Cast: Daisy Ridley -
Rey
Mark Hamill -
Luke Skywalker
Carrie Fisher -
Leia
Billie Lourd -
Lieutenant Connix
Harrison Ford -
Han Solo
Oscar Isaac -
Poe Dameron
Adam Driver -
Kylo Ren
Gwendoline Christie -
Captain Phasma
Peter Mayhew -
Chewbacca
Domhnall Gleeson -
General Hux
John Boyega -
Finn
Simon Pegg -
Unkar Plutt
Kenny Baker -
R2-D2
Lupita Nyong'o -
Maz Kanata
Andy Serkis -
Supreme Leader Snoke
Filming Locations: Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The film has a budget of 200 million dollars which is the highest budget of a Star Wars film so far. See more »
Quotes:
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User Review
Author:
Rating: 10/10
This review is going to be spoiler-free (JJ had us sign a clause where
we basically agreed to getting clubbed to death by Ewoks if we wrote
even the tiniest spoiler), so let me try to elaborate on my thoughts on
the film without going into any of the story details.
First off, the film is incredibly fast paced which came as a big
surprise to me, because I expected a longer intro and a much slower
build up (and I was actually kind of disappointed before I managed to
adjust to the film's tempo). The editing - thank God - is not of the
fit-inducing, quick-cut kind that seems to be so popular among many
younger directors, so I was able to fully enjoy even the more hectic
moments. The action scenes are obviously spectacular (how could they
not be) - but despite my statement that this is a very fast film, TFA
doesn't just consist of one action scene after another. As Abrams
already showed with his Star Trek reboot, he clearly knows that there
can be too much of a good thing, and while he propels the story forward
at a swift pace and there sure is plenty of action in his movie, he
uses the obligatory space battles, light-saber fights and chase scenes
sparingly enough to make them count: as a result, they have an impact
and feel truly epic.
It's that restraint which elevates TFA over the prequels, and it's also
the reason why Abrams was such a perfect choice for this insanely
prestigious project: he has an almost Spielbergian gift for
storytelling with a lot of heart. And it's there that TFA truly
exceeded my expectations: the film manages to touch you and move you.
But the director pulled off another trick that was key to the success -
or failure - of this gargantuan endeavor: credible world-building. I'm
an effects guy, and when I talk about world-building in a Star Wars
film, I have to geek out a little on the special effects side of the
film (which, in this case, is only fair - since the Star Wars movies
pretty much invented special effects as we know them - and take them
for granted - today). So if you're not particularly interested in that
aspect of the new film, you might want to skip the following paragraph.
Unlike in the prequels, there is not a second in TFA where you might
mistake the film for a video game; every shot, every gravity defying
chase or fight scene, every spacecraft and every creature as well as
every planet: it all has a believable physicality to it that makes the
film feel grounded in reality and alive right from the first frame.
Naturally, there is a lot of CGI - but it's never distracting. Abrams
was smart enough to almost always blend real backgrounds, miniatures or
even life-sized models with computer generated images, and the
combinations appear seamless. The Millennium Falcon, for example, IS
real (they apparently built the whole damn thing), and once it starts
moving, you can't tell where the model ends and the CGI begins.
The other (a tad less technical) side of The Force Awakens' successful
world-building is rooted in the simple - but very effective - script.
The universe we get to know in TFA is not just richly detailed in a
visual sense: this world is so credible and feels so complete because
it has an equally rich and detailed history, even a mythology, and
Abrams' and Kasdan's script cleverly uses our - the audience's -
knowledge of that world's past to its advantage. One of TFA's biggest
strengths is that there is a sense of mystery and wonder that permeates
the story throughout the whole film, because unlike us (slight spoiler
ahead), the new characters don't exactly know what happened in their
universe in the past. They either grew up with myths or even downright
propaganda and completely distorted versions of the truth.
So this new Star Wars adventure is also a journey of discovery for its
new protagonists, and I was even reminded a bit of the Hobbits' journey
through Middle Earth when we see Rey, Finn and Poe discover the remains
(not only in the physical sense) from battles (and films) long past.
Our young heroes' ignorance is also the source of much of the film's
humor, and it is key to the great chemistry and banter between Han and
Finn. Speaking of which, the cast - old and new - is marvelous.
Forgotten are the bland characters and wooden performances from the
prequels (sorry, George) or the often cringe-worthy dialog (sorry
again, George: you'll be forever in my heart as the visionary mind who
created Star Wars). Especially Ford nails it as the grizzled, battle-
proved (and slightly cranky) Han Solo, and newcomers Boyega, Ridley,
Driver, Isaac (and the many others) fit into Star Wars 7 as if they had
always belonged to that universe.
To sum up my feelings: Imagine a world (in a galaxy not so far away)
where 1999 came and went, and no Phantom Menace was unleashed unto the
beloved Star Wars universe. Imagine a world that had never been
introduced to annoying Gungans like Jar Jar Binks or a petulant child
Darth Vader: a world, where the love for Star Wars had remained pure.
Now try to imagine yourself as a die-hard Star Wars fan in that world,
getting to watch the first direct sequel to 'Return of the Jedi' after
32 years - and the film turns out like everything you ever wished for.
That, my dear friends and neighbors, is my first impression of Star
Wars: The Force Awakens. Naturally, I also really, really wanted to
like the film, but that wasn't a task that was hard to accomplish. Upon
first viewing (and fueled by a lot of nostalgia) I'd rate it 10 stars
out of 10.
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