StarWarsEpisodeViReturnOfTheJedi Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I grew up reading science fiction, thinking my beloved genre was all about the possibilities of the infinite: advanced civilizations inhabiting distant star systems; men with brains so large and hearts so beneficent they could barely be contained within their bodies; women with beauty so magnificent and intellect so stunning they would leave bystanders breathless.

And they I started watching movies and eventually realized it's all about death, destruction ... and more death.

This week's release of The Final Destination, which is obsessed with staging elaborate 'kill scenes,' got me thinking about memorable scenes of demise in science fiction films. Sci-fi is notably short of serial killers, but offers a wider range of death scenes, beyond simple murder and mayhem. Here's my list of the top 10 sci-fi deaths. (Of necessity, this list is nothing but spoilers, so you have been warned.)

1. The Emperor (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)

Everyone knows where they were when they saw the Emperor get what was coming to him. Me, I was in the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles, opening night, second showing, near 5:00 a.m., shouting (and ultimately cheering and applauding) along with the rest of the sold-out auditorium as Luke looked between his father and the Emperor, in pain, agonizing, understanding that the man he had hated was being tortured by the man who should be hated. And then he made the right call. Goosebumps still raise up in the glory of the memory.

Read the rest over at Sci-Fi Squad

Yesterday was the 32nd anniversary of the original theatrical release of Star Wars, which I had completely forgotten about until Cinematical Editor-in-Chief Erik Davis pointed me to this book. Star Wars: The Essential Atlas by Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry is a "fully illustrated, full-color guide that maps the entire galaxy." It promises to encompass "the entire Star Wars canon, including all the films, and the Clone Wars television series, plus the novels, comic books, video games, and more." The book "is packed with dozens of detailed maps and charts."

My interest in Star Wars ebbs and flows with the years. I was absolutely fanatical / obsessed with the first two movies, but the Ewoks irritated me long before Jar Jar Binks. I very much enjoyed the Thrawn Trilogy novels by Timothy Zahn but could not possibly keep up with all the books that followed. I loved seeing the originals on the big screen again in the 90s but was sorely disappointed that George Lucas felt compelled to tamper with them. Episode I was a real let down, Episode II fell entirely flat, yet portions of Episode III nearly redeemed the whole thing for me. (Go figure.) As a movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was fatally boring.

Despite all my mixed feelings, the idea of putting the entire Star Wars galaxy down on paper, complete with detailed maps and charts, appeals to the analytical part of my brain. The book is due out on August 18.