So, not that much there, but still awesome. Something about seeing X-wings, TIEs and the Falcon in awesome up to date CGI is just brilliant, and as ever, that music just promises something epic is coming.
Not sure about the 3-bladed saber, seems like it could be rather difficult to use without Vadering one's own arm off, but I'm sure they'll work around it...
Paradigm wrote: Not sure about the 3-bladed saber, seems like it could be rather difficult to use without Vadering one's own arm off, but I'm sure they'll work around it...
Blades are short enough that shouldn't be an issue. I think it's more to protect from a "slide down the opponent's blade and cut an arm off", ala Obi-Wan defeating Grievous in Ep. III.
Rollerball droid is what I can't get past for some reason.
Rest of the trailer has me pretty hyped, but I'm also a bit hesitant at the shaky cam and flashy part with the stormtroopers. If they're just there for the teaser that's all well and good. I'm not a fan of their use in actual film though.
One thing I'm trying to remember is if the snowspeeders on Hoth kicked up snow the way the X-Wings are kicking up the sand on Tatooine. I mean, there are a plethora of ways to explain the difference, but I'm struggling to remember Star Wars repulsor engines actually kicking up debris.
hmm yeh... definitely feels like a next gen for star wars.
Also that lightsaber?? why with the two little sabres on the side? that is not practical in anyway!
Because anything about WIDE ARCING SLASHES WITH THE INSTANT CUTTING WEAPON makes sense.
I mean, if we want to get into Practicality, every single Jedi needs to take up Fencing instead of those Jedi Weapon Masteries, because those F-ing suck.
Rollerball droid is what I can't get past for some reason.
Agreed, Rollerball Droid kinda pulled me out of it, though the speeder looked kinda funky too. Not like "That's terrible looking" funky, but more..... "Blech".
Crusader Lightsaber was pretty BA, I'm not going to lie.
I think your quote is broken, I didn't comment on the droid.
Thinking about it more, the saber has grown on me, I think it will necessitate a rather different fighting style than what we've seen before. Will be interesting to find out, in any case.
Nothing particularly exciting here, was ok and of course I'll watch the film numerous times, but ill try and wait on a proper trailer before passing jidgement
Paradigm wrote:I think your quote is broken, I didn't comment on the droid.
Thinking about it more, the saber has grown on me, I think it will necessitate a rather different fighting style than what we've seen before. Will be interesting to find out, in any case.
Sorry, fixed it.
I hope so. Star Wars has always been my second favorite Sci-Fi show, after Firefly. Mystical Space Samurai, as cool as they are, just can't compete with Space Cowboys.
It's only been hyped for about an hour, and yet already I think I was expecting a little too much when I got around to watching it.
It told us nothing except "it'll be pretty", and to be honest, I'm not going to go to the cinema purely to admire the CGI. If I want to get a migraine then I want to at least enjoy the characters and story.
The opening was more like that of a comedy film, personally, or something light-hearted.
The football droid was a bit laughable, and the slab-speeder was very "...why?", but the blade-guard saber--although impractical--was a bit cooler than I expected it to be from people's comments.
Overall, I think it was personally a weak trailer, relying on how pretty everything looks rather than what's actually in the damn film.
I remember not long ago reading the poster that came with the new Star Wars fact file magazine and on it was a Sith timeline and it went back a very long way. A Claymore lightsaber is no more strange than some of the weird weapons that that have sprung up in our. I've got a DK arms book which as a halberd that has 3 inbuilt musket barrels!!!
The lightsaber is dead cool in my opinion. I like it when they bring in new lightsabers, like Mauls double-bladed one, Dookus bent one and Windus purple one.
While previous lightsabers where katanas, this new one could be considered a broadswords.
Hell, there have been Tonfa lightsabers ad Nunchuck lightsabers, and people are worrie about this?
hotsauceman1 wrote: While previous lightsabers where katanas, this new one could be considered a broadswords.
Hell, there have been Tonfa lightsabers ad Nunchuck lightsabers, and people are worrie about this?
Slarg232 wrote: You guys do realize this was basically an announcement trailer for everyone who hasn't been paying attention to it, right?
This was less "Hey guys, look at the cool new star wars" and more like "Hey guys, we're making another star wars".
Thanks mate, I'm glad you you came along to inform everyone of what a "teaser trailer" is.
I loved it, like I was expecting to. Things of note that I'm sure I am not alone is saying:
1. Blue Squadron X-wings!
2. The Falcon got a new sensor dish (thanks, Lando!)
3. Lightsaber crossguard made of tiny lightsabers (hey bro...)
4. Stormtroopers look much more menacing
5. Shut up and take my money!
Slarg232 wrote: You guys do realize this was basically an announcement trailer for everyone who hasn't been paying attention to it, right?
This was less "Hey guys, look at the cool new star wars" and more like "Hey guys, we're making another star wars".
Thanks mate, I'm glad you you came along to inform everyone of what a "teaser trailer" is.
I loved it, like I was expecting to. Things of note that I'm sure I am not alone is saying:
1. Blue Squadron X-wings!
2. The Falcon got a new sensor dish (thanks, Lando!)
3. Lightsaber crossguard made of tiny lightsabers (hey bro...)
4. Stormtroopers look much more menacing
5. Shut up and take my money!
So much this.
It was what I expected it to be.
4. Stormtroopers look much more menacing
I wonder if JJ Abrams will give a sly nod to their previously poor peformance?
That's a lightsaber made as a longsword. One that can possibly have its configuration altered- imagine the utility of instantly switching the main blade to one of the crossguard ports.
I am very pleased. It looks sleek, stylish, and certainly retains the atmosphere of the old films. Rollerdroid is a suitable heir to the almighty GONK.
Slarg232 wrote: You guys do realize this was basically an announcement trailer for everyone who hasn't been paying attention to it, right?
This was less "Hey guys, look at the cool new star wars" and more like "Hey guys, we're making another star wars".
Thanks mate, I'm glad you you came along to inform everyone of what a "teaser trailer" is.
"I'm not impressed" and such warranted that post; You're not supposed to be impressed....
So what you're saying is that it's okay for people to say this trailer impresses them, but it's not okay for other people to say they're not impressed by it? Why aren't you pointing out that "you're not supposed to be impressed" to people who are also impressed by it? Or does it only apply to those with negative feelings?
I don't understand the point of the red lightsabre. Lightsabres tend to stick together, if they slid down each other they would be losing hands all the time. Also those extra bits woukdnt stop that happening because they aren't projected from the main blade, there's still a gap between the base of the main blade and where the others project from.
I don't gave a problm with the trailer, but that lightsabre design just doesn't work.
Wait, this was the legit trailer? I saw the soccer droid and thought it was a fan made joke. The fridge speeder was awful. Sword I figured was a joke as well. Crap. Abrams, I had faith in you!!!
Slarg232 wrote: You guys do realize this was basically an announcement trailer for everyone who hasn't been paying attention to it, right?
This was less "Hey guys, look at the cool new star wars" and more like "Hey guys, we're making another star wars".
Thanks mate, I'm glad you you came along to inform everyone of what a "teaser trailer" is.
"I'm not impressed" and such warranted that post; You're not supposed to be impressed....
So what you're saying is that it's okay for people to say this trailer impresses them, but it's not okay for other people to say they're not impressed by it? Why aren't you pointing out that "you're not supposed to be impressed" to people who are also impressed by it? Or does it only apply to those with negative feelings?
Of course it only applies to negative feelings.
In my world, everyone eats rainbows and poops butterflies.
Howard A Treesong wrote: I don't understand the point of the red lightsabre. Lightsabres tend to stick together, if they slid down each other they would be losing hands all the time. Also those extra bits woukdnt stop that happening because they aren't projected from the main blade, there's still a gap between the base of the main blade and where the others project from.
I don't gave a problm with the trailer, but that lightsabre design just doesn't work.
It'd work a lot better if there was some sort of plating in the hilt-side. The user's hands wouldn't accidentally slip into the side blades, but the sides would also still be able to receive and deflect hits from other sabres. Another blade could still exploit the gap between the main blade and the two side ones, but it'd be a lot more practical overall.
That's a lightsaber made as a longsword. One that can possibly have its configuration altered- imagine the utility of instantly switching the main blade to one of the crossguard ports.
Yeah, I was thinking that. Imagine getting in a saber lock and then 'redirecting' the blade out the side... And into your opponent's chest! Very Sithy fighting...
Has there ever been a Star Wars movie that wasn't?
A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.
Yeah man....don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but those were also pretty much children's movies made to hock toys. Certainly Empire Strikes Back was. I mean, Yoda was a Muppet....hell, Yoda was a tamed down Muppet.
Sorry, this did nothing for me. I didn't even think it was real at first, what with the guy lurching into frame and then the very fan-filmy costume on the chick I half-expected this to be an SNL skit. Only when the cool Stormies showed up did I go "Oh, it's real!". And then the dumb lightsabre showed up... and then we're still fighting TIE fighters.
And with millions of worlds and cultures so rich, vibrant and different spread across a galaxy... we're back on Tatooine. Yeah...
Breotan wrote: I want to believe that this will bring back the magic, but I am fearful. In fact, the "inside voice" keeps reminding me...
Star Trek - Into Darkness. You. Have. Been. Warned.
We do not talk about that film...
In all seriousness, though, I see this as something of a different animal. Part of the reason ST:ID was so bad was because of how it treated previous material in the franchise so irreverently/casually, whereas this one is something entirely new rather than a reboot. If you remove the fact that ID is just a crap redux of Space Seed+WoK it's... Not good, but better, as evidenced by all the people who liked it and hadn't seen the 'original'.
There's also the fact that JJ Abrams is apparently a huge Star Wars fanboy, so unlike ID, this is about more than just the money, and won't be dancing on grave of the original source.
Still not sure what folks are finding issues with regarding Into Darkness.. big fan of the film, both of the Star Trek films J.J Directed, and the fact he is a much bigger Star Wars fan has me salivating over this one.
Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote: Still not sure what folks are finding issues with regarding Into Darkness.. big fan of the film, both of the Star Trek films J.J Directed
I think for some people, the transition from Ricardo Montelban to Heath Cumbercrunch was a bit too harsh.
I was jarred and betrayed by the first new film (you can't replace Shatner or Nemoy, you can't hope to rreplicate them, so why try), but I took all my nerdrage out on that one, and watched ID with an open mind.
I think its to try resemble those swords that look like crosses. The ones I think we see knights etc wield.
The difference being that the lightsaber will cut you with one mistake and the real life sword wont harm you to touch.
