Here is the new trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
That’s a very strong trailer. Or, put another way, OMFG DID YOU SEE THAT SHIT?!!
THIS is Star Wars. Practical effects. Familiar sights. New creations. The image of the Imperial Cruiser crashed in the dunes of Tattoine is a marvelous mix of new and old. Mark Hamill repeating lines from Return of the Jedi reminds us that 1) the old band is back together and 2) Abrams is doing everything he can to connect his film to the original trilogy and nothing else that might have come in between thanks very much.
As far as trailers go for re-booting the most beloved sci-fi series of all time, you could do worse, J.J. And yet. Trailers are not movies. Trailers can deceive. You know how I know? Because this is a pretty cool trailer, too.
Be honest with yourself. That’s a good trailer. And it’s not that different from Episode VII’s. It has some practical effects and familiar sights and that musical theme that cannot help but cause a swelling in your stomach for what is to come. It has more dialog than the new one, and now that we know what that dialog means, and who says it and how stupidly everything came together*, it’s easy to forget 17 years later that when those first Phantom Menace trailers came out they were totally. fucking. awesome.
There was real reason to be excited about this trailer in 1998. We all know how that turned out. No pressure, J.J.
*except for the three-man lightsaber battle between Qui-Gonn Jin and Obi-Wan and Darth Maul. That scene remains awesome.
andrew greenstein says
My thoughts EXACTLY !!!!!!!!!!!! Phantom Menace had such a great PREMISE that was executed so poorly-but the trailer gave us an exciting window into a movie that never was.. “The death toll is catastrophic”… “Begin landing your troops..” We imagined this epic war… death..destruction…something to care about..a STAR *WAR* beginning…not little green men w/ ridiculous accents…and robots and roger rabbits fighting over virtually nothing w/ meaningless characters… “At least we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi..at last we will have revenge”- what we IMAGINED- oh, wow- and we got ? That was about ALL of Maul’s dialogue for the ENTIRE film- and none of that really meant ANYTHING much in the movie at all— No one knew how awful Samuel Jackson would come across.. No one could’ve forseen the Anakin “yipeeeees!”…. The trailer HAD to be cut together by someone other than Lucas!
Agree; trailers are not movies, and excitement for Star Wars coming back in the 90s-of course that looked awesome! I remember even liking Phantom Menace (besides Jar Jar), but I also was no film critic. My childhood was rooted in Star Wars so I was just glad it was back. It wasn’t until rewatching the prequels as I got older I saw how bad they were.
Now as a writer, I see the problem is mainly with the storytelling in Ep 1. There’s no real focus; it’s just a bunch of characters and things happening. The narrative is missing. JJ Abrams has proven he can produce good narrative storytelling in films. At least I believe so, in particular Star Trek and Super 8. I personally think the TV experience helps even more. I’m not worried.