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[Vespene]

Well I hope it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, I would think since JJ isn't directing the next he would want to have some kind of wrap up.

Part of what worries me about JJ is he likes dipping his finger in the cake but not fully commiting to the franchise. He seems to think what made a franchise popular were the nostalgic tropes it established. Take a look at his set of Trek movies. He just went through the whole list of things that are popular among the fans and slap them together into a movie, with little regard as to WHY those things were popular. Examples:

Kobayashi Maru: check
Tribbles: check
Khan: check
Spock / Kirk window death scene: check
KHAAAAAN: check
Kirk banging green chicks: check
Ah fuck it add eject the warp core too

My point is... what makes star wars special arent X Wings, the Falcon, Tatooine nostalgia. It's how those characters changed each other throughout the stories. They didn't need double and triple lightsabers with ballet choreography. They didn't have in-atmosphere x-wings fight the battle of Hoth just because the toy was popular. The stormtroopers, snowtroopers, scout troopers were all totally different designs. It seems EpVII has a slightly new take on what's popular from the original movies instead of something new inspired by the esthetic. It's just an x-wing with two intakes instead of four. It's the Falcon with a square dish instead of a round one. It's the stormtroopers with chrome instead of plastic. And, yes, it's a lightsaber with 2 beams instead of 1. Oh wait... one of the prequels already did a double saber? Let's make it a triple saber then.

 

[PopeReal]

Part of what worries me about JJ is he likes dipping his finger in the cake but not fully commiting to the franchise. He seems to think what made a franchise popular were the nostalgic tropes it established. Take a look at his set of Trek movies. He just went through the whole list of things that are popular among the fans and slap them together into a movie, with little regard as to WHY those things were popular. Examples:

Kobayashi Maru: check
Tribbles: check
Khan: check
Spock / Kirk window death scene: check
KHAAAAAN: check
Kirk banging green chicks: check
Ah fuck it add eject the warp core too

My point is... what makes star wars special arent X Wings, the Falcon, Tatooine nostalgia. It's how those characters changed each other throughout the stories. They didn't need double and triple lightsabers with ballet choreography. They didn't have in-atmosphere x-wings fight the battle of Hoth just because the toy was popular. The stormtroopers, snowtroopers, scout troopers were all totally different designs. It seems EpVII has a slightly new take on what's popular from the original movies instead of something new inspired by the esthetic. It's just an x-wing with two intakes instead of four. It's the Falcon with a square dish instead of a round one. It's the stormtroopers with chrome instead of plastic. And, yes, it's a lightsaber with 2 beams instead of 1. Oh wait... one of the prequels already did a double saber? Let's make it a triple saber then.

I am sorry but this is a lot of reaching from just a teaser. And if he showed all kinds of different stuff people would be "what the fuck is this? this isn't Star Wars!"... and a few of them are anyway.

If the movie turns out the way you describe it I will jump on board with you. But this was 88 seconds.

 

[JoeInky]

http://gifyu.com/images/lj.gif

Holy shit, that really is straight out of the start of the Corneria level.

 

[lastplayed]

I'm sorry but that droid just looks stupid and impractical. I liked everything else though, including the controversial saber.

Unlike the dustbin with legs Gonk droid.

 

[Windu]

What's cool about this scene is the ruined pod racers in the background. It kind of depicts what the universe of the prequels would have looked like if they followed the real world look and aesthetics of the original trilogy and used real props instead of CGI.

the phantom menance had a lot of real props, especially on tatooine.

 

[Myzer]

the phantom menance had a lot of real props, especially on tatooine.

And still it all looked fake.

 

[Fiktion]

the phantom menance had a lot of real props, especially on tatooine.

You'd never know it by how much CG shit Lucas slapped on top of them.

 

[TrutaS]

Trailer is very well done and has a lot of creativity in just a few seconds. I saw it on the phone and still got the "epic" feeling.

I am now looking forward to it actually, and was nowhere near it before.

 

[Calabi]

It looks like there will be a fight in a forest, we might have a fight where the lightsabers interact with the environment, cutting through trees like some animes in bamboo forests.

 

[Gaz_RB]

Ah fuck this looks so good.

 

[Bucket Mouse]

What's cool about this scene is the ruined pod racers in the background. It kind of depicts what the universe of the prequels would have looked like if they followed the real world look and aesthetics of the original trilogy and used real props instead of CGI.

May have already been posted, but MakingStarWars posted an article a few days ago on how this new droid works. I already liked the little droid, but knowing that it could actually function in real life has sold me on it even more:

http://makingstarwars.net/2014/11/visual-new-droid-sidekick-works-star-wars-force-awakens/

 

[Bold One]

This is Oscar Isaac, right?

I'm pretty sure thats the Fire Nation emblem on his helmet.