Below wont harm you like the lightsaber will:
Its kind of a dumb design. But then again im one of those people who only like the pure basic lightsabres. Green, blue and red single blade. Anything else is a disgrace to me haha
Swastakowey wrote: I think its to try resemble those swords that look like crosses. The ones I think we see knights etc wield.
The difference being that the lightsaber will cut you with one mistake and the real life sword wont harm you to touch.
Below wont harm you like the lightsaber will:
Its kind of a dumb design. But then again im one of those people who only like the pure basic lightsabres. Green, blue and red single blade. Anything else is a disgrace to me haha
Wow, that sword even comes with forks in case you need a snack mid-fight. Just cut it up with the blade and nom it off the cross-guard. Ingenious!
Gosh, the comments on that video (the official trailer) crack me up.
People bitching about a black Stormtrooper.
One guy points out that the black Stormtrooper appeared to be running from something/someone, so he might have stolen the suit.
3rd guy: "A black guy stole the suit? What are you, some kind of racist?"
As for the weird cross-hilt on the light sabre, maybe the purpose of the hilt is offensive. A quick blow/jab from the hilt after locking blades together could easily be lethal.
I'm all for different lightsaber designs and styles, Maul's double ended one, Starkiller's backhand style and Ashoka's long-and-short combo being favourites. This new one has grown on me more, and the broadsword sort of imagery suggests it might be used in quite a brutal slashing fashion that's more in keeping with the almost feral-looking concept art we've seen for that black robed figure.
People bitching about a black Stormtrooper.
One guy points out that the black Stormtrooper appeared to be running from something/someone, so he might have stolen the suit.
3rd guy: "A black guy stole the suit? What are you, some kind of racist?"
As for the weird cross-hilt on the light sabre, maybe the purpose of the hilt is offensive. A quick blow/jab from the hilt after locking blades together could easily be lethal.
Not at the cost of your own body though...
Sorry, ill stop complaining but its not a justifiable design when you think about it. Luckily its starwars and I should stop thinking about it haha.
What it should have done, was at least arched the mini blades forward to "catch" the enemy lightsaber and be less harmful (potentially) to the wielder.
I dont know.
Also its you tube dude. Read comments in You Tube and you WILL GET ANNOYED.
People bitching about a black Stormtrooper.
One guy points out that the black Stormtrooper appeared to be running from something/someone, so he might have stolen the suit.
3rd guy: "A black guy stole the suit? What are you, some kind of racist?"
Not the first time a black guy stole a white outfit:
People bitching about a black Stormtrooper.
One guy points out that the black Stormtrooper appeared to be running from something/someone, so he might have stolen the suit.
3rd guy: "A black guy stole the suit? What are you, some kind of racist?"
As for the weird cross-hilt on the light sabre, maybe the purpose of the hilt is offensive. A quick blow/jab from the hilt after locking blades together could easily be lethal.
Not at the cost of your own body though...
Sorry, ill stop complaining but its not a justifiable design when you think about it. Luckily its starwars and I should stop thinking about it haha.
What it should have done, was at least arched the mini blades forward to "catch" the enemy lightsaber and be less harmful (potentially) to the wielder.
I dont know.
Also its you tube dude. Read comments in You Tube and you WILL GET ANNOYED.
As an Outsider looking in, it was a very well made film.
It was a fun and flashy film, full of sound and fury. But it was a bad film with an illogical plot and it was full of holes (plus it continued the Orci/Kurtzman obsession with "magic blood").
As an Outsider looking in, it was a very well made film.
It was a fun and flashy film, full of sound and fury. But it was a bad film with an illogical plot and it was full of holes (plus it continued the Orci/Kurtzman obsession with "magic blood").
Agreed. It is a fun movie to watch (especially in 3D) but if you even think about it for a second once it is over it falls apart. Didn't stop me from getting it on Blu-ray though.
As an Outsider looking in, it was a very well made film.
It was a fun and flashy film, full of sound and fury. But it was a bad film with an illogical plot and it was full of holes (plus it continued the Orci/Kurtzman obsession with "magic blood").
Agreed. It is a fun movie to watch (especially in 3D) but if you even think about it for a second once it is over it falls apart. Didn't stop me from getting it on Blu-ray though.
To be fair, almost all movies (including some with universal critical claim) have some sort of illogical plot going on and numerous plot holes.
The Dark Knight is one such movie; people rave about how amazing it is (and it is) but when you look at it's full of nonsensical plotting and massive plot holes. Take the Harvey Dent prisoner transfer scene: nothing in that scene makes any kind of sense and it is complete unjustified in terms of the plot, yet no one cares because it's so fething awesome and we get to see the Joker flip an 18-wheeler upside down.
I was underwhelmed. However overall I don't really rate Star Wars movies as particularly noteworthy. I do like the setting of the universe and am interested what the plot is going to be.
Yeah, I'm not really seeing the ball droid as any less 'Star Wars' than the Gonk, or MSE droids, or Destroyers.
Cruciform lightsaber is badass. Impractical... but all lightsabers are impractical. They're supposed to be difficult to use without hurting yourself... That's the point.
Huh. Some commenters on the youtube trailer think the Sith (or rather, the narrator) is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch (which if true, is an interesting link to the Hobbit 3 as Benedict voices the dragon Smaug, and the Star Wars trailer is being released/previewed before screenings of the Hobbit). Does anyone else think theres a resemblance in the voice?
Stormtroopers land on planet (Tatooine?), possibly with one of the main protagonists aboard.
Something goes wrong, one stormtrooper loses his helmet, but something more he seems to be changing his mind.
Could this be, in part, about an Imperial stormtrooper who decided he has been fighting for the wrong side?
If so it would add a redemption, guilt or infiltration aspect to the film, which makes for good character development.
jasper76 wrote: Aren't Stormtroopers all meant to be clones of Django Fett? Don't recall him being a black dude.
It's debatable whether the Stormtroopers in the OST are all clones, but even if they were, I'm sure the New Republic (or whatever) would have shut down clone production. What's left of the Imperial army would therefore need a recruitment drive.
jasper76 wrote: Aren't Stormtroopers all meant to be clones of Django Fett? Don't recall him being a black dude.
No, all Clone Troopers were, as their name suggests, clones, however Stormtroopers are mostly made up of drafted Empire civilians, and are trained by the few veteran clone troopers who remain. There's at least one quote by an Empire clone trooper who states what a sorry mess the recruits are when compared to the clones.
jasper76 wrote: Aren't Stormtroopers all meant to be clones of Django Fett? Don't recall him being a black dude.
It's debatable whether the Stormtroopers in the OST are all clones, but even if they were, I'm sure the New Republic (or whatever) would have shut down clone production. What's left of the Imperial army would therefore need a recruitment drive.
And anyway, he might not be a Stormtrooper.
Yeah, my guess is he's a rebel spy or something like that.
I reckon the Storm Trooper screwed up or disobeyed orders and then somehow managed to run. Then maybe the rebels find him, dont trust him then he joins their cause or something.
because he looks like he has screwed up something thats for sure.
The Clone Trooper where clones but not Storm Troopers. I think they are just recruited like normal soldiers. I'm not sure when or why the Empire stopped using clones.
jasper76 wrote: Aren't Stormtroopers all meant to be clones of Django Fett? Don't recall him being a black dude.
It's debatable whether the Stormtroopers in the OST are all clones, but even if they were, I'm sure the New Republic (or whatever) would have shut down clone production. What's left of the Imperial army would therefore need a recruitment drive.
And anyway, he might not be a Stormtrooper.
Yeah, my guess is he's a rebel spy or something like that.
Part of the retcons established in the EU universe after Episode 2 came out was, after a series of disasters (including Kamino considering joining the rebellion), the Empire's supply of Clone soldiers had dried up in the years between Episode 3 and 4.
It would therefore not be unreasonable to have a Stormtrooper, especially one recruited after the Emperors death in the new 'film universe' decide, "you know what, maybe I'm on the losing side here. Screw this."
I seem to remember some quote about "Starvation, disease and desertion being the biggest destroyer of armies than the battlefield."
LuciusAR wrote: The Clone Trooper where clones but not Storm Troopers. I think they are just recruited like normal soldiers. I'm not sure when or why the Empire stopped using clones.
I believe that Kamino was lost during the Galactic Civil War, and the Rebels probably targeted a number of other cloning facilities the Empire used. Reading up on it, The Emperor deemed Jango's clones to, ironically, be too susceptible to corruption, and ordered clones be made of a wide number of genetic templates, but even they became too costly and rare after losing a number of the cloning facilities.
It's simple enough to imagine how much easier recruiting from the general populace is when compared to relying on certain installations. If you lose one installation, then you've lost a large chunk of your army before it's even been created, and a LOT of investment. If you lose even several planets to rebels then you haven't exactly invested time, effort, and research into creating the populace, and can easily just force recruitment on other worlds.
jasper76 wrote: Aren't Stormtroopers all meant to be clones of Django Fett? Don't recall him being a black dude.
Kamino rebelled against the Empire by breeding Clones loyal to Kamino. The Emperor crushed the rebellion, and decided to diversify the Stormtroopers by cloning from multiple genetic templates and recruiting natural humans, as an entire army of clones based on one genetic source was too easy to corrupt or something. At least thats what the wiki says.
All I know first hand is that in Battlefront 2 theres a mission in which the 501st Legion (Elite Clone Troopers of the late Clone Wars and some of the first Stormtroopers) is sent to crush a Kaminoan rebellion of rogue Clone Troopers. Storm Troopers vs Clone Troopers. I always thought that the battle destroyed the cloning facilities but I just double checked now and apparently the Empire did continue to use cloning for a time.
Eventually though, I think the Clones became obsolete and were phased out.
jasper76 wrote: Aren't Stormtroopers all meant to be clones of Django Fett? Don't recall him being a black dude.
It's debatable whether the Stormtroopers in the OST are all clones, but even if they were, I'm sure the New Republic (or whatever) would have shut down clone production. What's left of the Imperial army would therefore need a recruitment drive.
And anyway, he might not be a Stormtrooper.
Call it a hunch, but I'm calling it now that this is not a new Republic, but to all intents and purposes an Empire just like the one we left in the OT. The Rebellion may have transitioned to something a little more coherent and official, maybe even a New Republic, but I think the Galaxy is still well and truly divided and at war.
On Stormtroopers, there were several 'templates' in use for clones, not just Jango, and I think the Empire brought in even more, although all officers were not cloned and were all variations of human.
So goddamn excited. Those X-wings coming in low and fast? Sold. Hopefully we see some really cool in atmosphere flying, using repulsors to dodge low obstacles in a really brutal fashion and other cool stuff like that. But I don't want it all down in the dirt, there better still be some space battles.
Just give me a rogue squadron movie on the off year. Please.
