Official Info Episode VII teaser trailer - it's here!

I will say I'm a little apprehensive, because it looks very...Abrams-esque. And considering the demand and obvious attempts at staying true to the Original Trilogy, I'm worried he'll just make a flashy Abrams flick and throw in a bunch of eye-rolling references to the old movies. Honestly, after the disappointment that was Into Darkness, I'm more excited for Episodes VIII and IX.

As for the "cross-saber", I really don't care that it's "impractical." Is it only meant to look cool? Probably. But hey, that's fine by me. There's plenty of stuff in Star Wars that's meant to look cool.And I'm sure there will be an explanation for it.

I suspect it will be an old-fashioned good time like the previous episodes. I just hope people can stop being so anal and just try to have fun.

 

I think the crossguard looks very useful, actually, since it provides more protection against lightsaber blades.
It also adds to the feeling I get that this is a very old weapon.

 

Is there a quicktime version anywhere?

 

The Apple iTunes store, but it's on Youtube which only requires Java, default in most computers

So that.... ball droid. Is the ball part of its body, or is it just like.... a tiny astromech head that happens to be rolling on a ball? That is the most bizarre thing in this trailer

 

Does what it's supposed to... I'm feeling very teased right now.

I'm really interested in the state of the galaxy at this point in time. Are the stormtroopers here still fighting for the Empire? Has the Rebellion become the New Republic, or has this fight been going since Episode VI? The villain's monologue; did Luke simply go into hiding, rather than creating a New Jedi Order as in the EU?

I like that the three leads seem to come from completely different situations. Do we know who is playing the main lead (I assume Boyega, since he appeared first)?

Oh, and that astromech droid on what appears to be a football - hilarious. The type of scraped together tech that I'd expect to see on Tatooine.

 

I've been wondering when a version I could put on my iPad could be released...I'd guess they'll release it sometime, but the Apple website doesn't have the downloads listed yet. I'll just have to click 'play again' until then!

 

I suppose we could speculate all we want...but it sure looks like 'the fight' has been going on quite a while. Although, those Stormtrooper outfits look rather shiny.
And I do love that 'Football Droid,' it seems like some great, whimsical thing that belongs in Star Wars.

Isn't this great? Imagine just seeing pictures of this in a magazine a year out, or as stills in the "Empire" teaser.

 

Oh, yeah, this is fantastic. I've been a big fan of The Clone Wars TV show and have been reading the EU for over a decade now, but nothing beats the excitement of a new SW film, and this is a new SW trilogy, in a whole new era.

The decision to tease the new leads while showing old vehicles is pretty genius, I think. It feels like the SW we know and love, while simultaneously giving off the vibe that this is a new chapter, which will possess it's own identity.

 

So I was a big fan of the teaser, despite (or, in a strange way, maybe because of) how different the cinematography was in comparison to the other six films. If Star Wars is actually going to continue to move forward, then they aren't going to be able to emulate Lucas forever; the new guys are going to have to do their own things, and I'm happy to see JJ playing around in Lucas' world and not JJ trying to be Lucas, even if it did catch me off guard. That being said, some of the shots did seem a bit... empty.

The Kurosawa transitional wipes have to be back, though.

One of my biggest takeaways from the trailer was the European medieval vibe that it had to it. Star Wars has always pulled from a vast array of sources, but if you had to really narrow it down for each trilogy, I'd say that the prequels draw most inspiration from feudal Japanese and samurai film, the originals have a much heavier American western influence, and, if the trailer for TFA, is anything to go by, maybe this trilogy will be more medieval in nature.

 

The Sith Broadsword is right out of Tales of the Jedi so it could certainly be something ancient. And we don't see this mystery warrior use the Force, we don't know if it's just someone who has adopted the Sith philosophy to fight the Jedi or if it's an actual Sith.

 

I think it's way, way, way too early to be saying the movie looks "Abramsesque."

We got an 88 second teaser (with only about 60 seconds of actual footage) from a likely two-plus-hour movie that's still more than a year away from release. When we see a full trailer with longer shots and scenes, sure, that'll be more of an indicator of what the cinematography of the movie is like. But right now, with what we've seen, we just don't know.

 

As a weapons nerd (have a black belt in them) I always thought a cross-guard lightsaber would make perfect sense.
The mini handles should be offset though so the cross is nothing but laser.
That might look a little goofy on screen though.
Obviously they went with a look that's evocative of a medieval great sword and I think it looks badass.

