Star Wars: The Force Awakens – A new hope or the death of a star?

With the new Star Wars movie only about a week away I have come to the realization that I really don’t know what the story is about. I remember when the first one came out, or was that actually the fourth one, around 1977. I remember there was a space ship battle scene in some trenches with the X-Wing fighter jets and the blowing up of the Death Star. I remember Luke and Leah had to jump into a garbage chute. I remember hearing something about Hans Solo being frozen though I do not know what happened to him. I remember there being a scene in a bar with a bunch of different creatures. I remember Luke chopping open some sort of camel thing so he could sleep inside of it. There was some sort of Jamaican fellow that nobody liked. There is a big job of the hut thing although I do not know what his story is. There was Sofia Coppola. I do not know why Darth Vader, who I understand to be Luke’s father, has to wear that silly costume. And that is all I know about Star Wars. Is the story worth catching up on? Should I actually go back and watch these movies? Or is the Star Wars story sort of played out?

It is obvious the Star Wars franchise is one of the most successful in film history, right there with the likes or James Bond, Harry Potter, The Hobbit and Airplane. Are they still making the films because they sort of ‘have to’ or is there still a story to tell that the people want to see?