'THE FORCE AWAKENS' AT 10: THE DUEL!

The Force is fully awakened in Rey as she duels Kylo Ren.

Their friend Han Solo has been murdered before their shocked eyes, and now his slayer, Kylo Ren, has come looking for Rey and Finn in revenge for their heroism against both him and the First Order, whilst Starkiller Base begins its dramatic death throes all around them thanks to Resistance attacks. Amidst the eerie snowfall surroundings, Finn regrettably falls to Ren's superior lightsaber swordplay, but Rey is soon on hand to display her further astonishing skills in the Force and boldly challenges the fallen angel, of which she'll ultimately find the strength and courage to memorably defeat him...

A first for the saga, an atmospheric lightsaber duel in the snow, and a standout scene of drama, action and crowd-pleasing emotion from The Force Awakens.

Finn begins his bold if undisciplined attack on Ren.

Rey continues the fight and shows how the Force has equally awakened within her.

'THE FORCE AWAKENS' AT 10: BETRAYING A BIRTHRIGHT!

A birthright to evil, as personified by Kylo Ren, General Hux and Captain Plasma, striking new villains for the sequel universe's first adventure.

Manipulated during a time of emotional weakness and instability during his early Jedi training by Supreme Leader Snoke, ruler of the eventual scourge that is the First Order, young and impressionable Ben Solo, saddled with prior feelings of abandonment by his parents Leia Organa and Han Solo, has now become the bitter and twisted, all-power in the Force craving figure of the masked murderer Kylo Ren, determined to wipe out the Jedi, and his former master Luke Skywalker, at all costs, as played with ferocity, anger and twisted villainy within The Force Awakens by the well-cast Adam Driver, an acclaimed actor who has now pretty much worked with all the great Hollywood and international directors out there, and accumulating a fine and diverse body of work beyond his great contribution to the sequel Star Wars franchise, playing a character indelibly linked to the slaying of his onscreen father, Han Solo.. 

Promotional merchandise art poster by Joe Corroney showcasing Kylo Ren and the First Order for Episode VII.

Ren is determined to follow in the dark and powerful footsteps of his late grandfather, Darth Vader, within the Force. Art by Brian Rood,

With the discovery of the Force-latent powers of the mysterious Rey, Ren is determined to use her in finding Luke Skywalker. But her power in the Force is growing...

Behind the scenes on the memorable moment.

'THE FORCE AWAKENS' AT 10: DROID TALK!

The oh-so endearing BB-8 may be the new droid on the franchise block, but let's not forget the original robotic duo who started it all, the mis-matched but delightful friends on screen that are C-3PO (Anthony Daniels, long past icon status and needing a new word to represent his long-time contributions to Star Wars) and R2-D2, reunited at the Resistance base as the clues to the location of the missing Luke Skywalker are soon put together...

The new Threepio costume, with the none-too subtle red arm that annoyed Daniels during filming.

Old and new legends meet.

The droids whom we'll never forget.

'THE FORCE AWAKENS' AT 45: THE FISHER FACTOR!

A lovely shot of Carrie Fisher as Leia, being tended to by make-up artists for an ultimately deleted scene.

She was one of the key figures in bringing down the Galactic Empire that brought so much death, misery, death and tyranny in its wake, but thirty years of relative peace and stability with the New Republic, of which she was one of its prime leaders, was sadly not to last. With the emergent First Order making its ploy to take over from the Empire, General Leia Organa has no choice but to lead an all-new Resistance against such a powerful and potentially overwhelming threat that has been ignored too long by her soon dead political colleagues. And this battle is even more personal now, what with the disappearance of her brother, and fellow Jedi, Luke Skywalker, alongside the loss of her only son, Kylo Ren, to the Dark Side and to the First Order's leader, Snoke. And then comes the soon and tragic murder by Ren of her ex-husband, his father, Han Solo...

"Together again!" Ford and Fisher reunited in a publicity image.

Carrie Fisher's return to the Star Wars Saga with The Force Awakens was most welcome, of which she delivered a fine performance in her memorable scenes alongside Harrison Ford...

Leading the Resistance.

Monitoring oncoming dangers with Admiral Statura (Ken Leung) at the Resistance Base.

Finding new hope with the newly arrived Rey.

Leia sends Rey off to find her brother, whilst preparing the Resistance for new conflicts.

'THE FORCE AWAKENS' AT 10: "CHEWIE, WE'RE HOME!"