 

Kiki-Gonn is the purpose of a cross guard (on an irl sword) to stop your hand from sliding up the blade when you stab somebody? It isn't like you need to exert a lot of energy to stab someone with a lightsaber, and even if you did, chances are it would defeat its own purposes by at least singing the fingers of whomever is wielding it
(Yes, I notice there is still "hilt" material for the small blades to extend from, which is why I say the fingers and not the whole hand)

 

Definitely but it's also to keep their blade from sliding down yours and onto your hands.

 

Kiki-Gonn Well yes, but I mean with a lightsaber, which can sever body parts with so much as an inch of contact, would it not be a little senseless to have the cross guard actually be blades of their own?

(I'd be replying normally but my browser won't let me, sorry)

 

It's a hand guard, people. A broadsowrd. If you're fighting someone with a similar weapon, what good is a hand guard if it can be cut through? Hence the saber hand guards.

 

EternalHero Cortosis or Phrik metal alloy?

 

While I agree that it's too early to doom the movie over Abrams's influence, I don't think it's too early to see his very obvious influence in the cinematography. Let's count the Abrams-esque shots, shall we?

Johnny Boy jumping up into the frame is pretty commonly used. Let's not chalk that one up to Abrams.
The Bad Robot gets sanded down and rides a soccer ball across the desert, yet somehow remains remarkably clean. +1 Abrams Shot
Shaky cam over shiny new stormtroopers (who, admittedly, look pretty badass.) +2 Abrams shot
A young Kirk, er -Daisy has a pensive look on her face and nervously looks both ways before gunning it. +1 Abrams Shot
X-Wings fly low over a pristine lake, creating a nice mist to complement the happy clouds and a sun that you can tell he desperately wanted to turn into a lens flare. +1 Abrams Shot
A camera that can't find its axis chasing after the Falcon who flies towards a couple TIEs when it could easily just turn its guns around and fire at them. +9000 Abrams Shot

Now, aside from the saber and the Falcon-cam, I still think it also looks pretty Star Wars to me - which is possibly the biggest compliment I could give to Abrams seeing as I think his single-minded vision of the mystery box and making things shiny makes him a boring director at best. (Can we take a minute to point out how much crap people gave the prequels for being shiny, and then they hired Abrams to direct?) How much his influence will be seen over the entire film remains to be seen, though I'm sure at the very least, it'll be "faster and more intense," ironically enough. I hope that Kasdan was able to reign in JJ's script more than Orci did for, well, everything else he did, and if that happens, all the Abrams shots in the world won't be enough to make it a bad movie.

 

You forgot the lens flare as the Falcon does a loop +9001 Abrams shot

 

I thought it was just a simple teaser that said exactly what it was designed to:

"Hi, Star Wars, as many of you loved it, is back".

Familiar iconic images of stormtroopers, ties and x-wings and the Falcon.
New, young heroes and villains.
Emphasis on the Force.
Exotic Environments.
A more serious tone.

Bare minimum. This is the true definition of a "teaser". Almost nothing was actually given away, which I appreciate. It seems more designed to start a public conversation and subtly reassure those disgruntled by the PT that the "real" Star Wars is returning.

I would have liked to see glimpsed of the big 3, but I think they'll save those reveals for a full length trailer. Star Wars VII is still a year away and there is no rush, especially for a guaranteed blockbuster.

I am shocked we didn't get one shot of a classic non-human SW character like R2, 3P0 or Chewie.

 

What if the weapon predates those things? jaqen More serious than Revenge of the Sith and the last few seasons of TCW, lol? It actually felt kinda light compared to where GL left it, more like ANH and TPM.

 

You seem surprised that a JJ Abrams film...looks like a JJ Abrams film.

 

Perhaps, but the way the Boyega scene and the Stormtrooper sequence was shot definitely didn't feel like something Lucas would have done. That doesn't make it bad, just different... new.

 

Really? Because the shaky chaos of the Stormtrooper scene reminded me very much of shots from the battle of Geonosis in AOTC.

What about the Boyega scene was inherently anti-Lucas? How is him suddenly popping up fast from offscreen fundamentally different than say the opening shot of the very first Star Wars, with the Tantive IV quickly darting from offscreen?