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J.J. Abrams Explains Why ‘The Force Awakens’ Was Like ‘A New Hope,’ Says Mark Hamill Was Reluctant To Return To ‘Star Wars’

The Playlist Staff
By The Playlist Staff
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Most everyone agrees that “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was the movie the franchise needed, a strong, hugely enjoyable entry that brought back the wonder and magic of George Lucas‘ original trilogy. But let’s face it, a significant part of the story is ripped straight from the pages of “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope,” right down to an even bigger Death Star that’s blown up by pretty much the exact same method. It’s a quibble that many fans have been fine with looking past, and it’s a credit to Abrams’ skill that the movie is so enjoyable that those story beats don’t distract. But speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival with Chris Rock, he admits to borrowing from ‘A New Hope’ and explains why it needed to be done.

“[‘The Force Awakens’] was a bridge and a kind of reminder; the audience needed to be reminded what ‘Star Wars’ is, but it needed to be established with something familiar, with a sense of where we are going to new lands, which is very much what 8 and 9 do,” Abrams said (via IGN). “The weird thing about that movie is that it had been so long since the last one. Obviously the prequels had existed in between and we wanted to, sort of, reclaim the story. So we very consciously — and I know it is derided for this — we very consciously tried to borrow familiar beats so the rest of the movie could hang on something that we knew was ‘Star Wars.’ ”

Essentially, Abrams wanted to introduce new characters into a “Star Wars” world that felt familiar, rather than launching into a completely fresh, new chapter. From a franchise perspective, it’s a smart move, even if narratively it leaves something to be desired. But trying to figure out the balance of managing the old and the new was a core problem as the script was coming together. Michael Arndt (“Inside Out,” “Toy Story 3“) was first hired to write the script before Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan took over (he retains a credit) and last year, he revealed his approach to the story was quite different. Luke Skywalker was much more of a lead character alongside Rey, while Han Solo and Leia were essentially supporting players.

“Early on I tried to write versions of the story where [Rey] is at home, her home is destroyed, and then she goes on the road and meets Luke. And then she goes and kicks the bad guy’s ass. It just never worked and I struggled with this. This was back in 2012,” he said in December. “It just felt like every time Luke came in and entered the movie, he just took it over. Suddenly you didn’t care about your main character anymore because, ‘Oh f–k, Luke Skywalker’s here. I want to see what he’s going to do.’ ”

With those comments in mind, Abrams’ idea of using ‘The Force Awakens’ as connective tissue, with the previous characters passing the torch narratively to the newcomers, makes a lot of sense. Certainly, the impact of Rey’s arrival, not to mention the terrific ending of ‘The Force Awakens’ with Luke’s reveal, would be much different if they were riding together side-by-side in a new adventure right from the start. However, with Luke’s role diminished in ‘The Force Awakens,’ Abrams admitted at Tribeca that Mark Hamill was reluctant to return.

“We knew that getting to Luke was the whole story, and I was desperate to do the next chunk that we knew would not fit into this one movie. But, we knew that we had that ending, but it was a frightening and tricky thing to do, but at first and in all honesty, Mark Hamill was a little resistant,” Abrams said. “Imagine reading ‘Star Wars,’ imagine being Mark Hamill and you get the script for the new Star Wars. ‘Oh the opening is good, page two, oh, three and so on – what the f**k is the going on, I’m three pages before the end, the last page, what?’ He was so kind to do it, and at first he was like, ‘Will it seem silly, will it be a joke that he is standing there?’ I said to him, ‘I don’t think it will.’ I said because the whole movie is about that, it could be a great fun drum roll, up to seeing this guy.”

Abrams’ instinct was certainly correct, and while one can debate whether or not we needed another Death Star (among other elements borrowed from ‘A New Hope’), in the overall scope of establishing the new characters, and addressing the franchise icons, his approach was pretty sharp.

Thoughts? Could Abrams have done it another way? Let us know in the comments section below.

