Dummies Guide to Star Wars: The Force Awakens!

Star Wars is the biggest movie franchise of all time! With the 7th installment aka Star Wars: The Force Awakens all set to hit cinemas this Christmas on 25th December 2015 in India, the excitement has hit fever pitch! And just in case you are one of the newbies to the franchise or managed to live under a rock and need a quick guide to the biggest franchise, here is our Dummies Guide to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the ‘Star Wars’ saga!

How many films have released in the franchise?

The Original Trilogy: Star Wars is made up of three trilogies that were (illogically) made out of order.First came episodes IV, V and VI. That’sStar Wars: A New Hope in 1977, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983. In that trilogy the good guys (the Rebellion and the Jedi) fight the bad guys (the Empire ruled by the Sith). When people refer to the “original trilogy” they are referring to these movies. Most of this glossary will deal with these films since they are widely considered far superior to the prequels.
The Prequels: The prequels were Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). This chronicles the story of how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, the main bad guy in the earlier (but actually later) trilogy. Both the first and second trilogies were directed by George Lucas.
The New Films: The new movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the first installment in the new trilogy. It was directed by J.J. Abrams and includes the stars of the original cast, Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker). It will be followed by two more Star Wars films, now being called just episodes VIII and IX.
And as if that weren’t enough, Disney and Lucasfilm are also planning a number of Star Wars spinoff films, one of which will be called Rogue One and another of which focuses on a younger version of Han Solo, the Harrison Ford character.

Film titles and numbers

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” opens on 25th December in India. and is directed by J.J. Abrams; The cast includes original trilogy actors Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels and Warwick Davis. New-to-the-saga cast members include Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Gwendoline Christie, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis and Max von Sydow. “The Force Awakens” is the saga’s seventh live-action film and seventh episode.

The seven live-action films’ full titles, in episodic order, followed by original U.S. release date and director:

“Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (May 19, 1999)
“Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (May 16, 2002)
“Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” (May 19, 2005)
“Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” (May 25, 1977)
“Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (May 21, 1980)
“Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” (May 25, 1983)
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015)

What is the story?

The events depicted in Star Wars media take place in a fictional galaxy. Many species of alien creatures (often humanoid) are depicted. Robotic droids are also commonplace and are generally built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a Galactic Republic, later reorganized as the Galactic Empire.

One of the prominent elements of Star Wars is the “Force”, an omnipresent energy that can be harnessed by those with that ability, known as Force-sensitives. It is described in the first produced film as “an energy field created by all living things [that] surrounds us, penetrates us, [and] binds the galaxy together.” The Force allows users to perform various supernatural feats (such as telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and mind control) and can amplify certain physical traits, such as speed and reflexes; these abilities vary between characters and can be improved through training. While the Force can be used for good, it has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression, and malevolence.

The films feature the Jedi, who use the Force for good, and the Sith, who use the dark side for evil in an attempt to take over the galaxy. Hence the use of the famous quote, “May The Force Be With You”