Lego Star Wars Death Star Trench Run diorama review

Stay on target with the newly released Lego Star Wars Death Star Trench Run diorama set. This is one of a set of three dioramas recreating iconic scenes from the original trilogy, and while the other two are pretty cool, this is absolutely the one to own.

The Lego Star Wars Death Star Trench Run diorama recreates one of the most memorable scenes from the first Star Wars movie, where Luke is racing down the Death Star trench towards the thermal exhaust port, trying to reach his target and destroy the superweapon before he can be intercepted by Darth Vader’s TIE fighter squadron.

You can pick up the Lego Star Wars Death Star Trench Run diorama for $59.99, which makes it the cheapest of the three diorama kits in the set. After having spent an evening putting this impressive little kit together, it’s jumping straight into our list of the best Lego Star Wars sets.

Before we make our final approach and dive into the Trench Run review, be sure to check out our Lego Star Wars deals hub to see the latest offers on Lego Star Wars kits. We’ve found some great savings, so you won’t need to indebt yourself to Jabba the Hutt to grab your favorite Lego sets.

Lego Star Wars Death Star Trench Run: Build

• 665 pieces
• Can be quite complex in places
• Instruction book is beautiful, but occasionally a bit vague

We had a blast putting together the Lego Star Wars Death Star Trench Run Diorama, though it was a little more challenging than we expected. Considering the small size of the kit, it’s a surprisingly involved and intricate piece to build. With 665 total pieces, it’s still something that you can easily get through in one session though – we built ours over the course of a couple of hours.

You start by assembling the lower frame, complete with the display label that holds the iconic Star Wars quote “The Force is strong with this one” uttered by bad guy supremo Darth Vader during this scene. From there on, the bulk of the build involves building the trench floor and walls.

Image 1 of 3

To recreate the mish mash of greebles and sci-fi bits that covered the actual Death Star trench model in the movie, Lego has pulled out all the stops by using a huge variety of weird and rarely seen Lego pieces. Constructing the trench almost feels like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, only each piece is a smaller jigsaw that you have to assemble first.

Once you’ve built the floor and walls, you attach them together using two long support pieces that slot into the back, making the structure very sturdy. From there, it’s on to the finishing touches – constructing the turbo laser tower, Luke’s X-Wing, and the three pursuing TIE Fighters. Before you know it, you’re done and the iconic scene is brought to life before your very eyes.

Lego Star Wars Death Star Trench Run: Design

• Excellent display piece
• Tons of detail

The completed Death Star Trench Run diorama is a beautiful little display piece that would look excellent on the shelf in any Star Wars fan’s home. The black border helps to frame the scene and the display plate on the front with Darth Vader’s quote is a wonderful touch. It’s also not too big, so it’s easy to fit on a display shelf.

The trench itself is super highly detailed thanks to all that hard work that goes into its construction – it really does look like we remember it from the movie. The TIE Fighters and X-Wing are instantly recognizable despite their tiny size and the relatively small number of pieces they’re constructed from. 

Image 1 of 4

We’re always impressed by the mini versions of kits that Lego manages to create. There are even custom pieces specific to this kit (as far as we can tell), like the flat printed piece that looks like the top of R2D2’s head which sits on top of the X-Wing. That’s exactly the kind of attention to detail that we love to see in dioramas and display pieces. There are other neat details too, like the articulating turbo laser turret which can spin around to track the X-Wing, and the green translucent rods which represent the blaster fire from the TIE Fighters.

There are no minifigures that come with the Death Star Trench Run Diorama, which might be disappointing to some, but they wouldn’t fit with the scale of the scene and would look a bit awkward just stood off to the side, so we can see why Lego opted to leave them out here.

Should you buy the Lego Star Wars Death Star Trench Run?

In a word, yes. If you’re an older Star Wars fan who wants to relive one of the classic moments from the original Star Wars movie, then this set is perfect for you. The kit is great fun to build and can be done over the course of an evening (or two if you want to savor it). And when you’re done, you’re left with an absolutely stunning display piece that can take pride of place on your display shelf.

It’s quite a complicated build though, and it comes with an 18 age rating accordingly, so we wouldn’t recommend it for younglings or inexperienced builders. 

What other Lego Star Wars sets should you consider?

If the Death Star Trench Run set doesn’t do it for you, then there are plenty of other Lego Star Wars sets out there to suit your desires. If you’re looking for another diorama piece, then there are two more to check out: the Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama which costs $89.99, and the Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama which is slightly cheaper at $79.99.

If you’re a huge fan of the ships in this scene, but want to see them on a grander scale then you’re in luck as you can pick up both the Lego Star Wars TIE fighter and Lego Star Wars X-Wing kits at the moment too. Check out our reviews to see what we thought of them and if they’re right for you.

Finally, if you a diorama type but on a much grander scale, then you can grab the stunning Lego Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina. This set comes in at a whopping $349.99, but it’s absolutely massive and comes with a huge array of minifigures and details showcasing the most popular bar in the hive of scum and villainy that is Mos Eisley.