The Force Awakens Trailer

[darth_mcbain]

http://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-force-awakens-tease-theater-list

The first teaser trailer is on its way. Too bad I'm not in the neighborhood of any of those locations, otherwise I might be tempted. But it sounds like it won't be much longer before it's out in other locations - and of course, it'll be online.

[Droo]

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/star-wars/33089/first-star-wars-the-force-awakens-trailer-lands-this-friday

It will now also be released online on Friday. :)

[Atreyu]

Can't wait. :dance

[CMJ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOVFvcNfvE

[Rutabaga]

<object width="480" height="390">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OMOVFvcNfvE"></param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OMOVFvcNfvE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="390"></embed>
</object>

First glimpse of the Millennium Falcon in flght in years = :cry

EDIT: CMJ beat me to it while I was searching for an old embed code template. So now you've got two ways to look at it! :)

[CMJ]

I beat you by three minutes Rutabaga. Heheh

[Rutabaga]

I hate it when YouTube videos don't offer an old embed code option. But I'm kinda proud of myself that I found the template online and got the darn thing to embed, woohoo! :dance

[Figrin D'an]

Don't like the lightsaber design (making it look like rippling plasma fire? Seriously?). Seeing the Falcon dogfight with some TIE Fighters is cool. New X-Wing design seems okay.
The shaky cam shots of the Stormtrooper dropship bother me. If all of the action sequences are like that, I'm going to get a headache watching this in the theatre.

What little are shown of the new characters seems promising. Now another 6 months until we get a real trailer.

[Captain Untouchable]

Everything certainly looks good, and looks Star Warsy. I like the slightly sleeker Stormtrooper armour. I like the little red glowy bits on the blasters. The Falcon looks sexy as hell. I like the new X-Wing (not sure about the helmet though), the boxy speeder bike, the roly-poly astromech; it all looks grubby and worn and the way that Star Wars is supposed to. I can forgive a little shaky cam if it's part of living up to "only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise", because it's about bloody time, Lucasfilm.

I really hope the hilt of that lightsaber is made out of cortosis or something, though. Those little cross guards seem like they'd just get sliced off. :uhoh

[Droo]

I'm going to believe that's Benedict Cumberbatch until proven otherwise. :colbert

[CMJ]

I'm going to believe that's Benedict Cumberbatch until proven otherwise. :colbert

I thought it sounded like him - but I read that it was Andy Serkis.

[Droo]

In that case, Andy Serkis does a terrific impression of Benedict Cumberbatch. He does have a way with voices, that one.

Other thoughts: I love the way the Stormtroopers look. The design of their armour and the lighting make them seem very intimidating. The shot of the new X-Wings soaring over the water was so sexy. And personally, I love the new lightsaber design - there's something unrefined and archaic about it, with the crackling blade and the cross-guard, respectively. It seems like a fitting weapon for a Dark-Sider, especially if it is used in contrast to the traditional lightsaber for the good guys.

[Travis North]

I am super stoked for the new movie after seeing this trailer, even more so than for any of the prequels save for maybe the 'Rise' trailer as that gave me chills.

A few people I know are already a little put off by the lightsaber with guards but to be honest it's not like stranger forms of saber haven't been thought up before. All the new models look great and it definitely feels like an appropriate amount of technical advancement went into the designs considering the jump in time. It'll be interesting to see what other goodies the Empire has cooked up.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Don't like the lightsaber design (making it look like rippling plasma fire? Seriously?).

Actually, that's what has sold me on the design. It looks like a real sabre chock full of super heated plasma death instead of something added in post. And is that Gwendoline Christie's character???? Holy shit I will lose it if it is, she would be a badass Sith!.

The thing I really take away tho is the insane detail everywhere. The flying craft are interacting with the enviroment in ways you would expect, the details on the Falcon are insane, it just doesnt look like CG and more like a universe that exists. Even the sabre's reflected glow on the glove. It honestly looks like something to line up and watch.

