Director Rian Johnson reveals how Star Wars: The Last Jedi's practical hut destruction scene came together in a new video in honor of May the 4th. Yes, it's Star Wars Day, and everyone is getting into the spirit in various ways. Recent years have seen even more reasons to celebrate with a flood of new content set in the galaxy far, far way. Johnson's The Last Jedi might be a more controversial reason, but it is still one that encourages conversation. The 2018 film served as the middle installment of Disney's sequel trilogy, and it furthered the story that began in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in new, surprising ways.
The Last Jedi's hut destruction moment is a bit of a turning point for heroine Rey (Daisy Ridley). While training with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on Ahch-To, Rey uses her Force bond with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) to communicate with him. Rey and Kylo Ren share a compassionate moment, but when Luke discovers them, he destroys the hut they're in out of rage and fear. He then confesses the truth of what happened between him and his nephew, which causes Rey to flee Ahch-To.
On Tuesday, Johnson offered up a Star Wars Day treat for fans in the form of a behind the scenes video from the set of The Last Jedi. In it, special effects supervisor Chris Corbould demonstrates the practical effects that went into Luke reducing the hut to pieces. Watching the individual stones fly backward in slow motion somehow feels even more thrilling than it did in the actual film. Check it out below.
For a special effects-heavy world as the one in Star Wars, it's always cool to see which elements actually proved to be real. The moment plays out much faster in The Last Jedi, which means the slowed down version from above actually gives fans the chance to pay attention to each movement. Of course, Johnson did not mention how they were able to put it back together for the scene, but that doesn't diminish the impressiveness of this stunt.
Though Johnson is currently putting his focus on Knives Out 2, he is reportedly still attached to create his own Star Wars trilogy. The Last Jedi was a particularly divisive franchise installment that still inspires a lot of heated debates today, so it will be very interesting to see what Johnson does for those films. Hopefully they'll involve more practical effects like the one in the above video; even sci-fi epics like Star Wars could use some dashes of realism.
Source: Rian Johnson/Twitter
