# Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (also known as Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) is a 2015 American epic space opera film directed, co-produced, and co-written by J. J. Abrams. It is the first film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, announced after The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012.

## Opening crawl

* Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed. With the support of the REPUBLIC, General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE. She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy. Leia has sent her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke's whereabouts....

## General Hux

* [Addressing an assembly of First Order troops] Today is the end of the Republic! The end of a regime that acquiesces to disorder! At this very moment in a system far from here, the New Republic lies to the galaxy while secretly supporting the treachery of the loathsome Resistance. This fierce machine which you have built, upon which we stand, will bring an end to the Senate! To their cherished fleet! All remaining systems will bow to the First Order, and will remember this as the last day of the Republic!

## Dialogue

    [The First Order troops have captured Lor San Tekka and bring him to Kylo Ren]
    Kylo Ren: Look how old you've become.
    Tekka: Something far worse has happened to you.
    Ren: You know what I've come for.
    Tekka: I know where you come from. Before you called yourself "Kylo Ren".
    Ren: The map to Skywalker. We know you've found it. And now you're going to give it to the First Order.
    Tekka: The First Order rose from the dark side. You did not.
    Ren: I'll show you the dark side.
    Tekka: You may try. But you cannot deny the truth that is your family.
    Ren: You're so right. [draws his lightsaber and kills Tekka]
    [Rey and Finn, under fire from TIE fighters, run towards a Quadjumper to escape Jakku]
    Finn: What about that ship? [points in another direction]
    Rey: That one's garbage! [sees the Quadjumper destroyed by the TIEs; stunned] The garbage will do. [they run towards the "garbage" ship, which appears to be the Millennium Falcon]
    [Having just ensnared the Millennium Falcon aboard their own ship, the Eravana, Han Solo and Chewbacca board it with their weapons ready.]
    Han Solo: Chewie, we're home. [nods to Chewbacca to check out the ship, then lifts off the grating and is shocked to see Rey and Finn with their hands raised in surrender] Where are the others? Where's the pilot?
    Rey: I'm the pilot.
    Han: You?! [Chewie grunts in disbelief]
    Rey: No, it's true; we're the only ones on board.
    Finn: [regarding Chewbacca] You can understand that thing?
    Han: And that "thing" can understand you, too, so watch it! Come on outta there!
    Supreme Leader Snoke: The droid will soon be delivered to the Resistance, leading them to the last Jedi. If Skywalker returns, the new Jedi will rise.
    General Hux: Supreme Leader, I take full responsibility—
    Snoke: GENERAL! Our strategy must now change.
    Hux: The weapon... it is ready. I believe the time has come to use it. We shall destroy the government that supports the Resistance... the Republic. Without their friends to protect them, the Resistance will be vulnerable, and we will stop them before they reach Skywalker.
    Snoke: Go. Oversee preparations.
    Hux: Yes, Supreme Leader.
    Snoke: There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?
    Ren: Yes.
    Snoke: There's something more. The droid we seek is aboard the Millennium Falcon... in the hands of your father, Han... Solo.
    Ren: He means nothing to me.
    Snoke: Even you, Master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a test.
    Ren: By the grace of your training, I will not be seduced.
    Snoke: We shall see. [as his hologram fades] We shall see.
    [Kylo Ren talking to Vader's helmet]
    Kylo Ren: Forgive me. I feel it again. The pull to the light. Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again. The power of the darkness, and I will let nothing stand in our way. Show me, Grandfather...and I will finish...what you started.
    [BB-8 shows Han, Finn, and Rey the map to Luke Skywalker]
    Han: This map's not complete. It's just a piece. Ever since Luke disappeared, people have been looking for him.
    Rey: Why did he leave?
    Han: He was training a new generation of Jedi. There was nobody else left to do it, so he took the burden on himself. Everything was going great, until... one boy, an apprentice, turned against him and destroyed it all. Luke felt responsible. He just... walked away from everything.
    Finn: Do you know what happened to him?
    Han: There were a lot of rumors. Stories. People who knew him best, think he went looking for the first Jedi temple.
    Rey: [in awe] The Jedi were real?
    Han: I used to wonder about that myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo jumbo. A magical power holding together good and evil, the dark side and the light. Crazy thing is... it's true. The Force, the Jedi. All of it. It's all true.
    [Having experienced a strange vision after touching the Skywalker lightsaber, Rey stumbles backwards out of the room. She sees Maz Kanata walk towards her]
    Rey: What was that? [pause] I shouldn't have gone in there.
    Maz: That lightsaber was Luke's, and his father's before him, and now, it calls to you.
    Rey: I have to get back to Jakku.
    Maz: Han told me. [She removes her goggles and takes Rey's hand] Dear child, I see your eyes; you already know the truth. Whomever you're waiting for on Jakku, they're never coming back. [Rey sheds a tear] But there's someone who still could.
    Rey: Luke.
