The Flickering Myth writing team discuss the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens…
Disney and Lucasfilm sent the internet into meltdown yesterday by releasing the full theatrical trailer for December’s massively-anticipated blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The latest glimpse at the film seemed to get the whole world talking, and of course the Flickering Myth team had plenty of thoughts…
Anghus Houvouras: There’s a line in the trailer from Kylo Ren while staring at Darth Vader’s scorched helmet… “I’ll finish what you started”. That line could easily be referring to J.J. Abrams, who appears to be obsessed with crafting a story from the discarded junk of the original trilogy. It may end up being a very entertaining movie, but everything about this trailer feels recycled. This is dumpster diving through nostalgia. Even a ho-hum trailer won’t dissuade me or anyone else from seeing this opening weekend. However, if you’re capable of quieting your inner child, what we saw was Abrams bringing us sleight variations on the familiar. I’m guessing that’s why he was hired in the first place.
Tai Freligh: As a child who grew up watching the Star Wars movies in the theater and being blown away by the sheer spectacle of it all, I finally felt like we were getting the Star Wars we wanted when I saw the trailer. I hated the atrocities foisted on us by Episodes 1, 2, and 3 and never thought I would feel that tingle from hearing the music again, but I had all the feels when the new trailer debuted. It felt like Han Solo was talking to ME when he said the stories were all true about Jedi and the force. I know I’ll be there on opening day and I’ll probably have my children with me to see what a real Star Wars movie looks like.
Jessie Robertson: Nostalgia and good character driven storylines; that’s what I see here and what I expect to get; the score alone from the trailer just reverberates through the essence of my childhood. Very excited.
SEE ALSO: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer Shot By Shot Breakdown
Ricky Church: Just wow. If anything else, The Force Awakens looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s got some outstanding visuals that evoke the Original Trilogy, such as the shot of Kylo Ren staring out the bridge of the Star Destroyer. But, while the trailer shows us nearly nothing of the plot, it shows us a lot of character work. For the majority of the 2 min 12 second run, the focus is on the new characters of the series.
After the release of the poster the other day, it shouldn’t be surprising Daisy Ridley’s character Rey was the first character to be seen in this trailer considering she’s front and centre on the poster. We then switch to John Boyega’s Finn and quickly learn through voiceover dialogue both characters consider themselves lost: Rey believes she’s “no one” and Finn doesn’t think he has anything to fight for. Much like Luke Skywalker before them, they’re both about to be swept up in a much larger universe than they realize. Even Kylo Ren states his intention to finish what Darth Vader has started.
But its Han Solo who makes a notable inclusion here. From a guy who believed in A New Hope that the Force was a hokey religion, he’s now telling Finn and Rey the stories are all true, passing down the knowledge he knows as well as passing the torch to these new characters. From this impression, it seems The Force Awakens will deliver some solid arcs for old and new characters alike. The trailer ends with a simple line of dialogue: “The Force. It’s calling to you. Just let it in.” That is sound advice to follow.
Ricky Church: The nostalgia factor is quite strong in this trailer as it was in the second teaser. Part of me worries they’re relying too much on nostalgia as the prequels sometimes did, but when I see how much care has gone into this film, whether its through watching trailers or reading interviews, those worries go away. I mean, this is the first film in a long time that Harrison Ford actually seems excited about being a part of! May be no bigger indication than that.
James Garcia: I couldn’t be happier with what I saw in this new trailer, and LOVE how little we still know about this film. That might just be because of J.J. Abrams’ mystery box, but it’s so nice to see a reliance on character and a shroud of mystery in all aspects of the film’s marketing. It’s odd and rather refreshing to see a blockbuster as big as this one hold so much back so close to release.
As far as content goes, the film looks gorgeous, and has the kinetic energy that was so sorely missing from the prequels. Sure, this teaser hinges a bit on nostalgia, but it also injects enough of new material, and focuses mostly on new characters, to show me that Abrams can be trusted with this material and will hopefully push it into a great new direction moving forward.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go watch the trailer for the 1000th time tonight.
Helen Murdoch: I’m ridiculously excited. I love rewatching the originals and this has that same feel to it. You can tell it’s a fan putting everything into this new one.
Gav Logan: I don’t understand the misconception that relying on nostalgia is a bad thing and for the record I don’t have any worries that The Force Awakens is relying on nostalgia. It is part of the Star Wars saga and has recurring characters so it makes sense that it deals with a similar story as the other 6 movies. There’s more than enough new material there to give it a fresh feel.
The trailer was awesome but didn’t quite have the same effect on me as the first 2.
I’m not in the least bit annoyed we haven’t seen Luke yet, but I’m more miffed that we haven’t seen any actual space battles. That’s a tad strange. However I do love that we still don’t know the entire plot which is a difficult thing to keep secret after 3 full trailers.
The lack of space is the only negative I can think of and it really doesn’t matter at this point as I’m more hyped that Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley after a keg of red bull!
SEE ALSO: IMAX poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Ricky Church: I think the reason people seem wary about nostalgia is because the prequels relied too much on it by recreating certain scenes and non-subtly foreshadowing future events through dialogue. Nostalgia is a good thing and when played right, like JJ has done, stirs feelings and creates an emotional investment to the film. Done wrong, like the prequels or Superman Returns, and they come off too heavy handed and can’t stand on their own.
