The first Star Wars movie I saw was "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" in the early 1980s in Shillington, Pennsylvania. This was long before DVDs, Blu-ray, or Netflix existed.
At first, I knew movies mainly from seeing them in
theaters. That is until I discovered that my local Radio Shack had a laser
disk player (these played large, LP-sized disks), and one day, I saw parts
of Star Wars playing in the store. I was fascinated by the story but never
saw the whole movie completely.
Since then, I have seen all of the other Star Wars movies, but for
some inexplicable reason, "The Empire Strikes Back" remained my
favorite.
I wondered what would happen when George Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise
to Disney. With director
J.J. Abrams, I was
expecting something like his last Star Trek film -
Into Darkness. His
television series (Alias, Lost) and movies (Into Darkness) focus more on the action and less on
dialogue.
Now that I have watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I have comments
about the movie.
The script was an engaging copy of the original Star Wars. The
similarities were obvious: Luke's original role (as the Jedi in training) is
played by Rey; Luke appears positioned to take on a mentor’s role similar to Yoda’s.
Darth Vader is replaced by the sinister Kylo Ren, who happens to be Han
Solo's son. In place of the Death Star, we now have the Starkiller base. In
place of R2-D2 and C-3PO, the new rolling ball robot BB-8 serves a similar
purpose.
It is known that Darth Vader wore his black mask because of the injuries
sustained from previous combat. However, why Kylo Ren wears a mask is not
known. Is it a show of respect to Darth Vader, whom he idolizes?
It looks like Kylo Ren kills his father (Han Solo) in one scene (though
perhaps Han Solo survives?)
I don't know what to make of the character Finn, who seems more of a
sidekick.
The movie was certainly entertaining, with incredible special effects.
However, it wasn't as good as the original Star Wars or The Empire Strikes
Back.
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