2D2 and C3PO greet you immediately as you enter the exhibition. They are accompanied by the original sketch of Ralph McQuarrie which is quite a treat.

One especially for the fans: orginal Leia's metal bikini outfit accompanied by bounty hunter Leia outfit. 

Still on Tatooine, bounty hunter Lando Calrissian and the original Boba Fett costume. I have to be honest, that was kinda cool.

A piece of the new film, part of a pod racer. 

Han Solo in carbonite was another cool item displayed and in the Dagobah room, the author had to have his picture taken with the original Yoda puppet. If only I could've put my hand into it and have him do his Mel Brooks schtick 'May the Schwarz be with you!'

The moon of Yavin, home to the Ewoks and kick ass speed chases, displayed an Imperial Speed bike.

And then the icing on the cake, the most impressive costume of all, the ultimate corruption of the force: Darth Vader.

And the original models that were shot in front of a blue screen. First we got the Tie Interceptor, followed by the board of an Imperial Starcruiser.

Minions of the dark side, cannon fodder for the rebels but still managing to sport awesome sports wear: Stormtroopers. Right next to that, Django Fett, estemeed father of ...

The author and his wife who was visibly impressed by the Dark Lord of the Sith. If only my lightsaber was that big ...

What would an exhibition be without a merchandising shop?! Luckily the merchandise was all about the new movies, so no enticements there and the commemorative t-shirts were just plain ugly so no money spent there either. They did have a booth where you could play out a Jedi fight scene against a green screen backdrop where they then added a backdrop on the computer and tadaaaa ... instant expensive commemorative DVD. I could not resist this parting shot of mini-Jedi and mini-Darth.

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Check out the website for more information about visiting hours and on where the exhibition will go next.