Top Ten Lightsaber Battles For some people, lightsaber battles are what Star Wars is all about – those moments when the blades are ignited and battle commences. But they’re not all about action – these confrontations are often the most emotionally charged sequences of the saga. No one will ever forget the seminal moment when Obi-Wan Kenobi faced off against Darth Vader in A New Hope, but has that battle been trumped in the Star Wars movies that followed? In this issue, Star Wars Insider counts down the 10 greatest ever lightsaber battles.

The Essential Expanded Universe The six Star Wars movies have always been the core of the saga, and perhaps the only absolutely essential parts to being a fan, but the growing roster of stories known as the Expanded Universe has added gigabytes of detail and events to the history of that galaxy far, far away. Even the biggest fan can be forgiven for wincing when asked to catch up on 30 years of backlogged fiction, but this issue of Star Wars Insider tells you everything you need to get you started in your exploration of Star Wars beyond the big screen.

Making the Falcon Fly Richard Edlund is one of the most decorated special effects experts in Hollywood. Having won an Oscar for his work on the original Star Wars movie, he was awarded special achievement Academy Awards for his accomplishments on The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and gained further Oscar nominations for his contribution to films such as Poltergeist, Die Hard and Ghostbusters. Edlund kick-starts a new Star Wars Insider series on the men behind the effects, and looks back at the making of A New Hope.