Someone said Screen Actors guild says to be an actor in a movie you have to say at least 1 line. Which means Hamill technically did not act in episode 7. 
I think his voice is part of the montage that Rey hears when she touches his lightsaber.
I don’t think so, is it?
Obi-Wan (young and old) and Yoda, but not Luke, as far as I can determine.
Probably because that’s what they did with the new Star Trek movies too. Maybe not lazy, just afraid to try new approaches. Nah, lets stick with what we know worked last time…
As to Rey’s parents, J.J. Abrams says
neither of them were in ST:VII, which rules out Luke being her dad: J.J. Abrams gives a big clue about Rey's parents in 'Star Wars'.
Thank god.
That’s not what he meant, apparently: [spoiler]"What I meant was that she doesn’t discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world,” Abrams said.
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/15/star-wars-force-awakens-jj-abrams-rey-parents[/spoiler]
Um, yeah, we kind of already knew that much. Unless that interview was from before the movie was released, I guess?
I believe you can hear the “No” scream he made Empire after Vader revealed his identity right at the beginning of the montage.
But I don’t know if it was a recording of the old scream or a re recording. Does it count if is the old “No”?
Didn’t JJ Abrams squander all his credibility on the subject of his own movies (“it’s not Khan”)?
Well, that’s weaselly…
Princes William and Harry, who are apparently fans, visited the set of SW8: http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/19/europe/star-wars-royals-pinewood-set-visit/index.html
I just rewatched the film on my TV (BD came out yesterday) and I think it holds up well. I still enjoyed it.
I had no idea Abrams was a ginger…
Wait – is the next sequel “one of his own movies”?
I don’t see that he’s the writer or the director of the next installment; Rey’s parents didn’t get revealed while Abrams was at the helm; is their identity up to him?
That is a good question. He still has some influence, as an Executive Producer, and he did establish the characters, so what he originally came up with may have some sway. But he did say in an interview that Rian Johnson asked him to change a few things to fit in with how he saw his storyline go (and Johnson is also writing episode IX but not directing) so I would take that to mean that any number of details that Abrams had been setting up may not pay off how he’d planned, including parentage of any characters.
They’re not. Rian Johnson (Looper) is doing the next one, and the guy who did Jurassic World has the third. Abrams was a hired gun for the first movie. His involvement in the overall series is minimal.
Which, I understand is kind of what JJ Abrams does. He’ll set up a premise, get it rolling, and then go off to another project while someone else takes over. It seems to work.
It’s not just the re-hashing. I have just received the dvd and re-watched it. The thing that struck me most was the lack of any tension in the film. Whether this is due to the direction or not, I’m not sure.
The funniest part for myself and my wife was Han’s confrontation with Ren, who apparently looks just like him. When he took his mask off I expected a “Sorry, my mistake, I was looking for someone else”. In what world does Adam Driver look like Ford?
He was also a weak villain, not quite bad enough to make we want Hayden Christensen back, but getting there.
Frankly I’m looking forward to Rogue One more then Ep 8.