Location of ‘The Force Awakens’ climax revealed

While Star Wars: The Force Awakens continues to demonstrate its box office might, details about how some parts of the movie came together are being revealed. Spoilers ahead.

The most recent is a behind-thescenes reel that explains how director JJ Abrams discovered the location for that key scene in The Force Awakens.

Which key scene? The very final scene where Rey tracks down the missing Luke Skywalker to present him with his lightsabre. Luke, of course, has been in hiding for years, apparently on a beautiful green island. In a leaked script, the planet is revealed to be called Ahch-To, the location of the first Jedi temple.

On Earth, beautiful island is Skellig Michael, home to a Christian monastery from around the 6th and 8th century and a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in The Force

Awakens.

It’s more than fitting that Luke chose to hermit in a place that is an actual monastery.

In the video, Abrams explains that the original Star Wars set the standard for the importance of authentic locations. “When I saw Star Wars for the first time it was all practical and real. You knew it when you saw the movie,” says Abrams.

And because of this, actual locations were important for The Force Awakens.

It was fortunate they stumbled upon Skellig Michael, and the cast and crew knew it was a special place. “I can’t believe they let us shoot there,” said Abrams. “It was so beautiful.”

Of course, since it is a World Heritage Site, it seems like Star Wars won’t be returning to Skellig Michael for future instalments.

where Skellig Michael island,

The Force the final scene of

Awakens was shot.