Harrison Ford Finally Likes 'Star Wars,' Praises 'The Force Awakens'
Harrison Ford is a fan of the new Star Wars movie — and for fans of the franchise, that’s pretty big news.
The 73-year-old actor appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night, where he discussed his close-call plane crash from this spring, and allowed Kimmel to ask him some Star Wars questions. Kimmel, just like every other Star Wars fan, was curious as to why Luke Skywalker did not appear in the new poster or trailer for The Force Awakens — and Ford would only say that the omission was a very strategic one.
“There was a very good reason. I can’t tell you. Nothing,” Ford said. “I can tell you this: [The movie is] really, really good. Trust me. It’s really good. The new cast, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac … are phenomenal. J.J. has made an incredible movie. You will not be disappointed. At all.”
Of course, just about every actor says they like their movie while promoting it, but these words from Ford carry a lot more weight. Though the part of Han Solo launched his career and made him a household name, he was never all that big a fan of the sci-fi franchise, or of the character he once called “dumb as a stump.” He even petitioned George Lucas to kill off the space smuggler in Return of the Jedi, to no avail.
Ford has actually been quite positive about the unexpected opportunity he’s had to revisit the character in what will be his first Star Wars film since 1983’s Return of the Jedi. “It should have felt ridiculous,“ he told a Comic-Con crowd this summer. "It was 30-plus years ago and I sorta grew up. Yet here I was. I will tell you that it felt great.”
He wasn’t the only one singing the praises of The Force Awakens. Filmmaker and long-time franchise fan Kevin Smith said in a recent episode of his Fatman on Batman podcast that he’s seen parts of the forthcoming film, and called it “breathtaking … and artfully done.” He added: “Number one, it works as a Star Wars movie right away. Two, it works as a standalone movie, the way Guardians [of the Galaxy] did.“
Fans, of course, will get to judge for themselves when The Force Awakens hits theaters in December.
