The film was a huge success in the UK too as it beat Spectre, the latest addition to the James Bond franchise, to become the highest-grossing film of 2015. 
Sy-Ben Jim at his home in Barrow. LEANNE BOLGER
In fact, with many fans attending the midnight premiere, the film made £355m in the UK on its opening weekend and left former record holders Jurassic World and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows in the shade.
If anybody is unsure of the highest-grossing film of all time, it’s Avatar, which made a staggering $2.778bn.
The Force Awakens is sitting on a figure of $1.51bn but, with thousands still going to cinemas to see it, the new George Lucas masterpiece could still be in contention for the top spot.
So if you haven’t yet been to see the film that everybody is talking about, we caught up with Star Wars fan Sy-Ben Jim, 28, to get his verdict as he returned to Barrow from Hong Kong for the first time in three years.
He said: “The storyline was most similar to the original film that was released in 1977, but for the real fans it was the little differences that made this new film special.
“Even though there were amazing special effects available for the prequel trilogy released a few years ago, it never really felt real.
“With the new film there is more action from the actors and that, combined with the stunning special effects, were what made the films fantastic. In the original, George Lucas used unknown actors and I am glad they have done the same again this time casting using Daisy Ridley as Rey and John Boyega as Finn.”
The former St Bernard’s pupil has his own company in Hong Kong building armour and props for Star Wars and other fantasy-based films and games. He also teaches fight choreography, including swordplay and gun combat choreography for film and 3D modelling.
During the release of the latest film Sy-Ben worked alongside Disney and the George Lucas franchise in Hong Kong to promote the epic dressed in one of his own storm trooper costumes.
He has also played the part of a sith acolyte for the franchise and has appeared on Cantonese television.
Having attended the premiere in Hong Kong in 4D, he has watched it again at other showings while working as a storm trooper.
He said: “For real fans I think you need to watch it more than once to take as much as possible from it.
“It was great watching it in 4D on the Thursday with moving seats and wind and rain but I felt glad to see it in just 2D on the Saturday.”
One of the things Sy-Ben was most impressed with was the introduction of a strong female lead.
It is indeed refreshing to see this after the recent controversy in Hollywood claiming that there is a lack of equality between actors and actresses.
Daisy Ridley, right, as Rey, and John Boyega as Finn, in a scene from the film, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," directed by J.J. Abrams (David James/Disney/Lucasfilm via AP) Sy-Ben said: “I think the best acting performance is delivered by British actress Daisy Ridley as Rey.
“She is actually my favourite female character out of all of the films. Leia was such a damsel in distress but Rey is empowered.
“If you really compare it with the original, Rey is more like Luke Skywalker and Finn is more like Princess Leia.”
During the day Sy-Ben teaches children engineering using Lego bricks, a job which he has been doing for the last four years and in the evenings he works on his own company, SIDFX Studios.
When making a costume he always takes in to account what it will be used for.
He said: “If the costume is going to be used for fight choreography, then it needs to be light and have high mobility.
“Sometimes, it just has to look impressive. The last thing I made was a storm trooper helmet for a boy’s ninth birthday.”
When it comes to cosplay – where participants wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a character – Sy-Ben is an expert, being a member of the 501st Legion, a number of garrisons spread over six continents and dedicated to acting out the actions of “The Dark Side”.
He said: “The character I would most like to play from Star Wars would be Boba Fett, one of the galaxy’s deadliest bounty hunters.”
Sy-Ben, whose family run the Diamond Chinese restaurant in Barrow, was back in Barrow for the first time in three years to spend Christmas with his family.
He said he was looking forward to a good roast and a few steaks.
He said: “The food in Hong Kong really isn’t the best.”
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