Star Wars: The Force Awakens worth the hype

Jake Roberts, Staff Writer

Fans have eagerly awaited the return of Luke Skywalker for 32 years, following The Return of the Jedi (1983). Now in 2015, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill return to the big screen in Disney’s new Star Wars installment, Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens (2015).

The second teaser trailer released on April 16 received an astounding 36.57 million views on Youtube in the first 24 hours of its release. In June, The Force Awakens was awarded the world record for the most movie trailer views on Youtube in its opening day.

Alongside Ford, Hamill, and Fisher are the new faces of Star Wars — the trio of Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, and John Boyega. All three actors have been relatively unknown until their debut in The Force Awakens.

In October, the pre-sale for The Force Awakens tickets shattered records, grossing more than $10 million. Many cinema websites crashed from overwhelming amounts of traffic.

The seventh episode of the Star Wars saga was officially released Dec. 18. According to IMDb, The opening weekend for The Force Awakens grossed another world record of more than $247 million worldwide, passing the previous world record of $209 million for Jurassic World (2015).

I  was lucky enough to watch The Force Awakens at Fenway Theater in the heart of Boston. I watched the film in 3D Imax and the seats fully reclined. The environment of the film was easily the best I had ever experienced.

The film itself was spectacular. I had high hopes for the film after the amount of attention it received. The film was entirely different from the Star Wars prequels, The Phantom Menace (1999),  Attack of the Clones (2002), and The Revenge of the Sith (2005). The film itself felt far more similar to the original trilogy,  A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi.

The movie was completely engaging. The plot sweeps one off their feet within the first five minutes of the film, and the special effects were almost out of this world, pun intended. The scenes with the Tie Fighters and X-Wing jets feel almost balletic. The return of the Star Wars theme later into the film gives chills. I highly encourage seeing.

All previous films were directed by Star Wars creator George Lucas, the founder of Lucas Films. The Force Awakens brings in director J.J. Abrams, known mainly for Star Trek (2009) and the Mission Impossible series. Abrams, despite incredibly large amounts of pressure, does not disappoint.

The Force Awakens even brings back legendary composer John Williams, the composer for all Star Wars films thus far, the Jurassic Park series,  Jaws (1975), E.T.-The Extra Terrestrial (1982), The Harry Potter Series, The Indiana Jones series, and many others. Williams has been nominated for 49 Academy Awards, and has won five.

Currently, The Force Awakens has crossed $700 million domestically and $1.52 billion worldwide. The film is expected to gross more than $2 billion, and is currently the second-highest grossing film of all-time behind Avatar (2007).

In all, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a remarkable film. People should watch in 3D Imax before the film leaves a theater near you.