The dust has barely settled after the announcement of the 2016 Oscar nominations, but movie fans everywhere are already in an uproar, defending nominations or denouncing snubs. One such snub: Star Wars: The Force Awakens was not nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. However, J.J. Abrams' reboot of the famous Star Wars franchise did not go unnoticed by the Academy, wracking up a decent amount of technical nods.
Unfortunately, there were also no acting nods for Harrison Ford, who made his triumphant return as Han Solo, or Adam Driver, who evoked emotion through his villainous Kylo Ren mask, and no directing nomination for Abrams, who helped elevate the franchise already sullied by the horrible reputation of the prequels. So, it's a bittersweet day for Star Wars: The Force Awakens fans. However, they can take solace in knowing that The Force Awakens got five Oscar nominations this year — and that soon enough Episode VIII and Episode IX will come around to hopefully up that Academy Award nod total.
But we shouldn't overlook the Oscar nominations that Star Wars did pick up, as there were quite a few, most of them technical. Here are the five categories in which The Force Awakens was recognized.
Best Sound Editing
Matthew Wood and David Acord were nominated for Best Sound Mixing, where The Force Awakens will go head to head with Mad Max: Fury Road, Sicario, The Revenant and The Martian.
Best Sound Mixing
Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabasio and Stuart Wilson were nominated for Best Sound Mixing for their work on TFA. Also nominated are Bridge of Spies, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian and The Revenant.
Best Visual Effects
Star Wars: The Force Awakens lightsabers and epic fights designed by Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould will compete against the sci-fi hits Ex Machina and The Martian, as well as one fantasy epic, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Revenant.
Best Original Score
This marks John Williams' 50th nomination. Williams was previously nominated in the same category for his work on the original Star Wars trilogy, though he only won the Oscar for Star Wars: Episode IV.
Best Editing
Perhaps the most surprising nomination for The Force Awakens, Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey were nominated for Best Editing. There, they will compete with The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, and Spotlight — all of which are also nominated for Best Picture
Images: Walt Disney; Giphy (5)
