Drone racers masterfully recreate iconic Star Wars speeder bike chase

The Force was awakened for many of us last week with the debut of the latest installment in the Star Wars movie franchise. But if you want more and can't wait until next year for Rogue One, we found something to tide your over: an epic Star Wars-themed drone chase

Racing on Endor recreates the classic sequence from 1983's Return of the Jedi during which Luke and Leia engage two Imperial Army scout troopers in a speeder bike chase that has become one of the franchise's best known scenes

Directed by Eric Maloney and Jeff Blank, the short clip uses drones made to look like the film's speeder bikes, fitted with action figures of the film's characters. Each drone is being operated by a highly skilled drone racer using first person view (FPV) goggles. This is a real race! The FPV goggles allow the drone operators to see the forest from the view of the speeder bikes. (They filmed the recreation in the redwood forests of northern California — just like the original.) Read more...