Star Wars: The Force Awakens

There are some of us that have spent more time in a "Galaxy Far Far Away" than others. For all of us the big question after the bonfire celebration at the end of Return of the Jedi is where do we go from here?

This is where that direction goes with the licencing. The Saga continued in novel form with The Truce at Bakura where the rebel alliance continues their battle against the remains of the Empire and as the novels continue Han and Leia marry and have children and we are shown the formation of the New Republic and the new Jedi Order under the guidance of Luke Skywalker and his wife Myra Jade.  

In comic book form the Dark Empire trilogy The Emperor resurfaces and Luke briefly joins him as his new apprentice though he overcomes the temptation of the Darkside 

They were not all Happy Endings. 

In 1999 readers mourned with out familiar cast of heroes the death of Chewbacca who sacrificed his life to save Han's youngest son and the turning to the Darkside of Han and Leia's son Jacen after killing Luke's wife. 

It was still a fun time to be a Star Wars fan 

In theatres audiences saw the prequels and the origins of Darth Vader which while not well received by loyal fans the films still kept the fan experience alive.

After all there has been a few missteps in the Galaxy such as the Holiday Special and the Ewoks Movies.

At least the Holiday Special gave us Bobba Fett.

I personally liked The Force Unleashed Video Game...Part 2 not so much.

2008 viewers got to finally see the often discussed Clone Wars and the continuing origin of the saga. 

When we least expected a change it was announced in 2012 that Lucasfilms was sold to Disney and that there was going to be a new trilogy produced and that Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill were all on board. Peter Mahew, Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker were also announced to be reprising their Roles. 

When Star Trek Director JJ Abrams was announced at the Helm of the new feature fans rejoiced, 

The Hype of the flick was definetly building but there was not without it's issues as it was announced that with the exception of Clone Wars and the saga all other areas of Star Wars were no longer considered to be Canon and have been wiped out of existence. 

Now we were also treated to Star Wars Rebels which debuted in 2014 which takes place between Episode III and IV and follows a small band that opposes the Empire and we are shown the formation of the Rebel Alliance, 

A continuation of Clone Wars Rebels features the return of Voice Actors as well as characters from it's predecessor and reprisals of classic Characters and the actors that played them including Billy Dee Williams appearing as Lando Calrisian, Frank Oz as Yoda and James Earl Jones returning to voice Darth Vader. 

Naturally when Episode VII now called The Force Awakens finally arrived in Theaters, Yours Truly was at the Alamo Drafthouse along with the Dallas chapter of the 501st as well as some of the classic cosplayers and Chelsea Davis from CBS 11 and I was armed with my trusty camera to cover the event and the Alamo was nice enough to give me some food vouchers and I enjoyed some of the Star Wars themed cuisines that were available. I definetly liked the Wookie Cookies. 

I'm Glad everyone knew I was there because I ended up appearing on CBS 11 filming the screening. 

I admit that I have been waiting for reviewing the flick because I decided to wait for BluRay and see what special features were to come. 

I also felt that I could not talk about the flick without spoilers so I decided to be respectful to the fans that have yet to see the film. 

It is no secret that This film is the first chapter of a new trilogy and a new expanded universe but this is the chapter that while following a new cast of characters in Ray, Finn, Poe and BB8 we are continuing the saga of our returning favorites with Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, C-3P0 and R2-D2, Now that brings us to Han Solo, 

The famous Smuggler is featured prominently in the film alongside as his trusty sidekick Chewy we are shown his end at the hands of his own son Ben AK Kylo Ren. 

Granted I saw this death coming when Han stepped out on that bridge to try to reason to his son, because frankly this is the first chapter in a new trilogy and if it was the third I would see Ren returning to who he was but here is our primary villain having his big defining moment for the Saga. 

He will be always be remembered as the man who killed Han Solo and where will this take the characters. 

Believe me I was in the crowded theater during this scene where members of the audiences gasped and there were many WTFs and then silence. 

I am sure that Harrison Ford requested that his character die as that is what he wanted for Jedi and they did do the character justice in a franchise that is infamous for giving popular characters bad deaths. 

That brings us to Luke Skywalker as I know that many were complaining that Luke pops up at only the end and essentially has one shot in the flick and I actually liked that as this was the plot of the whole flick was the search for the last Jedi Knight. 

My intirpration of the ending was that Luke had some kind of connection to R2-D2 who was remaining in Low Power mode and had remained in hiding. 

When Han was killed it sent a great disturbance in the force as we saw Leia reacting, I'm sure Luke felt it as well and sent a signal activating R2-D2 to provide the last part of the map informing them of his location. 

Like Yoda Luke is in exile and seems reluctant to take Rey on as a apprentice. 

Personally I like the character of Rey and and the character of Poe and I am looking forward to seeing where these characters go in the next entries. 

The BluRay release features a multipart documentary that followed the production as well as features showcasing the music, the effects, and a special about the Table Read for the film. 

All in All This flick is a Buy and I recommend as far as BluRay waiting for a Box Set of all of the flicks when it is completed.