State Minister for the Arts Lynne Kosky in a lightsaber battle at the Opening

It’s been twenty-two years since the original Star Wars film first graced our screens and the interest in George Lucas’s science fiction universe shows no signs of slowing. Now after six live action features, several animated TV series, publishing empire, a mountain of merchandise and one ill-advised Christmas special, Star Wars fever returns to Australia. This time the galaxy far, far away comes to Melbourne in the form of ‘Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination’ an impressive new exhibition at Scienceworks, Spotswood.

The exhibition is a great inside look at costumes and props from the films, linking them to the science behind the fiction with the aid of interactive displays. Taking pride of place is the actual vehicle used as Luke’s Landspeeder as well as some incredibly intricate models of a Star Destroyer and the Millenium Falcon from the original Star Wars film.

The props and costumes tend to have the dual effect of giving you a great sense of how things were done while also taking a little bit of magic away from some of the most memorable scenes in motion picture history.   The horrifying Wampa ice creature, for example, looks less than scary when only a metre or so tall. On the flip side, the costumes give a great sense of scale. For one thing, you get an appreciation for how freaking huge and intimidating Chewbacca and Darth Vader from the original movie were.

The props and costumes tend to have the dual effect of giving you a great sense of how things were done while also taking a little bit of magic away from some of the most memorable scenes in motion picture history.

These displays are the headline act but only about half of what’s on offer - this is Scienceworks after all. So even if you’re not that fascinated by the props and costumes, there’s plenty to occupy your attention. The interactive science stations tend to be geared toward school-aged children, but there is no shortage of things to play with. Interactive stations include science content and will have you designing and building robots, running SimCity-like simulations and playing with Lego maglev trains.

Your best bet is to come along with a school-aged child or two to get the most out of these interactive exhibits. The paraphernalia from the sets of the six movies are pitched squarely at fans of the series, so if your knowledge of Star Wars is a bit patchy and you don’t know your lightsabers from your blasters it might be a good idea to sit this one out. If you are willing to embrace your inner nerd however, Scienceworks might be just worth a trip this winter.

‘Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination’ is open now at Scienceworks (2 Booker Street, Spotswood) until 3^rd November, 2009. Open daily from 10am – 4.30pm and later on Thursdays. Melway 56, B1

Tags: Scienceworks, Star Wars