[Dragon]

The environmental effects struck me, too, Mark, especially after three movies full of soap opera cinematography against green screens. The prequels had plenty of creative environments, but with few exceptions they were nothing but backdrops. We'd see a big panorama, possibly with a character looking at it from a balcony, and then we'd cut inside to a bland, sterile set, where we'd see two characters walking slowly as they discuss the plot in monotone voices. It didn't matter if they were walking through the Jedi Temple, a bustling hangar, a Tatooine slum, or a battlefield on the front lines of the Clone Wars, because it would be shot like a high school play.

Whatever else he's doing, JJ Abrams is breaking that mold. There's nothing in that trailer that's unlike anything we've seen before - those shots of the Stormtroopers landing could be from any military action movie, the cloaked figure in the snowy forest has a distinct LotR vibe, and the Falcon's aerobatics reminded me of his work in Star Trek Into Darkness. But there's a clear effort to separate this movie from the blandness of its predecessors.

[Vigilante]

I

L
O
V
E

I
T
!

*squeeeeeeeee*

[Lilaena De'Ville]

^^ I really should check who I'm signed in as before I post, lol!

[Tear]

There has been an 'awakening'. I agree with Dragon on all points. I'm so glad we're past the 'everything is a green screen' phase for star wars movies. I really enjoyed seeing the falcon again too.

[Atreyu]

Woah, that trailer gave me goosebumps. I was originally a bit indifferent when they announced the sequels but I'm so stoked for these new films now. :dance

EDIT: oh wow - the trailer thread on TFN has already hit over a 1000 posts. :eek

[Jedieb]

LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEE EEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
HHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I've settled down a bit. It's a teaser so I was prepared to be a bit disappointed by them not being in the trailer, but the shot of the Falcon will have to do for now. I think the Falcon looks great and I'm excited about shots that have some movement to them. I expect the first full trailer will give me shots of the characters I first saw when I was 6 and all will be right with the world.

[Rutabaga]

Somebody's already done a Lego version!!!! :eee

http://youtu.be/qpfWrh1scZU

EDIT: Oh, and a gif I found on Tumblr:

https://31.media.tumblr.com/cf6f411a215f705e08d78a6f96739137/tumblr_nfu9sbOFKE1qewacoo1_500.gif

[Dragon]

Somebody's already done a Lego version!!!! :eee

What the heck there are already (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJD721KIYaU) three (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BKHhP8sUR8) others. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0tLOARV-jk) Maybe more than that by now.

[Droo]

It's only a matter of time until we get a Minecraft version, too.

Edit: Looks like it was Andy Serkis we heard in the trailer.

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-force-awakens/33188/andy-serkis-officially-confirmed-as-voice-in-the-force-awakens-trailer

[Oriadin]

I'm liking the new trailer. Will be interesting to see how the new lightsaber works... got to be fairly dangerous to wave that thing around!
When I heard that Disney were buying the SW franchise and releasing new films I was worried but once I heard JJA was leading the charge I was hopeful. After seeing this trailer I feel quite optimistic. The teaser gives very little away about what the film will actually be about but it wets the appetite and that is what teaser trailers are all about :)

[Dragon]

Check it out, guys, there's already a special edition of Episode VII! ;)

v93Jh6JNBng

[Charley]

I like that the Millennium Falcon still doesn't have it's satellite dish.

Way to go not fixing the shit that you broke, Lando. What an asshole!

[Darth Turbogeek]

I like that the Millennium Falcon still doesn't have it's satellite dish.

Way to go not fixing the shit that you broke, Lando. What an asshole!

Look again Charley, it's squre now :)

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Well yeah they have a low profile thing, I was just being snarky heh

[Jedieb]

Leave it to Colbert to artfully explain the new lightsaber.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/umsrnb/lightsaber-controversy

I didn't notice the new dish until I'd read about it. That garauntees us one thing; a new Falcon toy! Hopefully they'll take the BMF falcon from a few years ago and update the dish and add a few choice mods. Don't confuse this with the giant Falcon shell that just got released. That's pales in comparison to the BMF.

