Star Wars Rebels Short The Machine In The Ghost Brings The Action And Sound Effects
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We won’t actually see the upcoming Star Wars Rebels, the first post-Disney buyout of Lucasfilm addition to the Star Wars canon, until October. We’ve seen clips and trailers, but now there’s a quick little short film to keep you occupied for a while longer.
Called “The Machine in the Ghost,” the action centers on the ship the main crew of characters fly around the galaxy in, which just so happens to be named the Ghost. While the machine the title refers to is the put upon little astromech droid named Chopper, who definitely fits into the R2-D2 mold of sassy, spunky, and not afraid to take matters into his own hands.
Rebels is set between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, when the Galactic Empire is tightening its grip on the galaxy. In this hostile, oppressive environment, revolution bubbles, and you start to see the early sprouts of what will eventually blossom into the Rebel Alliance. The main group of the series is comprised of Kanan, a Jedi trying to keep a low profile after Order 66 disbands the Jedis; Ezra, a slick, street smart con artist with an aptitude for the Force; a trigger happy Mandalorian named Sabine; Zeb, a Lasat warrior who serves as the muscle of the group; Hera Syndulla, the pilot of the Ghost; and of course Chopper.
You only get to hang out with Hera, Kanan, and Chopper here, but there’s plenty of action to make up for this. They’re on the run after hitting an Imperial supply depot, and as you probably imagined, there are people hot on their trail. Hera and Kanan use the droid as a go between, while he tries to fix the communications, and he has the same reaction to being used in such a manner in a similar way most of us would, he gets pissed. We’ve heard that Hera is supposed to be a badass pilot, but her skills are on full display here, as is perhaps a touch of sexual tension between her and Kanan.
This may be short, the humor is definitely aimed at a younger audience, and I’m still not a fan of the appearance of the animation (is anyone else sick of my saying this yet?), but the more we see from Rebels the more it looks and feels like Star Wars. Just watching Kanan swivel around in the gun turret trying to blast Imperials out of the sky is enough to make you think of Luke and Han doing the same thing in A New Hope. Between the action, the John Williams music, and the sound the TIE Fighters make, it’s hard not to get excited about this.
Star Wars: Rebels premieres on the Disney Channel this October before moving to its permanent home on Disney XD.
