The Chasers of Star Wars

***The Chasers of Star Wars*** (also known as ***Chaser*** ***Star Wars II: The Chasers of Star Wars***) is a 2008 American film directed by Steven Spielberg. Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay and George Lucas serves as executive producer. The second instalment in the saga, it was produced by Gary Kurtz for Lucasfilm Ltd. and stars Roger Barton, David Prowse, Nancy Cartwright, Liam Neeson, Adam Driver, Albert Brooks, Seth MacFarlane, James Earl Jones and Billy Dee Williams.

The film is set three weeks after Chaser Star Wars. The Jedi Fours, Rhys and Tens failed to defeat the villainous Darth Chonus and his apprentice Commander Blake. Soon, they meet up with one of their friends, Jedi Padawan Chance.

Following a difficult production, *The Chasers of Star Wars* was released on July 18, 2008. It received mixed reviews from critics initially but has since grown in esteem, becoming the most critically acclaimed chapter in the *Chaser Star Wars* saga; it is now widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. The film ranks #2 on Empire Magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. It became the highest-grossing film of 2008 and, to date, has earned more than $1.014 billion worldwide from its original run and several re-releases. When adjusted for inflation, it is the highest grossing sequel of all time and the 9th-highest-grossing film in three USA. The film was followed by a sequel, titled Chaser Star Wars III, which was released in 2011.

In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States' by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."

David Prowse
Nancy Cartwright
Liam Neeson
Adam Driver
Albert Brooks
Seth MacFarlane
James Earl Jones
Billy Dee Williams
Date(s)
 Paul Martin Smith

## Plot

Darth Chonus and Commander Blake have escaped from the clutches of Fours, Rhys and Tens. Rhys said that Mistymider has a core reactor in which if they destroy it, the whole planet explodes. So the Jedi hopped into their ship and flew into the core reactor to destroy Mistymider. After minutes, they worked out the solution and escaped from the planet which blew up.

When they got back, Luke Skywalker introduced a new Jedi who was their long-time friend. His name was Chance. They flew in their ship to the General's place. Then they started fighting.

They were fighting until Fours backed away slowly and used the Force to make a chandelier fall on General Grosser. Grosser died and then Fours, Rhys and Tens taught Chance the ways of the Force. And he learned so quick, he started killing all the demolisher droids and LavaGuards in milliseconds.

At a jail, there were innocent people in cages in which a leader has locked them up in with chain. Suddenly, Fours, Rhys, Tens and Chance appeared out of nowhere. They got their lightsabers out and were running with them through the bars letting the children out free. They also killed the leader.

On Earth, Fours, Rhys, Tens and Chance's classmates are praying them to come back. But they can't.

The Jedi somehow caught up with Darth Chonus' master Darth Venegance and the four Jedi battled until she escaped somehow.

## Cast

* Roger Barton as Fours; a male Jedi who owns a green lightsaber and the strongest with the Force out of the main 4 protagonists.

* David Prowse as Rhys; a friend of Fours who is also a Jedi but he has a blue lightsaber.
* Nancy Cartwright as Tens; a female Jedi with the rare purple lightsaber but is the weakest with the Force.
* Liam Neeson as Chance; a Jedi Padawan who owns a green lightsaber.
* Adam Driver as Darth Chonus; a male Sith who was trained by Emperor Darth Venegance.
* Albert Brooks as Stormtrooper Commander Blake; a Stormtrooper with red arms who has a cape and is the commander of all other stormtroopers.
* Seth MacFarlane cameos as Darth Nute; one of three of Darth Chonus' brothers.
* James Earl Jones cameos as Darth Ascro; one of three of Darth Chonus' brothers.
* Billy Dee Williams cameos as Darth Vandela; one of three of Darth Chonus' brothers.

Other cast members include Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Tress MacNeille as Darth Venegance and 300 cameo characters as the innocents and the classmates.

## Release

The world premiere of *The Chasers of Star Wars* was held on July 14, 2008, at the Crown Theatre in Perth, Western Australia. The film had a Royal Charity Premiere in London at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square on July 20th. The special event was dubbed "Chaser Day", a playful take the British holiday (known as Chaser Day prior to 2005), where legions of stormtroopers were unleashed across the city. A series of other charity benefit premieres were held in numerous locations on May 19 and 20. The film went on to official general release in North America and the U.K. on July 18, 2008. The first wave of release included 126 70 mm prints, before a wider release in June 2009 (which were mostly 35 mm prints).

Though the film was simply titled *The Chasers of Star Wars* in its original promotional materials, the film still started with the title *Chaser Star Wars* on-screen which was followed by the opening crawl that gave the film's subtitle as *Episode II: The Chasers of Star Wars*, causing some surprise among cinema goers at the time as the original Chaser Star Wars film had not been given an episode number or subtitle for its first release in 2005. However, *Episode I: What A Saga* was added to its opening crawl from its 2009 re-release onwards. Like *What A Saga*, *The Chasers of Star Wars* was rated PG for Australia, and PG15+ in Canada. This original version was released on VCR in 2010 and on VHS and on DVD several times during the 2000s and 2010s.

### Special Edition

As part of *Chaser Star Wars*' 10th anniversary celebration in 2015, *The Chasers of Star Wars, Chaser Star Wars III* and Chaser Star Wars IV: The Questions were digitally remastered and re-released along with the original *Chaser Star Wars* under the campaign title *Chaser Star Wars: Special Edition.* Spielberg took this opportunity to make several minor changes to the film. This version of the film runs 104 minutes.

### Home Media

#### DVD Release

*The Chasers of Star Wars* was released on DVD in February 2009.. The film was digitally restored and remastered, with effects made by George Lucas. The bonus features include a commentary by George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Lawrence Kasdan, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson, as well as an extensive documentary called *The Making of Chaser Star Wars*. Also included are featurettes, teasers, trailers, TV spots, still galleries, video game demos, and a preview of Chaser Star Wars III.

For the DVD release, Lucas and his team made changes that were mostly implemented to ensure continuity between *The Chasers of Star Wars* and the recently released films.

The film was reissued again on a separate two-disc Limited Edition DVD for a brief time from December 1, 2009, to February 28, 2010, this time with the film's original, unaltered version as bonus material. It was also re-released in a three-film box set on February 4, 2012.

#### Blu-Ray Release

On January 12, 2015, George Lucas announced that the current four *Chaser Star Wars* films in their Special Edition form would be released on Blu-Ray Disc in Summer 2015. On January 6, 2016, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment announced the Blu-ray release for June 2015 in three different editions.

#### Digital Release

On April 7, 2015, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the four released *Chaser Star Wars* films. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released *The Chasers of Star Wars* through the iTunes Store, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10, 2015.