The F-14 and Tornado shared a common characteristic of large dorsal tails. These are necessary for stabillity in low altitude flight and allowed those aircraft to fly much lower than is normally safe.
The X-Wings are travelling at stupidly low altitudes though, so much as an errant rock or slight change in the ground will result in crashes. Star Wars normally got this one right, you only saw special aerobatics as part of heroic moves, normally from the Falcon. Even the Death Star trench, while considered 'narrow' was comfortably wide for a fighter, and most fighters that came too close to the rocks went into them.
I think the flight sequences are intended to look super cool and end up looking ridiculous. Its a rtrait of JJ Abrams crass and heavy handed film making. He made the Enterprise 'cool' by turning the bridge into a walk in tanning salon (with all the sunbeds permanently switched on and the engineering deck into a pipe farm in extra dimensional space. The Enterprise was fine before this crap, and felt like a ship even with limited sets and limited budget. Now with a much bigger budget it seemed so much more fake.
This film may yet still be fethed up by JJ Abrams 'style', and while Star Wars was always over the top, there was also a grounding at least in the original trilogy.
I do hope the flight scenes here are just attention grabbers and not part of the film.
As far as the saber goes one interesting theory I saw said that the person who made it perhaps didn't have access to the best parts, especially the crystal, so it has to vent energy.
Orlanth wrote: I do hope the flight scenes here are just attention grabbers and not part of the film.
I did wonder that of the Millenium Falcon sequence at the end of the trailer. If all the Tatooine stuff takes place before they catch up with the main characters of the previous films, why a Millenium Falcon dogfight on Tatooine? It just seemed like a crowd pleasing shot to get people excited.
Fairly convinced the "lake run" will be in the film though and I did wonder if this is on Naboo (the only planet from the previous films that bears a resemblance). Of course if they go to Naboo, what race might we encounter? The horror!
Ahtman wrote: As far as the saber goes one interesting theory I saw said that the person who made it perhaps didn't have access to the best parts, especially the crystal, so it has to vent energy.
That's what I said earlier. I think they are exhaust ports... if you look closely, the side beams don't look like beams at all but flares.
Orlanth wrote: I do hope the flight scenes here are just attention grabbers and not part of the film.
I did wonder that of the Millenium Falcon sequence at the end of the trailer. If all the Tatooine stuff takes place before they catch up with the main characters of the previous films, why a Millenium Falcon dogfight on Tatooine? It just seemed like a crowd pleasing shot to get people excited.
Fairly convinced the "lake run" will be in the film though and I did wonder if this is on Naboo (the only planet from the previous films that bears a resemblance). Of course if they go to Naboo, what race might we encounter? The horror!
We can only hope that a return to Naboo is to crush the Gungans, who joined the Empire because that's the only way we can have the protagonists gunning down hundreds of Jar-Jars to the whoops and cheers of the entire cinema.
Fairly convinced the "lake run" will be in the film though and I did wonder if this is on Naboo (the only planet from the previous films that bears a resemblance). Of course if they go to Naboo, what race might we encounter? The horror!
As the pod racers were chariots not flyers, if X-Wings had a chariot module allowing them a 'drive mode' then it would solve the problems at least to my satisfaction.
I really love the trailer. It looks great and is fresh enough of a take to not only not look anything like the prequels but have a nice new spin on the franchise.
The wee roller droid is probably going to be Han's Daughters companion. I can imagine it being with her since childhood.
The crackling edge indicates a fierce energy source. I think the two side "beams" might be some form of exhaust ports to release this energy.
Note how they aren't beams as such, but tail off into fumes at the end.
I'm in total agreement with this. I'm assuming because this person is perhaps not fully trained in the force and therefore can't make a proper lightsaber. This is perhaps some bastardised version that uses a different power source but functions in a similar way.
Orlanth wrote: The F-14 and Tornado shared a common characteristic of large dorsal tails. These are necessary for stabillity in low altitude flight and allowed those aircraft to fly much lower than is normally safe.
The X-Wings are travelling at stupidly low altitudes though, so much as an errant rock or slight change in the ground will result in crashes. Star Wars normally got this one right, you only saw special aerobatics as part of heroic moves, normally from the Falcon. Even the Death Star trench, while considered 'narrow' was comfortably wide for a fighter, and most fighters that came too close to the rocks went into them.
I think the flight sequences are intended to look super cool and end up looking ridiculous. Its a rtrait of JJ Abrams crass and heavy handed film making. He made the Enterprise 'cool' by turning the bridge into a walk in tanning salon (with all the sunbeds permanently switched on and the engineering deck into a pipe farm in extra dimensional space. The Enterprise was fine before this crap, and felt like a ship even with limited sets and limited budget. Now with a much bigger budget it seemed so much more fake.
This film may yet still be fethed up by JJ Abrams 'style', and while Star Wars was always over the top, there was also a grounding at least in the original trilogy.
I do hope the flight scenes here are just attention grabbers and not part of the film.
Comparing a starfighter to a modern fighter jet is pointless. Besides, Star Wars craft do not operate in accordance to our science of aeronautics and astronautics.
Star Wars has never gotten aerial/space combat right (and it doesn't need to either). Nothing seen in any of the movies is anything close to what actual spacefighter combat would really be like so saying that it has "always been grounded" is not just a stretch, it's just wrong. Now, if you want to say that the term "grounded" in relation to the Star Wars Galaxy means that it feels authentic and lived-in, then I would happily agree with you, but I don't feel that is what you are tying to say.
Also, a flight of Blue Squadron X-wings flying low over a lake/ocean and the Millennium Falcon performing an aerobatic maneuver to evade a squadron of TIE fighters look super cool, regardless of whether or not it could actually be done or not.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Medium of Death wrote: I'm in total agreement with this. I'm assuming because this person is perhaps not fully trained in the force and therefore can't make a proper lightsaber. This is perhaps some bastardised version that uses a different power source but functions in a similar way.
It could also be an ancient Sith weapon that the wielder either found or is the original owner of, perhaps an ancient evil awoken from slumber or the like.
It would fit with the subtitle of The Force Awakens.
When did X-wings ever follow any real life physics? They always flew like Battle of Britain era Spitfires, right down to the half roll they do before they dive.
George Spiggott wrote: When did X-wings ever follow any real life physics? They always flew like Battle of Britain era Spitfires, right down to the half roll they do before they dive.
It's well known that not only was gun camera footage uses as an inspiration to George Lucas when directing the space battles, it was used as filler for incomplete special effects shots in early screenings of the film for studio execs, friends, etc.
X-wings actually do a lot of cool low altitude stuff in the Rogue Squadron books. This usually involves using their repulsors in interesting ways, like flying on a path that'll run you into something, but setting your repulsors to full so that as they hit it they throw you up, leaving whoever is pursuing you to eat it in the face. So it's hardly unprecedented....and as has been said, it looked fantastic.
ScootyPuffJunior wrote: It's well known that not only was gun camera footage uses as an inspiration to George Lucas when directing the space battles, it was used as filler for incomplete special effects shots in early screenings of the film for studio execs, friends, etc.
It was footage of The Battle of Britain, 633 Squadron and The Dam Busters.
Having re-watched the trailer it occurs to me that there are three of them, as per early Battle of Britain squadron formations. Of course there may be one out of shot in that brief scene.
The first time I watched the trailer, I was like: meh, Tatooine again, haven't we seen enough of this worthless ball of sand? ooo, a dramatically sinister narrator. Cute droid. Weird looking speeder. Cool looking Storm troopers, x-wings flying over water, darth somebody with a gimmicky red lightsaber (we desperately need a Sith with a sense of style), OMG STAR WARS THEME AND MILLENIUM FALCON!!! SQUEEEEE!!!11!!
Platuan4th wrote: I think I'm the only person who doesn't like the new Stormie helmets.
.
I'm not entirely sold on them yet. They're less sinister than the originals, but that's possibly intentional... we don't know yet what sort of entity the Empire has become in this new timeline, so if they're not supposed to be as scary then the new design will fit.
Ok (takes a deep breath) what i'm about to say may make some people on this site very angry and I just want to say before I start that i'm not trying troll people or cause any anger I'm
talking about my view on this.... I am a huge fan of the expanded universe of star wars I've read so many books about the old republic and what happened after the movies and I've loved
all of it. Star wars is the one thing I allow my self to be a huge fan boy about and love every part of it no matter what (except the prequels) so when I heard that the new movie would not be
in the expanded universe that had already been created I was pretty angry.
I just felt to me like a incredibly arrogant thing to do to completely ignore the 30 years of stories created by people who enjoyed the movies and wanted to ad to it, I mean there are so many create settings and stories from the expanded universe that they could make a movie about but instead they just ignored it.
And JJ Abrams is really not one of my favorite directors mainly because of into darkness and the cop out move that was making kahn the villain. To me that just felt like a child waving his hands desperately while shouting "ha look at me i'm like the other star trek movies because I have kahn so like me please." But thats of track anyway I will try to go into the movie with a open mind but I might need someone to there to restrain if I start shouting about something not being cannon.
ds9lord wrote: Ok (takes a deep breath) what i'm about to say may make some people on this site very angry and I just want to say before I start that i'm not trying troll people or cause any anger I'm talking about my view on this.... I am a huge fan of the expanded universe of star wars I've read so many books about the old republic and what happened after the movies and I've loved all of it. Star wars is the one thing I allow my self to be a huge fan boy about and love every part of it no matter what (except the prequels) so when I heard that the new movie would not be in the expanded universe that had already been created I was pretty angry. I just felt to me like a incredibly arrogant thing to do to completely ignore the 30 years of stories created by people who enjoyed the movies and wanted to ad to it, I mean there are so many create settings and stories from the expanded universe that they could make a movie about but instead they just ignored it. And JJ Abrams is really not one of my favorite directors mainly because of into darkness and the cop out move that was making kahn the villain. To me that just felt like a child waving his hands desperately while shouting "ha look at me i'm like the other star trek movies because I have kahn so like me please." But thats of track anyway I will try to go into the movie with a open mind but I might need someone to there to restrain if I start shouting about something not being cannon.
Sorry. The EU is a massive pile of gak with some decent stuff occasionally. Ditching it was the best thing they could have done.
And please try line breaks and using coherent paragraphs. Wall'o'text hurts our eyes.
I like the X-Wings and the Stormtroopers and the new Alliance/NR pilot uniforms. I'm very glad to see that there are still regular TIE Fighters.
When I saw the landspeeder I thought that it looked like what could be an agricultural or tractor-type landspeeder...so going just off what we see in the trailer, I'm okay with it.
The longsword/broadsword lightsaber I'm not sold on yet, but it's not going to break the film for me.
The probe droid sound effects in the first scene were a nice touch as well.
