Mandalorian fans, rejoice! Season one on Disney Plus was a glimpse into the future of Star Wars in the hands of people who love it. Jon Favreau has crafted a splendid story for fans to rally around. If you thought the first season was good, wait til you get a load of the Season 2 line-up. Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed, and Robert Rodriguez took a turn behind the camera. Now we learn that the Second Unit Director also comes from high-quality action sequence stock. Meet Extraction director Sam Hargrave.
Wait, what exactly is a Second Unit Director?
I know very little about film-making. In fact, I only know what a “boom” is because of Pink-Shorts-Boom-Guy. Directors and Producers are pretty self-explanatory, but what the heck is a Second Unit Director? Well wonder no more—here’s what they do.
Second-Unit guys are the stealthy ninjas of movies. They are the detail crew. They film additional side sequences and action shots away from the main filming and splice in their work to give the whole action scene continuity. By doing this, they fill in the gaps the first-unit crew didn’t get and speed up the overall production time. That way, we fans get to see it in the theater or on TV faster and with better quality scenes.
Why should Star Wars fans be excited for Sam Hargrave?
Extraction. Did you see it? That alone is a worthy-enough action credential. However Sam Hargrave goes deeper than that. His film credits include Avengers: Endgame, Deadpool 2, The Hunger Games, Atomic Blonde, and Captain America: Civil War among others, and his career in stunt work had him doubling for Hugh Jackman and Chris Evans. He’s been around a few action sequences. He cites influences on his stunts and filming vision are Jackie Chan, John McTiernan, and Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo movies.
“That experience of feeling the explosion, of seeing Jackie Chan’s stuntmen fall and hit these things on the way to the ground and feeling that bone-crunching impact, you just can’t replicate that yet with CG. And so to revisit that with ‘Extraction’ was what excited me as a filmmaker; to give that same feeling to other movie lovers.”
Sam Hargrave on his stunts and filming for Extraction
Season 1 of The Mandalorian saw some really good action sequences, and now with the continued addition of top film-making talent to the team like Sam Hargrave, Favreau is building a new Star Wars dynasty all fans can be proud of. Hargrave is promising some amazing action in Season 2:
“I’m not editing these episodes, but I know the footage we delivered, as a second-unit, they seemed to be happy with. … Just bringing a little bit of experience and knowledge to where we could take it to another level and up the ante. The next season is really, really cool. The way the story arcs is really cool. So we tried to have the action represent that and take it to the next level. I think we did that.”
Hargrave to Collider
Season 2 of The Mandalorian: Who’s ready?
For many fans, especially those unhappy with the sequel trilogies, The Mandalorian is keeping Star Wars alive through its gritty action and more “grown-up Star Wars” perspective. Sam Hargrave brings those qualities to the table for a show that’s already high quality, and that makes us excited.
The Mandalorian: Season 2 debuts this October on Disney Plus. Stay with That Hashtag Show for all your Mandalorian news and reviews! And as always, to learn more about Star Wars, you can also visit the official website at www.starwars.com.
Sourced from: ComicBook.com
