51 min
Star Wars: The Force Awakens The Force Fed Sci-Fi Movie Podcast
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- Film Reviews
This time on Force Fed Sci-Fi, we are beginning our look into the Star Wars sequel films with Episode 7: The Force Awakens. Along the way we ask, is 30 years simply too long a time to simply resume the saga, how can someone like Kylo Ren have both daddy and granddaddy issues and how much nostalgia is too much? Let’s take our first steps and dive in as we discuss and review The Force Awakens …..
Disney's Acquisition of LucasFilm and the Beginnings of the Next Triology
To properly begin the story of The Force Awakens, we have to go behind the scenes for a little bit and travel back to 2012 when Disney acquired LucasFilm. A hefty price tag of $4 billion for the acquisition and with that, the announcement of a new round of Star Wars films would be produced.
George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars franchise, had actually developed ideas for a new round of films as far back as the 1980’s, but made the prequels first to round out the story that the original trilogy started. However, Lucas never got around to making Episodes 7, 8 or 9. Our hosts speculate that the effort of making the prequels and the backlash he was receiving for those in addition to the near constant changes he was adding to the original films probably didn’t motivate him to direct another film.
Following Disney’s major purchase, legendary producer Kathleen Kennedy was placed in charge of LucasFilm and tabbed JJ Abrams as the director for Episode 7 who quickly moved to say that Lucas’ ideas for the sequel films would not be used and they would proceed with their own creative group and ideas. There is much speculation as to why Abrams and Kennedy would go this route (probably Disney execs), but the bottom line is that Lucas had plenty of time to make those films and he simply chose not to do so.
Star Wars The Force Awakens Cast List
Original Cast
Harrison Ford as Han Solo: Obviously Ford has had a great career outside of playing Solo, but he returns to the role that made him a star and is a bright spot for this film. Unfortunately, we are met with his death at the end. We won't lie, it got us feeling sad as we see a beloved Star Wars character's story come to an end, killed by his own son too!
Carrie Fischer as General Organa: Fischer returns to her legendary role and contributes to the reunion of the original trilogy cast. The years were not exactly kind to Fischer as she struggled with alcohol and drugs, but it should be noted that she publicly spoke about it, even in seminars, to bring awareness to alcoholism and addiction. We thank you Carrie!
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: While Hamill has no lines of dialogue, his presence in the film serves as a McGuffin. Our hosts believe that he was not made a bigger part in the film as it would be distracting from the newer, younger actors (as it was we already had Solo and Leia taking attention away from the newcomers).
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: It was nice to see him come back once again to reprise his role adding to the reunion of the original trilogy cast.
a href="https://en.wikipedia.
This time on Force Fed Sci-Fi, we are beginning our look into the Star Wars sequel films with Episode 7: The Force Awakens. Along the way we ask, is 30 years simply too long a time to simply resume the saga, how can someone like Kylo Ren have both daddy and granddaddy issues and how much nostalgia is too much? Let’s take our first steps and dive in as we discuss and review The Force Awakens …..
Disney's Acquisition of LucasFilm and the Beginnings of the Next Triology
To properly begin the story of The Force Awakens, we have to go behind the scenes for a little bit and travel back to 2012 when Disney acquired LucasFilm. A hefty price tag of $4 billion for the acquisition and with that, the announcement of a new round of Star Wars films would be produced.
George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars franchise, had actually developed ideas for a new round of films as far back as the 1980’s, but made the prequels first to round out the story that the original trilogy started. However, Lucas never got around to making Episodes 7, 8 or 9. Our hosts speculate that the effort of making the prequels and the backlash he was receiving for those in addition to the near constant changes he was adding to the original films probably didn’t motivate him to direct another film.
Following Disney’s major purchase, legendary producer Kathleen Kennedy was placed in charge of LucasFilm and tabbed JJ Abrams as the director for Episode 7 who quickly moved to say that Lucas’ ideas for the sequel films would not be used and they would proceed with their own creative group and ideas. There is much speculation as to why Abrams and Kennedy would go this route (probably Disney execs), but the bottom line is that Lucas had plenty of time to make those films and he simply chose not to do so.
Star Wars The Force Awakens Cast List
Original Cast
Harrison Ford as Han Solo: Obviously Ford has had a great career outside of playing Solo, but he returns to the role that made him a star and is a bright spot for this film. Unfortunately, we are met with his death at the end. We won't lie, it got us feeling sad as we see a beloved Star Wars character's story come to an end, killed by his own son too!
Carrie Fischer as General Organa: Fischer returns to her legendary role and contributes to the reunion of the original trilogy cast. The years were not exactly kind to Fischer as she struggled with alcohol and drugs, but it should be noted that she publicly spoke about it, even in seminars, to bring awareness to alcoholism and addiction. We thank you Carrie!
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: While Hamill has no lines of dialogue, his presence in the film serves as a McGuffin. Our hosts believe that he was not made a bigger part in the film as it would be distracting from the newer, younger actors (as it was we already had Solo and Leia taking attention away from the newcomers).
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: It was nice to see him come back once again to reprise his role adding to the reunion of the original trilogy cast.
a href="https://en.wikipedia.
51 min