Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens is a 2015 American epic science fiction/space opera action film directed by J. J. Abrams. The seventh installment in the Star Wars (excluding the future upcoming spin-offs), it stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow, with Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker reprising their roles from the original trilogy. The story is set approximately 30 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).
The Force Awakens is the first film in the planned Star Wars sequel trilogy announced after the Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012. It is produced by Abrams, his long-time collaborator Bryan Burk, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the original trilogy films Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Abrams and Kasdan rewrote an initial script by Michael Arndt, who also wrote the story treatment. John Williams returns to compose the score, and Star Wars creator George Lucas serves as creative consultant.
The Force Awakens is produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Lucasfilm and Abrams' Bad Robot Productions, and will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Second-unit filming began in April 2014 in Abu Dhabi and Iceland, with principal photography taking place between May and November 2014 in Abu Dhabi, Ireland and Pinewood Studios in England. The Force Awakens was released on December 17, 2015. Filming began in April 2014 in Abu Dhabi and Iceland, with principal photography also taking place in Ireland and Pinewood Studios in England.
The Force Awakens premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 2015, four days before its release in North America and more than ten years after the release of Revenge of the Sith, the last live-action Star Wars film. Critics compared it favourably to the original trilogy, praising its action sequences, characters, acting, special effects, musical score and emotional drama, though some criticized it as derivative. Disney backed the film with an extensive marketing campaign; it has broken many box office records, including the highest-grossing worldwide opening of all time and the fastest film of all time to reach $1 billion. The film broke various box office records and became, unadjusted for inflation, the highest-grossing installment in the franchise, the highest-grossing film in North America, the highest-grossing film of 2015, and the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide gross of over $2 billion and a net profit of over $780 million. It received five nominations at the 88th Academy Awards and four nominations at the 69th British Academy Film Awards, where it won the award for Best Special Visual Effects.
It was followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi in December 2017 and Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, which is scheduled for release in December 2019.
Plot[]
| Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
Approximately 30 years after the destruction of the second Death Star, Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi, has disappeared. The First Order has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire and seeks to eliminate Luke and the Republic. The Resistance, backed by the Republic and led by Luke's twin sister, Leia Organa, opposes them while searching for Luke to enlist his aid.
Resistance pilot Poe Dameron meets village elder Lor San Tekka on the planet Jakku to obtain a map to Luke's location. Stormtroopers under the command of Kylo Ren destroy the village and capture Poe. Poe's droid BB-8 escapes with the map, and encounters a scavenger, Rey, at a junkyard settlement. Ren tortures Poe and learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187, refusing to kill for the First Order, frees Poe and they steal a TIE fighter to escape; Poe dubs FN-2187 "Finn". They crash on Jakku, and Finn loses Poe. Assuming that Poe had died in the crash, he travels to the village where encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them and launches an airstrike. The three flee the planet in a stolen, rundown ship, the Millennium Falcon. Rey can manage to pilot the Falcon while Finn takes control of the turrent and they work together to destroy the two pursuing TIE fighters and leave the planet.
The Falcon, however, is later captured by a much larger ship, piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca, who reclaim their former vessel. Han explains that Luke tried to rebuild the Jedi Order but went into exile after a student turned to the dark side and destroyed all that Luke had built. Gangs seeking to settle debts with Solo board the ship and attack, but the five escape in the Falcon. The criminals inform the First Order of Han's involvement. The Falcon crew view BB-8's map and determine it is incomplete. They travel to the planet Takodana and meet with cantina owner Maz Kanata, who can help BB-8 reach the Resistance, but Finn wants to flee on his own. Rey is drawn to a vault and finds the lightsaber that belonged to Luke and his father Anakin Skywalker before him. She experiences disturbing visions and flees into the woods after refusing Maz's guidance to the force. Maz gives Finn the lightsaber for safekeeping.
At the First Order's Starkiller Base, a planet converted to a superweapon capable of destroying star systems, Supreme Leader Snoke orders General Hux to use it for the first time. It destroys the Republic capital and its fleet and Hux declares the end of the Republic. Snoke tells Ren that to overcome the call of the Light Side of the Force, Ren must kill his father, Han Solo. The First Order then attacks Takodana. Han, Chewbacca, and Finn are saved by Resistance X-wing fighters led by Poe, but Rey is captured and taken to Starkiller Base. Ren interrogates Rey, but she resists his mind-reading. Discovering she too can use the Force, she escapes her cell with a Jedi mind trick.