[Dragon]

Nice shout-out to Bill Corbett in that video. :)

I am really not fussed about the crosstrees. I actually love the sword-and-sorcery vibe they bring to the character - the Jedi need to become mystical and mysterious again after the prequels reduced them all to bureaucratic simpletons. It remains to be seen how those attachments will be used in combat. I expect that weapon will be wielded like a bastard sword, with huge, aggressive arcs to take advantage of its superior reach.

I have some suspicions about the significance of the title, and about John Boyega's role in the story... spoilered in case anyone wants to avoid such speculations, though I wouldn't be surprised if we've already covered this ground before.

One of the foremost questions on the casual fan's mind has to be, "Where do the new Jedi come from?" When Moff Tarkin smugly declared that Vader was the only remaining relic of the Jedi Order, he obviously wasn't right, but he wasn't far off. Obi-Wan and Yoda are the only other survivors, and Luke is very much set up as the last of a dying order. ROTJ promises a rebirth of the Jedi through Luke and Leia, and the EU took that idea and ran with it. But the average movie-goer doesn't know any stories about the New Jedi Order, and if we break into the story to find a wizened Luke presiding over a Jedi Temple with dozens of knights and padawans, I think we'll all feel like we've missed something. It's possible we'll see such a Jedi Order, and its origins will be related in flashbacks, but that will be very difficult to pull off without making the audience feel cheated out of a huge piece of the story.

It would be pretty dismal if Luke and Leia are still the only Force adepts after all these years. Perhaps they've passed their gifts on to their immediate children (or just Leia and Han's children if Luke never married) and tried to train them up in the Jedi way as best as they could. That means the only Jedi this galaxy has known for the last two generations consist of a single family - the family of three great heroes of the Rebellion, no less. They'd be celebrities whether they want it or not, treated on one hand like royals and on the other like an endangered species. Luke would most likely chafe at this spotlight and seek solitude so he can commune with the Force and find a new path for what remains of the Jedi.

Then comes the Awakening. In which dozens of people - possibly hundreds or thousands - scattered across the galaxy suddenly discover they have a connection with the Force. Most are confused and terrified, and the new Republic turns to Luke and Leia to make sense of the phenomenon. Luke reasons that the Force is moving to restore balance to the galaxy and sets out to gather these new adepts together and teach them the Jedi ways. But not all of the adepts are interested in the Light Side...

And not all of them are in the Republic, either. John Boyega appears to be separated from his squad, and he appears to be in quite a state of shock and confusion himself. Perhaps he's just awakened in spectacular fashion during a mission, and now finds himself marked as an enemy of the Empire, forced to seek refuge among the enemy himself...

So, yeah, I realize most of that is basically the plot of Legend of Korra Season 3, substituting Force adepts for Airbenders, but it seems to fit quite well! That said, I won't be surprised if I'm on the wrong track entirely.

[Captain Untouchable]

I hear where you're coming from, Andew, but don't forget that Star Wars Rebels is part of this canon as well. The idea that there are other Jedi who survived the purge has already been introduced there, as is the idea that there are new people "awakening" with Force powers in that interim period.

I suppose that technically, Ezra in Star Wars Rebels was born before Order 66. Given that mystical stuff to do with midichlorians that Clone Wars gave us at the end of Season 6, it's possible that after the Skywalkers were born, that's when the Force and that whole mysterious midichlorian fountain thing with the Greek tragedy mask people "went to sleep", but if it did, what woke it up? Midichlorians / Force Sensitivity is something you are born with, not something that manifests at adulthood... so the Force must have been waking up for twenty-ish years (given the age that Boyega's character presumably is). Did the Force "wake up" when Anakin died in ROTJ? If so, why did it take thirty years for there to be a big event thingy to happen?