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175 COMMENTS

  2. What on Earth does he mean by "The audience needed to be reminded what Star Wars is"? Since the 80\’s Star Wars has had legions of fans all over the globe. So he\’s ripped off ANH with the thought that every fan of the saga has forgotten it? Does he think Star Wars fans are that stupid? This was the worst Star Wars ever. All because of the lazy script/story. No excuses.

    • There are so many things wrong with this movie, I can\’t put them all here, but if you\’re ready to read a little and you have Instagram, search up starwarslordsith.

  6. I loved it. But then I\’ve never seen star wars. Maybe a few minutes here and there that I managed to catch on the tv as a kid. I do remember having an Ewoks lunchbox though. I remember liking that.

  7. JJ optimises the director of our times: instead of an artistic vision he has a franchise business vision. He can pitch it brilliantly and deliver enough to satisfy, but it won\’t be everlasting

  8. Lets all accept – JJ is a hack. He copies everything that\’s nostalgic and sells it as homage. His last good idea was Cloverfield. From Super 8 to Star Wars – He\’s been paying \’homages\’ to erstwhile classics and stealing left right and centre. The Star Trek sequel was cr-ap. Used the legendary story of Khan and made it seem like boring. Force Awakens – was boring.

  10. Just give us something other than a Deathstar. By that point in the movie, Star Wars fans aren\’t going to forget what "Star Wars" is that they need the exact same third act.

  11. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  12. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  13. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  14. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  15. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  16. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  17. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  18. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  19. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  20. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  21. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  22. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  23. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  24. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  25. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  26. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  27. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  28. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  29. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  30. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  31. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  32. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  33. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  34. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  35. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  36. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  37. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  38. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  39. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  40. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  41. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  42. He took a big huge dump on top of the original trilogy as far as I\’m concerned. He trivialized everything thing that happened by "resetting" the story. "Worst Star Wars ever," indeed!

  43. Was like???? LOL Try, was a carbon copy. I like how we need to be reminded. Hey J.J., try because someone already did the work for you. When is the general public gonna tune into this guys cr@p? just like that 10 Cloverfield Lane movie. He took SOMEBODY ELSES WORK. Google The Cellar, and he did a quick rewrite of the end, tossed in some Cloverfield connections. And like always, pretends to be the creator. This guy is a complete leech. If anybody else did what this toad does, they\’d be sued into the stoneage. He is a tick that feeds on other peoples work. It was not a reminder. From the plans being giving to the robot, to the I\’m your father rehash, to the cantina scene looking for a ship off the planet, to the death star, to the………..well, you get it. this guy is a fraud.

  44. I agree with Raul and Scarper, I thought all of the other\’s were better because they each told an original story. This film was so much a copy of ANH I almost left during the middle of the movie.

  45. sorry, this does nothing to change my mind either. Lazy rip-off of Episode 4. Sooo much potential. Major Fumble. Most Star Wars fans could write way better sequels.

  46. Love those saying it was the worst SW ever. Lets see, 2017…stay home. Im sure that whether you go or not really doesn\’t matter. They made over $2,000,000,000 dollars. I\’s sure you not going isn\’t going to make them say, \’Crap we only made $1,999,999,970!\’

  47. I really like episode 7 but I thought Rays force abilities were a little rushed and Kylo Ren should have not been defeated by Ray at the end. Im happy they shot him because that took him down to Rays level. that is the only think that saved the movie for me. Other then that it was awesome. Empire Strikes back and Revenge of the Sith are still the greatest Star Wars movies and Disney should follow their template. Kylo Ren should be unstoppable in Episode 8 like vader was in Empire.