Leia arrives at Takodana with C-3PO and reunites with Han and Chewbacca. At the Resistance base on D'Qar, BB-8 finds R2-D2, who has been inactive since Luke's disappearance. As Starkiller Base prepares to fire on D'Qar, the Resistance devises a plan to destroy it by attacking a critical facility. Leia urges Han to return their son alive. Using the Falcon, Han, Chewbacca, and Finn infiltrate the base. They force Captain Phasma to lower its shield before disposing of her in the trash compactor, find Rey, set explosives, and encounter Ren. Han confronts Ren, calling him by his birth name, Ben, and implores him to abandon the dark side. Though conflicted for a moment, Ren kills his father. Enraged, Chewbacca shoots Ren in the side and sets off the explosives, allowing the Resistance X-wing fighters to attack and start a chain reaction that destroys Starkiller Base.
The injured Ren then pursues Finn and Rey to the surface. Finn battles Ren with the lightsaber, but is overpowered and badly wounded in the struggle. Rey takes the lightsaber and fights Ren, overpowering him with the Force before they are separated by a fissure. Snoke orders Hux to evacuate and bring Ren to him to complete his training, while Rey and Chewbacca escape with Finn in the Falcon. On D'Qar, the Resistance celebrates while Leia, Chewbacca, and Rey mourn Han's death. R2-D2 awakens and reveals the rest of the map, which Rey follows with R2-D2 and Chewbacca to an island on a distant planet. She finds a cloacked figure who reveals to be Luke Skywalker. Rey then presents him with his father's lightsaber as the credits role.
| Spoiler Warning: All spoilers have been stated and have ended here. |
Cast[]
- Daisy Ridley as Rey, a scavenger on the desert planet Jakku. Ridley said: "She's completely self-sufficient and does everything for herself, until she meets Finn and an adventure begins."
- John Boyega as Finn, a redeemed First Order stormtrooper. On receiving the role, Boyega stated that he learned he obtained the part "over a nice breakfast in Mayfair" where he stated Abrams exclaimed, "John, you're the new star of Star Wars." Boyega stated: "When we find Finn, he's in incredible danger. And the way he reacts to this danger changes his life, and launches him into the Star Wars universe in a very unique way." Of Finn, Boyega has stated: "He's been taught about Luke, he knows about his history. For him it's like joining the army and then learning about one of the great enemies of your country." He is in possession of the lightsaber that once belonged to Luke Skywalker, and to Anakin Skywalker before him.
- Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, a dark warrior strong with the Force, originally a member of the Knights of Ren, and commander of the First Order.
- Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, a Resistance X-wing pilot. Isaac said: "He's the best freaking pilot in the galaxy... He's been sent on a mission by a certain princess, and he ends up coming up across Finn, and their fates are forever intertwined."
- Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker . Regarding Luke, Han and Leia, Abrams stated: "They'd be as old and as mythic as the tale of King Arthur. They would be characters who they may have heard of, but maybe not. They'd be characters who they might believe existed, or just sounded like a fairy tale."
- Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Of Han, Ford has stated that: "He does not aspire to the position of Obi-Wan, nor do I aspire to be some New Age Alec Guinness. His development is consistent with the character, and there are emotional elements which have occasioned his growth," while too adding that, "There's a lot of the rogue still left in Solo. Some things don't change."
- Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa. She is referred to as General Organa, rather than Princess Leia. After the events of Return of the Jedi, she is described as "being a little more battle weary, a little more broken hearted." Fisher herself describes Leia as "solitary. Under a lot of pressure. Committed as ever to her cause, but I would imagine feeling somewhat defeated, tired, and pissed", while Abrams revealed: "The stakes are pretty high in the story for her, so there's not much goofing around where Leia's concerned [...]"
- Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca.
- Anthony Daniels as C-3P0. Daniels communicated that the piece was open to experimentation from the actors, to which he stated, "Abrams made a field, a playpen where you were allowed to take your time and suggest things [...]"
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2.
- Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke , Kylo Ren's master, leader of the First Order and a powerful figure of the dark side. Serkis describes the being as "[...] quite an enigmatic character, and strangely vulnerable at the same time as being quite powerful". Of Snoke's appearance, Serkis added: "He is large. He appears tall. And also just the facial design – you couldn't have gotten there with prosthetics [...] Without giving too much away at this point, he has a very distinctive, idiosyncratic bone and facial structure."
- Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, leader of the primary First Order base, Starkiller Base. While describing Hux, Gleeson stated: "He's pretty ruthless. A strong disciplinarian would be a mild way of putting it." Gleeson continued by juxtaposing Hux with that of Driver's Ren: "He's kind of opposite Kylo Ren. They have their own relationship, which is individual and unusual. One of them is strong in different ways than the other. They're both vying for power."
- Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, an officer in the First Order
- Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata, a pirate on Jakku. Nyong'o has stated of Kanata: "She's lived over a thousand years. She's had this watering hole for about a century, and it's like another bar that you'd find in a corner of the Star Wars universe."
- Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Korr Sella.
- Tim Rose as Admiral Ackbar.
- Kiran Shah as Teedo, a scavenger on Jakku who rides a semi-mechanical Luggabeast
Additionally, Max von Sydow, Christina Chong, Greg Grunberg, Billie Lourd, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Cecep Arif Rahman, Amybeth Hargreaves, Leanne Best, Jessica Henwick, Warwick Davis, Pip Andersen, Miltos Yerolemou, Crystal Clarke, Simon Pegg and D.C. Barns are cast in unspecified roles.
Reception[]
Box office projection[]
With an estimated budget of $200 million ($423 million including marketing, printing and advertising costs, and making and distribution of home videos), The Force Awakens is predicted to be a major box office success. Reports in April 2015 from The Hollywood Reporter and Amboee Brand Intelligence predicted the film would earn up to $540 million worldwide for its opening, breaking the record for the biggest worldwide opening (held by Jurassic World with $524.1 million in June 2015), as well as breaking the record for the biggest U.S. opening (also held by Jurassic World, with $208.8 million). They also believed that The Force Awakens would have the widest release ever, across 4,500 theaters in North America (a record held by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse with 4,468 theaters). Box office analyst Phil Contrino likened the film to Avatar (2009), which opened to $77 million in North America and went on to earn $2.8 billion worldwide, saying The Force Awakens would earn $1 billion "without blinking" and could cross $2 billion. In August 2015, Deadline.com predicted an opening weekend of $615 million worldwide could be possible, including a $300 million opening in North America. In November, Deadline reported opening weekend projections were at $185–210 million. In December, capital analyst Barton Crockett suggested that the film will be the first to gross over $3 billion worldwide at the box office.
Box office[]
As of January 3, 2016, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has grossed $740.3 million in North America and $770.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.510 billion, against a budget of $200 million. The film is currently the third highest-grossing film of 2015, the highest-grossing film released by Walt Disney Studios, the second highest-grossing film in North America, and the sixth highest-grossing film of all time. It was the 24th film in cinematic history to surpass $1 billion worldwide, standing as the fastest film to surpass the mark, doing so in 12 days.
Critical reaction[]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens received nearly universal acclaim from both critics and audiences. The only dissenting voices were those who criticized the film's safe plot (with many original trilogy assets reused) and those who criticized the film's pacing.[1] Apart from such considerations, the reception has been highly positive. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes it has a 93% approval rating, based on 316 reviews, with a rating average of 8.2 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Packed with action and populated by both familiar faces and fresh blood, The Force Awakens successfully recalls the series' former glory while injecting it with renewed energy.".[2] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[3] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale; women, under-25s and under-18s gave it an "A+", while 98% of audiences gave it an "A" or "B".[4] Caillou Pettis of Caillou Pettis Movie Reviews scored the film an "A+" stating "It was definitely my favorite movie of 2015".
Poll[]
To see the full results of this poll, click here.
- ↑ Podgorski, Daniel (2016). Sudden Awakening: A Quick Article on the Quick Pacing in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
- ↑ (2015) Rotten Tomatoes: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.
- ↑ (2015) Metacritic: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.
- ↑ (2015) Cinemascore: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.