Villordsutch: A much more meat-filled trailer, not going for excitement more going for interest and to stoke the coals of both wanting and intrigue.
Lots of threads to remind us the viewers of what Star Wars was, also that when Return of the Jedi ended, the Ewoks didn’t finish their happy dance and everybody laid down their arms.
Very interesting to hear Han Solo talk about both the Jedi and the Dark Side still being considered as myth by some. I’m curious to see why the Jedi didn’t attempt to rise and reclaim some sort of power from the numerous hidden corners across the galaxy.
I’ll be happy to see what J.J. Abrams delivers, I’m fairly positive that it is going to be rather brilliant.
Stu Greenfield: Holy Monkey I’m excited. Whilst it doesn’t give much away it highlights new characters and it has worked 100 percent in getting me hooked. Love the nostalgia side to it.
Luke Owen: I’ll be honest, the first watch at 5:30am didn’t inspire me. But the second, third, fourth and fifth watch brought tears to my eyes. Its probably the weakest of the three, but that’s not to say its bad. If anything, it’s actually the perfect trailer. It introduces us to our three leads, their motivations and teases us of the epic space battles we’re going to be treated to. With less than 2 months to go before release, this feels like a teaser trailer – and yet it’s the full one. For any complaints people have about a seventh movie in the Star Wars Saga, this has been the perfect marketing campaign.
David Opie: This could possibly be the best film of the year if handled right, but I can’t help feeling a tad apprehensive still. The action looks phenomenal and the tone is perfect, remaining nostalgic while still looking forwards, but memories of the prequels still haunt me. Fool me once…
Tom Beasley: On first watch, I was a little disappointed not to see a “holy shit” moment like the first trailer’s lightsaber reveal or Han and Chewie in the second one. However, the more I watch this trailer, the more it seems like the perfect culmination of this marketing campaign, which has done a tremendous job of being the anti-Prometheus and keeping everything under wraps.
We saw just enough of all of the main characters to get a feel for them and how they fit together. The most impressive achievement is the way they show Kylo Ren for almost the entire trailer to showcase the fact he’s a big deal of a villain without once demystifying his character.
There’s a heavy nostalgia quotient, but that’s necessary. It’s like when you go to see a band you’ve loved all your life. You like the new stuff, sure, but what you really want is for them to play the hits.
SEE ALSO: Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster reimagined with LEGO
Gary Collinson: Exceptional trailer. Really captures the feel of the Original Trilogy, and I personally love the nostalgia factor – something that was sorely missing from the Prequels, barring a few moments. I’m as excited – if not moreso – than I was in ’99, and this time I’m fairly confident it won’t end in crushing disappointment.
Ray Wilmott: Love how we still don’t really know what’s going on, but we also have a lot to think and talk about. It’s a template example of what a trailer should be. I’m confident we’re going to get a great movie out of this. But I’m even more confident it’s going to shatter every theatrical record ever. The hype is, most definitely, real.
Rob Kojder: Complete shot in the dark guess here, but Rey is crying over Chewie’s death.
Ricky Church: Don’t you dare suggest such a thing!!!!
James Garcia: Yep, totally looks like it! You can see fur and what looks like an ammo belt. Maybe he’s just hurt? We do see him bandaged in the very next shot.
Rob Kojder: I suppose he could just be critically injured, but the crying from Rey leads me to believe it’s much more life threatening.
James Garcia: Yeah, I’m afraid you’re right, but want to cling onto SOME semblance of hope haha.
Rob Kojder: Bring a box of tissues to the cinema.
Gav Logan: That shot looks and feels more like a warning. I reckon Chewie is badly hurt and Rey is looking off at the person who did it.
Luke Owen: I’ll go one step further: Han is killed too.
Rob Kojder: They’re going for nostalgia and a scene equivalent to ripping out our hearts and grinding it in a blender.
SEE ALSO: Follow all of our Star Wars coverage here
Robert W Monk: It looks perfectly capable of blocking out the disappointments of the 1999 – 2005 run. Which is nice. And no Chewie can’t die!
Scott Davis: As the 2nd biggest Star Wars fan in my family, I still had not really got feverish about the new Star Wars film, at all. Until now. Goosebumps everywhere, that score is awesome, and Kylo Ren looks like a badass. Consider me sold. Now, where are my original version VHS tapes. Calling Mum….
Mark C: Don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited enough to do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, but the ramping up of excitement with each trailer release kind of flat-lined. Perhaps after the overwhelming mystery of the first two this one started to let too much out of the bag. The one plus point which had my attention more than the cavalcade of new action sequences was the relative absence of Luke Skywalker. A satisfying touch amidst the trailer’s bombast. December 18 still feels like a galaxy far, far away.
So there’s our thoughts… what did you make of the trailer? Be sure to let us know in the comments below…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set for release on December 17th in the UK and December 18th in the States and sees J.J. Abrams directing returning stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), in addition to Adam Driver (Girls), Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year), Andy Serkis (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Ken Leung (Lost), Miltos Yerolemou (Game of Thrones), Max von Sydow (The Exorcist), Jessica Henwick (Spirit Warriors), Christina Chong (24: Live Another Day), Simon Pegg (Star Trek) and newcomers Crystal Clarke and Pip Andersen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=m8ExzVWul3I
