It’s not an opinion, but a fact (ok, maybe an opinionated fact) that The Empire Strikes Back is the superior Star Wars movie. Packed with iconic scenes and quotes, one of the most memorable moments is Darth Vader having Han Solo frozen and imprisoned in carbonite.
This ice sculpture was created to further honor that scene. Created by Randy Finch and others from Ice Sculptures Ltd. for a Food Network show called Ice Brigade, this ice sculpture brilliantly recreates the famous prop of Han Solo in carbonite. It’s been parodied countless times, and even recreated as a pillow, chocolate bar, and the coolest coffee table you’ll ever see.
The choice of an ice sculpture is somewhat fitting since one of the two major locations in The Empire Strikes Back is the ice planet of Hoth (this is me ignoring the fact that Han was imprisoned in the Cloud City of Bespin). Even ignoring that stretch of logic, ice does make a fantastic choice for the sculpture, especially considering that carbonite doesn’t exactly exist in real life. But Han Solo was ‘frozen’ in the stuff, just as he appears to be frozen in a grayish block of ice in this sculpture.
The detail is astonishing, from the outline of clothing, his slightly outreached hands, and the awkward facial expresssion molded into the surface just like the original. Due to the dirty color of the ice, it actually looks a bit like cement which, to my knowledge, does not preserve human bodies. You can see that the ice is also set within some sort of case, and one of the photos even shows the various control panels on the side to duplicate the look of the original’s technology. This crew apparently does much more than Star Wars homages, though, so with the press the new show will likely be getting, you can be sure to find pics and videos of more of their work showing up soon.
Via: Nerd Approved
