![]() (He is also, lest we forget, responsible for directing the most colourlessly competent entry in the Mission: Impossible series.) He didn’t grow up watching Depression-vintage Flash Gordon serials, he grew up watching Star Wars – and, of course, reruns of Star Trek, another beloved and beleaguered franchise on which he did an adequate enough rehab job to land this gig. The examples of the Stevens and Korda films – both propagandistic, boisterous pieces of Victoriana extolling the image of Brave Little England as she prepared for the Blitz – are most pertinent to A New Hope, for they are the sort of things that a young George Lucas would have watched on television in suburban Modesto, lifting their brash can-do heroism and acrobatic derring-do for the children of ’77.Ībrams is 49, which puts him right smack in the middle of the generational cohort I discussed above. (The nearest equivalent might be the Rocky saga, recently revived to deserved acclaim by Ryan Coogler.) For a young person today to be swept up in the mania surrounding Star Wars is equivalent to a child in 1977 swearing allegiance to the Charlie Chan, Mr Moto and Mr Wong franchises, Andy Hardy pictures, George Stevens’s Gunga Din, Zoltan Korda’s The Four Feathers or any other product of the late 1930s. Incoming generations traditionally disdain the toys of the last, but these movies have continued to hold an almost sacrosanct place in the popular imagination that is practically unique and, I confess, baffling to this child of the Reagan administration. Its lasting impact on viewers who were adolescent or younger at the time is easy to understand if you look at the contemporary pop-culture landscape – if you were after exotic, rambunctious escapism, George Lucas was the best game in town, apart from maybe Gene Simmons, and I could never impugn a Gen X-er’s undying fondness for either. The first Star Wars film was released more than 38 years ago – a long time ago in a culture far, far away. It is, you see, much, much bigger.ĭistributor Buena Vista International (UK)Īnd, yes, The Force Awakens is much, much bigger than A New Hope. There is even a new planet-smashing Death Star called the Starkiller Base, though the film makes some effort to establish that it is different from the old Death Star. As the film ends, Rey sets off to train with a reclusive Jedi master – Skywalker himself, who we’ve seen enter into much the same student-mentor relationship with Yoda. Here it’s Rey ( Daisy Ridley), who like Luke Skywalker before her happens into the company of Han Solo ( Harrison Ford, among many stars returning to their roles), discovers that she is strong with the Force and has to face off against a masked warrior of the Dark Side, Kylo Ren ( Adam Driver), the son of Solo and Princess – now General – Leia ( Carrie Fisher) and grandson of Darth Vader. Once again the key character is an orphaned youth living on a backwater desert planet who is suddenly thrust into the heart of an intergalactic conflict after stumbling across an adorable droid carrying contraband information. Abrams-directed seventh entry in the franchise, the first part of a new sequel trilogy, contains a great deal that is familiar from George Lucas’s foundational 1977 text A New Hope. ![]() Star Wars: The Force Awakens gives the legions of fans of the franchise what they want – exactly what they want, in so far as anyone can be certain, and a lot of it. Spoiler alert: this review outlines plot points including the last scene of the film.
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