In another part of the galaxy, you can forget the puny Death Star of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope – the First Order is now perfecting an entire planet as the Starkiller Base. Part of the land is now a public park with a cycle path but, although you can clearly see three of the six huge concrete bunkers used in the film, once the missile silos, they’re securely fenced off. The runway, once the longest in Europe, was broken up and used in the Newbury bypass. In 1997, after the base closed, a group of businessman bought the land from the Ministry of Defence, formed the Greenham Common Community Trust and transferred 750 acres to the council. The Resistance Base, to which everyone returns, where Finn is reunited with the presumed-dead Dameron, and C-3P0 with the sleep-mode R2-D2, is the old RAF base at Greenham Common on the A339 south of Newbury in Berkshire – this time, those looming mountains were digitally added.īuilt in 1942, the air base was used by British and American planes during WWII and the Cold War, but for anyone over the age of 30 in the UK, the words Greenham Common conjure up the Women's Peace Camps which grew up outside the perimeter fence in the early Eighties as a protest against the use of cruise missiles on UK soil. The Resistance fighters arrive to save the day, headed by General Leia Organa ( Carrie Fisher) and C-3P0 ( Anthony Daniels) – barely recognisable with his new red arm. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens: the planet 'Takodana': Lake Windermere, Lake District, Cumbria | Photograph: Tadas Zvinklys Stormtroopers attack at the usually peaceful Derwentwater, (where the hills of the Borrowdale Fells have been digitally removed), while the X-wing fighters of the Resistance arrive over Thirlmere, to the south. They’re inevitably spotted and when Kylo Ren sends forces to re-capture the map, the fight is on. Here, Rey is mysteriously drawn to the old light sabre that once belonged to Luke Skywalker. The lakes and the shoreline of ‘Takodana’ are just south of Keswick, in Cumbria’s beautiful Lake District. “I didn’t know there was so much green in the whole galaxy!” exclaims Rey as two outstandingly beautiful UK locations replace the barren sands of Abu Dhabi. It’s on 'Jakku' too that Finn ( John Boyega) deserts the ranks of the Stormtroopers after witnessing a massacre and hooks up with scavenger Rey ( Daisy Ridley), who lives by trading recycled junk for food.Īlong with BB-8, the spherical droid who’s carrying a vital section of the sought-after map, Rey and Finn commandeer the rusting, near-abandoned Millennium Falcon, unwittingly finding themselves alongside Han Solo ( Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca ( Peter Mayhew) and heading to the lush green planet of 'Takodana' for help from Maz Kanata ( Lupita Nyong’o) at her multi-cultural, multi-species cantina. Fast And Furious 7, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and even rival franchise Star Trek Beyond also seem to have found the offer irresistible. And it’s no longer Tunisia but the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert, near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, thanks perhaps to 30% rebates provided by the government to encourage film production. No, that desert planet isn’t Tatooine, it’s Jakku. Advance ticket sales on both sides of the Atlantic have obliterated previous records, leading to speculation that Abrams’ film might challenge Avatar for the mantle of highest-grossing movie of all time.Luke Skywalker has vanished, the First Order has replaced the Empire and the Resistance is once again striking back.ĭameron Poe ( Oscar Isaac) has been given a secret map to the whereabouts of Skywalker, now the last Jedi, but the First Order is hot on its trail in the person of sinister Kylo Ren ( Adam Driver). The latest and reportedly final trailer for The Force Awakens was viewed more than 112m times during its first 24 hours online, according to Lucasfilm. I just cannot wait for the movie to be out in the world.” “We still have another scoring session with John Williams, who’s a god when it comes to music, so it’s been an ongoing, surreal experience. “My guess is we’ll probably be doing visual effects for the next three or four weeks, even though the cut will be done,” he said. Skywalker’s absence has inspired such frenzied speculation not only because Hamill was the ostensible star of the original Star Wars trilogy, but also because Abrams has previously revealed the question, “Who is Luke Skywalker?” inspired him to sign on for the long-running space opera.Ībrams also revealed he has not yet completed work on The Force Awakens, which is due to debut in UK cinemas on 17 December, and arrives in the US a day later. I can’t wait for you to find out the answers.” Asked by the Associated Press at the GLSEN Respect Awards if there was a reason for Skywalker’s omission from the trailer and other marketing, Abrams admitted: “It’s no accident.” He added: “These are good questions to be asking.
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