A great posed publicity image of Ford as Solo (with Joonas Suotamo as Chewie) on the Falcon set during his first memorable day of filming, prior to unfortunate injuries sustained, at Pinewood Studios.

Unhappy with his character of Han Solo's ultimate contribution to the conclusion of the middle Star Wars saga with Return of the Jedi, I, and I'm sure millions of other fans worldwide back in 1983, were surely convinced that Harrison Ford's involvement with the franchise would be over for good, and that he no longer needed the character of the iconic smuggler to further his already successful career. So what an incredible and joyous surprise it was in 2014 that Ford would return one last time to play Han Solo for The Force Awakens, helping to launch a new trio of saga heroes, and brought back in part due to his prior association with the new film's director J. J. Abrams (the energetic talent who had written his popular 90's drama Regarding Henry) and the intriguing but no less upsetting idea of killing Solo off (which Lucas refused to do back in 1982), slain by his own son, and ultimately bringing-in character closure for the actor. And, of course there was the huge paycheck that would keep Ford in enthused aeroplane flying and fuelling for a good few years to come...

Conferring on an ultimately deleted scene with J.J. Abrams.

Who can ever forget seeing the second trailer for The Force Awakens and hearing the resounding, booming fan cheers when the first footage of Solo and Chewbacca together was shown for the first time... "Chewie.... we're home!" 

Han is soon impressed with the skills of the young Rey.

Han and Chewie on Takodana.

Finn helps his new friends load bombs as they ready to journey to Starkiller Base.

With new friends Rey and Finn on a mission at the dreaded Starkiller Base.

'THE FORCE AWAKENS' AT 10: THE RESISTANCE FIGHTS BACK!

As the galaxy, and its benevolent but harried New Republic, faces fresh turmoil with the first incursions of the dreaded First Order, a small but no less brave group of fighter pilots joins the fight back, headed by their inspirational, talented, though often reckless, leader, Poe Dameron (as played with amiable heroism by then rising star, and long-time Star Wars fan, Oscar Isaac). Soon enough the diverse-piloted Black Squadron is thrust into the greatest battles of new history, including a successful opening aerial conflict against the First Order on the mercenary world of Takodana, liberating rebel heroes Han Solo and Finn in the process, as well bringing vital assistance, against overwhelming odds, to the epic destruction of the enemy's planet killing weapon, Starkiller Base...

Oscar Isaac with his original X-wing on the Jakku exterior set at Pinewood Studios, photographed for Vanity Fair by Annie Leibovitz.

The crowd-pleasing Battle of Takodana begins...

'THE FORCE AWAKENS' AT 10: THE UNLIKELY STORMTROOPER!

Stolen away years before from his unknown family on an unknown Outer Rim world, the Stormtrooper known originally only as FN-2187 would soon abandon his armour amidst the shocking brutality and tyranny of the First Order and its spread-out into the New Republic, refusing to kill innocent people on Jakku, and ultimately becoming a key figure of the recently formed Resistance by the conclusion of The Force Awakens, having found a family of sorts in the mysterious Rey of Jakku, courageous and inspiring top fighter pilot Poe Dameron, amiable droid BB-8, and the seasoned smugger and former Rebel general, Han Solo.

And Finn's adventures, played by John Boyega (who made a fine impression in productions like 24 and Attack the Block before being cast in the character), are only just beginning..

Wielding Luke Skywalker's lightsaber against enemy forces on Takodana.

COMING SOON: 'STAR WARS: MAUL - SHADOW LORD'

The Clone Wars Animated Series may be gone but its legacy lives on within numerous recent Dave Filoni overseen iterations. And now comes the eagerly anticipated Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord in 2026, as our favourite lethal and vindictive former Sith assassin turned ambitious crime lord, Darth Maul, finally gets his own well deserved showcase, voiced once more by Sam Witwer. The series is expected to lead-in to the history/events of Solo: A Star Wars Story and the villain's eventual demise in Rebels, as well as touching on themes created by the much-missed George Lucas for his sadly never made Episodes VII - IX, which featured the return of the Sith in a big way! 

'THE FORCE AWAKENS' AT 10: DROID LOVE!

It was love at first sight for Daisy Ridley and the charming droid BB-8 during location filming in Abu Dhabi in 2014 for The Force Awakens. And audiences were soon smitten with the pair of them onscreen - the lost droid with secret info vitally needed by the Resistance, and Rey, the lost young girl carving out a meagre existence, dreaming of a life beyond, on the far away junk world of Jakku... 

