Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens Blu-ray Review

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.   It’s a shame the Empire didn’t have access to these sage-like words from George Santayana before they started construction on their third “Death Star”.  Meanwhile, the Rebellion seems to live by the motto, “If they build it we will come…and blow it up…again.” While the Empire seems intent on ignoring their own failed history, J.J. Abrams is perfectly confident in recreating and retelling the same story from “A New Hope”.  After all, “if it ain’t broke; don’t fix it.”

For me, the seventh installment in the Star Wars saga was a slow burn. While I appreciated the acting quality and the technical proficiency that went into the film’s creation, I felt the story was lacking.  It wasn’t exactly a reboot like Abrams recent Star Trek movies, but the sense of Déjà vu was strong, as this beat-by-beat, scene-by scene recreation of Episodes 4-6 were cleverly reimagined for a new generation.  The fan service was excessive and blatantly obvious in many cases, almost to the point of distracting you from what little story was actually being told, and at the end of the 2+ hour epic adventure things just felt like they were getting started.   Episode 7 is basically a visualization of the text-crawl that will introduce Episode 8.

The Force Awakens does do one thing exceptionally well, and that is passing the torch to a new generation of Star Wars fans. So even as the film checks off prerequisite boxes like desert planet, droid with hidden data, giant planet-killer star base, cantina scene, trench run sequence, father-son encounter over bottomless pit, it is easy to dismiss the Déjà vu because Rey is more endearing than Luke ever was, and BB-8 makes R2D2 look like a toaster when it comes to personality. Rey (Daisy Ridley) steals the film with her magical portrayal of a young Jedi awakening to the Force for the first time, while at the same time Adam Driver plays the immature grandson of Darth Vader. Kylo Ren has been brainwashed and lured to the dark side by Snoke and General Hux, so we are also getting a glimpse into the awakening of this potential new villain full of 20-something teen angst and a whole lot of mommy and daddy issues.

As with all Star Wars movies, the plot is quickly summarized in the opening text crawl that sets up the search for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill); thought to be the last Jedi and desperately needed by his sister Leia (Carrie Fisher) to battle the evil Empire that has since been reborn into The First Order. These Nazi-like villains have built an even bigger Death Star, this time capable of destroying multiple planets with a single blast.  But long before we get to that predictable finale of sabotaging shield generators and trench-skimming in X-Wings we have new heroes to meet that will carry us through the two upcoming sequels.

Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) plays the heroic pilot destined to become the new “Han Solo” of this trilogy, and in a stroke of storytelling genius, John Boyega takes on the role of Stormtrooper FN-2187 (Finn); a soldier with an actual conscience who wants to escape the ranks of the Empire. To do so requires a pilot, and it just so happens the Empire has captured Poe.   After a daring escape from Kylo Ren’s flagship Finn is separated from Poe but joins up with Rey and BB-8, the robotic star of the film and retail merchandising.  The Empire quickly locates Poe on the surface of the desert planet of Jakku and he and Rey must make a daring escape using the Millennium Falcon, which is almost immediately hijacked by its former owners, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca. What are the odds?   Wait…never tell me the odds!

What the film lacks in originality it more than makes up for in production quality. J.J. Abrams wanted to return to the world of practical effects – no more of that green screen debacle from the prequel episodes – and it really comes through on film – YES, film, as this movie was also shot on film rather than digital.  It was great seeing the old cast passing the torch and I confess to being very excited about the new characters and the stories they have to tell in future episodes.  Episode 7 definitely lays the groundwork for some exciting prospects.  Just how strong is Rey?  Who is Rey?  Will Kylo outgrow his childish tantrums or will Snoke have to holo-spank him?  Will the Empire build a fourth Death Star and how big will this one be?  Will Luke break his vow of silence, and did he actually win the Ben Kenobi lookalike contest?

I seriously doubt anyone contemplating the purchase of the Blu-ray version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is doing so without having actually seen the movie, which means everything I’ve written up to this point has been a waste of your time and mine, so let’s get to the good stuff. How well did this movie transition from big screen to small?  Technically speaking, this latest Star Wars movie is just about as good as it gets.  While there is no UHD version available I was a bit disappointed they didn’t at least offer a “Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray.  Even so, the movie looks amazing when being upconverted to 4K on both last year’s Sony XDR 4K and their new 2016 models with HDR support.

