Considering recent cinematic smash The LEGO Movie was positively dripping in pop culture references, it should be of little surprise that those famous building blocks have previous when it comes to paying tribute to classic films, as you can see from the 17 amazing sets we've listed below.
WARNING: If you don't have children already, prepare to want to bear offspring immediately after laying eyes on these beautiful kits...
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Star Wars: Millennium Falcon
Quite simply the granddaddy of movie inspired LEGO kits. Combining a mixture of grey bits of plastic and the baddest spaceship in the Star Wars Galaxy, the kit has become such a cult classic that the original and now discontinued version (the 10179 for any geeks out there) is something of a collector’s item, fetching upwards of £4,000 when auctioned off. You’d be within rights to expect a real spaceship for that sort of cash.
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Back To The Future: The Delorean
This beloved kit is one of a handful of entries which LEGO Ideas (a web community in which users can submit their own ideas) have turned into a reality. Gulf-wing doors, fold-up wheels, two license plates and mini figures of Doc Brown and Marty McFly, it’s all there – might want to avoid accidentally choking on the flux capacitor.
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Spirited Away: Yubaba’s Bathhouse
One that didn’t quite make the cut on LEGO Ideas (all too regretfully) is this intricate homage to anime classic Spirited Away, based around the iconic bath house seen in the film. Still, constructed of 856 bricks, the traditional Japanese brickwork works gloriously well with the bobbled plastic aesthetic.
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Avengers: Helicarrier
Let’s face it, when you’re watching an action film about a scientist-cum-green monster and hammer-wielding Norse God, it’s not worth questioning the science behind the massive floating warships frequented by Shield. This amazingly detailed LEGO take on it, however, currently gathering support on LEGO Ideas, can be explained thusly: it contains a hefty 22,694 bricks, measures 5.4-in by 45-in, and you elevate it by holding it from underneath.
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Jurassic Park: T-Rex and Jeep
Did the glass of water on your desk bubble? Like a T-Rex chasing a human-filled jeep, this Jurassic Park project is on an unrelenting charge towards its target of 10,000 supporters, at which point LEGO officials would have to consider it for a general release, and we hope to the dinosaur Gods that it comes off.
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Monty Python And The Holy Grail
What sort of LEGO set would be complete without a man-eating rabbit and plucky band of egotistical knights on the hunt for eternal youth? Needless to say, despite gathering serious traction in its bid to become an official set, is still a limited edition fan boy piece. Though if we had one gripe we’d include the stubborn-hearted Black Knight, if only to pluck his every limb off.
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Star Wars: Star Destroyer
Another iconic Star Wars kit is the Super Star Destroyer, often weighing a ton and costing a small fortune. Controversially, our favourite assembly of the ship comes from ‘Master Builder’ Jerac, who, as you can see above, assembled it without Lego’s trademark bumpy look, achieving this feat by painstakingly placing each Lego piece upside down and creating a battleship so smooth you’d imagine it was piloted by Michael McDonald.
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Lord of the Rings: The Tower Of Orthanc
YOU SHALL NOT PASS… the LEGO store without purchasing one of their surfeit of official The Lord Of The Ringskits. It’s impossible, we've tried. Which is no bad thing, of course; packing in every major scene from The Shire to The Mines Of Moria, the detail is staggering and the designs dramatic, while for sheer ‘Christopher Lee as a Lego man’ factor, our pick of the bunch has to be The Tower Of Orthanc, where Gandalf does bearded battle with Saruman.
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The Dark Knight Rises: Tumbler chase
Give it the voice of Will Arnett’s douchebag Batman from The LEGO Movie as much you like, this official kit is based around the jet vs tumbler chase from The Dark Knight Rises. Forget Bane and B-Wayne, however, the selling points has to be Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon, firing a gun in anger at Bane’s vehicle and making us all forget that LEGO is for children. Pah.
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Lego Indiana Jones: The Temple Of Doom
As anyone who’s bashed buttons along to the LEGO Indiana Jones video game will attest, the film franchise is a perfect match for those famous building blocks: there’s the exotic scenery, nerve-grappling danger and naturally a man with a whip prop; what more do you need? And this ‘playable kit concerning the mine chase from Temple Of Doom remains a landmark set for films of the film, game and LEGO alike.
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Tron Legacy: The Light Cycle
Until the days when we can hop on a Light Cycle with the ease of a Boris Bike, the two-wheeled beauty will stalk the tracks of our dreams, meaning Peter Mowry’s LEGO designs could be the cathartic tool we need to get over this crippling issue. Built with between 3,000 to 4,000 pieces and 30 inches in length, we wouldn’t even blame you for trying to sit on it.
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Anchorman: Ron Burgundy minifigure
Pirate ship? Space ship? San Diego newsroom? While only two of these are probable Lego sets, we bet Will Ferrell’s moustachioed newscaster wouldn’t look amiss on any of them. Happily, you can put this to the test now a custom figure is on the market. Mad from genuine Lego elements and pad printed, he can turn up to any Lego occasion, clutching his prop bottle of Scotch – just don’t let him get behind the wheel of anything.
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Shaun Of The Dead: The Winchester
Arguably our favourite of all the unofficial LEGO sets, and definitely the most niche, this wonderful set achieved so much fan support that the bods at LEGO had no choice but to consider it. Unsurprisingly, the family friendly company deemed the boozing, swearing and bloody zombie bashing associated with the Edgar Wright classic as slightly off-brand. Like Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in the film, we were batting for it.
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E.T: The Home
‘Detached suburban house. Truck. Small brown alien. Guy with Flowers – wait, what?’ We can only imagine what people would make of this unofficial LEGO kit without any prior knowledge of the Steven Spielberg classic E.T. And what a kit. From a freakishly similar looking E.T, to block bag prop of Reece’s Pieces, it’s a slice of nostalgia in plastic chunks.
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Man of Steel - Smallville brawl
Somebody get Zack Snyder on the phone. Batman vs Superman needn’t cost millions of dollars to make when you have the superheroes both featuring in the Lego world, with pre-made sets to boot. The second major Lego and DC Universe collaboration gave Henry Cavill’s Superman and Michael Shannon’s General Zod a mountain of props. Better than Man Of Steel itself, to be honest.
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The Goonies: Treasure trove
On course to coincide with the 30th anniversary of The Goonies in 2015, this special submission to LEGO Ideas is on course towards the 10,000 votes it needs to be considered by the company and is certainly sailing away with our vote. All the gang are here – Chunk, Mikey, Brand, Stef, Data, Andy, Mouth, Sloth; even the skeletons – and so too is the pirate ship that the rascals uncover.
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Ghostbusters: Ecto-1 Car
We’ve got some good news and bad news. First, the good news: you can buy the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1 car, boasting a removable roof, tracking computer and space for three of the four spectre-scrapping mini-figure heroes that come with the set. The bad news: you’ll probably have to stop playing about with it at some point to sleep/eat.