Star Wars: Episode 7: The Force Awakens is the 7th movie in the Star Wars Saga and the first Star Wars movie under the Disney banner. The Force Awakens released in 2015, and is the first movie in the sequel trilogy or “the sequels.” Is Episode 7 the best of the sequels or the worst? So… Star Wars: Episode 7 all these years later, how is it viewed now? In this video, I discuss Star Wars: The Force Awakens… 7 Years Later
__CHAPTERS____
0:00 – The Force Awakens… 6 Years Later
1:30 – Chapter 1: Origins of the Awakening
4:14 – Chapter 2: A New Hope 2
11:09 – Chapter 3: The World Building Sleeps
16:10 – Chapter 4: Rey The Scavenger
30:24 – Chapter 5: Finn The Stormtrooper
35:57 – Chapter 6: Han Solo The Father
39:32 – Chapter 7: The “Mighty” Kylo Ren
47:01 – Chapter 8: The Battle of Starkiller Base
55:55 – Chapter 9: The Start Of A New Era
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I remember a time when the notion of a Star Wars episode 7 seemed like a dream. George Lucas openly said there is no episode 7, but once disney bought the franchise that all changed. Disney announced not only a Star Wars Episode 7, but an entire sequel trilogy. And boy did this trilogy end up being divisive. When there’s online discourse about the sequels, rarely do people seem to argue about the force awakens. It’s usually either intense disdain or praise thrown at The Last Jedi or The Rise of Skywalker. Why is this the case? Well, let’s travel back in time to 2015 when the force awakens came out. Hello everybody and welcome to another video, my name is the gold man and today we will be talking about Star Wars: Episode 7: The Force Awakens… all these years later.
On October 30th, 2012. The Walt Disney company purchased Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. Now to some that may seem like a lot, but considering Disney bought Fox for $71 Billion, $4.05 Billion doesn’t seem like much. Shortly after the acquisition, Disney CEO Bob Iger immediately announced a Star Wars episode 7 coming in 2015. At the time this was mostly met with excitement. Star Wars was in a bit of a dry phase. Contrary to what revisionist history may say, the prequels were still relatively unliked at the time. So not only was the announcement of an episode 7 exciting for a lot of people, but the idea that George Lucas wouldn’t be directing it was also exciting to some. Don’t believe me, go back in time and watch videos from 2012-2015 and tell me how much George Lucas praise there was back then. In early 2013, writer and director JJ Abrams was brought onto the project with Michael Arndt set to write. Shortly thereafter was the first time we started to see production problems behind the scenes. Arndt wanted more time to write the script, but Lucasfilm wanted the film to be released in 2015. So ultimately Arndt left the project and JJ Abrams and Star Wars legend Lawrence Kasdan finished the script, and production began late 2014. I remember this time as clearly as if it were yesterday. The excitement for this movie was unparalleled. Harrison Ford, Mark Hammil, and Carrie Fisher were confirmed to be returning, and a new cast of actors were hired for the movie too. When trailers for this movie were released, people went nuts. You can go back in time and watch compilations of grown men crying seeing Han Solo for the first time in 32 years. A major part of the marketing for the force awakens was pretty much that this movie was going to be everything the originals were, and nothing like the prequels. Abrams and his team put an emphasis on the notion of practical effects and less politics and great acting. Early on in the production of this movie, Lucas was originally a consultant. But decided to leave the project after he realized Lucasfilm was not too keen on having his ideas. As the movie approached release, its hype was starting to get out of control. Online ticket websites were crashing for the first time due to high demand. People would analyze every frame of the trailers just to get a hint of what was going to happen. And on December 18th 2015, The Force Awakens released in theaters. Financially the movie was a major success. Becoming the 3rd highest grossing movie of all time at the time of the release. And to this day it is still the highest grossing movie ever domestically.
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You deserve a gold medal for the mental gymnastics to justify any of this
For me, STAR WARS was always about fresh and engaging storytelling. What the Episode 7 gave us was a RECYCLED story that had no particular direction or purpose in continuing the entire nine-film saga. George Lucas had an overarching narrative in mind, but the Disney trilogy was a make-it-up-as-you-go-along hodgepodge. You don't even have to LIKE Lucas's narrative to recognize that Episodes 7-9 don't connect with it well at all. Disney disregarded Lucas' treatments for Episodes 7-9 and then tried to finish the saga using perceived fan service, undermining the existing narrative retroactively in the process. The result was a phony storytelling mess that LOOKED GREAT. Sorry, but I disagree that Episodes 7-9 are even 'OK' much less good or great.