  48. I thought the new death star definitely detracted from the movie. If you think about it, we\’ve had three death stars in seven movies so far. With Rogue One centering around stealing the original death star plans as a set-up for the chase scene at the beginning of a New Hope, we will have exactly half of the movies released to date centering on this single concept. I have the feeling that the franchise will quickly grow stale in light of such unoriginal anthology films coming up such as the Han Solo and Boba Fett origins movies. This is coming from an avid Star Wars fan who wants nothing more than the series\’ continued success. Love or hate the now defunct expanded universe, the decades of novels, comics and videogames have shown us just how diverse stories set in the Star Wars universe can be. There were obvious story-telling flops, but also a number of gems which many fans hope and pray may some day return to canon status. The producers for these new films should take note that Boba Fett and Han Solo may help make a quick buck for the franchise, but long-term survival will rely on more than rehashing the same plots and characters again and again. Just ask how many people would line up to see yet another Incredible Hulk, Robocop, or Conan the Barbarian.

  49. Consider that what the heroes (and heroines) of the Star Wars saga are fighting is evil incarnate. Evil is never very creative at all, but only imitates and repeats itself. Because of this, using some of the same themes (with variation) is entirely appropriate.

  50. No need for another death star. Star wars has been around and not forgotten. A new approach would of been a greater story instead of the same old death star theme. As for not including Luke Skywalker into the story that was a mistake as well. Making Rey the main hero and including Luke should not of been a struggled script to make. In the New Hope there are many hero\’s whom all have became legends. From Luke, Han, Lia, R2D2, and so on. You could make a movie on every character and their background. That did not take away from the interaction from one another or the movie.

  51. Don\’t believe you. You did the same copying trick in Star Trek. What you did to Star Wars was unforgivable. The movie must be struck from the cannon. Couldn\’t they afford a story writer on a 1Billion dollar movie?

  52. Not to beat a dead horse, but the new movie should have picked up where the original canon based on the books left off rather than creating a whole new story. I was very disappointed as I have read virtually every original canon Star Wars book published and am questioning whether I will even buy and read ANY of the new canon ones that have or will be published. I also agree with the previous content that it was totally unnecessary to remind the audience of what Star Wars is. My daughter\’s family "prepared" their children, ages 6 and 9, by watching all of the 6 movies before going to see the new one.

  53. That is exactly what I figured, that they wanted to establish the new Star Wars on the foundations of the old. The Prequels constantly ripped off the originals but made them into a mockery. The Clone Wars made subtle references in clever ways that allowed both nostalgia and uniqueness. The Force Awakens almost leans towards being a copy, but it manages to stay away. I wanted new Star Wars, but I think this was the best option. It has left me wanting more story. So now that the old is done, we can get on with the new. It\’s similar to what The Legend of Korra did. It shows, "Here is the original story. It was a tough conflict back then, but the new protagonist surpasses it quickly. This was the easy part. There\’s a bigger challenge coming." Episode VII sets up for an even bigger threat than Luke ever faced.

    My fear is that Episode VIII will turn into another Empire Strikes Back. Yes, it needs to be the dark chapter where the New Order retaliates and pushes them to their limits. But I swear, if it and its sequel has Ben Ren-Kylo Solo hunting down his cousin and Rey facing Snoke in the sequel, I\’m going to be mad. Then it will be a complete rip off.

    I\’m excited for Rogue One because of its use of a new character that has been established to be, well, rogue. The story can go either way and doesn\’t necessarily need to affect the main story. She can turn evil or she can be good. There\’s surprise and because her story is separate, it puts more emphasis on her. We get to see prior to Episode IV but we also get the thrill of finding out what happens to this new character.

  55. JJ did a number of mistakes with TFA. The first, of course, was removing Luke Skywalker. If Luke is taking over the film… Let him be the star… How many people would ACTUALLY have been upset to see Grandmaster Luke Skywalker kicking Sith butt?

    Certainly not this Star Wars fan.

  58. Personally, I consider Force Awakens to be like A New Hope for this generation. Yes, it borrowed a lot of elements, but didn\’t Return of the Jedi? In both A New Hope and Return, we have a Death Star, a major character needs rescuing, another major character is killed off, and a small band of fighters (literally small in the case of Return) fight off stormtroopers while the Death Star is being dealt with. Bottom line: As long as it\’s done well, following in the footsteps of what happened before shouldn\’t be a big deal.

