Now the first official full-length trailer has been released and my first reaction is "JJ Abrams has restored all the faith that Lucas had, sadly, pissed away. This film will be outstanding."
There isn't going to be any JarJar's in The Force Awakens. It looks like the dark, gritty space-drama Ep II should have been.
I don't want to go frame by frame and talk about the trailer. Mostly because I think that's boring but also because if you want to do that there are plenty of other options out there. Instead I want to hit on the high points, questions raised and speculate on what this all could mean.
From the beginning: we are once again on Tatooine (presumably - though there are other sand-planets in the Star Wars Universe, it seems most likely that they would return to their roots). The opening scene shows a speeder in the background racing across the landscape with a downed X-Wing in the foreground and a crashed Imperial Class Star Destroyer half buried in the sand.
Now, we all know that the story is meant to take place several decades after the end of Jedi - in keeping with actual time-space continuum logic to explain the main characters ages - and it seems evident that even though the Emperor and Vader fell at the battle of Endor the Empire still holds sway in the Universe. It also makes sense that, if this is Tatooine we are seeing, that battles would have raged here. Tatooine is a planet in the outer-rim section of space. If the Empire, spread to the winds after Endor, would regroup in areas further from the Capital and harder to maintain control for the fledgling republic. (hard to confirm Coruscant became the Republic's capital since all canon was vacated from reality last year - but for the sake of argument we will assume).
We then experience a voice over from Mark Hammel (as Luke) giving the same speech he said to Leia on Endor about the force being strong in his family. Curiously it refers to his father in the present tense and not the past...foreshadowing??? Probably not, seems really REALLY stupid to "resurrect" Vader; can't see that happening. Most likely just a choice in language with no specific purpose or value. Part of this sequence shows what appears to be Luke handing a lightsaber to Leia. In the books Leia was never able to achieve significant Jedi powers and handling a lightsaber, though not impossible even for a Jedi with limited powers, seems like an interesting choice for the direction of the film.
It's after the voice-over sequence that the trailer really takes off. Lots of fast-cut scenes showing X-wings in formation flying low over a body of water, A dark Jedi wielding a lightsaber in battle. Ranks of Storm Troopers on an ice planet standing before a raised stage with a leader that can't quite be made out clearly. The tie-fighters present on the ice planet have white wings (instead of the traditional dark gray metal color) presumably to blend in better with the surroundings. Space flight scenes. A badass Storm Trooper in chrome armor. And of course a scene of the Millennium Falcon flying through a crashed spaceship on Tatooine, presumably the same ship we see earlier in the clip, being chased by a TIE Fighter.
The trailer ends on a scene showing Han Solo and Chewbacca on the deck of the Millennium Falcon in such a way as to lead the viewer to believe that this scene is reflective of the first time they've been on the ship in some time. They are both brandishing weapons which leads one to wonder what they were expecting to find OR what they had to do to get on board in the first place.
The trailer is everything you'd expect it to be. I imagine this feeling is similar to what people felt when seeing the first trailer for The Empire Strikes Back in theaters back in 1982. The pure joy of anticipation is never stronger than at this moment.
If you haven't seen it, or just want to watch it a few dozen more times, check it out below!
Tb
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