1/17/2024 0 Comments Makemkv force awakensWatching The Force Awakens in native 4K with HDR10 it makes you wish Disney prepped the 4K transfers for the Original Trilogy themselves. More akin to it's more recent brethren Rogue One, Rise of Skywalker, and The Last Jedi - The Force Awakens didn't endure the final finishing eye of Lucas - this means no revamped color grading but most importantly no grain scrubbing or clumping grain structure. The 4K disc holds no bonus features and opens to Disney's standard language / "start the movie" menu structure. Housed in a standard black 2-disc case with identical slipcover artwork, the 4K disc rests on top of the Blu-ray bonus features disc. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens jumps to 4K UHD Blu-ray in a three-disc 4K Blu-ray + Blu-ray + Digital set. As a standalone film - The Force Awakens is a lot of fun, far better than the prequels in terms of construction and execution, but it's not the best the galaxy far, far away has to offer. The continuing story was simply left to "the next guy" to figure out where things are going to go - whether that be Rian Johnson or Colin Trevorrow or once again J.J. Looking back at this Sequel Trilogy, it's very clear that there wasn't a planned direction for the trilogy rather a motive to hit pre-scheduled release dates. Where the "fan service" of Rogue One worked to establish time and place for the story, here it's pure 100% member berries - for better or worse. But you can't build an entire trilogy on the goodwill of nostalgia. It has to go somewhere. I fully understand the need to sort of "reset" the franchise a bit after the prequel films and bring back that feeling of the Original Trilogy, so on that level, the nostalgia wins. From the introduction of the Millennium Falcon to the overgrown Death Star now called Starkiller Base - that's easily destroyed by a couple of Pew-Pews from an X-Wing blaster it's just a lot and holds back the originality the first opening moments promised. When The Force Awakens is at its worst - it's steeped in nostalgia so thick it could be served as a dessert pudding. Poe and his mission to find Luke Skywalker with the help of his angularly-challenged droid BB-8 adds suspense and excitement for the return of the original trilogy's hero. With Kylo Ren we had a new villain conflicted with his place within the spectrum of the Force. The one-time Stormtrooper with a conscience Finn can no longer participate in another massacre and joins the resistance gives the film a sense of heart. Meeting Rey as a scrapper stripping parts out of destroyed ships and selling them for food instantly makes her a character to connect with. When The Force Awakens is great - it's wonderful. And, more or less, that's exactly what we got with Episode VII: The Force Awakens. We wanted our favorite characters to return and despite 30 years be the same people we remembered as we last saw them during the great Ewok-hosted Stormtrooper BBQ on Endor. We wanted a universe that felt real - and not a computer-generated green screen background. We wanted characters we could connect with. After George Lucas' often directionless inorganic CGI-laden prequels, fans longed for what they loved about the original trilogy. It's easy to feel like The Force Awakens was a bit of a course correction for the franchise. But then we ended up getting a lot more Star Wars than we knew we wanted. That marketing buildup was incredible and made the wait for the film's release feel interminable. Not only that, but we were also promised the return of Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and of course - Luke Skywalker! I still remember the excitement of that first teaser trailer and replaying it over and over again. We had a new galactic supervillain with The First Order led by the crossguard lightsaber-wielding Kylo Ren. We had a trio of new characters with Poe Dameron, Finn, and a new Jedi apprentice Rey. After the bloated CGI of the Prequel Trilogy, The Force Awakens was the first film in decades that actually looked and felt like it belonged in the galaxy far far away. Abrams, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and the entire Disney mega marketing machine. Episode VII: The Force Awakens promised a new and exciting George-free adventure under the watchful eye of writer/director J.J. After Lucas unleashed his "Special Editions" of the Original Trilogy, two mediocre films with one halfway decent entry to round out the often problematic Prequel Trilogy, the world was ready for a new Star Wars adventure something that felt like what fans originally experienced decades ago in theaters.
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