  59. LMAO. The franchise needed a derivative dogpile of a movie, with all its awful dialogue, undeveloped characters, puny villains and lame coincidences? I can\’t remember the last time so many people hated a movie that the media was so relentlessly hellbent on shilling for.

  60. This was the least creative of the star wars movies. I don\’t care what the critics said, they are not star wars fans. All the fans I know said this was a weak rip off and I agree.

  61. I was there at a drive in when ANH came out. you always miss the last 5 min because everyone hits the lights and races for the exit. NOT ONE SINGLE car hit the lights till the last credit scrolled. It had that impact on people and I enjoyed the crap out of this one too. The big reveal was well worth the 2 hr wait… and we established the next gen of heroes, can\’t wait to learn the lineage of our new heroes, We already know the deal with the bad guy and sadly dad is no more. Miss you Han. If you trolls don\’t approve, fine, don\’t go to 8 & 9 and spare us your inane bxtching. It\’s truly tiresome.

  63. I enjoyed the movie but did feel a bit slighted since there were so many similarities to ANH. However I realized that this is kind of JJ\’s style. You need not look any further than the Star Trek reboots. First one he pulled Leonard Nimoy back into the mix ( familiar character from the originals), the Second one we basically had the Wrath of Kahn all over again just told in a more modernized way ( but right down to the end where kirk gives his life ( but comes back of course) to save the ship instead of spock. I just hope that the next chapter doesnt turn out to be a new version of empire strikes back but this time Luke is the new yoda…JJ gets a pass for this first run but I\’d love to see something brand new for the remaining ones.

  64. The movie was good despite J.J. Abrams best efforts. His signature inane humour and \’borrowing\’ from A New Hope had me cringing. Thankfully he won\’t be directing episode 8.

  66. Sure all the whiners say it could have been done different.But what do they know thye just sit back and complain. If they arte so mad maybe they should write their own Star Wars script.Good luck with that. I guarantee it will be a total failure. Scarper and Raul are just a prime example of the whiny imbeciles these day that unfortunately think their opinions matter
    . other than that most people liked the new star wars but they for sure need to do something different from this point on.

  67. I pretty much agree with the entire article. If I ever see another Death Star though. It\’s like the Death Star is the new Felix Lighter where it shows up in every James Bond film just with different actors.

  101. I guess I can see for the younger generation to repeat some beats from the first film, and it was brilliant that they pulled off a good movie with doing so–with that said I think it was the suits that ordered it all to go that way. It was the SAFE thing to do, from a money point of view. Reboot this franchise? Reboot the first film, that way we please the masses. It is classic corporate mind stuff. Kasfan and JJ were smart and creative enough to have all the unoriginal stuff seem like side things, even the huge and new Death Star/Starkiller Base. With that said, it isn\’t a stretch to think the FIrst Order would try again in that way, military powers always do upgrades and try new things with old ideas. But I pray, no more of those damn things, and lets not do so much repeating for the rest of the series!

  103. if you think TFA sucked because of "lazy script/story" you obviously didnt like RotJ either because they did the same thing, it was a great movie, get over it

  104. I think many of the action movies these days have week stories. It is more about the action then the story. It seems that often they make the movie around action sequences instead of the other way around. This Star wars was poor story with good action. It was a rip off of the first three movies with much from first star wars. I think they were playing it safe and trying to go back to the feel of the first three movies and it paid off big time. If you are a long time Star Wars fan it was a let down. Interesting that how Rey became an expert pilot, mechanic, and jedi master in 90 minutes. Who needs training?

  105. ^ She lived on a junker planet and built that red speeder she is seen on, so she obviously already has technical prowess and more than likely more than a bit of flight time, as for her Jedi abilities…..The force is strong with her

  106. Put it in this type of retrospec of this is a generation type of film. There are some people i know personally who have never seen star wars. Those are the ones that needed to be reminded of what the core of the story is and will go back and watch the films as we saw them as true fans. The story itself as a diehard fan was a bit slow until about the end of the film but so was a new hope you have to get the audience new and old a chance to get to know the charactors to connect with them. Thats not an easy task to do. This is a whole new story so with that lets see where the story takes us in the next 2 films.