 

[Fliesen]

May have already been posted, but MakingStarWars posted an article a few days ago on how this new droid works. I already liked the little droid, but knowing that it could actually function in real life has sold me on it even more:

http://makingstarwars.net/2014/11/visual-new-droid-sidekick-works-star-wars-force-awakens/

it's weird how people can't wrap their head around how this droid would be working.

nobody ever seen an office chair?

put the head on top, bulge out the wheels to get the sphere shape, give him segway like gyros for balancing, voila!

 

[Moff]

I'm pretty sure thats the Fire Nation emblem on his helmet.

I dont know what the fire nation is, but that's the Rebel Alliance's Symbol since 1977

 

[Prine]

Everything looks so crisp, not seen the star wars world like this, but still feels like traditional Star wars.

Why is the empires military still around ?

 

[Atraveller]

I dont know what the fire nation is, but that's the Rebel Alliance's Symbol since 1977

Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra?

 

[Bold One]

I don't know, some of these look impractical. (Reposting this from an earlier page)

One thing the prequels did right was moving away from the pyjama design of the jedi outfits

 

[Toa TAK]

Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra?

Don't even try.

 

[Tookay]

You'd never know it by how much CG shit Lucas slapped on top of them.

Most people don't know because they actually assumed wrongly about the ratio of practical:CG and couldn't tell the difference.

 

[Prine]

Must've watched it a 100 times now. I really like the saber and coupled with the way the character who wields it moves it already oozes so much personality, just a brute force to be reckoned with. What a great teaser.

If you go back and watch ROTS the way the guy activates his saber with a hunch is very similar to how Palpatine draws his saber when the Jedi council attempt to arrest him.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

That looks fucking sick. Abrams can reboot whatever he wants. Can I have the Clash of the Titans I deserve please?

 

[CreepingFear]

Most people don't know because they actually assumed wrongly about the ratio of practical:CG and couldn't tell the difference.

It's probably the lighting and early HD video cameras that don't help make things look real.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

No, Phantom Menace was a fucking mess with its overdone CG. Absolutely an abomination.

I think what he meant to say was that for all its problems, PM had some superb sets. It was only in the later two that they seemingly tried to do as little practically as they possible could.

It's worth mentioning that not a single shot from ROTS was shot "on location", except for that brief scene on Tatooine, which was shot when they were filming AOTC!

 

[Bold One]

I dont know what the fire nation is, but that's the Rebel Alliance's Symbol since 1977

But everythign changed when they attacked

Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra?

Don't even try.

 

[televator]

Okay... Now I'm REALLY craving that StarFox WiiU game. Let's go, Nintendo. Chop, chop!

 

[Fliesen]

Most people don't know because they actually assumed wrongly about the ratio of practical:CG and couldn't tell the difference.

we can't look at the prequels as a whole.

The Phantom Menace actually had quite a decent balance of CG vs. practical. It was Attack of the Clones when Lucas went overboard with CGI.

Seeing as they were actually proud when essentially saying "the film's fucking cluttered with stuff all over each scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvc9_GDoWI4
it feels they felt like they needed to use as much CG as possible because most of the Ending of AotC wouldn't have been feasible with practical effects.

 

[BocoDragon]

Everything looks so crisp, not seen the star wars world like this, but still feels like traditional Star wars.

Why is the empires military still around ?

The question is... Why assume that they would be gone?

In the original ending to ROTJ, there was zero reason to assume the Empire was kaput just because the Emperor and his Death Star II were gone. Just because Pearl Harbor gets bombed or JFK gets assassinated doesn't mean America is over.

In the Expanded Universe we were told that the New Republic quickly supplanted the Empire after ROTJ, and it biased a lot of us to think of that as the natural trajectory after ROTJ.... But now that it's been made non-canon, it's useful for us to step back and say "what really would happen after ROTJ?" That the Empire persists and evolves seems actually more natural than it just withering away. At the very least, it defies a lot of our old expectations which were informed by the EU.

The Special Edition with the celebrations at the end seems like it was Lucas' attempt to conform that movie to the expectations of the Empire's end in the EU.... But even that can be reinterpreted as a popular uprising, not a total end of Imperial power.

 

[User 479360]

I watched it earlier this morning, and came away impressed. Can't wait to watch it.

Star Wars film rankings in my opinion:

1) The Empire Strikes Back
2) A New Hope
3) Return of the Jedi
4) Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith
5) Episode 1: The Phantom Menace


6) Episode 2: Attack of the Clones

 

[CreepingFear]

The question is... Why assume that they would be gone?

In the original ending to ROTJ, there was zero reason to assume the Empire was kaput just because the Emproror and his Death Star II were gone. Just because Pearl Harbor gets bombed or JFK gets assassinated doesn't mean America is over.