I honestly did not know what to make of it. Like most fans from way back, I have a million questions about this film. And the teaser seemed to answer, or even hint at answering, precisely none of them.
Putting aside my perspective as a fan, however, I think this teaser trailer does communicate something really important about The Force Awakens: there is a genuine stylistic break here from what we should call the Lucas look. Detractors of Mr. Lucas never tire of pointing out his hokey dialog and missing characterization. But as a visual storyteller, a man who shows rather than tells, his style is not only clear -- it's practically iconic.
Take a look at that shaky shot of the Storm Troopers in their drop ship, the frenetic foreground lighting in the X-Wing cockpit, and more than anything else the way the camera forcefully trudges along behind the Dark Sider, punctuating his movements. You will not find this kind of stuff in a George Lucas film. It has a very, very fresh feel. Even the climactic shot of the spiraling Falcon feels brand new, thanks to keeping our perspective upside even as the ship rights itself to the ground, twisting us around gradually as it zooms in and pans up, with the TIEs flying right into our faces.
I honestly did not know what to make of it. Like most fans from way back, I have a million questions about this film. And the teaser seemed to answer, or even hint at answering, precisely none of them.
Putting aside my perspective as a fan, however, I think this teaser trailer does communicate something really important about The Force Awakens: there is a genuine stylistic break here from what we should call the Lucas look. Detractors of Mr. Lucas never tire of pointing out his hokey dialog and missing characterization. But as a visual storyteller, a man who shows rather than tells, his style is not only clear -- it's practically iconic.
Take a look at that shaky shot of the Storm Troopers in their drop ship, the frenetic foreground lighting in the X-Wing cockpit, and more than anything else the way the camera forcefully trudges along behind the Dark Sider, punctuating his movements. You will not find this kind of stuff in a George Lucas film. It has a very, very fresh feel. Even the climactic shot of the spiraling Falcon feels brand new, thanks to keeping our perspective upside even as the ship rights itself to the ground, twisting us around gradually as it zooms in and pans up, with the TIEs flying right into our faces.
Please don't lock me out for disagreeing with a mod
but
I disagree 100%
This visual look has got Peter Jackson and Lotr stamped all over it.
Lucas did a lot for sound and special effects, I'll give him his due there, but the Lotr films pushed back the boundaries in my book.
Even a well known Ridley Scott film from 30+ years ago has a better visual appeal than this.
There's nothing wrong with it from a visual appeal - it's good, but it's not spectacular.
I honestly did not know what to make of it. Like most fans from way back, I have a million questions about this film. And the teaser seemed to answer, or even hint at answering, precisely none of them.
Putting aside my perspective as a fan, however, I think this teaser trailer does communicate something really important about The Force Awakens: there is a genuine stylistic break here from what we should call the Lucas look. Detractors of Mr. Lucas never tire of pointing out his hokey dialog and missing characterization. But as a visual storyteller, a man who shows rather than tells, his style is not only clear -- it's practically iconic.
Take a look at that shaky shot of the Storm Troopers in their drop ship, the frenetic foreground lighting in the X-Wing cockpit, and more than anything else the way the camera forcefully trudges along behind the Dark Sider, punctuating his movements. You will not find this kind of stuff in a George Lucas film. It has a very, very fresh feel. Even the climactic shot of the spiraling Falcon feels brand new, thanks to keeping our perspective upside even as the ship rights itself to the ground, twisting us around gradually as it zooms in and pans up, with the TIEs flying right into our faces.
Please don't lock me out for disagreeing with a mod
but
I disagree 100%
This visual look has got Peter Jackson and Lotr stamped all over it.
Lucas did a lot for sound and special effects, I'll give him his due there, but the Lotr films pushed back the boundaries in my book.
Even a well known Ridley Scott film from 30+ years ago has a better visual appeal than this.
There's nothing wrong with it from a visual appeal - it's good, but it's not spectacular.
What about it reminds you of LotR? Because I see what Manchu is talking about, but I'm having trouble seeing what you're referring to. LotR didn't have a lot of shaky camera work, extreme lighting, or long weaving shots with changing perspective.
Nah, no Peter Jackson here. He does a lot of cross movement steady pans and zooms. Jackson's tight angle zooms on character faces, which you pretty much never see Lucas do, should be as recognizable as an Abrams lens flare. You don't see that kind of thing in the Force Awakens teaser. But you don't see that more classic Lucas style, either, where the camera is always steady and the shots are always framed up squarely to give you a sense of mythic storytelling.
Maybe back during THX1138, American Graffiti, and the original Star Wars* Lucas was a "show not tell" guy but he hasn't been that man for several decades, and certainly wasn't for the prequels.
Manchu wrote: Nah, no Peter Jackson here. He does a lot of cross movement steady pans and zooms. Jackson's tight angle zooms on character faces, which you pretty much never see Lucas do, should be as recognizable as an Abrams lens flare. You don't see that kind of thing in the Force Awakens teaser. But you don't see that more classic Lucas style, either, where the camera is always steady and the shots are always framed up squarely to give you a sense of mythic storytelling.
Yeah, exactly. The Stormtrooper scene on the shuttle with the shaky camera and lights flashing on and off: Lucas never would have done that.
Hordini wrote: Yeah, exactly. The Stormtrooper scene on the shuttle with the shaky camera and lights flashing on and off: Lucas never would have done that.
I agree with that, I just don't agree that Lucas was much of a visual storyteller recently. He used to be, but that guy was killed by success and replaced with something much darker.
Ahtman wrote: he hasn't been that man for several decades, and certainly wasn't for the prequels.
I disagree -- Padme and Anakin's romance makes zero sense from the perspective of their dialog or character development. But if someone just showed you all of the scenes where they're travelling to Naboo and then on the gondola ride and then picnicing in the grass and hanging out by the fire place, you'd have no trouble believing these kids are really into each other. But with the words, with more than just the moving pictures, the shots, and the angles, audiences are left scratching their heads. It looks like they should be in love but we have nothing else to back that up. Quite the reverse.
Manchu wrote: you'd have no trouble believing these kids are really into each other
I think this is the first time anyone has ever said that in regards to the film.
Words or not I had trouble believing they were in the same room at the same time let alone really had a lot of chemistry with one another, and that isn't entirely Christen or Portman's fault.
I'm not talking about the acting (although I agree what happened wasn't their fault as actors) but rather the visual storytelling. Lucas perfectly illustrates (in the sense of an illustrator) the height of romance. The whole thing falls apart because films are more than pictures. There's also pacing, plot, and characterization. These other elements ... let's just say Lucas never mastered them ...
In any case, my point is not to argue that Lucas is a good film maker (although I believe he is a visionary film maker). I am saying his visual style is iconic. And this teaser trailer makes a big, big break. In fact, I think that the main point of the teaser, given we learn nothing at all about the plot or characters or even theme of Force Awakens, is precisely to show off the new visual style.
In my view, George Lucas has a great talent for creating a story, he just isn't very good at telling it.
The prequel trilogy actually had a very good plot going on in the background, namely Palpatine's sleight of hand in creating a threat to justify building a clone army at his control, while the heroes chase their tails tackling what they perceive is the more immediate threat.
Flashman wrote: In my view, George Lucas has a great talent for creating a story, he just isn't very good at telling it.
The prequel trilogy actually had a very good plot going on in the background, namely Palpatine's sleight of hand in creating a threat to justify building a clone army at his control, while the heroes chase their tails tackling what they perceive is the more immediate threat.
Yeah. I think George is probably best as a producer, when paired with a strong director who isn't afraid to say "no" or "how about this instead?" from time to time.
Looked fairly ho hum to me.
I'll keep an eye out of course but Im not a fan of Abrams overall.
I didnt actually hate the last 3 films and found them slightly more watchable on repeat viewings. However they werent great either.
Despite the Lucas bashing that sometimes goes on, the originals were just good old sci fi swashbuckling fun imo.
When you look at A New Hope, it is a very simple and straightforward story. And of course that's the best movie Lucas ever directed. Each of the prequels has a much more complicated story than ANH -- I mean, much much much more complicated. They're all about smoke and mirrors, duplicity, hidden agendas, suspicion, and mysteries. All those wrinkles demand a director with lots of skill at developing characters, which is a weak point for Lucas. What little character development occurs in ANH is completely crude. (ESB is so much more "grown up" in this respect.) Where ANH excels, even surpassing ESB, is its epic scale. Because it's not about persons at all, but rather archetypes. The prequel trilogy is much more character-driven (being all about Anakin, after all) and it was really a poor choice for Lucas. He must have had a severe lack of self-awareness to make one of his weakest points as an artist the focus of this huge project.
Flashman wrote: In my view, George Lucas has a great talent for creating a story, he just isn't very good at telling it.
The prequel trilogy actually had a very good plot going on in the background, namely Palpatine's sleight of hand in creating a threat to justify building a clone army at his control, while the heroes chase their tails tackling what they perceive is the more immediate threat.
Yeah. I think George is probably best as a producer, when paired with a strong director who isn't afraid to say "no" or "how about this instead?" from time to time.
Lucas's strength, I think, is in his vision. Going into Star Wars, he knew exactly what he wanted in terms of tone, style, and it not story, then at least setting. Given that, at the time, it hadn't really been done before, I think that producing Star Wars from the start is a great achievement. As you say, he just needs an editor/director willing to challenge him slightly, and I'd add a writer that is capable of creating a script to match the vision. Which is why I'm very pleased they've got the man behind Empire Strikes Back in this one...
The EU is a massive pile of gak with some decent stuff occasionally. Ditching it was the best thing they could have done.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! my heart..
Take a deep breath. Yes, Thrawn is gone. Yes, Rogue Squadron and Corran Horn are apocrypha. On the other hand, 'The Crystal Star' never happened. Luke's various Mom's weren't actually practitioners of the White, Grey, or Rainbow force. The Tyranids never accidentally absorbed a BDSM planet and invaded the SW galaxy as the Yuuzanvong. For every bright spot lost, another 2 or 3 were expunged. Overall, I think SW fans won.
Perhaps it is Force activated and automated- designed to be used with minimal crew- just one Force capable man? And the Trisaber is the key to the ignition?
I'm wondering if it is infact Andy Serkis' voice that we hear over the trailer.
I definitely think this film will be like Empire in tone, perhaps darker if the leaked rumours are true. I can see this first part of it being on Tatooine, the Falcon scene being them leaving the planet with the defected stormtrooper on board.
I'm not sure how I feel about a darker Star Wars with the particular leaked rumours. Hopefully there's a fair amount of light heartedness in there as well.
