Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Seven things Harrison Ford wants you to know

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After 32 years, Han Solo returns to the big screen this December when Star Wars: The Force Awakens premieres.

Aside from Star Wars, veteran Hollywood actor Harrison Ford boasts a slate of blockbusters as diverse as Blade Runner, Apocalypse Now, the Indiana Jones film franchise, Witness, The Fugitive and Air Force One.

The 73-year-old can also impressively lay claim to surviving a crash landing in a World War II training plane.

He sat down with 7.30's Leigh Sales to talk about the return of the beloved film series, and also made his views clear on climate change inaction.

1. On why younger fans love Star Wars:

"It's their parents' fault! It keeps getting passed on as family movies do to succeeding generations as though there might be something in it [that's] worthwhile.

2. On the authenticity of the Star Wars films:

"There's an emotional authenticity to it, and I think it confronts issues that we all find are important in our lives ... questions of identity, responsibility, independence and fate."

3. On computer-generated effects:

"JJ Abrams [the director] made the choice to make a lot of practical sets rather than having everything computer generated. "Having a physical set really is of great advantage. Not just for actors who have to pretend in a place that they're not, but it allows a freedom for the cinematographer, for the director, for staging."

4. On the line 'Chewy, we're home':

"I wanted to try 'we're home, Chewy' and other variations, but we came back to what was originally scripted."

5. On returning to the Star Wars franchise:

"It felt like being home! It felt good, it felt like there was a job to be done, I knew what the job entailed, I was happy to be working with JJ [Abrams, the director], I like to work... it was fun."

6. On filling in the back story of Han Solo:

"There's a bit of story that's been invented that I think is very satisfactory, that allows the audience to have an understanding of how the time has been passed in relationships between characters, and it produces an emotional context that is really very useful. "If you've been away from characters and they change the way they look and they're not who they used to be, it's nice that there's an emotional reference that you remember. "Han Solo is much the same in aspect, but if you were to cut through the trunk you'd see a lot more rings in the tree."

7. On the success of the films:

"It has a lot to do with George Lucas's original invention and imagination. It has to do with the visual impact of going places that we've not gone before. It has to do with good filmmaking skills. It has to do with the temper of the times in which the first film appeared ... all kinds of things."





Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment

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