    Maz: The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead. I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes... feel it. The light... it's always been there, it will guide you. The saber, take it.
    Rey: I'm never touching that thing again. I don't want any part of this! [runs away]
    Rey: Where am I?
    Ren: You're my guest.
    Rey: Where are the others?
    Ren: You mean the murderers, traitors and thieves you call friends? You'll be relieved to hear I have no idea. [slight pause] You still want to kill me.
    Rey: That happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask.
    Ren: [removes his mask, revealing his face. He moves forward, slams his mask down onto a table. He stands in front of Rey] Tell me about the droid.
    Rey: He's a BB-unit with a selenium drive and a thermal hyperscan vindicator—
    Ren: Carrying a section of the navigation chart. We have the rest, recovered from the archives of the Empire, but we need the last piece, and somehow you convinced the droid to show it to you. You... a scavenger. [slight pause] You know I can take whatever I want. [reaches his hand towards Rey's face. Rey looks away, struggling to keep Kylo Ren out of her head] You've been so lonely, so afraid to leave. At night, desperate to sleep, you imagine an ocean. I see it. I see the island. And Han Solo; you feel like he's like the father you never had. He would've disappointed you.
    Rey: Get out of my head!
    Ren: [moves back, keeping his hand close to Rey's face] I know you've seen the map. It's in there, and now, you'll give it to me. [continues to probe Rey's mind. Rey continues to resist] Don't be afraid; I feel it, too.
    Rey: I'm not giving you anything!
    Ren: We'll see. [struggles to read Rey's thoughts. After a few moments, he looks at Rey with disbelief]
    Rey: You... you're afraid... that you will never be as strong as Darth Vader!
    [Ren puts his hand down. Both he and Rey stare at each other, confused and afraid of what has happened]
    Snoke: The scavenger resisted you?!!
    Ren: She is strong with the Force!! Untrained, but stronger than she knows!
    Snoke: And the droid?
    Hux: Ren believed it was no longer valuable to us… that the girl was all we needed. As a result, the droid has most likely been returned to the hands of the enemy. They may have the map already.
    Snoke: Then the Resistance must be destroyed before they get to Skywalker.
    Hux: We have their location. We tracked their reconnaissance ship to the Ileenium system.
    Snoke: Good. Then we will crush them once and for all. Prepare the weapon.
    Ren: Supreme Leader, I can get the map from the girl. I just need your guidance.
    Snoke: If what you say about this girl is true, bring her to me.
    Poe: The scan data from Snap's reconnaissance flight confirms Finn's report.
    Snap: They've somehow created a hyper lightspeed weapon built within the planet itself.
    Brance: A laser cannon?
    Snap: We're not sure how to describe a weapon of this scale.
    Major Ematt: It's another Death Star.
    Poe: I wish that were the case, Major. [Poe controls a holographic display showing the Death Star.] This was the Death Star... [presses a button that scales the Death Star against a colossally large Starkiller Base] ... and this is Starkiller Base.
    Han: So it's big.
    Admiral Ackbar: How is it possible to power a weapon of that size?
    Finn: It uses the power of the sun. As the weapon is charged, the sun is drained until it disappears.
    [before Han takes Finn, Chewie, and the Falcon on the mission to Starkiller Base]
    Leia: You know, no matter how much we fought, I've always hated watching you leave.
    Han: That's why I did it. So you'd miss me.
    Leia: I did miss you.
    Han: It wasn't all bad, was it? Huh? Some of it was... good.
    Leia: Pretty good.
    Han: Some things never change.
    Leia: True. You still drive me crazy. [they embrace once more] If you see our son, bring him home.
    [Rey encounters Finn, Han, and Chewie in Starkiller Base]
    Rey: Finn, what are you doing here?
    Finn: We came back for you.
    Chewbacca: [explanatory grunt]
    Finn: What did he say?
    Rey: That it was your idea. [hugs Finn] Thank you.
    Finn: How did you get away?
    Rey: I can't explain it, and you wouldn't believe it.
    Han: Escape now, hug later!
    [Han sees Kylo Ren cross a walkway over Starkiller Base's reactor shaft. He hesitates at first, but decides to confront him]
    Han: BEN!
    Ren: Han Solo. I've been waiting for this day for a long time.
    Han: [slowly walking towards Ren] Take off that mask. You don't need it.
    Ren: What do you think you'll see if I do?
    Han: The face of my son.
    Ren: [removes his mask] Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish like his father, so I destroyed him.
    Han: That's what Snoke wants you to believe, but it's not true. My son is alive.
    Ren: No. The Supreme Leader is wise.
    Han: Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he'll crush you. You know it's true.
    Ren: It's too late.
    Han: No, it's not. Leave here with me. Come home. We miss you.
    Ren: [Gradually pained] I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?
    Han: Yes. Anything.
    [Ren drops his mask, and offers his lightsaber to Han. As Han grabs it, the last rays of sunlight are absorbed into the Starkiller weapon, and Ren hesitates. After a brief moment, however, Ren ignites his saber through Han's chest, and Chewbacca roars in despair]
    Rey: NO!
    Ren: [To a distraught Han] Thank you.
    [Han touches his son's face, then succumbs to his wound, his body tumbling off the walkway down the reactor shaft]
    Hux: Supreme Leader! The fuel cells have ruptured! The collapse of the planet has begun!
    Snoke: Leave the base at once and come to me with Kylo Ren. It is time to complete his training.

