10 Most Emotional Moments From Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Beep boop beep. *Cries forever*

by Andrew Pollard

After what seems like an eternity, the time is finally here: Star Wars: Episode VII €“ The Force Awakens is now in cinemas... and it truly is a wondrous entry in the greatest franchise of all time. Forget whatever issues some may have with the prequel trilogy, The Force Awakens is a welcome return to form and a fantastic trip down memory lane whilst simultaneously serving as a fresh, dynamic story all of its own. In case you€™re not aware by now, yes, it really is as good as you'd hoped. Whilst the film has extraordinary, larger-than-life moments of action and extravaganza, there is also a sense of tragedy, loss and darkness as well. It's a truly emotional experience - a rollercoaster of humour, devastation and fan-baiting nostalgia - and best of all it truly feels like a Star Wars film. But what were the film's most emotional moments?

10. The Crawl

For any long-time Star Wars fan, that familiar opening fanfare is enough to bring a tear of expectant hope to the eye of even the most skeptical of fans. Seriously, even during the much-maligned The Phantom Menace (which really isn€™t that bad) and Attack Of The Clones (which totally is that bad), fans still got excited and expectant during the opening moments. The combination of that familiar sound, the opening musical number from John Williams, and a crawl that explains where we€™re at by this point in the saga, all of these can€™t help but hit fans of the franchise right in the heart. We€™d find out that Luke Skywalker disappeared shortly after the end of Return Of The Jedi, whilst after the downfall of The Empire came the rise of The First Order. From here, the scene was set: regardless of whether you liked the film or not, as soon as The Force Awakens opened with this familiar of sounds and the expected crawl, the mood was set and that wave of nostalgia flooded back.
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.