Geez has it really been 7 years?!?!
I think the sequels had a pretty good story to tell, and I think for the most part they told it well, but they made a single critical mistake that nobody thinks about because of the buzz surrounding their uncharted approach and the easy correlation to make there.
I really think the humor is a huge part of why the sequels are taken in bad faith. Nobody can quite put their finger on what feels off, so they blame anything they can think to blame, and because the jokes are funny, nobody thinks to blame the style of humor. I think that's probably the same case for the prequels. The OT had a great situational sense of humor, where the characters made funnies that expressed their relationships with each other and with the Star Wars setting itself. Starting in Episode VI Star Wars became more slapstick oriented, with very Buster Keaton gags. It wasn't until Episode III that George seemed to revert back to that character and setting oriented humor, and that movie is the most well received PT film by far. The ST had this self-aware, camera winking, meta sense of humor that never stopped, which is why I believe this trilogy doesn't really have as much of impact on pop culture despite its apparent dedication to emulating a trilogy that did. I really think those choices for humor were the unsung lifeblood of the original trilogy and the deviation from that approach will continue to create a narrative dissonance in the franchise until the problem is identified. Look at the genuinely really good but humorless Andor and its disappointing reception, the sterilized Kenobi series, and the bland Boba series.
I really think that's why The Mandalorian is considered such a beloved return to form for Star Wars. Jon Favreau understood the humor had to serve as the fundamentally fun, connective tissue between the characters and their setting, not a knife that cuts them apart. Din Djarin has so many funny little moments that convey how impatient he is with anything in the way of his work, and that builds the world around him as well as the character himself. Anytime someone cracks a joke in the sequels its a detriment to audience immersion, no matter how genuinely funny it is.
despite the rest of this trilogy being awful, at the very least one of the movies managed to be atleast okay.
7 years later…. 7 days later…. in the Milky Way galaxy not so far away….
Rey's intro was Luke's cut intro
The entire sequel trilogy is repete of it with fancy graphics that's all he knows Ryan had shit to work with also he's not the greatest director we have Kathleen to blame
Andor is doing better than kenoreeva it's about fng reeva another mery sue a great actor I actually empathize with mainly do to the undiserved racism and comments the story telling was bland if it were up to me I woulda put fillonie in charge of Lucas or just all star wars projects he is gorges apprentice
This video would be so much better if you stopped comparing this movie to the ones that came before. This is number 7, it's suppose to be new and not have story arcs that are either the same or kind of the same. Let's move on with new character designs and then have no need to compare them.
TL;DR: still shite …
To add to the world building problem, how many people thought Hosnian Prime was Coruscant the first time they saw TFA? I know I certainly did.
Deep!
Rey and Gold Man sitting in a tree…K.I.S.S.I.N.G..hahaha!
Honestly tried to make it through this unabashed Force Awakens defense, but could not. The film has far more issues than this video addresses, from plot to characters to yes, some re-treading of A New Hope's hallowed ground.
It's a long list: Too coincidental meetings, the uncreative use of another Death Star-type super weapon, Finn's character not being okay with harming innocents but having no issues blasting his way out of the hangar, Rey's "Mary Sue" like (unearned) character abilities, Rey's defeat of a highly-trained force-user in Kylo Ren (and his rescue via Deus Ex Machina). Etc. etc.
No movie could surpass what George did but the sequels are great films and made with such heart and passion.
I liked the force awakens. I was indifferent of the last jedi, but I was turned off by the rise of skywalker because of all of the political issues with the star wars franchise so I didn't watch it.
A Mary Sue! Rey doesn’t earn anything and she starts using force abilities that she wouldn’t even know about like mind tricks when she was captured but when did anyone tell her that was a thing! Then she has force heal after we watched order 66 and nobody had Jedi healing then?? And the character assassination
7 years later and it's still trash.
I was 100% ok with the force awakens! And was look forward to Luke training Rey and maybe getting back in the fight
All except Rey! No hero’s journey there!
Come on dude! Denying that the force awakens was basically a new hope is just that denial ! It’s was ok! I was fine with it! You need to learn the new characters and be introduced! And that is ok! A young person leaving home because of finding a droid. Then meeting people to go on this Journey with to get the droid to the rebellion because it has information, going on a mission to destroy a round super weapon that can shatter planets and learning about the force throughout the mission! And a lightsaber battle at the end Sound familiar? …lol
I did like how the new storm troopers have the screw hole in there backs like the figures….lol
The problem is that there was no plan. There was not a planned answer to who Rey's Parents, or if Kylo would be good or evil at the end, so movie 8 did what it pleased and Movie 9 did what it pleased. If there was planned resolutions to the seeds planted in 7, then Movies 8 and 9 would not feel so at an odds with 7 and each other.
