You can draw a line in the sand between one era of special visual effects and the other by the success of George Lucas‘ original Star Wars, which advanced the art of special effects by leaps and bounds all in the space of a single movie. And along with that movie came the advent of George Lucas’ effects company, Industrial Light and Magic, which went on to innovate special effects for the next forty years. If a special effects-driven blockbuster caused a ripple in popular culture over the past four decades, there is at least a 50/50 chance ILM had something to do with it. And they’re still innovating, as their impressive work in The Force Awakens shows.

Now, the folks at ILM have released a special VFX breakdown for The Force Awakens (first spotted at io9). In the video, which you can view above, you see the painstaking amount of detail that went into creating every rivet and gear for an abandoned and crashed Imperial Star Destroyer on Jakku, or the trench on Starkiller Base. And for fans out there who embraced The Force Awakens as a return to the classic “puppets and models” way of making Star Wars films, well… although Episode VII used more on-location shoots and models than the prequels, this VFX reel shows just how much CGI went into the making of this movie. CGI isn’t evil,  folks. It’s all about how you use it.

What do you think of ILM’s amazing work on The Force Awakens? And does this video just make you even more impatient for Rogue One‘s release in December? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Image: Lucasfilm