In the Expanded Universe we were told that the New Republic quickly supplanted the Empire after ROTJ, and it biased a lot of us to think of that as the natural trajectory after ROTJ.... But now that it's been made non-canon, it's useful for us to step back and say "what really would happen after ROTJ?" That the Empire persists and evolves seems actually more natural than it just withering away. At the very least, it defies a lot of our old expectations which were informed by the EU.

That would be cool if the Rebels were the new Empire. They became everything they were against. I don't think that's going to happen, but it would be a cool twist.

 

[Spinluck]

John Williams DA gawd.

The voice over sucked, but I'm hype. Seems to be carrying the spirit of the originals while introducing us to new characters. I'm on board.

JJ's seems to be taking this into the right direction visually too. Looks great.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

In the Expanded Universe we were told that the New Republic quickly supplanted the Empire after ROTJ, and it biased a lot of us to think of that as the natural trajectory after ROTJ.... But now that it's been made non-canon, it's useful for us to step back and say "what really would happen after ROTJ?" That the Empire persists and evolves seems actually more natural than it just withering away. At the very least, it defies a lot of our old expectations which were informed by the EU.

If I remember correctly, there was no designated, recognised successor, so without the two Sith Lords holding things together, everyone wanted to control the Empire, leading to a civil war and power struggle, which seems pretty feasible to me.

But it'll be interesting to see what the "new canon" is like.

 

[EGM1966]

Part of what worries me about JJ is he likes dipping his finger in the cake but not fully commiting to the franchise. He seems to think what made a franchise popular were the nostalgic tropes it established. Take a look at his set of Trek movies. He just went through the whole list of things that are popular among the fans and slap them together into a movie, with little regard as to WHY those things were popular. Examples:

Kobayashi Maru: check
Tribbles: check
Khan: check
Spock / Kirk window death scene: check
KHAAAAAN: check
Kirk banging green chicks: check
Ah fuck it add eject the warp core too

My point is... what makes star wars special arent X Wings, the Falcon, Tatooine nostalgia. It's how those characters changed each other throughout the stories. They didn't need double and triple lightsabers with ballet choreography. They didn't have in-atmosphere x-wings fight the battle of Hoth just because the toy was popular. The stormtroopers, snowtroopers, scout troopers were all totally different designs. It seems EpVII has a slightly new take on what's popular from the original movies instead of something new inspired by the esthetic. It's just an x-wing with two intakes instead of four. It's the Falcon with a square dish instead of a round one. It's the stormtroopers with chrome instead of plastic. And, yes, it's a lightsaber with 2 beams instead of 1. Oh wait... one of the prequels already did a double saber? Let's make it a triple saber then.

This, as per my earlier post, was pretty much my reaction.

It's only a teaser so I hope we're wrong and JJ simply wanted to showcase some of the iconography without revealing much plot, but I'm worried it will be a case of ticking of the franchise tropes vs having everything fit to the story and characters first.

 

[Fliesen]

If you go back and watch ROTS the way the guy activates his saber with a hunch is very similar to how Palpatine draws his saber when the Jedi council attempt to arrest him.

If you choose to ignore the prequels, we actually don't see an actual Sith using their lightsaber ever.
Vader is a Jedi Knight, corrupted by the dark side - his fighting style, however, is one a Jedi gets taught, though. - same goes for Dooku, btw.

Those who were trained as Sith to begin with, might be using fighting styles, weapons and techniques we haven't really seen yet (in official Canon) - the only one we've seen are Palpatine and Maul, which is a tiny sample size - yet they're master and apprentice and have entirely different fighting styles and weapons.

It isn't hard to imagine that this Sith was taught a much more aggressive fighting style, using force (heh!) instead of swift fencing. His blade looks a bit longer than the regular Jedi's lightsaber, too.

i have no doubt that this sword would be impractical if Luke tried to wield it, but i'm sure the new Sith villain is perfectly capable of making use of the intricacies this weapon offers. This weapon allows for lunges and stabs at the enemy without entirely giving up the ability to block a horizontal or vertical light saber strike.
I'm absolutely sure the Sith won't be twirling this sword.

 

[Sotha_Sil]

Everything looks so crisp, not seen the star wars world like this, but still feels like traditional Star wars.

Why is the empires military still around ?

Little reason to assume they'd be gone. Presumably only a small number of the Empire's forces died at Endor. They may have lost most of their senior leadership, but there's still a vast army out there, with plenty of new leaders ready to take their places.

I wonder if we'll see the Empire fragment into different factions of warlords much like the EU did.

 

[Krilekk]

Well, these 90 seconds already feel more like Star Wars than the four hours of first two prequels combined.

 

[BocoDragon]

Little reason to assume they'd be gone. Presumably only a small number of the Empire's forces died at Endor. They may have lost most of their senior leadership, but there's still a vast army out there, with plenty of new leaders ready to take their places.

