Before Star Wars arrived, science fiction film fans had to make do with interesting but not really action-packed adventures from the 1950s such as When Worlds Collide (1951), This Island Earth (1955), The Forbidden Planet (1956), the colourful TV series fun of Star Trek, or with more cerebral films like 2001 – A Space Odyssey (1968), or Silent Running (1972). Even with this archive, there was a dearth of new material in the mid-1970s and all sci-fi geeks really had was the BBC’s continuing Dr Who TV series, which was terribly low budget in its production values even if the scarily ruthless Daleks made it worth watching.
Then, in 1977 it all changed as Star Wars (since renamed Star Wars – A New Hope) simply blew away ALL previous contenders to the sci-fi action crown with its blend of mesmeric imagery, action, special effects and fairy tale-like story line.
Filmed initially at Elstree Studios, in Southern England, it was directed by George Lucas, then in his better patch. Star Wars wowed children and adults alike with its combination of interstellar war-fighting, religious mysticism (with “The Force” as a euphemism for God), and underlying morality in the fight against evil. It was like having Arthurian legend blended into a soulful romantic thriller – think Casablanca (1942) – and then having it all mixed up with war movie action from the likes of The Longest Day (1962), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and The Battle of Midway (1976).
While its two darker sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and The Return of the Jedi (1983), did not quite have the same Earth-shaking effect as the original (save for Princess Leia’s gold bikini), they were regarded by the trilogy’s fans as being better films. Either way, Star Wars became so inspiring to many that the fan base thrives even today.
Such was the demand for more that three prequels appeared: The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) written by original Star Wars creator, George Lucas. Their childishness, exemplified by the stupid character Jar Jar Binks, combined with boringly convoluted story lines resulted in them being critically rubbished after the initial hoopla had died down.
After Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney for a cool US$4 billion, it set about making a blockbuster film, Star Wars – the Force Awakens (2015) to rekindle the original flame of enthusiasm. Thus, with Disney’s hopes running high, this new film has had Lucas kept well away from its script, while the successful Star Trek reboot director, JJ Abrams, was appointed as its director, supported by writer Laurence Kasdan.
So is it any good?
Actually, yes – it is a welcome return to form as it harks back to the revolutionary original Star Wars – A New Hope, albeit that a major part of its plot seems to have been lifted from it for a re-run.
Most of the original characters are present, even though some of the old guard are looking a little shaky on their feet – and in their lines. Harrison Ford’s Han Solo is one of those whose sardonic wit is delivered a tad slower nowadays. Meanwhile, Princess Leia is no longer the object of desire for teenage boys, but rather a wise old general commanding rebel forces against a new Fascist-like foe: The First Order.
Leia was always a feisty girl who showed by example that women can be just as good as men. Likewise this new movie turns this feminist concept on its head and shows that females can be just as bad as well. It has a malevolent female manager type in a mask giving out her dictatorial orders to the storm troopers in her charge.
We cannot give way too much of the plot except to note that younger characters have arrived. A new rolling robot droid called BB-8 effectively usurps the role of R2-D2 though the latter remains in the film, as does the quirkily camp C3P0. The new characters include a scavenging waif called Rey, played by Daisy Ridley who seems to have a little too good a knowledge of spacecraft engineering. No doubt her back story and just how she came to be scavenging on the desert-like planet of Jakku, will be explained in later films. The other one is a young British black male actor, John Boyega, whose character’s story would give too much away.
A new merciless masked villain called Kylo Ren takes up the reins from Darth Vader – although he only looks and sounds scary, with a Javier Bardem-style voice, when he has his helmet on. He reports to an even bigger villain (in size as well as figuratively speaking) who looks a tad too much like Harry Potter’s nemesis, Voldemort, for comfort.
I don’t fancy a poke with that: light sabres cook the snow
For those Star Wars militaria specialists out there, the traditional weapons are still being used: from Chewbacca’s laser crossbow to Han Solo’s Mauser Broomhandle pistol-based blaster. The only laser blasters that look different now are those of the Storm Troopers: their Sterling submachine-gun-based laser guns seem to be considerably souped-up.
Light sabres will always be part of the plot, of course. These are, if you excuse the pun, a double-edged sort of a weapon. For while they are excellent cutters, they can also cauterise any wound, saving a fatal loss of blood. Mind you, get poked with one and you do get cooked from the inside out. Just watch the steam rise as one gets put in the snow.
The flying space machines are mainly the same with the X-wings still fighting off Tie fighters in their new black-and-white livery during dog-fighting action spectaculars that may be a little fast to follow for some. The Millennium Falcon makes a key return…but we cannot say more except to note that its four-barrelled World War 2 Pom-pom-style laser cannon gets to fire to good effect.
The film also has a little humour to punctuate its length. However, there is also some sadness to go with the laughs. Such is life.
Making a misstep and not making the most of Max
While most of he film is good, there are one or two major complaints. As already indicated, the film’s plot is a little too similar to Star Wars – A New Hope for comfort. Also there is a criminal underuse of the venerable Swedish/French actor Max Von Sydow. Oh yes – one other thing – at times the storm troopers do not seem to march in step – even if the dubbed-in soundtrack says they are.
George Osborne gets the credit as well as the computer staff
As the credits roll after an enjoyable evening with what seems to be an army of technical artists in the listing, there is one surprise at the end. The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon George Osborne, receives a specific and grateful acknowledgement.
Having previously proved his space cadet credentials via his support for Reaction Engines’ revolutionary air-breathing rocket engine concept, young George further added to his space stripes by cutting taxes for film productions, effectively allowing this new Star Wars film to be made in the UK. As such, for doing so, and we assume here that no-one pulled the Jedi mind control technique on him, may the force be with young George…even if some suspect he might be part of the “Dark Side”.
Seradata’s final rating: 8.5 out of 10.
Star Wars – The Force Awakens delivers on plot and action and is a welcome return to a more adult adventure. If it had not borrowed so much of the original, it would have matched that excellent film’s 9.5 rating. (The original Star Wars only missed out on a 10 due to Princess Leia’s duff ear-muff hairstyle and its cloying sentimentality at the end.)