  107. WOW a bunch of self righteous douche canoes here. If you guys could have done a better job then you should of rather than sitting in you moms basement having arguments over frame by frame stills. LOL

  109. I didn\’t really mind the renewed death star concept (although I hope we are done on this front), but everytime they make a death star essential main characters die. I am hoping for two things: better connecting storyline in the sequels, and that Abrams stays away from Indiana Jones 5 (I think he may be trying to go after Harrison Fords characters).

  110. Is your brain dead? To remind the audience what Star Wars is? By rebooting? Apart from the original rip off, the movie goes form scene to scene with the never ending Deux Ex coincidences, copy-pasted characters, it is the worst SW movie. It feels like a faded copy picture of the New Hope, lacking the original\’s soul, but trying to cover it up with lots of coerced intensity…

  111. Abrams played it safe with episode 7 but it did work. Like the new Star Trek its a reboot and a sequel. Abrams once more gives us the familiar and then throws a few twists to the plot to make it new. As for "remembering" what Star Wars is comment. I think its more in regards to shifting the focus away from not so much the prequel as the "Clone Wars." To younger fans Star Wars = Clone Wars. Nothing wrong with that but if you\’re going to do a sequel with characters that haven\’t been seen in action in 30 years the old but familiar route seems to be a sensible option. Episode 7 may seem lazy or safe but sit down to watch it and you find that the new characters Rey, Finn and Poe carry much of the film on their own. In truth rather the new trilogy is a success with fans boils down to the next episodes. Which may be why Abrams got out. He\’s good at starting franchises but have little interest in continuing working on them.

  113. Really dissapointing story.And we all know star wars as fans.I felt ripped off waiting for so long and then watch basically same story with new characters.

  114. First of all, I loved this movie, it brought me back to my childhood. That it borrowed from the original Star Wars is nothing new, Episode One did the same thing, it mirrors the original, just made Luke younger. My problem with Force Awakens is there was not enough Luke. Luke was my hero as a kid, I wanted to be Luke. I wanted Luke to get the girl (until we found out the girl was his sister, of course). I wanted Luke to say something, "So, you finally made it" or "Hey, that\’s mine" or "Where did you find that old thing?" or something. Okay, one more complaint, but this is the same complaint as with the original, really; you create this scary world destroying weapon and it gets blown up in the first episode thus making it less of a threat in the end. Maybe disable it, cripple it, but not destroy it until the end of the trilogy.

  115. Scarper…it\’s not that the legions of fans FORGOT…but what he\’s saying is the last three films (the prequels) were more political and less adventure. Hardcore fanatics like them. Nerdy fans tolerate them. Average people can\’t stand them. (I tolerate them). The general public was probably scared and were relieved to have the ripoff content. Actually, it\’s not unlike how they do every other sequel…except this one at least felt fun!

  116. I loved it. It hit all the right familiar/nostalgical beats that made it feel like Star Wars again. In fact, pretty much everything Disney has been doing since they took over has been to run away from the Prequels/Clone Wars. Rebels and TFA have really set the table weave all new stories into that "classic" feeling era. With Rogue One basically dripping in "A New Hope" being the latest. TFA hitting the similar notes is a small price to pay, being as how it\’s set up everything to move forward: What is Luke doing? Who is Rey? What is Leia going to do? With the Republic blown away, what will the Resistance do? What is Snoke going to do with Kylo Ren? Who is Snoke? (or is that an Ep 8 cliffhanger or Ep 9 revelation?) Will Finn find Rey again? What will Poe and BB-8 be doing? The first act in a 3 act play is introduction of characters and setting up conflict – and TFA did that very well.

  117. SCARPER, Raul, had he gone a different way, then you\’d be complaining because it wasn\’t enough like the originals. He was in a no-win situation because of fanboiz like you that whine about anything that didn\’t fit your (flawed) ideal for the series. Seriously, had it had no connection to the originals, you\’d be typing a comment on here complaining because it didn\’t "feel like Star Wars".