I wonder if we'll see the Empire fragment into different factions of warlords much like the EU did.

I rather hope the future Empire is more singularly governed than the "factions of warlords" model of the old EU. That was just what a collaborative group of many writers would settle into... A situation where you could just make up whatever Admiral or Grand Moff you want. Always a new forgotten remnant or imperial leader to write your new story about...

But it seems filmically uninteresting to have this "scattered empire" model. I want to see the Empire remain unified but with a new post-Palpatine raison d'être.

 

[Creamium]

The X-Wing and Falcon shots are magnificent. Watched it 3 times in a row and I get goosebumps every time the theme kicks in

 

[shira]

I'm pretty sure thats the Fire Nation emblem on his helmet.

Similar but not the same

 

[Fliesen]

Everything looks so crisp, not seen the star wars world like this, but still feels like traditional Star wars.

Why is the empires military still around ?

Dude, if they had killed Hitler in 1942, would you expect the Third Reich to have dissolved?

If not under one new leader, the Empire might have just broken apart, high ranking Generals claiming to be the true successor to the Emperor.
The troops wouldn't just drop the guns and go home to live a farmer's life

Just look at what the Diadochi did after Alexander the Great had died.

 

[thenexus6]

Done watching trailers not to spoil it anymore. Will watch day one. Looks like a good mix of CGI and practicals.

 

[Jintor]

Everything looks so crisp, not seen the star wars world like this, but still feels like traditional Star wars.

Why is the empires military still around ?

mutha

fukkin'

IMPERIAL REMNANT

thrawn and palleon, evil space sherlock holmes and john watson!

Ah, they've probably been excised from canon

 

[Bold One]

Similar but not the same

you win this round Shira,

 

[Coreda]

it's weird how people can't wrap their head around how this droid would be working.

nobody ever seen an office chair?

Except the entire body appears to be moving, which is different than say the thick caster example. The split diagram from makingstarwars makes sense if the head's neck wire or middle section is thin enough that the rest of the body appears to be moving.

Frame stepping the trailer shows this, although I'm sure it will be clearer when we see the droid from more angles.

 

[televator]

You know... It's surprising how satisfying it is to have real people in "real" armor. It's so much more tactile and impactful to their presence on screen. Those troopers making that drop off the ship made my hairs stand up on my neck and arms. It's a shame the pure clones didn't get this treatment.

 

[Fliesen]

mutha

fukkin'

IMPERIAL REMNANT

thrawn and palleon, evil space sherlock holmes and john watson!

Ah, they've probably been excised from canon

just because they've been ecised doesn't mean they can't be brought back.
Just because they made the Ultimate Marvel universe doesn't mean they didn't bring back storylines / superheroes that existed before.

That's how you re-imagine a film / comic book / book universe that has gone all over the place already:
you tear everything down and build it back up, brick by brick, often borrowing from previous storylines.

The "new" Star Trek (2009) timeline did essentially the same thing. And they still brought back Khan in part 2.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

Dude, if they had killed Hitler in 1942, would you expect the Third Reich to have dissolved?

Funfact: The British abandoned a plan to assassinate Hitler in 1943 because they believed that whoever took over from him would be more competent.

 

[Fliesen]

Except the entire body is moving, which is different than your chair caster example. The split diagram from makingstarwars makes sense if the head's neck wire is thin enough that the rest of the body moves.

Frame stepping the trailer shows this, although I'm sure it will be clearer when we see the droid from more angles.

of course, you just make the inner (static) part as thin as possible and the wheel parts as big as possible (duh.) but it's the same principle.

But i do believe we both agree that: this droid is neither "impractical" nor could it only be CGI because it's a physical impossibility of creating a machine that moves like this.

 

[Paganmoon]

One thing the prequels did right was moving away from the pyjama design of the jedi outfits

There are no Jedi in that picture though.

 

[Violet_0]

the druid head could just be hovering over the ball using advanced magnetic technology or something
would make a terrible toy though, so probably not

 

[enzo_gt]

One shot (well, three shots?) that hasn't been mentioned much is the stormtroopers in the troop carrier. For some reason, I really liked that scene. It made the stormtroopers seem competent and powerful in a way that the original trilogy never managed to. These are guys who I could believe deserve the line "only imperial stormtroopers are so precise."

Agree with this.

considering we got lightsabers out the ass in the prequel trilogy they sort of lost their effectiveness to me. like it ceased being an intimidating weapon by the end of attack of the clones.

i welcome this messy looking flame. looks menacing.

I can see where you're coming from, sort of the problem with escalation really.

I do hope both the Force and Lightsabers are given some sort of rarity and are treated like myths in the sequel trilogy.