Watch WIRED Smash an Epic LEGO Star Destroyer & Trek Alum Explain 'Star Wars'

To celebrate "Star Wars" day today (May 4), the folks at Wired put together (and then shattered) a truly epic LEGO Super Star Destroyer and filmed the bricktacular carnage in this awesome slow-motion video. "What better way to celebrate the upcooming Star Wars Day than by watching a Super Star Destroyer shatter in slow-motion?" Wired wrote in a caption for the video posted on its Battle Damage series. The title: Episide XV: A New Smash.

"In celebration of May the 4th, we spent 16 hours building an $800 LEGO Super Star Destroyer set ... so we could do THIS to it," read the appropriately "Star Wars"-esque scroll in the Battle Damage video. (Go ahead and watch it again. I'll wait). What follows is a one-minute video of the Star Destroyer crumbling into pieces, as minifigures fly out of its miniature bridge (sorry Darth Vader). As a father to a die-hard 6-year-old LEGO fan, watching the Battle Damage video is both awesome and heartbreaking, especially after knowing how long it takes to put such a huge set together in the first place! (It took my daughter and I nearly 12 hours over three days to build Benny's spaceship from The LEGO Movie after all. But hats off to Battle Damage for making the sacrfice for May the 4th!

Meanwhile, "Star Trek: Voyager" alum Tim Russ (who portayed the Vulcan Tuvok for those unaware) gives a completely hilarious, yet totally logical, explanation of "Star Wars" in a video by Pocketwatch, courtesy of Laughing Squid, which you can - and SHOULD - watch here.

I would watch Russ' version of "The Star Wars." In fact, I'd watch it twice.

Now if you're not as well-versed in "Star Wars" lore as Tim Russ, you can get caught up online with the "Star Wars" Digital Movie Collection, which became available for streaming for the first time on April 1. You might even want to search the hyperspace sales for everything "Star Wars" (opens in new tab). But if you're a die-hard "Star Trek" fan, you'll have to wait until September to celebrate its origins.

May the Fourth (and the Force) be with you all!

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award (opens in new tab) for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast (opens in new tab) with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network (opens in new tab). To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik (opens in new tab).