  118. I hear a lot of people about the prequels being bad, those were the movies George Lucas made, the father of starwars, they were not bad , it was StarWars, period , but this was a re-run with the old actors in it to draw me to the cinema to make money, nothing else, Disney paid what ? 6 Billion for the rights so they have to make a profit, so 5 or 6 movies and a hell of a lot merchandise will to the trick.
    This movie was the worst period ever made StarWars movie period, for me it all ended with The return of the Jedi in galaxy far far away !!

  119. I don\’t think he meant the fans need a reminder due to us forgetting about IV, V & VI. I think he was more saying without words that people still want/should to forget episodes I, II, & III. What SWTFA did was remind people of that type of story line and Star Wars and I have to say it did. I don\’t mind that it borrowed heavily from ANH. I thought that it was pretty good. It was fun, entertaining, funny, had good action, and it showed some new vulnerabilities and new strengths. The resistance is now a force to be reckoned with yet still small compared to the first order. While the first order in all of their glory can only seem to muster up bigger & bader versions of somebody\’s old ideas. They have no creativity. And while they have a bad guy who can wield the force and a light saber, he can\’t really control it or himself. So in all of their glory, they are barely hanging on and they are really just a big bully that appears bad so that no one will stand up against them. I thought over all it was a good start and look forward to more and better installments.

  120. Yes, worst one ever. Poorly written. What they did with Luke was unforgivable. If he couldn\’t figure out what to do with Luke because he stole every scene, then they should\’ve given it to a writer who could. Tell a compelling story with these marvelous characters, don\’t "set up a franchise." I\’m a huge Star Wars fan that now feels like I\’ve lost my best friend.

  121. I think it worked only because it Star wars needed a movie that bridged the new and old generations. Granted there isn\’t anything really from the prequels in it but using a familiar setting to introduce the new characters worked wonderfully. Yes you can call it lazy but you cannot say that it didn\’t set things up wonderfully for the next installment where both young and old fans are anxious for it to come out.

  122. The movie was fun. Yes it over borrowed from previous movies. However, for me having young kids they loved it. My older kids that I have watched the Original three they enjoyed it but thought it was too much of the same.

  123. @Dan — The prequels at least had a compelling, mostly original story behind them. All they needed was a more skilled screenwriter to better smooth out all of Lucas\’ ideas. They sure as heck weren\’t glorified fan-fic like TFA was. : P

  124. Nope, it was just lazy writing, period. They lie trying to say people need to be reminded of what Star Wars was, no we know perfectly well what it was. And what they did by copying A New Hope was essentially obliterate what Star Wars is, which is a new adventure and expansion of the fantasy.

    It was a decent action movie, that\’s all. We missed all sorts of opportunities to see the force at work, or change after the Sith were destroyed, or how it make might Luke a unstable mess or nearly a force god, or how the teachings of the Jedi might have changed to incorporate emotion and attachment for a good thing, or how the galaxy and technology takes a leap after liberty was restored, or all sorts of new things.

  125. I think it should needed more effort in the idea of the scripst, reminding us of the old movies, well… The whole point we already know what it is all about the Star Wars series, but for new generations it would be a another different situation, indeed the star killer should have been made different but bring another ideas to the table as of why the starkiller exists, instead of showing only the planet, after it has done its business in one star system, the first order had in hiding 100 mile long planet mover > you can search it in wookiepedia, as it tells on how the core worlds in the lore were moved more than 10,000 years ago and the first order found one and how the rebels could destroy one of those while it is backed up by other stronger fleet commanded by another opponent that is under snoke\’s thumb.

  126. The main problem with the general population was the copy of ANH. My problem with the film was probably the 2nd most discussed problem, and another huge one that not many have noticed. In fact, it gave me a greater appreciation for the prequels after seeing Episode VII. Rey essentially plays Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, R2D2, C3PO, and Princess Leia. She\’s the new captain of the Millenium Falcon, is a jedi, is a translator, and repairs the falcon, and of course the female lead. Her character was far too strong that it wasn\’t remotely realistic. Most of the jedi\’s either die or lose a limb, so I\’m expecting that from Rey. Heck, I\’m sure she didn\’t even need to be rescued. Lastly, the sound in this film was awful. Flat out awful. Some of the explosions were muffled, ships flying by muted, and the speakers in two theaters couldn\’t handle the bass (one of which was Disney\’s El Capitan theater in Hollywood).

