Hello Star Wars fans. Have you seen the latest Episode VII The Force Awakens trailer? I have… many many times! I thought I would share with you today on some analysis of the trailer so we can try to work out what exactly is going on in the new film. In short, this is going to be an incredibly geeky blog post!
First off the special effects look amazing. J J Abrams has said previously that he wants to rely on CGI as little as possible and use actual set pieces as much as he can. this is of course a great thing (and addresses some major concerns of the Lucas era). However of course there is CGI and when it is present it looks stunning. The opening scene of a the trailer shows us in the distance a huge Imperial Star Destroyer, wrecked on the Jakku landscape. This is a wonderful tie in as it shows us the Empire has fallen and its shell is scattered throughout the Galaxy.
We then hear Mark Hamill’s voice and chills are abundant as Luke Skywalker says:
“The force is strong in my family… My father has it”* queue Darth Vader breathing and this chill inducing shot:
“I have it…” Enter shot of Luke with R2D2
“My sister has it… you have that power too.”
Who is Luke talking too? Clearly its one of his family….his son Ben Skywalker perhaps? Don’t forget this is 30 years after Return of the Jedi so the next generation are adults too now. It could also be anyone of Han and Leia’s children… Jaina, Jacen or Anakin. The arm in the shot looks female so my money is on Jaina. We will come to Jacen Solo and my theory about him in another post!
We then move into some wonderful action shots, showing some stunning X-Wing footage and the Millennium Falcon battling what must be the remnants of the fallen Empire.
With the opening shot we could be forgiven for thinking the empire is dead. But of course, the trailer makes it abundantly clear that it is not. We are treated to shots of Star Destroyers and new versions of the TIE Fighters. (TIE is of course Twin Ion Engine for my fellow Star Wars geeks!) But for me the most exciting shots were of these so called Chrome Troopers of the Empire:
And this shot of an army of Storm Troopers standing in ceremony in front of what must be a new symbol for the Empire (rebranded as The First Order in its new form). An Empire which in all likely hood now exists as a smaller more aggressive function, possibly even with splinter clans operating with (or opposing) each other.
And finally we come to of course the Sith Inquisitor Kylo Ren, who was so excitingly teased at in the first Force Awakens tailor.
I wont ruin the final shot of the trailer as if you are a Star Wars fan like me, you will love the reveal, but I urge you track down trailer 2 and watch! Go do it now!!!
The Force Awakens has a current UK release date of 18th December.
