I woke up on Wednesday excited for Thursday. I was looking forward to sleeping in on Thursday and waking up to watch The Force Awakens panel from Star Wars Celebration. It wasn’t until later in the day that I realized I would be at a conference all day on Thursday. Not only would I have to wake up early, but I was also going to miss out on the panel.
So I was sitting in the conference’s second session yesterday, refreshing Twitter to see what was happening during the panel. When I saw the first tweet about The Force Awakens trailer I freaked out in my seat. I couldn’t leave the session and I couldn’t watch the trailer. I was pretty much distracted and unfocused for the rest of the session.
You can watch the trailer (again) below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngElkyQ6Rhs&w=560&h=315]
When I finally saw the trailer I was blown away. I keep getting more and more excited and my faith in J.J. Abrams keeps growing and growing. The trailer was awesome and managed to raise my anticipation still without giving too much away.
Below are some screen shots and some thoughts about the trailer.
- I thought Abrams might tease the new fanfare with the Lucasfilm logo. Since 20th Century Fox is no longer releasing the movies, gone is the iconic fanfare. You can hear the new fanfare from the digital releases here.
- This shot made my mouth drop. How sick does that look? It reminds me of the Timothy Zahn book Dark Force Rising, in which a planet’s ecosystem is poisoned because a capital ship crashed on it. Also, apparently this isn’t Tatooine but a new desert world: Jakku.
- “The Force runs strong in my family. My father has it…
- I have it…
- My sister has it and you have it.” WHO IS LUKE TALKING TO!?!?! That is a rhetorical question. Please do not tell me.
- All of the starship scenes look amazing. That is one update to the Special Editions that I enjoyed. The Death Star scene in Episode IV is great in the Special Edition.
- I keep confusing Oscar Isaac with Jason Isaacs. Oscar Isaac plays Poe Dameron who is, according to Isaac, “the best frickin’ pilot in the galaxy.” Jason Isaacs voices the Inquisitor from Star Wars Rebels.
- I don’t think anyone would mention its impracticality when it was slicing him or her in half.
- Rey, Finn and BB8 are running away from a TIE fighter. This looks exciting.
- I know the Dark Side is bad, but Sith look so much cooler than Jedi. Jedi wear bathrobes and Sith get capes and menacing masks. Who wouldn’t be tempted to give in?
- I love the updated look of the Stormtroopers. They’re definitely Stormtroopers but they look different enough and advanced enough to feel fresh and new.
- I don’t know who Rey is, but I’m thinking she’s got some Jedi blood flowing through her veins.
- I also dig the redesign of the TIE fighter. Again, they look like TIE fighters but just with logical advancements and improvements.
- John Boyega confirmed that his character, Finn, is an actual Stormtrooper. I imagine he faces some circumstances that throw a wrench in his plans.
- Apparently the Empire needed some updated Star Destroyers because all of their other ones crashed into planets.
- Hello, Mr. Chrome Trooper. You are a bad a.
- BB8 IS REAL!!! More than anything from yesterday’s panel, this was the most surprising. Based upon the first trailer I thought that BB8 was CGI. Instead of going with the easier route, though, Abrams and company created an actual BB8. The video of him rolling around is almost unbelievable.
- Just stop already!
- Drops the mic. Walks off stage.
Man, it looks so good. I had a lot of faith in J.J. Abrams but I still had some small doubts. Those doubts have almost been completely erased, though, by the first two trailers. I can’t wait to go back to a galaxy far, far away and return to my first nerdy love.
What did you think of The Force Awakens trailer?
It rocks. So does your post! It’s like watching the trailer with a friend, right there in the theater. Thanks for it.
I did not know until yesterday that the planet with the starship wreckage isn’t Tatooine. Nice to know the GFFA has plenty of desert worlds to go around.
BB8… I watched that clip from the panel. I dunno, he (I am being sexist – maybe it’s a she?) is almost *too* cute. But I imagine folks felt that way about R2 back in the day, and I think kids will go gaga for BB8… and better BB8 than another Jar-Jar Binks! I’m sure he’ll roll his soccer ball self right into my heart by the time the end credits roll.
I like the updated Imperial (Post-Imperial?) designs, too. They are so sleek and white, they almost make me think the production team is taking veiled potshots at Apple. 😉
Fun post! Your blog’s always a model of how to do these things.
I embrace BB8’s cuteness. It was a great trailer and does so much without giving away really anything.