Star Wars Day: The entire original Star Wars Trilogy, retold in two minutes, in stop-motion, “by a kid with one heck of a LEGO collection.”

[wired.]

Oh sure, you’ve seen your disgustingly hairy cousin solve a Rubik’s Cube in 3 minutes and 13.4 seconds, and we’ve seen quite a few sophisticated robots do it in far less time.

But in the latest episode of “Yes, Droid Really Does,” we’ve got Motorola’s darling solving a Lego-encased Cube in just over 24 seconds. Let’s recap: a Droid, a Mindstorms NXT monstrosity, a Rubik’s Cube and faux techno.

photo credit: Kaptain Kobold

YouTube is a great place to find some wicked LEGOmation or “brickfilms” with many fans using the colorful little bricks and minifig characters to create tributes to their favorite movies.

Here we’ve drawn up a list of ten great examples of film scenes, trailers and clips recreated in LEGO — although, perhaps controversially, we’ve deliberately left out any Star Wars-themed efforts as these could easily fill up a top ten list in their own right.

So, following up the fantastic LEGO music video roundup we recently brought you, here is the film-themed equivalent, and as always, do let us know what we’ve missed (politely please, we’re people too) in the comments below.

1. LEGO Matrix Trinity Help

If you didn’t think the awesome special effects from the bullet dodge scene in The Matrix would translate well in the medium of stop motion then you need to see this clip which took a staggering 440 hours (18 days!) to create. Time well spent, we say.

2. LEGO Jaws

With the special bonus of a surprise happy ending, here Steven Spielberg’s classic don’t-go-into-the-water horror gets a decidedly blocky makeover.

3. Crocodile Dundee – That’s A Knife

Very possibly the only funny line in Eighties outback flick Crocodile Dundee is immortalized here in LEGO as Mick whips out his Bowie and flashes it at an unsuspecting would-be mugger.

4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail in LEGO

High-kicking knights and dancing skellingtons await you in this professional LEGO-backed clip that reveals Camelot to be a very silly place indeed.

5. The Battle of Wits in LEGO

Vizzini and the Dread Pirate Roberts fight it out over iocane-spiked goblets in this great revamp of the classic scene from The Princess Bride.

6. Shaun of the Dead LEGO Trailer

If you thought the line “Ooooh, he’s got an arm off” from this Brit zombie film could not be more funny (and if so, you’re not alone) then wait ’til you see it delivered by a little LEGO man.

7. LEGO Indiana Jones

With official Indiana Jones minifigs available, the rugged adventurer was ripe for a brick film — and this is a great one. Stick around for the surprise ending that Harrison Ford fans will surely appreciate.

8. Blade Runner – Tears in Rain (in LEGO)

It’s amazing to see how the emotion still comes through in this short clip that swaps Rutger Hauer’s Batty for an animated lump of plastic.

9. Napoleon Dynamite Bike Jump Scene In Lego

Somehow the slightly amateur quality of this LEGOmation (no offense intended to the creator, we sure as heck could not do any better) juxtaposes really well with the slightly amateur Napoleon Dynamite not quite managing that sweet jump.

10. A Little Going Away Present

This perfectly captures the fax-bashing scene from geek fave Office Space. Be sure to mute it, or don’t press play, if you don’t want to hear any swears. Or if you really like fax machines.

BONUS: The Simpsons Intro LEGO Style

Not technically a film, hence the “bonus” clip status, but this brilliant LEGOmation that emulates the opening sequence of the The Simpsons to near perfection was done by a then 13-year-old.

photo credit: Dunechaser

Put geeks in a room with LEGO and a camera and you’ll soon have more funny fan-made movies than you could shake a colored plastic brick at.

We’ve taken a musical angle on this top ten list, bringing you the very best in LEGOmation and brickfilm tributes to artists and bands that YouTube (and all its wonderfully creative users) has to offer.

Whether you’re a LEGO Gaga fan, prefer OK LE-GO or can’t get enough John LEGO-non then we’ve got you covered with this wickedly funny playlist, so read on and let us know your faves, as well as any we’ve missed, in the comments below.

1. Michael Jackson – Beat It

This painstaking recreation of one of Jackson’s trademark short film-esque music videos is long at five minutes, but well worth a watch to see the minifig dance sequences emulating the original video.

2. OK Go – Here It Goes Again

What the Internets are made for — a viral YouTube music video hit recreated in LEGO and then released to the masses once again via the same platform — how marvelous. Seriously though, how did they make the little LEGO men slide like that?

3. The Beatles – I Saw Her Standing There

This Fab Four-themed effort starts off fairly static, but gets extras points for attention to detail for the little LEGO cameraman and even more points for the black and white sequence that pulls back to see the clip on a period TV set and screaming female fans.

4. U2 – Sweetest Thing

If you didn’t think that Bono’s musical apology to his wife could get any more sickly sweet than it already is, then check out this LEGO effort that improves on the original video, and not just because Bono isn’t actually in it.