## Quotes about The Force Awakens

* I came on board and Disney had already decided they didn’t want to go that direction [with George Lucas's treatments], so the mandate was to start from scratch and tell a story that was the continuum… And Kathleen Kennedy brought on Larry Kasdan and Michael Arndt, and it was those people I began working with.
* We didn’t write a treatment but there are countless times we came up with something and said “oh, this would be so great for Episode VIII!” or “That's what we could get to in IX!” It was just that kind of forward-moving story. But we knew this had to neither be a backwards moving nostalgic trip only nor a beginning of a movie without a satisfying conclusion, and that was part of the balancing act — embracing what we have inherited and using that where and whenever possible to tell a story that hasn’t been seen yet.
** J.J. Abrams
* It has been three decades since the events of the original trilogy. The dark and mysterious First Order has stepped into the power vacuum once held by the Empire. And the newly named Resistance fights in place of the Rebel Alliance, which has begun a tragic shift to the dark side.
    Remember, the Dark Side was never explicitly tied to the Empire; the Force itself exists outside of mere temporal authority structures.
   * Stephen Colbert
* It's everything the kid in us goes to the movies for — marvelous adventure that leaves us surprised, scared and euphoric. … As any Star Wars fan knows, bloodlines are crucial to the plot. And there are times when everyone seems related to everyone else. (The Lucas template is drawn from sources as diverse as the Bible, Shakespeare, Oedipus Rex and Road Runner cartoons.) Bad things happen to those who issue spoilers about this franchise. But I will say this: The action, from lightsaber duels to X-wing dogfights with TIE Fighters, is explosive and buoyed by John Williams' exultant score. And the movie is also funny as hell. Abrams knows how to build a laugh and fill the emotional spaces between words. He's a fanboy who knows what fanboys want, but he also delivers the goods for the rest of us. Giving starring roles to a black man, a white woman and a Latino is the right idea that could have gone seriously wrong; instead, it's quietly history making.
** Peter Travers, in his review in Rolling Stone (16 December 2015)

## Cast

* Harrison Ford - Han Solo
* Mark Hamill - Luke Skywalker
* Peter Mayhew - Chewbacca
* Carrie Fisher - General Leia Organa
* Adam Driver - Kylo Ren
* Daisy Ridley - Rey
* John Boyega - FN-2187 / Finn
* Oscar Isaac - Poe Dameron
* Lupita Nyong'o - Maz Kanata
* Andy Serkis - Supreme Leader Snoke
* Domhnall Gleeson - General Hux
* Anthony Daniels - C-3PO
* Max von Sydow - Lor San Tekka

## External links

* Official website
* Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Starwars.com
* Star Wars: The Force Awakens quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Rotten Tomatoes