*WARNING: SPOILERS ALERT*

The force was strong with students as they went to see recent blockbuster film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” last week on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Student Union Theatre.

The Force Awakens came out on DVD and Blu-Ray on Apr. 5, which the Campus Activities Board (CAB) planned the movie night around. The showings were at 6 and 9 p.m. on Tuesday, and there were three showings on Wednesday at 12 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.  

“I think we picked really good show times for the two days,” said CAB Coordinator Nick Elliott. “We tried to pick times that worked with students’ schedule, when they did not have class or anything like that. It was kind of trial and error seeing what times would work best for students, but it looks like we had good numbers for the times that we had.”

CAB also advertised this movie night differently than they did others, thus affecting the turnout. Things like the film poster on the floor in the student union and using the TVs in the union are creative ways it was advertised.

“We promoted a lot differently than the way we did during the fall semester using different social media tactics and stuff like that,” said CAB volunteer Reggie Cockerham. “And after this experiment we may continue advertising it this way.”

Students met with friends as they took their seats inside the Student Union Theatre just as excited as they were when they first saw the film back in December.

“I am really excited because I saw this movie like three times and each time I saw it I found something different about it,” said senior communication major and entertainment host of the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) radio show Kalynn Barnum. “The movie is fantastic, I think it’s a wonderful addition to the Star Wars universe and I get to see it with some of my best friends and some of my new friends.”

Probably the most surprising and emotional scene for students is when popular character from the original trilogy Han Solo is killed by his son Kylo Ren formally Ben Solo.

“I do not have a favorite scene, but when Han Solo or Harrison Ford pretty much got stabbed it pretty much got to me again,” said freshman Joshua Chapman.

Almost every Star Wars film gets capped off with a lightsaber duel. The lightsaber is the most iconic item from Star Wars and the duel between characters Rey and Kylo Ren at the end just seemed to mesmerize all in attendance.

“Just because I love lightsabers I got to say the lightsaber fight is the best scene,” said junior communication major and co-host with Barnum on the BEA entertainment radio show Max Mazik. “They’re not as choreographed as the originals or the prequels for that matter they feel realistic, they feel like people whose lives are at stake and they are actually trying to fight each other.”

Something that makes this Star Wars movie stand out from the others is that the main character Rey is a female. While fans view the character differently, students feel that it was great to see diversity in Star Wars.

“My favorite aspect of the movie is Rey because she is such a strong female character and she is a strong female character done right,” said Barnum. “I think that is what a lot of women my age love about this movie, that they are not getting a strong female character that is gimmicky. I think they did a wonderful job on that.”

Students hope that in the future they will have more influence over what movies CAB will show for movie nights.

“When Rogue One comes out, I definitely would like to see that here,” said senior sociology major Anthony DeGioia. “With superhero movies they could do ‘Ant Man,’ maybe ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ I wouldn’t say Avengers. They could also do classic movies like the ‘The Godfather,’ that is staple in any movie goer’s diet.”

Elliott explains how students can share what they want to see at future movie nights.

“The best way is through the survey on our website and it’s always on there,” said Elliott. “Or you can send us a message on our social media. The more voices we have, the better chance of them helping us pick out those movies. We are always open to what the students want.”

To find this survey and to see what other events CAB has planned, simply visit southeastern.edu.