Much of the film is played out in dark interiors and nighttime exteriors, so it was easy to see and appreciate the movie’s sharp contrast and pure black levels, while bright sequences like the scenes on Jakku were white hot while maintaining excellent levels of texture detail and purity of color. The fact the sets, scenery, and props were real and not green screen digital constructs did not go unnoticed.  This is one of those movies that you will notice something you didn’t notice before with each new viewing and appreciate it that much more.  My only minor complaint with the visual presentation is that they chose not to use the IMAX footage for the Falcon escape scene.  I was eagerly waiting for that widescreen format to opening up, if even for those few precious minutes.

Having seen the film in both Atmos and IMAX in the theater, Dolby Atmos certainly had a bigger impact on the overall presentation than the one scene shot in IMAX, but alas, there was no Atmos support for this Blu-ray release. Arguably, Atmos is still just finding its roots in home audio.  I have to drive 50 miles to hear Atmos in a theater, but for a major movie like this, Atmos would have been a welcome inclusion.   The DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless soundtrack is certainly nothing to dismiss, and this easily tops the list of my best-sounding surround mixes in my library.  Side and rear surround channels come to life with plenty of perfectly placed sound effects, and my subwoofer got a serious workout with ample LFE.  Dialogue was perfectly prioritized front and center while John Williams’ majestic score kept the emotions at pitch perfect levels of excitement.

I have to admit I was expecting a cash grab release for this movie with a special edition to follow later in the year, so I was happily surprised to find a treasure trove of bonus materials included in this release; so many they had to pack them on their own disc. My only disappointment was the lack of a commentary track.  I would have loved to hear J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy discuss this film as it played out.  Even so, we still get a great selection of extras that will keep you entertained for nearly as long as the feature.

Up first is a four-part documentary, Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey that spends just over an hour going into great detail on Disney taking over the franchise, Abrams’ decision to direct, casting, and writing the script before moving on to actual filming that took place on locations and in the familiar sets of Pinewood Studios. We learn more about the creation of BB-8 as well as all the practical creature designs for the cantina scene and some awesome new motion-capture technology, and finally coming to an end with the monumental choices on the fate of Han Solo and how it was handled.

Up next is The Story Awakens: The Table Read, which only captures four minutes from the first table read where the entire cast was assembled for the first time.  I’m not sure why they didn’t have the entire read as part of the bonus material – I would have watched it.  The next batch of extras duplicate some of the material found in the four-part feature including Crafting Creatures that showcases the make-up and alien designs for the cantina as well as a feature dedicated to Building BB-8 where my dreams were shattered when I learned that BB-8 was more puppet than robot. Blueprint of a Battle: The Snow Fight may have been my favorite bonus feature, as I watched the crew build a huge forest indoors using real trees.  Even though the film relied heavily on practical effects there was still plenty of seamlessly integrated CG effects which is covered in ILM: The Visual Magic of the Force. John Williams: The Seventh Symphony is a celebration of music and William’s iconic contribution to the entire Star Wars franchise and how he expertly carried over themes from nearly 40 years ago.  A handful of Deleted Scenes all under a minute each offered nothing new to the story and thankfully they cut that ridiculous snow speeder chase.  Things wrap up with Force for Change, a three-minute look at the charity sponsored by the film.   A DVD and digital copy of the film are also included in the box set.

In as much as Abrams has totally delivered a stunning and entertaining next-gen Star Wars installment, Disney has brought that movie home on one of its best Blu-ray presentations to date. It may be lacking IMAX and Atmos, but you’ll still be using this as reference material to showcase your home theater setup.

I may have been disappointed with Star Wars: The Force Awakens the first time I saw it in theaters, but with each subsequent viewing I like it a bit more. Admittedly, I’ve seen it five times in the past 96 hours, so now it has become more about appreciating the technical proficiency more than the storytelling elements.  And while it was nice to revisit those iconic characters from “a long time ago” it was perhaps even more refreshing to be introduced to a new cast of fresh faces and interesting characters that will take all of us on new adventures in a galaxy far, far away.

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Author: Mark Smith
I've been an avid gamer since I stumbled upon ZORK running in my local Radio Shack in 1980. Ten years later I was working for Sierra Online. Since then I've owned nearly every game system and most of the games to go with them. Not sure if 40+ years of gaming qualifies me to write reviews, but I do it anyway.

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