On one hand, this sculpture is definitely impressive in the amount of detail and artistry that’s gone into it, on the other it’s kind of a good thing this was the final look for the movies since otherwise Star Wars might have been given a very different look when it came to one of the most iconic villains ever created, especially given that the steampunk look is extremely cool, but it’s definitely not quite streamlined enough for what amounts to a futuristic story dealing with space travel and powerful space wizards that wield laser swords. One might expect to see a very different weapon in Vader’s hands in this incarnation, perhaps something that has a bit more clockwork to it. The overall look is great since it still creates a fair amount of dread that could possibly be construed as terrifying to those that have no knowledge of what Vader is all about. But to be honest, his helmet now resembles that of a TIE bomber pilot’s helmet thanks to the design. The shoulder pads are kind of interesting, but they also look like they belong on sports pads instead of a cape. Don’t get it twisted, this design is cool since it all works together in such a great way. Each piece taken alone could be given any number of criticisms, but as a unit, everything works as it should and the result is that Vader looks like he just walked out of a steampunk version of Star Wars to wreak havoc on the universe.
It goes without saying that Darth Vader has been one of the most iconic villains for decades, and his legend only grew when the prequels came out, no matter how many people wanted to comment otherwise when it came to a few less than sensible additions to the franchise. The way that a lot of people were introduced to this character was in A New Hope, which means that a lot of us were introduced to an absolute tyrant that was beyond cruel and more than ready to kill anyone that was put in his path. The movie Rogue One made this even more apparent when Vader went beast mode on a number of Republic soldiers that were attempting to pass the plans to the Death Star off in order to get them to high command. This is a villain that has done unspeakable things in his rise to power and during the period of time between donning the armor and the first movie in the franchise and depending on what canon a person enjoys there are even more atrocities that can be laid at Vader’s feet since he’s one of the cruelest villains in the galaxy.
There were some elements in Star Wars that could have been seen as similar to the steampunk genre, as things on Cloud City were, beneath the futuristic veneer, kind of grimy and less than streamlined, but quite a bit of the franchise focused on making everything look as futuristic as possible with smooth lines that didn’t allow for a lot of clockwork devices. Had this been the case though it might have come off looking quite different and it could have compromised the franchise, or taken it in a new direction since to be fair, seeing everyone decked out in a steampunk look would have been different, to say the least. From the droids to the sentient beings to the different ships, Star Wars would have taken on a different look entirely since the steampunk style is one that definitely changes things in a big way once it’s applied. The thing is, it can enhance quite a bit, and make a lot of things look very different, but it doesn’t necessarily make them look better all the time. For single presentations such as this, it’s definitely intriguing since it lends a new look to something that people have grown used to and thereby creates even greater inspiration than it might have before. But at the same time, that single representation is something that people can deal with. It’s when it takes over something that wasn’t steampunk to begin with that some people might tend to love it, and some people might feel that it’s a little stifling.
Vader is a well-liked character that many people have enjoyed seeing represented in many different ways, much like many other characters from Star Wars, but the classic Vader is always going to be the most well-liked since from the moment he came on screen and his booming voice was heard, people couldn’t help but see him as one of the absolute best bad guys in the history of cinema. Seriously, he’s become the gold standard in many ways and is someone that will continue to be idolized for years to come. But there’s definitely respect to be given to the artist that came up with this, without a doubt.
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