May The Film Be With You

** WARNING **  If you have not seen this film DO NOT read this blog!  Unless you don’t care, then read away…

Directed by:  JJ Abrams                      Released:  December 18, 2015

Star Wars – The Force Awakens shattered all box office records.  On opening weekend, by December 20th,  box office receipts totaled $247,966,675.  Worldwide box office receipts on February 14, 2016 were a stunning $2,026,638,964!  Yes, billions, with a “b”.  As of April 3, 2016, U.S. box office receipts alone were an incredible $934,898,148.

It all began for me in 1977 when I watched Star Wars – A New Hope at a drive-in theater.  The screen was massive, which only added to the intensity of the film.  Enormous ships, spectacular action, amazing sound effects and music, plus all of the creative characters sucked me into an incredible fantasy world, created by George Lucas.

Fast forward almost 40 years later (we’ll just forget about the “prequels” for now), JJ Abrams has brought the magic back.  Lawrence Kasdan, JJ Abrams, and Michael Arndt collaborated to write the script for Episode VII.  I acknowledge that the plot isn’t the best, and the acting isn’t Academy Award winning, but Abrams recreated the excitement of the original films.  Once again, spectacular special effects, an excellent score, and creatures with surprising realism, all blend to transform you into another place and time.

JJ Abrams did succeed in creating a movie that lived up to the originals.  With the exception of one sequence on Han Solo’s freighter, the script flowed well and kept the viewer engaged.  He weaved comedy with action and maintained a family friendly format as Lucas did with the previous movies.

David Acord, sound editing supervisor, built on the Academy Award winning sound effects created by Lucasfilm for the originals.  The sound of the lightsabers, Millenium Falcon, X-wings, and Tie-fighters brought back the feel of the originals, helping make a seamless transition to the new story-line.  Acord weaved in new bits for characters, weapons, and vehicles that complemented the existing, well-known, sounds fans love.  In the video below, Acord’s team brings back the Millenium Falcon’s iconic engine noise, yet it’s mixed with new sounds that indicate there have been changes to the Falcon since we last saw it.

We have all heard the iconic sounds of R2-D2 and other droids from the films.  BB-8, the new star droid does not have digitally created sounds.  He is an amalgamation of two actors who provided their voice talents to the droid.  Foley artists blended the actors’ voices to complete BB-8’s “voice”.

 JJ Abrams uses camera angles in this film to emphasize the scale of the setting.  Crashed Star Destroyers, AT-AT’s, and characters are intermingled in such a way the viewer feels small, which makes the Star Wars universe that much larger.  He used distance shots to sell the scale of the locations.  Camera’s travel with vehicles and characters as they traverse the screen.  Vehicles that we’ve seen up close in previous films are suddenly reduced to specks and actors are set against vast landscapes.  George Lucas demonstrated scale in his movies, but Abrams took it up a notch.  The whole movie felt large and expansive.  The trailers for the movie whetted our appetites for the action.

Abrams bridged the new with the old in Rey’s vision where she is transported back to Cloud City where Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker are fighting.  In this sequence Rey is witnessing events linked to her family and recalling what happened when her family left her.  Abrams used jump cuts and fades in creating the vision.  A fantastic addition to this sequence happened when we hear the voices of Yoda, young Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and old Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness).  Using technology to trim previous recordings of Guinness, Abrams lent credibility to the moment. This was an important transport through time and space for the story.

John Williams, Academy Award winning composer of many films, including all of the previous Star Wars projects, is back for Episode VII.  He incorporated existing themes into the movies new score.  When the force is the central character the “force theme” plays.  Kylo Ren’s theme is similar to Darth Vader’s imperial march.  Williams is a force of his own when composing a score.  He records the music live to the final edited film as it plays.  His method produces smooth transitions and a dynamic edge.   Each theme is character of its own that helps to tell the story.

This movie is so full of symbols it’s hard to keep track of them all.  Abrams and his crew have engorged the movie with symbols that link the story to the past.  Some symbols, such as the rebel pilot doll in Rey’s place, Luke’s lightsaber, and even Kylo Ren’s mask, all have links to the previous movies.  The use of symbolism wasn’t just used to fill the film with easter eggs but to add depth to the story.  My favorite symbol of the movie was the recreation of this iconic scene from A New Hope.

One of the best costumes is Simon Peggs character Unkar Plutt.  Although Peggs doesn’t play a main character, a lot of work went into making Unkar Plutt look and act as real as possible.  This suit is one example of where rubber and animatronics combined with the actor to produce a convincing effect.  Although he wasn’t a main character, Peggs’ character was later revealed to be important to Rey’s story.  Episode VII doesn’t elaborate on how important Unkar Plutt is yet, but Peggs performance showed Plutt has more depth than just a great costume.

 

Two exciting settings in the film were actually of ships flying.  Abrams changed how “Hyperspace” looked when the Millenium Falcon made a jump.  Although it is similar to Star Trek‘s “Warp Speed”, Abrams added drama to the scenes where this is played.  In one of my favorite scenes, an array of Tie Fighters are approaching with the setting sun behind them.  During the scene you can see heat waves and the movement of the fighters.  The lighting  is very dramatic and makes you feel the danger of the ships’ approach.

 

For me, this movie brought back the joy of my childhood.  The build-up to the release date was excruciating.  I know that even when I’m 90 I will continue to love these movies.  My only sadness comes from the Disney Company wanting to churn out a new film every year.  Their desire for profits could potentially ruin the franchise.  I look at each film as it’s own entity, so a good film will still be a good film.  But too much of a good thing will still be bad.  Hopefully, Disney will be mindful of the Force and not let it turn them to the Dark Side.

SOURCES:

IMDb – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2488496/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Star Wars Meme – http://www.theverge.com/a/star-wars-meme

YouTube – https://youtu.be/DglBQf3U5Xs, https://youtu.be/SzoB2bD6S10, https://youtu.be/sGbxmsDFVnE, https://youtu.be/Mu5oN7y9-DY

Star Wars – The Force Awakens, Blu-Ray & Special Features, Walt Disney Company, 2016