All of the Similarities Between TFA and ANH

Actually I see more like ANH/TPM/TFA.

- Desert planet;
- Good guy living a hard life dreaming of leaving the desert planet;
- The bad guy that goes after the hero/heroes/droids in the same desert planet;
- The big bad station/ship that was exploded in the end of the movie.

 

I still had this laying around from 2016. I decided to arbitrarily stop at 25 since it seemed like a good number. I’m sure there’s plenty more if I bothered to take the time to think it over again.

1. Our initial protagonist is confronted by the bad guys after receiving sensitive data.

2. That data is stored in a droid for safe keeping.

3. During that exchange, an acquaintance of our antagonist tries to stall for time and is killed for his effort.

4. Our initial protagonist is apprehended but not before taking out some storm troopers and then bantering with the main antagonist.

5. The initial protagonist is taken for interrogation by the main antagonist.

6. The initial protagonist is later freed by someone dressed as a storm trooper.

7. The droid wanders a desert where it’s immediately captured by an opportunist.

8. This act then leads the droid to our main protagonist.

9. The main protagonist encounters an unlikely ally and the new group escape the desert planet together, under fire aboard the Millennium Falcon.

10. Han Solo is confronted by underworld cronies about a botched job and has to get out of a tight spot.

11. The protagonist encounters an elder figure who views a hologram from the droid shedding light on the hidden data.

12. The elder figure gives a speech highlighting the Force and some historical tidbits that led to the current situation.

13. The elder figure leads the group to a seedy location full of questionable aliens in order to arrange passage for the data to the good guys.

14. The bad guys have a planet destroying weapon overseen by a ruthless military figure on equal footing as our main antagonist.

15. The military figure and the main antagonist both serve a bigger bad who isn’t explained in much detail.

16. The planet destroying weapon does what it’s supposed to do and it’s a big deal.

17. The good guys have a base on a forest world set among old ruins.

18. The group infiltrate the giant weapon and disable a key component of it, but then also rescue someone.

19. The elder figure is separated from the rest of the group and encounters the main antagonist.

20. The elder figure and main antagonist have a paternal relationship that has now soured.

21. The main antagonist kills the elder figure.

22. The main protagonist views the elder figure’s death from a distance and reacts as you’d expect.

23. The giant weapon is attacked by X-wings trying to exploit a weakness.

24. The giant weapon is destroyed in a massive explosion and our main antagonist presumably escapes in order to fight another day.

25. R2-D2 shows up at the end letting us know he’s fine after all and everything’s gonna be OK. Hooray!

 

Oh, and since it’s on my mind: The main protagonist is taught one specific focus related Force technique which then becomes the means of saving the day.

Obi-Wan teaches Luke to “let go your conscious self and act on instinct”, which is later how he manages to destroy the Deathstar.

Maz teaches Rey to “Close your eyes. Feel it. The light...It will guide you”, which is later how she manages to defeat Kylo.

 

This is more of an aesthetic similarity than plot related, but the sequence in TFA of Leia reeling after Han’s death is a visual allusion to OB taking a beat after Alderaan’s death.

 

I think they're nearly the same, and it's brilliant. In TFA, people who watched the OT can zone out of the story in order to focus on the characters. Rey doesn't have the same compulsions or desires Luke does; Finn reaches his own internal goal to escape halfway through the movie; Kylo is obviously trying so hard to be like Vader...and failing spectacularly. It's almost like the ideal sequel in that it gives you all of the same feelings of the first entry.

For newcomers this works as well, because you're getting the "traditional Star Wars story" (go to desert planet, meet a Skywalker, escape with some princess of sorts, go back to your headquarters to discuss how to take down the Big Bad's superweapon, do a trench run, and go home...like, five out of the nine Skywalker movies do this) and some fresh new graphics while you're at it.

However, this isn't perfect. TFA's formula was great for the franchise but terrible for the story. The OT's sacrifices were undone and they are unceremoniously divorced and/or killed; the new enemy is nothing but the Empire 2.0; and the sequel doesn't get time to rest so that the characters can develop and mature between movies.

 

Ha ha. Sorry if that was a bit garbled.

In ANH, after the Deathstar destroys Alderaan, we cut to a reaction shot of Obi-Wan who’s noticeably woozy and needs to have himself a good sit. He’d sensed that loss and is trying to cope.

In TFA, we get essentially the same shot. After Kylo skewers his father and tosses him from a rail-less walkway into a bottomless pit, we cut to a reaction shot of Leia who’s similarly affected and has to get off her royal feet.

It isn’t a repeated story beat, but a repeated visual aid that serves the same function in both movies: to underscore the tragedy of the event.