Episode VII The Force Awakens Trailer

[Mike DiCenso]

The first look at Abraham's Star Wars is out.

High quality screencaps available here.

Let the speculation begin!
-Mike

[Sothis]

The first look at Abraham's Star Wars is out.

High quality screencaps available here.

Let the speculation begin!
-Mike

I think the film looks good, though it's nigh impossible to glean much from that trailer. It has a 'lived in' look, that the prequels lacked, and it was great to see classic ships like X-Wings and the Falcon back and looking good. The Stormtroopers look menacing for a change, and plenty to be intrigued by!

[Mr. Oragahn]

I think the film looks good, though it's nigh impossible to glean much from that trailer. It has a 'lived in' look, that the prequels lacked, and it was great to see classic ships like X-Wings and the Falcon back and looking good. The Stormtroopers look menacing for a change, and plenty to be intrigued by!

Beating Lucas in terms of directing and style wouldn't be hard. The way he shots vehicle action and dynamics is quite sluggish, even in the prequels. No matter the angles it feels molasse... and I can't help thinking of his way of directing summed up to sitting in his chair.
Now we kinda expected all things to look neat with today CGI and huuuge budget. Plus basically all you need to do to get fans wet is check the fanboi list of things I wanted about the Millennium Falcon, X-Wings, stormtroopers and so on and put them in there.
Visually, it's ought to be a blast. Will it be solid on the plot side though?

Anyway, I won't be watching those new movies. Can't stand the black dude's face, he looks like shit. Don't tell me there weren't younger Denzel Washington lookalikes around or a slimmer version of that bigfatso guy who played the cook in Deep Blue (iirc), the movie with the mutant sharks. Come on!

[Lucky]

The first look at Abraham's Star Wars is out.

High quality screencaps available here.

Let the speculation begin!
-Mike

The Storm Troopers seem to be way too threatening.

I like that they are using a different model of X-Wing. I wonder what they are going to call the model?

[theta_pinch]

Does the crossguard light saber look silly to anyone else?

[Mr. Oragahn]

Does the crossguard light saber look silly to anyone else?

Totally, so fanboi^12. Reminds me of the worst fanon out there.
Will probably be used to block a blade, but since there's a gap between the perpendicular blades (the main one and either of the side small ones), it could not "capture" the blade of another lightsabre. It can, at best, protect from a swing that would wiff anyway (quite silly) and in fact, due to its placement, force the Sith blade into a complete circular momentum which would, by all means, propel the oponent's blade in a circular motion that would end cutting the Sith in the abdomen, highs or lower legs.

It's even worse. I bursted in laughter as soon as the black dude popped from below the screen, after the ominous black male voice finished its speech.

Oh, and the moto-speeder that looks like an ice cream stick.

[Mr. Oragahn]

I'll rewatch the KOTOR cutscenes instead.

[Darth Spock]

Well, it certainly "feels" Abrams... I felt like I was watching a fan trailer modeled after the 2009 Star Trek. I do like how a lot of the old McQuarrie concepts are being used in the shows and movies now, but man does that ball droid fit the new Disney ownership, it looks like he would be best buds with WALL-E.

I think the film looks good, though it's nigh impossible to glean much from that trailer. It has a 'lived in' look, that the prequels lacked, and it was great to see classic ships like X-Wings and the Falcon back and looking good. The Stormtroopers look menacing for a change, and plenty to be intrigued by!

I'm optimistic about it. So far all they've really shown is a bunch of people wandering around, following the mystery plot, and some zippy ships. I guess they're saving the wide angle, fancily choreographed light saber teases until closer to release. Yeesh the thing is a whole year out yet.

The Storm Troopers seem to be way too threatening.

Naw, it'll wear off quickly enough, and hopefully it'll offset their reputation as laughable mooks that got their butts handed to them by teddy bears.

Does the crossguard light saber look silly to anyone else?

It looks completely impractical... but I kinda like the whole medieval broadsword concept, I just wish it had been handled more sensibly. An energy shield equivalent to a cup-hilt or a short beam on a hand guard similar to a knuckle knife would have looked cool and made a lot more sense. I just hope they don't try to make a curved cutlass or katana inspired energy blade next.

Oh, and the moto-speeder that looks like an ice cream stick.

Heh, it's a Sarlacc snack. It's odd looking, I don't think it was actually a bike to begin with, it looks a lot to me like it could have been a pod racer engine, which in turn makes me think it probably is a discarded engine pod, retrofitted with a seat.

[Mr. Oragahn]

Attempts at explaining the crossguard look quite desperate imho.
Example.
There's a tipping point when coolness falls into sillydom I believe, and this point is well behind them now.

You know, using that kind of stuff instead would have made more sense. Or this.
Civilized weapons my ****. Sith have different rules.

[Mr. Oragahn]

Heh, it's a Sarlacc snack. It's odd looking, I don't think it was actually a bike to begin with, it looks a lot to me like it could have been a pod racer engine, which in turn makes me think it probably is a discarded engine pod, retrofitted with a seat.

Those were my thoughts too. It's as logical as making a moto out of a courrier airplane's engine.

[theta_pinch]

Attempts at explaining the crossguard look quite desperate imho.
Example.
There's a tipping point when coolness falls into sillydom I believe, and this point is well behind them now.

You know, using that kind of stuff instead would have made more sense. Or this.
Civilized weapons my ****. Sith have different rules.

I've heard a theory that the blade actually extends through the metal part joining the main blade and that the metal part around it is to make it harder to burn your hand off on the blade. That way if someone slides their blade down (there's likely something to prevent it already seeing as we never see someone try such a tactic) it would cut through the metal and hit the blade instead of your hand. It's still silly and dangerous to the user though.

