1. The Rebels Celebrate/The Resistance Celebrate Parallel
After the Starkiller Base his been destroyed, the surviving pilots - led by Poe Dameron - fly back to D'Qar and are greeted by an ecstatic Resistance. This scene, like the battle before it, is lifted right out of A New Hope, too - the great moment where Han and Luke hug one another after blowing up the Death Star, with Princess Leia running over to greet them. Obviously The Force Awakens scene is supposed to mirror the one from A New Hope, but it feels so insanely familiar when it actually happens that you genuinely feel like you're watching an actual remake. The only thing that separates these two scenes in terms of content - and ensures that The Force Awakens version is tinged with a sense of foreboding - sees Rey hugging Princess Leia over Han's death, far away from the celebrations. Still... a Death Star-like structure being blown to smithereens, followed by a bunch of Rebels - ahem, sorry: the "Resistance" - coming back in their X-Wings to a succession of whoops and cheers. A New Hope, eat your heart out. Which is what this movie did. Like this article? What do you make about the parallels between The Force Awakens and A New Hope? Is it a remake, a reboot or something else? Let us know in the comments.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