J.J. Abrams watches the filming of Rey adjusting BB-8's antenna.

CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF 'THE FORCE AWAKENS'!

Art by Tsuneo Sanda.

It debuted to acclaim on its original release back in December 2015, but such positivity to The Force Awakens ten years on seems to have waned somewhat since the arrival of its subsequent sequels. A shame really, as this launch film for Disney/Lucasfilm's new sequel era of the franchise held so much promise and remains a finely crafted movie, with a strong script, fine direction and excellent casting for a new batch of heroes, despite its obvious remake elements linked to the original Star Wars. Like what happened with Daniel Craig's outstanding debut as James Bond 007, 2006's Casino Royale, perhaps the bar was just too high for subsequent films to match it in terms of quality storytelling and character development... 

But let's go back in time to that hopeful promised future of December 2015, and celebrate the then joyous return to a galaxy far, far away...

Happy Tenth Anniversary!

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 45: MEANWHILE, ON THE COMEDY VARIETY SHOW PLANET!

Taking their first steps on a comedy variety show planet!

Frank Oz helped bring the magic of Yoda to the Star Wars saga, so it was only fair that the compliment was returned back to him, Jim Henson and the Muppet Show, as Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and the remote controlled Artoo Detoo made an hilarious special appearance on the UK/international comedy hit during 1980, filmed at the nearby ITC Elstree Studios. Hamill, notably, would get to stretch his comedy muscles in a double role (himself and Luke Skywalker) alongside Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear and the legendary Miss Piggy, give a notable 'Gargling Gershwin' rendition, and even indulge in a little bit of musical variety!

Hamill and Daniels rehearse the finale with Kermit.

Luke and Threepio discuss the bizarre universe they are in!

Mark/Luke with his new porky Princess!

Original preview press cutting, from the files of the Kurtz/Joiner Archive.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 45: MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS!

John Williams as the keeper of the Star Wars musical flame...

Bringing back the traditional orchestral movie soundtrack in a big way that no one truly expected, John Williams' score for the original Star Wars was an unmitigated triumph, of which the its 1977 released double album soundtrack (from Fox Records) was a must-have purchase for worldwide fans and the general public alike. Hearing Williams's music for the film was just as perfect as seeing it for the umpteenth time on the big screen, being so evocative, exciting and memorable, especially rich in character themes that would become iconic over nearly fifty years. 

Williams with friends Ken Wannberg and Lionel Newman, plus director Irvin Kershner, at a lively spotting session for Empire's score.

Going through a scene and timing it for the creation of his music, Williams with Wannberg in California, late 1979.

Empire’s complex, beautiful score would once more be recorded in the UK, with Williams conducting the 129 musicians in the London Symphony Orchestra. Recording for the December 1979/ January 1980 sessions are handled in three batches, split between Anvil Studios, where the Star Wars score had been recorded, and EMI studios at Abbey Road. Williams is supported by his regular team of friends - engineer Eric Tomlinson, orchestrator Herbert Spencer, music editor Kenneth Wannberg, and supervisor Lionel Newman, the Head of 20th Century Fox's music department. Gary Kurtz, Lucas and Kershner, plus Robert Watts, are on hand to watch the recordings. It is estimated that the score will cost a quarter of a million dollars to record (taking into account the fees of the arrangers, the musicians, the copyists, and the sound-recording crew), but the money will later be re-couped by sales of the film's soon-beloved RSO two-disc record, to be released by May, 1980.

Recording music for the film's fateful finale duel with the LSO.

Lucas, Kershner, Kurtz and Robert Watts attend the music recordings in London.

For The Empire Strikes Back, Williams had the then rare and genuinely exciting opportunity to revisit the George Lucas fantasy universe that had so enamoured itself to audiences, adding further new unforgettable themes to its saga, alongside incredible musical accomplishments with the stalwart LSO.

 

Japanese edition of the classic 2-LP soundtrack.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 45: A UNIVERSE OF DRAMA AND ADVENTURE...

The long-running commercial artist John Alvin's work on the original Star Wars films have become highly beloved and respected over time. None more so than the super 1995 work he did for the films on their uncut VHS release before the debut of the Special Editions, of which all the key successful character ingredients for The Empire Strikes Back would be well represented.