5. The Who – My Generation

The creator of this video, which takes on The Who’s classic ode to teenage angst so well, demonstrates a nice line in edits, as well as some serious rock’n’roll destruction at the end. Who knew minifigs could be so bad?

6. Beastie Boys – Sabotage

This is high quality stuff and in fact just the trailer for a larger project to recreate the entire classic music vid with correct camera angles as well as authentic background sets and characters. That’s dedication to the LEGOmation cause. Wonder if they get out much?

7. Grease – Summer Nights

The song that goes further to explain the male/female divide better than any planetary comparisons (“Was it love at first sight?/Did she put up a fight?”) gets the LEGO treatment here to great effect. It’s also somehow easier to believe the minifigs as high school students, as opposed the then 29- and 34-year-old Travolta and Newton-John.

8. Carl Douglas – Kung Fu Fighting

This one is a little bit frightening (thanks to those freaking vicious ninjas) but it’s also a little bit entertaining and will ensure you’re humming “ding-a-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-diing” for the rest of the day — which is not necessarily a bad thing.

9. Metallica – Whiplash

Meticulous stop-motion work with “Whiplash” by Metallica as performed by a band in “Lego City” goes someway to capture the energy of the song complete with a headbanging audience and crowd-surfer. Rawk on!

10. ABBA – Take a Chance on Me

This fantastic rework of ABBA’s soft focus footage for their 1977 hit “Take a Chance on Me” captures the Swedish quartet admirably, even down to their outfits and Agnetha and Anni-Frida’s cheeky winks.
It’s created by YouTube user Cactiphile, who’s channel is a great place to visit if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve seen above as there’s tons more quality brickfilms available to view.

Bonus: Lady Gaga

Here’s a bonus vid for you as the undisputed queen of YouTube gets her own — sadly all too short — LEGO parody.

LEGO has been on top of licensing its brand into videogames, something that could have ended in disastrous shovelware but instead has led to some pretty great titles. (And fingers remain crossed for LEGO Universe, the upcoming MMO.)

Nowhttp://iamgeeky.us/wp-admin/edit.php LEGO is trying their hand at board games. And while I haven’t played any of the games yet and can’t vouch for the gameplay, LEGO plus tabletop gaming seems like so natural a fit I’m surprised they haven’t done more with it in the past. (There have been chess sets, I recall.) The “Minotaurus” game in particular makes me think how much I’d like to see LEGO partner with Wizards of the Coast for a Dungeons & Dragons-themed tabletop set. I guess it might be difficult to do hex with LEGO.

Of all the new LEGO board games, “Creationary” seems the most LEGOy. It’s essentially Pictionary but with LEGO blocks. What’s not to like?

Each of the LEGO board games come with this somewhat silly, somewhat charming build-your-own LEGO die.

LEGO started pushing out a minifig-scale farm series last year and I’m not ashamed to say I’ve bought nearly every one. (I skipped the core “Farm” set, though, because I didn’t want to spend $90 basically to get a cow.

But this year’s new “Pig Farm & Tractor” set, complete with three pig minifigs (minipigs?) and a nice little tractor for $35? Sold.

One of the new line-ups this spring is a Prince of Persia theme, designed to complement the upcoming movie. It’s nothing particularly special, although it does include scimitars and hand-blades that might intrigue a few. (The swords are the same from the Ninja sets of years past, I believe.) But the sets do bring two new animals into the LEGO library, the first of which is seen here: the LEGO camel. Is it worth $30 just for a camel? Probably not. But if you like the rest of the elements…

But forget the camel! “The Ostrich Race” is hands-down the best new LEGO set of the year. And it’s only $20. That’s just $10-an-ostrich!

Pink and pastel elements have always been at a premium, especially if you’re the sort of person who likes to use the expanded palette in less-than-girly applications. So ignore the recommend cutesy builds and just drop the $30 to get the “Pink Brick Box Set“. You may not know what you’ll use them for now, but down the road you’ll be glad you have them.

The LEGO Creator series has had some of the best kits of the last few years, harkening back to LEGO of yore: clean, simple, and extremely remixable. I think this “Apple Tree House” set might be the best yet. There’s not a minifig in sight, either, which somehow gives it an even more classic look.

There are two new additions to the attractive, expensive Modular Town buildings this year. This is the first, a “Fire Brigade” built in 1932 (according to its inlay). It’s $150, which is about what all of these units have been. I have thus far resisted getting heavily into Town System sets, but things like this make it difficult.

The other new addition to the Modular Town series is this “Grand Emporium“, a three-story corner building that features “many authentic details”, whatever that means. I do like the signage built from elements. It makes me wish that some crazy AFOL could dig into their buckets and start putting together a minifig-scale block of early 19th century New York tenements.

I’m just as over Star Wars LEGO as the rest of you, but if I had to pick one set this year worth grabbing, it’d be this “TIE Defender“, which I last saw in the old TIE Fighter PC space dogfighter, but perhaps has been absorbed into the extended universe canon.

Seriously, though. I’m done with Star Wars LEGO. Bring on the Star Trek sets!