Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (film)

"Somewhere in space, this may all be happening right now."

- The tagline for the film, as a call-back to the first trailer of

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a 1996 American computer-animated epic space opera film directed by, based on the film franchise by. Part of the multimedia project, it was the first photorealistic computer-animated feature film and the most expensive video game-inspired film until the release of. It features the voices of, , , , , , and.

The film follows Rebel ally Dash Rendar, who aids the heroes in their attempt to liberate the frozen Han Solo from bounty hunter Boba Fett. Meanwhile, Darth Vader continues the search for his son, Luke Skywalker, whom crime lord Prince Xizor attempts to kill in his plot to replace Vader at the side of Emperor Palpatine.

rendered the film using some of the most advanced processing capabilities available at the time. A render farm of 960 workstations was tasked with rendering each of the film's 141,964 frames. It took a staff of 200 about two years to complete Shadows of the Empire.

Shadows of the Empire premiered in Los Angeles on November 25, 1996, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 1. It received mixed to positive reviews, but was widely praised for its characters' realism. Due to rising costs, the film greatly exceeded its original budget toward the end of production, reaching a final cost of $131 million; it grossed $144 million at the box office. It was a box office success and was nominated for, and.

Plot
"Ultimate victory lies within the grasp of the dreaded Galactic Emperor Palpatine as the tattered remnants of the Rebel fleet desperately seek sanctuary and time to muster new allies.

A grim Luke Skywalker, reeling from Darth Vader’s revelation on the cloud city of Bespin, ponders his own destiny and that of the Rebel Alliance. Meanwhile, the search ensues for Han Solo, captive of the notorious bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

To deal a final blow to the Rebellion, Palpatine has hatched a new plan of which Lord Vader is unaware. To aid him, the Emperor has enlisted the services of the vast criminal underworld that lurks within the SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE...."

- The film's opening lines

The film's story is divided into four chapters. "Part I: Escape from Echo Base" begins shortly before the battle of Hoth, as Dash Rendar and Leebo, Dash's droid co-pilot, arrive at Echo Base to deliver supplies. He briefly talks with Han Solo, who gets him temporary clearance to fly with Rogue Squadron. Dash pilots a snowspeeder into battle, and returns to Echo Base when the shield generator is destroyed, just as the Millennium Falcon leaves. He makes his way through the base, attempting to return to his ship, the Outrider. Dash encounters several wampas on the way, and has to fight an AT-ST, but eventually makes it back to Leebo and The Outrider, and they escape a Star Destroyer through an asteroid field.

"Part II: In Search of Boba Fett" begins after the end of The Empire Strikes Back, as Dash searches for Boba Fett, who holds Han Solo captive, frozen in carbonite. He hunts down and battles IG-88, who is attempting to repair his ship on Ord Mantell after an altercation with Fett. The droid tells him that Fett is hiding on a moon of the planet Gall. Dash finds Fett, and damages his ship, the Slave I, but Fett manages to escape. Believing that the Emperor will let him take Darth Vader's place if Skywalker is killed, Prince Xizor orders Jabba the Hutt to kill Luke Skywalker.

"Part III: Hunting the Assassins" sees Jabba send a group of swoop bikers to Obi-Wan Kenobi's home, where Luke is practicing his Jedi skills. Dash races them to Kenobi's, and eliminates all members of the gang. Luke informs Dash of a secret imperial supercomputer aboard the Imperial Freighter Suprosa, containing unknown important Imperial construction plans for the Death Star II. Dash steals the computer, and battles with a cargo droid in a hangar.

"Part IV: Lair of the Dark Prince" begins with Luke, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, and Dash infiltrating Xizor's palace on Coruscant to save Princess Leia, whom Xizor has taken captive. Dash enters the palace through the underground sewer system, and battles an enormous dianoga, before entering the palace itself. While in the palace Dash plants thermal detonators in an effort to destroy the it before Xizor summons his droid, which Dash quickly disposes of. After defeating the droid, Xizor flees to his Skyhook space station. Xizor's forces engage in battle with the Rebellion, but during the conflict Xizor is prevented from escaping by the vengeful Vader, whose Star Destroyer shoots down his repulsor craft and Skyhook base. Utilizing this distraction, Dash destroys the Skyhook 's outer defenses and proceeds to fly inside the station, destroying its core. Dash is presumably killed in the blast, along with Xizor.

A short pre-credits scene shows Luke and Leia on Tatooine, mourning Dash's death. In a post-credits scene with Dash and Leebo, who had managed a jump to hyperspace to escape the blast, Leebo questions Dash's decision to keep the illusion they had died in the Skyhook 's destruction, to which Dash says, "It's good to be remembered as a martyr without actually being dead, wouldn't you say?"

Voice cast

 * as Dash Rendar
 * as Leebo and IG-88
 * as
 * as
 * as
 * as
 * as Prince Xizor
 * as Guri
 * as
 * as
 * as
 * Larry Ward as