May the score be with you!

Hello everyone!

Let’s begin this post by saying it is NOT a review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Well, not exactly.

I did see the new saga installment a few days ago, on opening night and it was all kinds of awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire movie and it certainly lived up to the hype it’s been receiving.

These are my personal opinions on why I loved it so much and there are absolutely NO PLOT SPOILERS because, you know, nice people don’t do that!

It’s more concerned with the overall look and feel of the film but as I know some hardcore fans may think this constitutes ruining the experience, consider this your *skip to the next part* warning!

I loved Star Wars Episode VII because…

• Everything felt familiar.
  It’s a nice feeling to step into a world that is instantly recognisable, meaning I could concentrate on plot rather than scanning the scenery.
• Everything felt real.
  By this I mean there was no dodgy CGI reminiscent of the prequels. The effects had weight to them and seamlessly co-existed with the actors.
• The casting was spot on.
  Everyone was splendid in their roles, in particular Daisy Ridley. Whilst I love Natalie Portman as an actress, I always felt she was too delicate in the prequels. Ridley has more grit and is much more Leia-esque.
• There were many parallels and mirror images that I enjoyed identifying.
• The humour was back.
  The dialogue and interaction with the cast was excellent and nothing seemed forced or clunky.
• It works as a stand alone film.
  For those who haven’t seen any of the rest (I wont judge. Well, maybe a little…!)

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One of the parts I was most looking forward to was the opening scene – That frame of the movie, completely silent that simply says,

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away…

Not just because I knew it meant the film had officially started with the opening crawl but because it signified this:

Yes, the main theme music for Star Wars – I actually teared up! Call it the over-anticipation, call it emotion brought on by going straight to the cinema after a very long day at work or whatever. The fact is, it filled me with a rush of nostalgia and made me realise just how much I love composer John Williams’ music.

As someone who watched more films growing up than following the latest band, you could say that John Williams almost single handedly provided the soundtrack of my youth.

The 83 year old is responsible for creating the scores to, well, scores of films and TV series. In a career spanning six decades, Williams has won countless, well deserved awards and accolades and has arguably some of the most iconic, easily recognisable soundtracks of the 20th and 21st century.

Blockbuster greats such as:

• Jaws

• Star Wars
• Close Encounters
• Superman
• Indiana Jones
  (Try humming Star Wars into Superman into Indy…harder than it sounds!)

• E.T.

• Home Alone
• Jurassic Park

• Schindler’s List
• Saving Private Ryan
• Harry Potter series

He’s had a long professional relationship with Steven Spielberg and frankly, when I was a child, if it wasn’t directed by Spielberg, I wasn’t interested in watching it (unless it was George Lucas of course!) So, this may explain why I love John’s compositions so much.

However, as I’ve mentioned before, movie scores have heavily influenced my love of the classical genre too.

So for the instant, nostalgic memories and for enlightening me to different styles of music, I would like to thank the legend that is John Williams.

May the score be always with you!

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Credits: Youtube , Wikipedia , comicbook.com and gamesradar.

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