Steven Spielberg Gave J.J. Abrams Two Ideas for The Force Awakens

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D collectors edition on Blu-Ray will be released on November 15, and thanks to the new director’s commentary from J.J. Abrams, we learn of two ideas that Steven Spielberg contributed to the film…

While we anxiously await the worldwide theatrical release of the very first standalone Star Wars film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Lucasfilm is helping to bridge that gap with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on 3D Blu-Ray collectors edition.

The components list for The Force Awakens on 3D Blu-Ray has been released, and we’ve covered snippets of director commentary from J.J. Abrams on Rey and Finn’s very first meeting on Jakku. Today, thanks to Screen Crush, we have some great quotes from Abrams regarding legendary director Steven Spielberg’s contribution to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The first quote has to do with Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) after they crash land their stolen TIE Fighter on the desert landscape of Jakku.

"While this is a CG effect of the swallowing, this explosion was Steven Spielberg’s idea. He loved the idea that the thing get sucked into the sand and then… that!"

The final quote has to do with Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and their final duel in the snowy forest.

"When I showed the first cut of this scene to Steven Spielberg … he suggested ‘What if trees were falling while they were fighting?’ And I said ‘That’s cool, but we’ve shot the scene already.’ And then I said to [visual effects supervisor] Roger Guyett, ‘Is there any way we could have trees falling?’ And he said, ‘If you want to pay for it.’ So we did."

As you can see, The Force Awakens definitely benefited from the expertise of Steven Spielberg’s legendary touch. I can’t imagine Poe’s TIE Fighter not being swallowed by the sand pit and then being blown up, and then his fate being left to our imagination.

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That was a great piece of storytelling made better because of Spielberg’s suggestion. Star Wars: The Force Awakens on 3D Blu-Ray hits stores next Tuesday, November 15.