  128. wow, i\’ve never seen so many 20somethings kid care that much about macguffins! There\’s good characters that are having fun and it hits all the beats it needed to hit. They had to reboot a "dead" franchise in 2 years and I think they can say mission accomplished. Looking forward to ep VIII

  129. The difference between a new hope and the force awakens is???? he retold the same story. the only difference the obi wan was in the movie from the start, this one the jedi came in the end. Not very creative.

  130. We waited 30 years to see Luke as a Jedi. Very disappointed, and hated Star Killer Base. We needed a new story. Not a reminder of the old. We all have seen the old 1000 times.

  165. Thanks J. J. Binks. Great job at becoming so scared with the Skywalker character that you simply decided to copy and paste pretty much all of A New Hope. I could have busted out the original copy and aw the same movie. Then he insults al the fans by saying that he made the movie so that we can remember the other movies…. like we ever forgot American movie pop culture classics. Thanks again J.J. Binks for ripping off the public and thinking we are all stupid.

  166. I cannot say I did\’t enjoy this movie because I loved it. I do however have some issues with the casting. Kylo Ren what a whoose. Not for one minute did he scare me. THe mask was ludacris. He looked like a Darth Vader wanna be with a black pig snout. Couldn\’t someone at least have tried to get a large imposing actor.
    To bad there will never be another Vader, now he was scary, to me anyway. I was very very very disappointed in this Kylo and he didn\’t have anything going for him to play this part. and I will end by saying Killing Han Solo worst move ever.

  167. As a life-long fan, I don\’t get the hate shown to the prequels or TFA. Granted, there are things I would have done differently if I had made these films, but at the end of the day, Star Wars was always someone else\’s story to tell. Complaining that someone else\’s creative choices ruined the newer films is like telling your friend you can\’t drink the coffee they made because you would have stirred it the other direction.

  168. There\’s no way that this was the worst Stars Wars film. Revenge of the Sith was absolute garbage and should be burned forever on that lava landscape where Anakin and Obi-Wan danced the series into damnation. The film looked great, even the CGI meshed well with the vintage look, but that\’s about the only good thing that we can say about it. The storytelling WAS lazy, so incredibly lazy, but let\’s face it, when has JJ Abrahams ever made a a film that wasn\’t lazy? The embarrassing part about all of this is that we all thought he might do something different this time.

  169. As someone who waited in line to see the original "Star Wars" on the second night it originally opened, I found not only the narrative of the new film weak because of all the self-conscious echoes, but the continuity spotty and the characters nowhere near as well developed. The entire thing seemed highly contrived, despite Abrams\’ obvious abilities. Many of the Star Wars spinoff novels have better plots than the film. Part of the delight of the original was the tremendously ambitious chanes it took in so many ways — all of that was missing here. So — a competently made film, but merely a pale echo of Episode IV. Not opnly the Death Star trope was the same, but dozens of other images and themes, e.g. the isolated Jedi on a lonely desert planet, the cute, loyal little robot, the family romance of light and darkness, etc. — again, well made, but it made my heart sink as every repetition was telegraphed to the audience. A real disappointment.

  171. TFA was a good film but not a good Star Wars film. We\’ve seen the first trilogy – we don\’t need a remake. The problem with TFA is it not interested in the Star Wars Universe and this is very disappointing.Despite the clunkiness of the prequels I think I will look back on them with more fondness than I will TFA

  173. Absolutely the WORST STARWARS ever, I couldnt never imagined it was going to be worse than the prequels, and it is… Lucas revenge for our rants to his prequels is now, complete… Disney and Abrams bring us a movie far worse than the Episode 1

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