Gitzbitah wrote: Take a deep breath. Yes, Thrawn is gone. Yes, Rogue Squadron and Corran Horn are apocrypha. On the other hand, 'The Crystal Star' never happened. Luke's various Mom's weren't actually practitioners of the White, Grey, or Rainbow force. The Tyranids never accidentally absorbed a BDSM planet and invaded the SW galaxy as the Yuuzanvong. For every bright spot lost, another 2 or 3 were expunged. Overall, I think SW fans won.
There's nothing stopping them from using the good parts though. They're just not bound to any of it. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Rogue Squadron make an appearance at some point in the new films (they're in Empire, after all), and even characters like Thrawn and Corran Horn could be a possibility (although likely different than what we've seen in the EU).
I wonder if he's playing that cyborg that we've seen art of. Certainly his mo-cap skills could fit the bill for something heavily augmented.
He's perhaps talking about the awakening of force abilities in Han and Leia's children. The Darkside and the Light. The brother being the darkside, the daughter being the light. She definitely recalls a more Luke Skywalker vibe to me. Especially in that speeder outfit.
I'm particularly interested in what flashback scenes there will be, whether they will be actual flashbacks or if the film will start 20/30 years ago then jump to the "present".
Gitzbitah wrote: Take a deep breath. Yes, Thrawn is gone. Yes, Rogue Squadron and Corran Horn are apocrypha. On the other hand, 'The Crystal Star' never happened. Luke's various Mom's weren't actually practitioners of the White, Grey, or Rainbow force. The Tyranids never accidentally absorbed a BDSM planet and invaded the SW galaxy as the Yuuzanvong. For every bright spot lost, another 2 or 3 were expunged. Overall, I think SW fans won.
One bright spot for only two or three BS things? I'd argue that there is far more stupid gak in the EU than gems.
Frankly, I'm glad they ditched it; I'd rather see a new story than hope they picked the interesting stuff from the quagmire that was the EU and put it on screen. I couldn't be more excited by this film especially now that my girls are getting interested in Star Wars... I just know how exciting seeing Star Wars movies made me when I was a kid (and still do!) so I can't wait for my kids to have that experience.
Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote: As much as I admire people's enthusiasm for the new film, I think an awful lot of people are going to be disappointed next year.
So much so, that the mods will be pushing carts around these forums and shouting bring out your dead
We've been here before with the Phantom menace and the nerd rage unleashed after that debacle was something to behold.
Don't forget Lucas was involved with those and he's never been a good story teller or director. Those of us who were between 11 - 15 when Episode IV came out will always have a soft spot for it, but Empire was the better movie... and we all know why )
With regard to the little droid there is far too much focus on this (on all boards). It could have no more baring on the film tan the droid that runs away from Chewie in Star Wars.
Why is the speeder bike seat so high in the air and how would you get up to it? Seems to defeat the purpose of a speeder bike if it takes five minutes to mount it.
"Oh my goodness I have to run and tell someone of the terrible thing that just happened and is currently happening. Thank goodness I have this speeder to get me there" *Spends the next five minutes looking for a step ladder then trying to balance eventually getting on the speeder before driving off in the hopes that they can find another stepladder to dismount at the next place*
Perhaps it's the part that gives it anti-gravity? The engines obviously propel it but don't lift it. It also looks like it'd be a mechanics vehicle, with tools and such in it, or used to pull in heavy scrap.
reds8n wrote: .... doesn't look like there's any R2/similar units "plugged" into those X-wings ?
Certainly seems that way. Maybe Astromech droids are rare 30 years from now?
Could these new-look X-Wings be an in-atmosphere off-shoot of the fighter? It'd explain why they're more streamlined and sans astromech. I'm sure a regular X-Wing is more than capable of performing well on-planet, but removing the need for an astromech, and streamlining the craft to allow for faster speeds and better performance, would likely cut out significant costs and perhaps even require less use of resources to manufacture.
They seem to provide repairs and act as co-pilots too. I imagine that they'd be really handy for atmospheric flight as there's a lot more going on. Kind of the same way that the Eurofighter is aerodynamically unstable and needs a computer to assist the pilot to account for this.
Perhaps it's all integrated. Then again an Astromech serves greater purposes than just a ship copilot. The OT crew would've been screwed without R2.
Grey Templar wrote: They would also be made obsolete if the new xwing had a more advanced navicomputer that could make its own calculations faster.
Good point. I wonder if that wouldn't be a step backwards technologically? Having a modular navicomp is handy in a number of ways, not least of all because sometimes older droids end up being more reliable than newer models (as I believe was the case with the R2 series). That's all EU nonsense, however, so who knows.
Looking at it from an out-of-universe perspective, astromech droids probably exist so that Artoo could accompany Luke into battle. Maybe the fighter pilots in this movie don't have droid sidekicks.
Avatar 720 wrote: Could these new-look X-Wings be an in-atmosphere off-shoot of the fighter?
Could be but that implies a lot about the plot. I think Grey Templar's idea is probably closer to the mark, these are just a newer model -- like how the Storm Trooper armor is different.
ds9lord wrote: Ok (takes a deep breath) what i'm about to say may make some people on this site very angry and I just want to say before I start that i'm not trying troll people or cause any anger I'm
talking about my view on this.... I am a huge fan of the expanded universe of star wars I've read so many books about the old republic and what happened after the movies and I've loved
all of it. Star wars is the one thing I allow my self to be a huge fan boy about and love every part of it no matter what (except the prequels) so when I heard that the new movie would not be
in the expanded universe that had already been created I was pretty angry.
I just felt to me like a incredibly arrogant thing to do to completely ignore the 30 years of stories created by people who enjoyed the movies and wanted to ad to it, I mean there are so many create settings and stories from the expanded universe that they could make a movie about but instead they just ignored it.
And JJ Abrams is really not one of my favorite directors mainly because of into darkness and the cop out move that was making kahn the villain. To me that just felt like a child waving his hands desperately while shouting "ha look at me i'm like the other star trek movies because I have kahn so like me please." But thats of track anyway I will try to go into the movie with a open mind but I might need someone to there to restrain if I start shouting about something not being cannon.
Ahtman wrote: Maybe back during THX1138, American Graffiti, and the original Star Wars* Lucas was a "show not tell" guy but he hasn't been that man for several decades, and certainly wasn't for the prequels.
KotOR is one of my favorite games but I am not at all broken up about it getting axed. It really didn't bring much to the EU. The stuff I most liked about the EU (Tales of the Jedi, Dark Empire) had been pretty much sidelined anyhow. Frankly, I'd rather flush the whole EU completely (as they have) rather than deal with Thrawn again. I know people like that character but ... I mean, honestly, he's just written to be totally perfect and make the Empire seem reasonable and good "if only it weren't for the Sith" which totally misses the point of the Empire.
Flashman wrote: In my view, George Lucas has a great talent for creating a story, he just isn't very good at telling it.
The prequel trilogy actually had a very good plot going on in the background, namely Palpatine's sleight of hand in creating a threat to justify building a clone army at his control, while the heroes chase their tails tackling what they perceive is the more immediate threat.
Yeah. I think George is probably best as a producer, when paired with a strong director who isn't afraid to say "no" or "how about this instead?" from time to time.
That director being Steven Speilberg
Automatically Appended Next Post: In all honesty, I'm scratching my head as to what the story can be. Vader's dead, the Emperor's dead, the death star...you get the picture.
It's like the Americans and the Russians standing in the ruins of Berlin and suddenly the Nazis spring out and say aha - we're back!
If it were up to me, the story would be this:
Endor's trees hacked down and the Ewoks forced into slave labour
Somebody takes a razor to Chewbacca
Somebody sticks Jar Jar's head up a Bantha's rear
and of course, Lando gets the Falcon back
I joke, but seriously, what kind of plot can they conjure up?
The Emperor and Vader may be dead but the Empire sure as hell hasn't been defeated. It still spans the Galaxy and comprises of vast legions and fleets.
My guess is that there will be some sort of power vacuum but once its been filled the Empire will still a force to be reckoned with and the fledging republic would probably be fighting them for some time to come after Endor.
Look at that picture of the fighter with the blue stripe on it again. That is not an x-wing, there is only one set of wings on it, there is no split on them and there is only one set of cannons on each wingtip as opposed to the two that an x-wing has.
No my friends, we are clearly looking at a Z-95 Headhunter. It was a predecessor to the x-xing and also made by Incom who also manufactured the T-16 that Luke used to bullseye womprats from.
xraytango wrote: Look at that picture of the fighter with the blue stripe on it again. That is not an x-wing, there is only one set of wings on it, there is no split on them and there is only one set of cannons on each wingtip as opposed to the two that an x-wing has.
No my friends, we are clearly looking at a Z-95 Headhunter. It was a predecessor to the x-xing and also made by Incom who also manufactured the T-16 that Luke used to bullseye womprats from.
It's not a picture, it's a video, one that shows a pair of cannons on the visible wingtip when the camera pans out far enough. It also lacks the short, bulky back end of the headhunter.
Like what I have seen so far. It's Star Wars but different, gritty.
The speeder looks kind of cool and different. Seems to me that it might be housing some kind of stabelizer in the body to compensate for it's narrow design.
I know it has been said the lightsaber seems crude in that it isn't functioning like they normally do, almost savage. Maybe this was meant to reflect the Sith who uses it?
xraytango wrote: Look at that picture of the fighter with the blue stripe on it again. That is not an x-wing, there is only one set of wings on it, there is no split on them and there is only one set of cannons on each wingtip as opposed to the two that an x-wing has.
No my friends, we are clearly looking at a Z-95 Headhunter. It was a predecessor to the x-xing and also made by Incom who also manufactured the T-16 that Luke used to bullseye womprats from.
xraytango wrote: Not talking about the video, I'm talking about the picture with JJ standing next to the full scale prop with the pilot climbing in to it.
That is a still from a video he released in July for a charity drive.
xraytango wrote: Not talking about the video, I'm talking about the picture with JJ standing next to the full scale prop with the pilot climbing in to it.
...
That's the video (not a picture) I was talking about.
Heres a question if EU stuff is now scrapped what happens with the Xwing game? Disney are putting their logo on it but saying the characters and ships don't exist?
The craft seen in the charity video from July is the same thing from the teaser: an X-wing
It was confirmed by the studio right after the charity video was released that it was indeed an X-wing and yes it has changed from the ones we saw 30 years ago. The S-foils are built differently and they open differently as well. They now split down the middle perpendicular to the fuselage, making them thinner overall. It is pretty clear in this picture:
EDIT: Okay, hold on, think I misinterpreted the "see above" comment. I took it as meaning "see what you just quoted", and didn't know you'd actually edited a previous post. Sorry.
I loved the 'nap of the earth' x-wing scene. Kinda a planet bound trench run. Nice.
