Star Wars

When you’re out promoting a movie, you’re often asked to do a lot of things, most of them pretty silly. With the amount of press the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was being asked to do, there were asked to do a lot of silly things, none perhaps as silly as going on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and singing a medley of Star Wars music a cappella. But the entire cast — including Harrison Ford! — actually commits, and it actually turns out to pretty fun.

The original Star Wars was driven by nostalgia for pulp magazines, Saturday-morning serials, and a simpler era with clear-cut heroes and villains. The new Star Wars is driven by nostalgia for the original Star Wars, and a simpler era when that title evoked words like “adventure” and “excitement,” and not words like “the taxation of trade routes,” and “Jar Jar Binks.” The characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens are all searching for something of great importance to the galaxy far, far away. I won’t reveal what this MacGuffin is, but I will tell you what it represents: that old Star Wars magic. Can director J.J. Abrams and the rest of the saga’s new creators find it?

If you missed the lightsaber battle downtown Grand Junction today (Dec. 15) you're in luck, we caught some of the action.

See Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Sarah Hyland and some stars in costume on the red carpet.

For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. And for almost 40 years, Star Wars has captured the imaginations of men, women, and children from... well, not a thousand, but several generations! It’s hard to imagine a movie, or any other work outside of a religious text, that’s touched as many and had as powerful an impact on pop culture specifically --- and culture in general --- as Star Wars. To mark the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we've compiled some of the best fan art we could find celebrating the heroes of the original Star Wars trilogy. (And a few from the Prequels, because, why not?)

Excitement over Star Wars: The Force Awakens has reached a fever (soccer) pitch.

Star Wars fans rejoice! Comic Talk616 is looking to beat the world record Lightsaber battle by holding a flash mob in downtown Grand Junction. This is the fun you're looking for.

Sure, there are lots of kids and teens buying Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys, but a long, long time ago in a galaxy that is actually this one, Star Wars belonged to another group of nerds — and those nerds are not going to let today’s kids take ownership of their fandom so easily, especially when these kids don’t know that action figures should STAY. IN. THE. BOX.

Despite some early concerns, most would agree that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a diverse film. The three leads are a woman, a black man and a Cuban man. One of the main enemies is a woman. One of the major new characters is played by a black woman. Princess Leia is now General Leia Organa. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s a very solid step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it may have been a little too far in the right direction for some countries. A new Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster from China has been revealed and, despite being one of the two main stars of the film, they’ve shrunk down black actor John Boyega in half.

George Lucas recently commented about why he walked away from Star Wars and it’s all your fault. In a new video interview for Vanity Fair, the Star Wars creator voiced some of his frustrations with the past of the franchise and his hopes for the future, yielding some uncharacteristically candid soundbites.