The saddest hanging thread Movie 7 left open was the fact that Finn should have become a Jedi. He used a lighsaber here so he should have become a Jedi at the end of Movies 8 or 9.
7 years… holy…
I understand how you feel about Rey. But I still kind of feel she's a Mary Sue looking at the trilogy as a whole. I mean, she had a good start with the force awakens. But, she shouldn't have beaten Kylo Ren in a fight. If she had beaten him on the death star wreckage, then it would have been more rewarding not just for her, but for the audience. A lightsaber is slightly different from using a sword.
And Finn, he's my favorite character in the trilogy aside from Kylo Ren. And I feel like he should have become a Jedi alongside Rey. I have been adamant for years about him showing off more force sensitivity. It also would have been a nice change of pace to see two characters in training to be a Jedi, under Luke Skywalker. Plus, maybe the two of them would have been able to snap Luke out of his funk quicker. I just think Finn deserved a lot better than what he was dealt. It just wasn't enough.
And I disagree with how he was handled in the last Jedi. He should have been above fleeing from the rebellion AGAIN and he should have been the one to dislike being at Canto Bight. Because someone like him would probably know about all that. To me and most people, it feels like he's learning the same lesson or something he should already know.
And he lost an obstacle to overcome too early in the game when Captain Phasma was defeated on supreme leader Snoke's ship. That was not just an enemy he needed to best, but a key to his past. There's a deleted scene where he calls out Phasma for shutting down Starkiller's shields. It would have been amazing to see the storm troopers turn on her. But that's just me.
I actually really liked it. Sure there are some things that I don’t like, like how Rei somehow beat kylo and used the force without a bit of training, but it was still fun to me
An interesting take 7yrs later, but I wonder why so many people seem to have misunderstood everything about the sequel trilogy. I’m not a fan, and I tried to like them, but you can pick these films apart and analyse them over and over, the issue is that it failed to capture the essence of good storytelling. It didn’t need to be perfect. I just think it failed to find that emotional resonance or develop characters in the right way. Clone Wars on the other hand introduce a slew of characters so many fell for and stories that were thoroughly embraced. I also enjoyed Rebels a great deal, and I was not hugely in love with the prequels, but they grew on me fairly quickly. The sequels, i rewatched a few times now, and still find them utterly unwatchable. Well, the 1st one is sort of bearable. Not saying that there wasn’t anything good, just didn’t feel quite well developed or even cohesively put together. Just like high-budget draft of ideas with some seeds of interesting ideas that never developed.
TFA has it's problems. But, in comparison to it's sequels, it's a tour-de-force.
Umm, no, her force is very OP. Firstly, she doesn’t just “lift a lightsaber” she over powers someone who has spent years training and uses the dark side (the quick and easy path) with about 6 hours of knowing the force exists. Secondly, mind tricks are NOT one of the easiest things. They take mental fortitude. There’s a good video by Critical Drinker called “Is Anakin a Mary Sue” which gives some good comparisons. While I agree with you in terms of Anakin in the final battle being stupid, nothing else is the same. Anakin says he almost died learning to podrace, Luke flew for a leisure activity, we are given no indication of something similar for Ray.
Also, Fin does not have a good movie. They wanted a defective stormtrooper, but they also wanted a “haha funny goofy side character” and those two things are not congruent, nor is him being in battle for the first time given he’s been a janitor for his life is stupid. I think you are way, way, way too gracious, and I don’t think I’m being particularly brutal. Will edit if there’s something egregious in the rest of the video.
Also, this all applies to TLJ and some aspects of TRoS.
Holy Crap, there are so many more problems, hope you get spared from EFAP.
I remember my excitement back in 2012.
Dude is Disney paying you? These people had hundreds of millions of dollars and the plot was exactly the same as A New Hope. The main character Rey. Who is she? She had no character arc. Plank of wood. Finn? Man they had something great with Finn. They dropped the ball on his character. He was a simp for Rey. These people are hacks and the only reason it made as much money as it did was 100% because of the title Star Wars. You need to "stop acting like" Disney likes you.
I watch the force awakens in theaters after my dad took me to watch it I became an instant fan and now after 7 years at 14 I still love watching the movie