The Falcon made me giddy, as did the crazy lightb*stard? (Angry darksiders needed a more primal hacking 'blade'. Épée? Katana? Rapier? Too...civilized.) Rageaholics who rooted for Vader rejoice! Unless homey starts doing silly gymnastic choreography instead, that is.
The frozen gelato beach speeder...yuck. Change it, JJ! It's not too late....
Manchu wrote: If she's sitting on the engines, what's under the hood?
Storage space presumably. She's a scrap hunter, according to some rumours regarding the plot.
I find the reaction to the little droid rather amusing. That thing looks like it fell right out of a Java Sandcrawler or Jabba's droid graveyard. It reeks Star Wars precisely because it looks like something that could have been featured in a low budget SF movie 40 years ago, end up in a storage shed only to be kitbashed into another prop.
I like pretty much everything I saw in the trailer, from the troopers to the noe flying X-wings. The side blades on the sabre do look a tad daft though, regardless of what they are. I think just the crackling, phased effect of the beam would have been plenty enough to get people wet about the dark side again.
Manchu wrote: If she's sitting on the engines, what's under the hood?
Storage space presumably. She's a scrap hunter, according to some rumours regarding the plot.
I find the reaction to the little droid rather amusing. That thing looks like it fell right out of a Java Sandcrawler or Jabba's droid graveyard. It reeks Star Wars precisely because it looks like something that could have been featured in a low budget SF movie 40 years ago, end up in a storage shed only to be kitbashed into another prop.
I like pretty much everything I saw in the trailer, from the troopers to the noe flying X-wings. The side blades on the sabre do look a tad daft though, regardless of what they are. I think just the crackling, phased effect of the beam would have been plenty enough to get people wet about the dark side again.
The thing I find amusing about the droid is that even though it looks ridiculous, it's actually feasible for moving over desert; it has a large surface contact area (the ball) that would allow it to move without sinking. That one droid kind of epitomises Star Wars, in my opinion. Yeah, it looks like it's ridiculous and possibly slightly goofy, or that it's been thrown in just to go "look at this cool thing" but there has actually been some thinking behind how it would work.
The football droid was a bit laughable, and the slab-speeder was very "...why?", but the blade-guard saber--although impractical--was a bit cooler than I expected it to be from people's comments.
See though, that's the issue I have with the saber - it's cool, really cool, it evokes that instant "oh em gee AWESUM!" reaction...for about five seconds before it collapses under the weight of its own Fridge Logic. It can't work as a crossguard or be used to trap an opponent's blade because the physical projectors extend out from the side of the hilt and the other lightsaber would just cut through those, you can't use the quillions as a weapon by gripping the blade and hilt because you'd slice your own fingers off, and the fact there are two mini-sabers sticking out at right angles from your own blade would make it difficult to use the traditional more "Eastern" sword techniques the Jedi use in previous movies. It basically limits you to big, slow, two-handed sweeps without any of the advantages a more "medieval European" style would give you; that's a hefty price to pay for five seconds of "kewl".
And a lot of folk will doubtless accuse anyone pointed that sort of thing out as being a nitpicking fanboy, and to an extent that's true(I do love me some Star Wars), but for me it's more than just "there's a stupid sword in the teaser" thing, it's that the stupid sword is a perfect expression of exactly what I was afraid of; JJ Abrams' style over substance film making. Everything about the man's style is devoted to invoking that five-second "kewl" phase over and over again for 120 minutes inside a standard 3-act, two-red-herrings-and-a-plot-twist screenplay, all slathered in lensflare and Apple Store, without giving you a chance to think about what's going on until after the credits roll, at which point the plot holes begin to gape open. And you know what, that's fine, it makes for a perfectly entertaining "watch & forget" action movie you can go and see with your mates and then never really think about again, but given the Prequels, that's the last thing Star Wars needs.
See though, that's the issue I have with the saber - it's cool, really cool, it evokes that instant "oh em gee AWESUM!" reaction...for about five seconds before it collapses under the weight of its own Fridge Logic. It can't work as a crossguard or be used to trap an opponent's blade because the physical projectors extend out from the side of the hilt and the other lightsaber would just cut through those, ...
Cortosis was a thing in the EU. And while the EU was thrown out, it is not too far fetched to think that there is some sort of material that can be impervious to a lightsaber, however rare or extraordinarily expensive it might be to produce. Still a bit of a stretch, but since when has Star Wars ever really been about what is logical?
See though, that's the issue I have with the saber - it's cool, really cool, it evokes that instant "oh em gee AWESUM!" reaction...for about five seconds before it collapses under the weight of its own Fridge Logic. It can't work as a crossguard or be used to trap an opponent's blade because the physical projectors extend out from the side of the hilt and the other lightsaber would just cut through those, ...
Cortosis was a thing in the EU. And while the EU was thrown out, it is not too far fetched to think that there is some sort of material that can be impervious to a lightsaber, however rare or extraordinarily expensive it might be to produce. Still a bit of a stretch, but since when has Star Wars ever really been about what is logical?
Even in the films there was saber-proof material, such as that used in the Magnaguard staffs in Revenge. Cortosis, I think, actually shut down the blade as well as being impervious to it.
The side beams are not beams, they are an energy release. Look at them closely, they don't have the same substance of the main beam, they look more like flames, similar to a blow torch.
Medium of Death wrote: I'm not sure how I feel about a darker Star Wars with the particular leaked rumours. Hopefully there's a fair amount of light heartedness in there as well.
The rollerdroid suggests there will be.
The teasers for Phantom Menace were all fairly dark as well.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ahtman wrote: Why is the speeder bike seat so high in the air and how would you get up to it? Seems to defeat the purpose of a speeder bike if it takes five minutes to mount it.
Maybe it wasn't originally designed for a small human female...
See though, that's the issue I have with the saber - it's cool, really cool, it evokes that instant "oh em gee AWESUM!" reaction...for about five seconds before it collapses under the weight of its own Fridge Logic. It can't work as a crossguard or be used to trap an opponent's blade because the physical projectors extend out from the side of the hilt and the other lightsaber would just cut through those, ...
Cortosis was a thing in the EU. And while the EU was thrown out, it is not too far fetched to think that there is some sort of material that can be impervious to a lightsaber, however rare or extraordinarily expensive it might be to produce. Still a bit of a stretch, but since when has Star Wars ever really been about what is logical?
Even in the films there was saber-proof material, such as that used in the Magnaguard staffs in Revenge. Cortosis, I think, actually shut down the blade as well as being impervious to it.
What Cortosis did was generally different depending on the writer. Some of them just wrote it as being resistant to lightsabres; others had it short lightsabres out, but they could be instantly reignited; and others had it short out lightsabres for around several minutes.
Ahtman wrote: Why is the speeder bike seat so high in the air and how would you get up to it? Seems to defeat the purpose of a speeder bike if it takes five minutes to mount it.
Maybe it wasn't originally designed for a small human female...
Could also be that she built it out of scrap material.
ds9lord wrote: I just felt to me like a incredibly arrogant thing to do to completely ignore the 30 years of stories created by people who enjoyed the movies and wanted to ad to it, I mean there are so many create settings and stories from the expanded universe that they could make a movie about but instead they just ignored it..
The thing is, one of the big shifts to come from the Disney takeover is that they want everything produced for Star Wars to be canon.
With the current Expanded Universe, that's just not possible. It's far too riddled with continuity errors and contradictions. Some imposed by Lucas with the prequels and cartoons, which the EU writers have tried to retcon as best they could, and some imposed by a lack of adequate oversight when the novels were being written, particularly in the older ones.
Now, they could conceivably have just gone back and edited the existing EU stuff to remove those continuity errors... except that would have upset people as much as Lucas going back and tinkering with the original Trilogy.
So the next best option is to leave the EU intact... but start a new continuity. Those 30 years of storytelling are still there. You can still read them/play them/watch them/whatever... but the new stories take place in a new Star Wars universe. In the same way that the new Trek movies don't replace the original series... they're just a new set of stories being told in the same (more or less) setting.
Don't get me wrong, for all its flaws, I'm a big fan of the EU. I own most of the novels, and they get re-read fairly frequently. And I was a little annoyed to begin with when Disney announced that they were scrapping it. But I found that lasted right up until I watched the EpVII teaser... and now I just want to see what they do with this new Star Wars. Because this has the potential to be just as awesome as the original EU... but without the EU's problems. And that excites the hell out of me.
And when I get nostalgic... well, those X-wing novels will still be there on the shelf.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Daston wrote: Heres a question if EU stuff is now scrapped what happens with the Xwing game? Disney are putting their logo on it but saying the characters and ships don't exist?
IIRC, everything released up to the novel 'Crucible' is rebranded as 'Star Wars Legends'.
Everything released from that point is supposed to be vetted to fit the new continuity.
Nerd rage then Falcon to stop the pain. The lightsaber claymore has grown on me,hate new stormies, tie wings seem to be see through, x-wing is an abomination....but I could forgive all the flaws if that droid didnt exist.
Medium of Death wrote: I'm not sure how I feel about a darker Star Wars with the particular leaked rumours. Hopefully there's a fair amount of light heartedness in there as well.
The rollerdroid suggests there will be.
The teasers for Phantom Menace were all fairly dark as well.
Hopefully. If the rumoured ending is true there's going to be some pretty big feels.
So it looks like two different shots pasted together. The end of whatever that is looks a bit lightsaber to me. It might just be staff or piece of technological stuff.
So it looks like two different shots pasted together. The end of whatever that is looks a bit lightsaber to me. It might just be staff or piece of technological stuff.
Impressive spot. I did think that it didn't really look like she was being chased in the follow up shot to her jumping on the bike.
Da krimson barun wrote: I hate the droid because why dosent it fall of? And what can It even DO? It has no arms.
Feasible answer: Fancy engineering that means the ball is actually held to the head by a frame of some sort, that spins so that it's spine is pointing in the direction of travel, explaining why we can't see it.
Da krimson barun wrote: I hate the droid because why dosent it fall of? And what can It even DO? It has no arms.
Magnetism? The head is not physically attached, simply held in the reference position? I kind like the idea of the head having its own wheels or something that it allows to slide on its own body while it rolls on terrain.
Well... detach the head and you could play soccer. Otherwise collect weather, moist information, simply monitor certain activity. Best not to dwell too much on it.
Manchu wrote: Astromech droids are primarily astronavigators, right? They would not be necessary for atmospheric or in-system flights.
Neither A-Wings nor B-Wings had astromech droids, and both were hyperspace capable craft. They just replaced their astromech slots with a more advanced nav computer that the older X-Wings and Y-Wings lacked. I'm guessing this is just a new X-Wing variant that has an updated nav computer similar to an A-Wing or B-Wing.
