Why ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ is a Must Watch.
Star Wars. 4. 5. 6. Original. Innovative. Game-changing.
The original Star Wars trilogy are absolute must-watch films without even needing to mention them, however; their highly anticipated younger brother Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens has been a skeptical production for many. I’m here to restore faith to the galaxy by clearing up my thoughts on Star Wars 7 and why it has secured an immovable space on my must-watch-list.
Star Wars 7 is a film that left me with a feeling I’d never experienced before. Leaving the cinema, I was filled with a genuine, physical feeling of absolute awe — I reached into my pocket in an attempt to wield the world’s deadliest weapon knows as a ‘lightsaber’, only to find my mobile phone buzzing with messages from fellow peers asking what I thought of the film (I was very vocal about the date at which I was too see Star Wars and threatened anyone who posed the threat of spoilers). The film changed my experience of cinema; the chair I sat in was no longer rigid and dusty, but it was the pilot’s seat of a bb8-wielding X-Wing; the 3D glasses I wore were no longer just glasses, but tools that allowed me to experience the future and past of a planet far far away. It took me on a journey through every emotion, every galaxy and every magical moment felt masterfully crafted and complete, it made me truly wish my life existed within the realms of the Star Wars universe, as opposed to the reality of living on the simple, dull sphere we call ‘Earth’.
The director J.J Abrams did the franchise complete justice and pushed, what I thought was a great franchise, all the way to my favourite. The film completed its job in a corporate sense due to the fact that, I left the cinema feeling like a 6-year-old child, on a quest to pursue my goal of buying every single piece of merchandise I could find related to the film (and I kind of did) but it also left me inspired and motivated as a filmmaker to one day, produce a film on such a scale that affects others in the way that this film affected me.
The editing and special effects were out of this world, going a step further than anything I’ve ever seen, taking exceptional attention to detail whilst expanding on the original concepts used. For example; for the first time in the franchise, the lightsaber’s colour was reflected on the character’s face when they held it up. This made the film feel that much more realistic whilst creating a real power and presence whenever the saber was turned on. It’s just the little things, like the fact that the Jedi lightsaber produced a smooth, ambient light around it that represented the light side whilst the Sith lightsaber produced a harsh, jagged-edged light that sparked frequently, mirroring the the dark side. These fine attentions to detail aided the film in its storyline and level of engagement, coinciding to create a masterpiece.
The storyline, although very similar to Episode 4: A New Hope, took me back to the franchise that I both know and love, whilst keeping its staggering entertainment value by refreshing the old storylines with a modern twist — they clearly implemented the ’if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’ attitude and in this case, it worked in a way that I’d never seen before, allowing the film to develop upon other aspects as opposed to having to focus on a completely new storyline.
The casting choice was pure perfection, utilising the concept of using relatively unknown actors as the main focus really mirrored the ambiguity of who the characters are within the storyline. The soundtrack was pure genius…genius! I’ve found myself listening to nothing but the OST for this movie even months after seeing it for the first time. Every note evokes emotion within me, causing me to reflect back on the film and to look forward into how I can achieve such a feeling for the audience when the time comes for me to choose an OST. From Rey’s elegant theme which mirrors her determined mindset and innocent, youthful presence, all the way to the ensemble of short, sharp stabs melodically assorted to enforce the hostility and immaturity that makes up Kylo Ren; every sound is a masterpiece within its own right.
Even the marketing for the film, the trailers themselves were completely astounding, creating pure hype and anticipation for the film’s release whilst surrounding it in a shroud of secrecy, keeping everything a mystery (the opposite to the Batman VS. Superman trailers).
Everything about Star Wars 7 I love and I could write about it for days. If you haven’t seen any of the Star Wars franchise yet, I highly recommend you go away and watch 4,5,6 (and 1,2,3 if you want to, however these aren’t a necessity to watch) and then get yourself a bowl of popcorn, a soft drink, a copy of Star Wars 7 and a whole wad of money to spend on that must-have post-film merchandise!
