(Provided by Lucasfilm)
Everyone loved . At least everyone I know.
Some people had problems with the recycled plot and blatant fan servicing, but for the most part, critics and audiences ate it up, propelling the film to more than $2 billion in worldwide ticket sales and high ratings, including a 92 percent on .
As such, expectations for the home video release have been equally high. Will we see deleted/much-needed scenes like General Organa lobbying the New Republic to confront the First Order? Uncomfortable but legitimately interesting mishaps like Harrison Ford during filming? A frank discussion of how Abrams reclaimed the series’ honor from George Lucas’ imaginative but disastrous prequels?
No, and perhaps we shouldn’t have expected to. Disney is now in charge of “Star Wars,” and as much as “The Force Awakens” was the singular work of director J.J. Abrams, this Blu-ray/DVD release is the product of the Disney corporate machine. Slick and professional, but lacking in some of the humanity that made the film so enjoyable.
The physical Blu-ray/DVD release consists of three discs — one for each format, plus a disc of bonus material — and the selling point for many fans is of course be the bonus material. Maybe I’m spoiled by the voluminous, incredibly in-depth production documentaries on Peter Jackon’s “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” movies, which have become the platinum standard for making-of featurettes, but these extras felt middling.
We glimpse (and hear) some juicy bits from nervous newcomers and old pros alike (such as Carrie Fisher calling the first day of filming ), but overall the hour-long making-of feature has the tone of a vetted-by-studio-laywers piece of advertising. The personalities are most endearing, but there are just too many carefully composed tracking shots and talking-head interviews with Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy for it to come off as anything other than monolithic commercialism.
That’s what nearly all making-of documentaries are, of course: ads for the movie that reinforce how great it is and how well everything went. Maybe I was expecting too much. It’s actually impressive in some ways that “The Force Awakens” even got this much behind-the-scenes love, including extra featurettes like “Crafting Creatures,” which delves into Jakku junk dealer Unkar Plutt and others, and “The Story Awakens: The Table Read,” which lays bare the nervous excitement of the first assembly of the cast.
This is better than nothing, and certainly a cut above what they were absolutely required to do. But even a making-of book like Phil Szostak’s “The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens” felt a little more on-the-level with fans, discussing setbacks (like Ford’s broken leg, which threw production into chaos and rearranged schedules by several months) and triumphs with the same even-handed tone. If you loved “The Force Awakens,” you’ve already pre-ordered this, and it’s worth the purchase price. Just know that this isn’t quite “the complete story behind the making of” the film that’s advertised on the back of the box.
“Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” is available on VOD in digital HD starting today (Friday, April 1) and in physical, 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD format on Tuesday, April 4.