The futboldroid's head unit could detach and slide into an armored slot on a starfighter, switch to a new body, make repairs easier. Heck, you could powerdown the head and sneak it into top secret areas in a backpack. That could explain the lack of visible astromechs on the X-wings.
A seperate control unit from a utility body makes a lot of sense. In a world with artificial gravity and repulsors, we'd be doing it too.
Its 30 years on, chance are the X-Wing will have had multiple improved versions released since the original films. Chances are at some point the astromech droid was replaced with something else.
Let's be honest, the need for a separate droid to act as navigator was a pretty big design flaw. Especially as its head was extremely vulnerable.
LuciusAR wrote: Its 30 years on, chance are the X-Wing will have had multiple improved versions released since the original films. Chances are at some point the astromech droid was replaced with something else.
Let's be honest, the need for a separate droid to act as navigator was a pretty big design flaw. Especially as its head was extremely vulnerable.
Which is why the A-Wing and B-Wing didn't have them. On that note, I wonder if we'll get to see some of the other classic ships like the Y-Wing, B-Wing, and A-Wing. There were a lot of B-Wing sequences cut from RotJ. It would be cool to finally see them in action a bit more.
Thoughts on the rumors going around that Revan is going to be the big bad? Seems like wishful thinking reading too much into the "awakening" and description of the main villain as masked.
Yeah.....No.
As much as I would nerdgasm over that, No.
Why? Well its because he is an EU villain, and those who are going to see this, know little to nothing of EU.
Maybe it is starkiller?
He might as well be. I doubt there's ever going to be a Force Unleashed 3 game. Revan is presumably dead too, given that, what, 4000 years have passed since he was floating about?
It might be an ancient Sith presence. Certainly when the Emperor is destroyed in Jedi we see that weird reaction. Almost ethereal. It might just be his energy dissipating but it always reminds me of the soul scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. If Jedi can make themselves manifest posthumously then surely the Sith can too.
Perhaps the Emperor's spirit is manifesting but is stuck without a physical form. I think the Emperor returning would be better than any EU villain. Preferably it'd be someone new though.
I still think it relates to Luke and Han/Leia's kids rather than being caused by an enemy.
Will have to wait for a proper trailer. God knows when that will be.
Thoughts on the rumors going around that Revan is going to be the big bad? Seems like wishful thinking reading too much into the "awakening" and description of the main villain as masked.
I prefer the idea of a an ancient Sith returning from hibernation or exile, some mysterious figure that maybe even the Emperor didn't know about who has decided to return and intervene in the galaxy when the Emperor's death caused a disturbance in the force and got his attention blah blah blah. Basically, the Emperor was not the last Sith - there was at least one more Sith out there, lurking at the edge of the galaxy.
Or maybe the Emperor himself was not THE Master, but just another apprentice, a pawn of an even more powerful Sith.
They did this in the Old Republic when it was revealed that Darth Revan fell to the dark side to find a way to protect the galaxy and save it from the "True Sith" who were lurking at the edge of the galaxy planning to invade and destroy the republic.
As for the plot, maybe this new Sith will be seeking to recruit one of the kids as an apprentice and protege, like the Emperor did with Anakin and Luke. That'll make for an interesting story if siblings are played off against each other. One sibling is corrupted by the Sith, and falls to the dark side. The other sibling seeks out his/her uncle Luke Skywalker for help. The Sith and Luke are like chess players, using the kids like pawns.
More or less moronic than a droid attempting to cross the desert on three fairly small legs?
I don't get what your point is. R2s are astromechs, they're not designed to operate in deserts they're designed to operate in ships and starports, but if your escape pod lands on a desert planet it lands on a desert planet. The design language of the rollerdroid is clearly meant to indicate it's the "new" version of R2(domed head, central "eye", paneling etc), meaning it's also likely supposed to be an astromech, so why the hell would its creators design it specifically to operate best on shifting, loosely-packed granular material like sand rather than on the solid surfaces which it will spend the vast majority of its time using?
People ignore and dismiss that kind of careful thought about the designs of things in fictional worlds, they think it's unimportant, but it's not, it's like the musical score - while you're watching the film you shouldn't be consciously aware of it, it should just exist as part of the experience subtly helping to draw you into the world, the role it played only becoming obvious in hindsight. If it's done badly or not at all, it either leads to annoying realisations of Fridge Logic after you stop watching and have a chance to think, or worse jars you out of the experience while you're watching.
See though, that's the issue I have with the saber - it's cool, really cool, it evokes that instant "oh em gee AWESUM!" reaction...for about five seconds before it collapses under the weight of its own Fridge Logic. It can't work as a crossguard or be used to trap an opponent's blade because the physical projectors extend out from the side of the hilt and the other lightsaber would just cut through those, ...
Cortosis was a thing in the EU. And while the EU was thrown out, it is not too far fetched to think that there is some sort of material that can be impervious to a lightsaber, however rare or extraordinarily expensive it might be to produce. Still a bit of a stretch, but since when has Star Wars ever really been about what is logical?
But if you can make the projectors for energy-quillions out of a material resistant to a lightsaber blade, why not just make the whole crossguard out of that material and gain the benefit of being able to trap an opponent's blade and guard your hands from strikes that slide down your own without limiting your own possible movements for fear of chopping your own bloody arms off if you angle the energy-quillions wrong? Either the material exists in the new movies and so makes the energy-quillions redundant, or it doesn't and it makes them useless - either way it's a daft idea that they evidently didn't put any thought into beyond "Hey brah, you know what would be like mega-kewl? A LIGHTSABER BROADSWORD DUDE! Yeeaaaaaaaaah! *sunglasses*".
Yodhrin, maybe it's a modified Astromech droid, rebuilt and adapted to Tatooines terrain.
If it belongs to the girl in the trailer who's speculated to be a scrap collector, and if she's the daughter of Han and leia, and if she's even half the mechanic that her grandfather Anakin Skywalker was, then it would be easy for her. Maybe she built the droid as a kid from scavenged droid parts and its been her lifelong side kick and friend.
I'm getting a Tom boyish wizkid droid building young Anakin Skywalker vibe off that girl.
Yodhrin wrote: ... so why the hell would its creators design it specifically to operate best on shifting, loosely-packed granular material like sand rather than on the solid surfaces which it will spend the vast majority of its time using?
It wouldn't be designed specifically for sand. It would be designed to be zippy on a range of different surfaces. See the pic I posted earlier with the excerpt from Ralph McQuarrie.
...either way it's a daft idea that they evidently didn't put any thought into beyond "Hey brah, you know what would be like mega-kewl? A LIGHTSABER BROADSWORD DUDE! Yeeaaaaaaaaah! *sunglasses*".
Looking badass is half of what Sith are all about.
Relapse wrote: Help a clueless person out and tell me what is considered canon.
Up to the takeover by Disney, there were 3 'levels' of canon.
The first was the movies and the Clone Wars show - ie: the stuff that George was directly involved with. That was totally canon.
The second level was most of the EU - books, video games, RPG, etc, that were approved by Lucas's continuity editor. These were canon, but only so long as George decided to not contradict them. Anything that contradicted something in the movies was not canon.
The third level was the more obscure stuff, like the 80's-era Marvel comics, the Holiday Special, the Ewoks movies, and whatever else didn't fit into the two above categories. This stuff was mostly stuff that really didn't fit with the EU, and so was not canon. Although this started to get a little confused in later years when the EU started re-introducing some characters and backstories from the old Marvel comics.
When Disney took over, the whole EU was rebranded as 'Star Wars Legends' and is no longer canon. For the moment, the only canon material is the 6 movies, and the Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons. Anything new that comes out from now is supposed to have been checked for consistency and so everything will be equally canon. Supposedly.
Who says the new droid is meant to be a direct replacement for R2? It might just be Han's daughters companion that assists her on Tatooine. Maybe it' been with her as a child.
Medium of Death wrote: Who says the new droid is meant to be a direct replacement for R2? It might just be Han's daughters companion that assists her on Tatooine. Maybe it' been with her as a child.
Beat you,to it.
I say she built it from scavenged droid parts and modified it to suit Tatooine's sandy terrain, not the smooth metal hallways of a star ship. Makes sense for her character if shes a scrap collector.
Also apparently the Inquisitors are being retconned into the OT and Rebels characters have a chance to appear in the films. So the inquisitor from Rebels may well be in a future movie. I've never watched it before but I assume he could easily be played by Charles Dance.
People on this thread are expecting ESB, but you're not getting that!
You're getting trade delegations, a modern day Jar Jar, a villain with breathing problems, and a lot of wooden acting.
Like I said, 12 months from now, the mods will be pushing carts around and shouting bring out your dead!
I hope I'm wrong, but this is Disney we're talking about. Maxim money = equals getting the whole family involved, which logically rules out a film along the lines of ESB
I hope I'm wrong, but JJ's Star Wreck escapades don't fill me with any hope.
You're getting trade delegations, a modern day Jar Jar, a villain with breathing problems, and a lot of wooden acting.
Like I said, 12 months from now, the mods will be pushing carts around and shouting bring out your dead!
I hope I'm wrong, but this is Disney we're talking about. Maxim money = equals getting the whole family involved, which logically rules out a film along the lines of ESB
I hope I'm wrong, but JJ's Star Wreck escapades don't fill me with any hope.
You are remembering a very different ESB than I am. I would take my kids to see ESB.
You're getting trade delegations, a modern day Jar Jar, a villain with breathing problems, and a lot of wooden acting.
Like I said, 12 months from now, the mods will be pushing carts around and shouting bring out your dead!
I hope I'm wrong, but this is Disney we're talking about. Maxim money = equals getting the whole family involved, which logically rules out a film along the lines of ESB
I hope I'm wrong, but JJ's Star Wreck escapades don't fill me with any hope.
You are remembering a very different ESB than I am. I would take my kids to see ESB.
Yeah, being a kids movie doesn't make it bad. Took my son to see Paddington today and chuckled all the way through it.
Since we only have a few seconds of footage, did it ever occur to any of you that the droid might just be something we see in a street scene? Further while Disney is in the money making business, I'd suggest the MCU being an example of them doing it at least mostly right.
Many of the Marvel series of Disney films are far from kid friendly, or comprehensible. Seeing Loki tear somebody's eye out is way more than most parents want their kid to see- or seeing people commit suicide by Infinity Stone and literally explode. Disney's core kids line is not their only approach to movie making anymore.
You're getting trade delegations, a modern day Jar Jar, a villain with breathing problems, and a lot of wooden acting.
Like I said, 12 months from now, the mods will be pushing carts around and shouting bring out your dead!