There's certainly potential answers to all of that... just don't forget that "Force sensitive since birth" is something you need to factor in.

[Dragon]

Those are definitely valid points, and I'm not planning to be disappointed if I'm completely off-base. Primarily I'm considering the challenge of establishing the state of the galaxy after a thirty-odd-year gap. In discussing the trailer with my mom, who has seen the movies and nothing else, I learned that she thought Return of the Jedi was the end of the Empire. To anyone who's familiar with even a little bit of EU, it seems obvious that the Empire, while severely weakened, is still going to be a major player at this point in history, but the movies will need to catch the audience up on the conflict without assuming that they know anything beyond the first six movies.

I don't think that'll be difficult. Just show the conflict, and have some Republic character comment that with all the headway they've made, the remnants of the Empire still control half the galaxy.

By comparison, I think catching them up on the state of the Jedi will be trickier. By this point in the EU, there's a thriving order with its own temple and with Luke at the head. But as far as the average movie-goer knows, Luke and Leia are all that's left. How does the Force become a major player in the galaxy again? The title makes me think that Abrams has decided to make that question the centerpiece of this film. That may or may not take the shape of a weird "Force powers activate" phenomenon sweeping the galaxy, but I still like the idea of a Stormtrooper-turned-Jedi. :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Leave it to Colbert to artfully explain the new lightsaber.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/umsrnb/lightsaber-controversy

I didn't notice the new dish until I'd read about it. That garauntees us one thing; a new Falcon toy! Hopefully they'll take the BMF falcon from a few years ago and update the dish and add a few choice mods. Don't confuse this with the giant Falcon shell that just got released. That's pales in comparison to the BMF.

:shakefist I just came here to post that!

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Stormtroopers-turned-Jedi you say?

:)

[Darth Turbogeek]

Leave it to Colbert to artfully explain the new lightsaber.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/umsrnb/lightsaber-controversy

The fact NEEEERDS are making a big deal out of this and a black stormtrooper makes me glad I waste my time sucking at three sports. All I give a shit about is a movie that wont insult my intelligence.

[Jedieb]

The powers that be made a great (and what I always thought would be inevitable) decision by pretty much chucking most of the EU and making it Legend. This frees up JJ and Disney to worry about getting a good story going and not trying to accommodate 30 years of fiction by almost a 100 different contributors. Rebels and the Clone Wars cartoons are 'canon' and they're probably going to draw on elements of those. I'd be surprised if we don't see some characters from Rebels pop up somewhere. They may even go back and pick and choose a character or story idea from the EU Legends.

I'm not entirely thrilled with some of the spoilers I've read and hope they're dead wrong.

[Darth Turbogeek]

The old EU apart from a very few selected bits needs to die a horrid death. That's by far the best thing about Ep7, it killed it.

[Rev Solomon]

Another perspective on the crossguard saber: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zjrXc8VQj_A)

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Bahahaha!!! Ok now that's gold :D

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

It's a rumor now it seems, but this throws a huge wrench into a few things for myself, Charley, and others if it happens.

http://jkagear.com/star-warsthe-force-awakens-release-date-moving-forward/

[Charley]

I don't mind a moved-up release date but holy shit let us know one way or another because I'd rather not have to try and refund a plane ticket >_<

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Oh dear :ohno

[Atreyu]

It'll be interesting to see what date they move to if it indeed happens - already with their current release schedule every other major studio has given it a wide berth so if Disney moves the film it's going to muck up a lot of other release schedules as everyone scrambles to move away.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

They end up opening against Age of Ultron.

THIS MEANS WAR!

[Atreyu]

Looks like it's bogus - from the official SW twitter account:

Star Wars @starwars · Feb 10

Stay on target! Only 310 days until #TheForceAwakens.
Which adds up to ... Dec 18. :)

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Oh thank goodness. I had double checked google and found other sites reporting on the possible move as well, which got me a bit worried.