[Mr. Oragahn]

So Ballee is going to be the new funny droid along all movies?

DS: not sure I get what you mean but regardless of how you slice it, it's terribad.

If it were made of cortosis, you wouldn't need the smallish cutlass-blades coming out of the quillons. It just adds to the danger of the weapon needlessly, cortosis would provide all the defense needed.
Besides, the length of the quillons is too short to effectively prevent a finger from slipping on either of the mini-blades.
Also, if an exhaust of any kind was needed, one exit only would have probably been plenty enough if as big as the main blade, and pointing at an slanted forward angle would have been better.

Sidenot: there's lots of irony in the Disney buyout nixing th EU's authority and yet, increasing amounts of elements of the EU making it into the canon more and more.
Disney demoted the EU to better rape it since it knows many SW fans followed the EU avidly.

So although it would have probably never happened under Lucas, I can really see Disney strongly thinking about featuring a Thrawn-like archetype down the line.

Oh and I love how those movies really screw on the point of the original six ones.
Looks like the whole prophecy about the balance of the Force being restored is rather bunk now.
The Empire returns, new "Sith" are there, and the Force awakens, like it was having a nap or something.
If it had truly been disabled/stuck in slumber, it means there was no balance, but on the contrary a strong imbalance due a complete lack of manifestation of the Force.
Balance is about two opposing forces nullifying each other. In this case, order and chaos.
In SW, the Force is the subtrata of the universe and permeates all things in varying ways.
A best, according to eddings, it might converge, create a peak of manifestation, which likely resulted in the conditions leading to the birth of Anakin for example.

What are the adventure of Weeboo Swampcrawler going to be about?

[Mr. Oragahn]

I've finished selling the plot rights on Luke as a hermit and I must reveal that I've been part of the writing team, unwittingly.
Peh. (rolleyes turbospin)

[Darth Spock]

So Ballee is going to be the new funny droid along all movies?

DS: not sure I get what you mean but regardless of how you slice it, it's terribad.

*falls off chair* Of course, it's perfect! *Raspy voice: "From hence forth, you shall be known as... Ballee!" No, I don't like the design though. Being based off an early McQuarrie concept is a plus, but it just comes off looking silly. But, hey, it's Disney, and Star Wars is full of silly, it at least makes more sense than the cross guard saber. Besides, lots of things I thought I'd hate actually turned out better than I expected. The resurrection of Maul comes to mind. I thought it was the stupidest fan-fiction style idea ever, but it turned out much better than I ever would have believed.

Sidenot: there's lots of irony in the Disney buyout nixing th EU's authority and yet, increasing amounts of elements of the EU making it into the canon more and more.
Disney demoted the EU to better rape it since it knows many SW fans followed the EU avidly.

So although it would have probably never happened under Lucas, I can really see Disney strongly thinking about featuring a Thrawn-like archetype down the line.

Oh and I love how those movies really screw on the point of the original six ones.
Looks like the whole prophecy about the balance of the Force being restored is rather bunk now.
The Empire returns, new "Sith" are there, and the Force awakens, like it was having a nap or something.
If it had truly been disabled/stuck in slumber, it means there was no balance, but on the contrary a strong imbalance due a complete lack of manifestation of the Force.
Balance is about two opposing forces nullifying each other. In this case, order and chaos.
In SW, the Force is the subtrata of the universe and permeates all things in varying ways.
A best, according to eddings, it might converge, create a peak of manifestation, which likely resulted in the conditions leading to the birth of Anakin for example.

What are the adventure of Weeboo Swampcrawler going to be about?

I've finished selling the plot rights on Luke as a hermit and I must reveal that I've been part of the writing team, unwittingly.
Peh. (rolleyes turbospin)

Interesting read. I can see why Disney wiped the EU from the "official" slate, nothing to conflict with new material in the slightest, but they can still harvest it all they want. The whole hubbub about the force being in balance makes for some interesting possibilities, I doubt they'll cut access to the Force though, Sith and Jedi are too much fun in stories and games, and I understand there's to be a slew of spin offs after the next trilogy wraps up.
The Jedi really have no legitimate purpose other than to counter Sith, so that misread prophecy makes sense stripping the Jedi of power in ROTS, before Anakin's redemption it ROTJ ended the dark sides rule. In every Star Wars movie so far, the Jedi and Sith only ever serve to nullify each other, while the "normal" people fight the deciding battles.

TPM: Force users keep each other busy while droids fight Naboo forces.

AOTC: The plot important Jedi pursue Dooku, the clones fight the real battle against the Geonosians, and even rescued the remaining Jedi in the first place.

ROTS: The dominoes are in place, the droid armies are shut down, the clones wipe out the remnants of the Jedi faction. Yoda, Palatine, Vader and Kenobi all face off in private duels.

ANH: Kenobi and Vader keep each other busy while the remaining heroes evade the Death Star's forces.

ESB: Luke is lured into a duel with Vader while the remaining heroes escape on their own, and ultimately save Luke as well.

ROTJ: Luke, Vader and Palpatine keep each themselves busy while the "normal" people slug it out in the battle that will decide the ultimate fate of the galaxy.

I still can't help but wonder how much of the new trilogy will be based on Lucas' old notes, or if the 'Dis just handed their shiny new franchise to the writers and said "have at it!"

[Mr. Oragahn]

Old notes or not, I hoped that His Lipidous Mighty Blob might deign doing something remotely related to Journal of the Whills. I guess we'll have to settle for a Pamphlet of the Whont's for eternity.
Besides, what's that stuff about notes anyway? One day he firmly says there's nothing to tell beyond the new CGI ghost of Anakin (eek) and even shoots his parrot in the head to prove his point, then the next morning, he has notes for sequels of sequels of sequels?
The joke is on ... him?