I hope I'm wrong, but this is Disney we're talking about. Maxim money = equals getting the whole family involved, which logically rules out a film along the lines of ESB
I hope I'm wrong, but JJ's Star Wreck escapades don't fill me with any hope.
Don't know why you're pushing this opinion. Star Wars has always been a family movie. The OT is a U rated trilogy.
What's wrong with family films?
The prequels writing was idiotic and awkward, they even attempted to move away from family friendly in the third one and it blew chunks. I'm hopeful that the writing is there, I'm sure the criticism of the Into Darkness writing hasn't been lost on JJ. This is the film he wanted to do instead of Star Trek. He was testing the water on the inferior franchise clearly...
If you're referring to the droid being a new Jar Jar then your off to a bad start. When have the droids ever been serious in the OT films? Who are the first two characters we get to see in Star Wars? Is it not R2 & C3PO, the comic relief?
It's a fan edit, but the scenes are the same, he's messed around with the visuals but the original isn't on youtube.
This is who introduces us to our super serious, dark gritty and most definitely adult space opera setting. A morose, effeminate robot and his beeping trash can pal.
In and of itself nothing. The problem lies in execution. To often 'all ages' is translated into 'stupid', or is condescending to all watching, when being made.
Well the closest thing to a family film that he's done is probably Super8, then Star Trek.
I'm not sure if they really count as family films in the traditional sense though because they aren't rated U/PG.
Most family films now have poor plots and feature a fair amount of casual violence.
The OT trilogy explores lots of themes without ever turning away from being friendly for kids. Certainly they might not appreciate what's going on fully but there's enough to enjoy.
If this film turns out to be a U I'll take it as a better sign than if it's a 12. PG is anybodies guess.
Here's the bbfc's description of U. For some reason the phrase "Mild Peril" keeps coming into my mind from old VHS tapes.
What does U mean?
The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. However, it is impossible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range.
What about works for children younger than four?
We rate films and videos aimed at very young viewers, such as Chuggington or Tinga Tinga Tales, U. However, we give them special BBFCinsight stating they are ‘particularly suitable for pre-school children’. Films or videos with this BBFCinsight should raise no significant issues in terms of discrimination, drugs,, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, threat or violence.
Will there be any bad language in a U film?
At U we only allow infrequent use of very mild bad language (e.g. ‘damn’ and ‘hell’).
Might U works contain any sexual behaviour?
Characters may be seen kissing or cuddling and there may be references to sexual behaviour. However, there will be no overt focus on sexual behaviour, language or innuendo.
Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality so there could be mild or undetailed references at U.
Is violence or threat permitted in a U film?
Violence will generally be very mild. A U film may include brief fight scenes or moments where characters are placed in danger. However, moments of emotional stress or threat will be quickly resolved and the outcome will be reassuring.
There may be brief scary scenes and moments where the characters are placed in danger. As with violence, however, these scenes will be balanced by reassuring elements, such as comic interludes or music.
‘Baddie’ characters may carry or use weapons, but there will be no emphasis on these. Child or ‘hero’ characters are unlikely to use any kind of weapon outside, for example, historical settings.
What about behaviour which children might copy?
Potentially dangerous or anti-social behaviour which young children may copy, must be clearly disapproved of.
What sorts of films are usually passed at U?
A U film can explore a wide rang of themes, as long as the treatment is appropriate for a young audience. This doesn’t mean that all films rated U are children’s films.
A children’s work at U will generally contain positive messages about loyalty, honesty and friendship, particularly amongst children. The film or video may well have a happy ending for the child and the overall tone should be one of reassurance.
U films are unlikely to contain discriminatory language or behaviour unless it is clearly disapproved of.
Will there be references to drugs?
At U there will not normally be references to illegal drugs or drugs misuse unless there is a very clear anti-drugs or educational message which will be understood by a younger audience.
Drugs references which are unlikely to register with young children and are brief or passing may occasionally be passed at U – for example a verbal reference to ‘the Opium wars’ in an historical documentary.
In and of itself nothing. The problem lies in execution. To often 'all ages' is translated into 'stupid', or is condescending to all watching, when being made.
Once again, you've said what I wanted to say, but shorter and more concise! That's two days running!
I like Star Wars, but from a critical point of view, it tries to be all things to all men, and often, falls short because of it.
And to think this thread will last another year, then we'll have one about the actual movie after that which will run until the trailer for the next one comes out.
The OT wasn't perfect, but I'd really only replace the Ewoks in that entire trilogy. It's the only time I'm disappointed in the original films. Even then I can deal with it because of the massive space battle and Luke struggling with the force going on and that's only happening in the background.
I'm still waiting to see the reasoning behind the explanation that Disney won't be capable of providing another ESB equivalent film considering ESB is a U. Disney has made quite a lot of U movies with dark themes in its time.
All things to all men is a bit of a stretch and really needs an explanation.
Whether people will consider it to be good or not is another thing. I want good Star Wars films to enjoy, Disney is in a much better position to provide it now than Lucas has been in the last 30 years.
I was very sceptical of this movie when first glimpses started to be shown. I got massive Phantom Menace vibes. The more that we've seen, culminating with this teaser trailer has me feeling a lot more confident that we're back on the path of the OT, if not exactly following in its footsteps.
Yodhrin wrote: ... so why the hell would its creators design it specifically to operate best on shifting, loosely-packed granular material like sand rather than on the solid surfaces which it will spend the vast majority of its time using?
It wouldn't be designed specifically for sand. It would be designed to be zippy on a range of different surfaces. See the pic I posted earlier with the excerpt from Ralph McQuarrie.
Ralph McQuarrie made some truly fantastic designs, and some of the nods to his work like the "new model" X-Wings have grown on me to the point I actually really like them, but on the droid front it has to be acknowledged that things have moved on from his original concepts - droids in Star Wars are built with a specific purpose and a specific operating environment in mind, most are churned out by massive factories in their millions, it's highly unlikely a mass-produced astromech would be over-designed and over-specced to operate outside of its niche. If the hypothesis about it being some scrap Frankendroid turns out to be correct, fine, I'll happily downgrade from "moronic" to "obvious toy-fodder with an excuse plausible enough I can ignore that fact", but otherwise it's going to be one of those niggling annoyances that bother me when I try to rewatch the film like those silly and pointless "flippy barrels" on the JJ-Trek phasers.
...either way it's a daft idea that they evidently didn't put any thought into beyond "Hey brah, you know what would be like mega-kewl? A LIGHTSABER BROADSWORD DUDE! Yeeaaaaaaaaah! *sunglasses*".
Looking badass is half of what Sith are all about.
*sigh* I did expand on the point in the bit you cut out; crafting a plausible immersive world requires you to put in slightly more effort than just "that will look badass until anyone thinks about it for five seconds". If they were dead-set on having energy-quillions on a lightsaber broadsword, it's not difficult to make the design functional, they just couldn't be bothered. Again, this is characteristic of Abrams' "style", and given the issues with the prequels it's not a style Star Wars needs more of IMO.
I think we should just wait till the film comes out. About the lightsaber though im thinking that the fighting style might be different in this one more slow and measured like the first films.
I remember watching some type of special features and Lucas saying that he imagines the lightsabers to be heavy and ancient rather than the ridiculousness we see in the prequel trilogy. this was a quote from when he was making number 4 i think
If this sith guy fights with his saber like his using a broadsword than ill accept it if hes doing backflips swinging like a madman than ill be a bit annoyed
mitch_rifle wrote: I remember watching some type of special features and Lucas saying that he imagines the lightsabers to be heavy and ancient rather than the ridiculousness we see in the prequel trilogy. this was a quote from when he was making number 4 i think
The EU actually addressed this before the Prequels even came out. Lightsabers ARE heavy, it's just that Force users are able to use it to counter that weight. There's even a part in New Rebellion where Luke and his fallen student are dueling when some Ysalimiri are brought near and Luke mentions it's like he's suddenly swinging while surrounded by heavy liquid. They go from finesse fighting to brute force swings due to the weight of the saber caused by loss of connection to the Force.
New Rebellion isn't the best book, but that's always stuck with me.
Know what? I'd trade in half a dozen of these new post-ROTJ movies for just one set in the Old Republic. I want to see armies of Jedi (and later Sith), I want space battles that make Endor look like a playground scrap, I want to see everything that makes the setting of the earlier films fall into place.
Paradigm wrote: Know what? I'd trade in half a dozen of these new post-ROTJ movies for just one set in the Old Republic. I want to see armies of Jedi (and later Sith), I want space battles that make Endor look like a playground scrap, I want to see everything that makes the setting of the earlier films fall into place.
Isn't that precisely what made the prequels such terrible drek? I mean, the execution didn't help, but SW never felt like it needs, or in fact has any place, for the extravaganza Lucas inserted into the prequels.
Paradigm wrote: Know what? I'd trade in half a dozen of these new post-ROTJ movies for just one set in the Old Republic. I want to see armies of Jedi (and later Sith), I want space battles that make Endor look like a playground scrap, I want to see everything that makes the setting of the earlier films fall into place.
Isn't that precisely what made the prequels such terrible drek? I mean, the execution didn't help, but SW never felt like it needs, or in fact has any place, for the extravaganza Lucas inserted into the prequels.
The prequels came out worse largely from poor writing, poor attempts to insert needless comic relief, and a series of sub-plots that, in many cases, were far from convincing. However, there is plenty of room for spectacle and 'extravaganza' in the setting, and it's in this that I think the prequels hit their few heights. The battle over Coruscant at the opening of Revenge remains one of my favourite and one of most visually stunning scenes ever in my opinion, the area battle on Geonosis in Attack, despite the stupid bits, does look awesome when you see dozens of lightsabers flying around against hundreds of droids. And see any number of epic engagements in Clone Wars for further evidence.
Anything set in the Old Republic would be very tonally different for anything that had gone before, but that's no bad thing. It would need to be a bit darker, a bit more politically and emotionally introspective (especially if it concerned the birth of the Sith), but at the same time, more epic, and grander. The Jedi would not be monks in temples but soldiers in a war, and you could tell a very different story through them in that role.
Star Wars has always endeavoured to be bigger and better than its contemporaries, and to be as much a visual spectacle as a story.
Love this from John Boyega in response to those making negative "storm troopers should all be white" remarks.
John Boyega wrote:
"Thank you for all the love and support! The fan mail and fan art has added to my joy! Isn't it crazy that Star Wars is actually happening? I'm in the movie but as a star wars fan I am very excited. A year is a long time but it will be worth the wait.
I don't understand why people complain about a teaser trailer.
Come on peeps.
The Sword makes sense. It may not look like a normal lightsaber but if someone is able to dual wield those bloody things I think we can have a bastard sword.
And no, I'm not being sarcastic 
)
