The Star Wars: Episode VII trailer

@hassun: I disagree. I can see a skilled lightsaber user being able to make use of it. They would need to be facing someone much more skilled than them that could make them useless, especially since the user of the crossguard isn't simply going to be holding it out for those emitters to be easily cut off. Someone skilled enough to render them useless, already could cut through the main emitter.

@sergio: I really don't want to get into this but no, that's not what a crossguard is usually used for. The most important part of the crossguard is close to the blade. This is mainly because glancing blows to the sword could have a tendency to make the attacker's sword slide down, causing the defender's blade to basically act as a guide for the attacker's blade right down to the wrist.

It's possible that this is less of an issue in Star Wars because lightsabres seem to repel other lightsabres upon contact. But even then the those things would not be really useful as a crossguard and more useful as another means to attack.

Crossguard's are often used for trapping an opponent's blade as well. Again this utilises the part of the crossguard right next to the blade.

P.S. When I googled "sword crossguard" to search for an image this was one of the first hits http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/28/here-star-wars-i-fixed-your-force-awakens-lightsaber-crossguard-for-you/

Hell yeah.

It looks fine, it's hard to tell from a teaser. The CG looks good and I like the style, unlike Jurassic World.

You know, even though the prequels were flawed, at least they had a different look in terms of technology and style. This just looks like a super safe rehash, at least in terms of initial impressions. Ticks me off that they jettisoned all sorts of crazy directions the EU went, just to go back to Stormtroopers and TIE Fighters, because people are so enamored with the original movies. Didn't like it at all. Friggin' boring.

Cinematography looks pretty rad!

As someone with little to no affinity for Star Wars. The trailer looked nice... nothing was really revealed to the plot from what I can tell but it was pretty!

This is more believable. We're still using F-16s, M1 Abrams, M16s, AK-47s and so on after more than thirty years.

Didn't really like the trailer. Too many cuts to black for dramatic effect. Still, I'll probably go see the film. I was a Star Wars fan at one point in my childhood.

This is pretty much where I'm at with this trailer, as well. It looks pretty, sure, but it all feels... I don't want to say "too new", but I don't know how else to describe it. I didn't want a new Star Wars movie to show me the Millennium Falcon doing flips over the desert, or weird shaped lightsabers- and that's coming from someone who's an unabashed fan of weird dumb lightsabers! It's too much to ask, I guess, but if anything I'd want as few references to the other movies as possible. Just a new story in the same universe would be fine... not Yoda (That might not be Yoda? It's hard to tell.) doing voice overs in the first trailer.

@make_me_mad:

That is definitely not Yoda. It sounds almost like Benedict Cumberbatch, but it might be Andy Serkis though since he's actually an official cast member.

I'm pretty excited for this. I love the original trilogy ship designs way better than the prequels and I liked how the MF has a new radar dish since it got knocked off on Return of the Jedi. Very nice touch. There seems to be CGI in all the right places and even though people hate that lightsaber, I'm loving it. Looks very medieval and the crackling effect on it makes it look sinister and eery. Just like a sith lightsaber should look!

Ok that got a laugh out of me

It looks like a JJ Abrams movie so far. It's a simple formula, Bright and Shiny effects + Michael Bayesque Visuals + Tons of Fan Service + Lens Flares + No Depth = $$$

Fanboys are going to eat it up, especially newer fanboys. But the old timers, like myself, who only watch the original unedited trilogy probably won't enjoy it. Hardcore fanboys shouldn't make films.

You're truly incredible to be able to tell all that from a series of quick clips, and be pompous about it too. Tell me more about "the good ole days" or whatever.

@frostyryan: It's exactly what was expected. So far, tons of fan service. That's what JJ Abrams does, he makes fan films for fanboys, he doesn't do anything original. Both Star Trek films and Super 8 were exactly as I described in my JJ Abrams formula; we shouldn't expect anything different from this, especially because he's bringing back the old cast. I can't stand JJ Abrams, he's by far the most overrated director working today. He should stick to bad TV sci-fi.

We augment our reserves heavily decade-over-decade. On paper it may seem more believable, but there should probably still be some stark variation in at least some aspect of those X-Wings' designs, especially considering the Republic would have a proper manufacturing base by nOh My God what am I even typing about.

That's exactly what this is and isn't that the best case scenario? Now that George is no longer making these movies they can be made by the generations of film makers that revered these films and in many cases were the reasons they became film makers. With Disney they've opened up the possibility for Star Wars movies until the end of time.

There will be good Star Wars movies and possibly bad Star Wars movies and maybe some great ones. None of them will ever be the Originals, they were seminal works that changed the film industry forever. Also, none will hold the weight of expectation of the Prequel movies. We're perfectly primed for some fun space action in a world we love and characters we love.

I feel like having Star Wars made by someone whose a fan of the series is probably better for the whole franchise than having George Lucas run it into the ground with his odd writing..

I fucking loved it. Can't wait.

I think it looks good. I'd consider myself to be a pretty casual Star Wars fan but I'm actually really looking forward to this. Go Jar Jar Abrams!

If Count Dooku had that lightsaber, Anakin wouldn't have pulled this move off, as he'd take some damage attempting it.

I saw the original in '77. I think this looks neat. If it's as good a space adventure flick as Guardians of the Galaxy, I'll be satisfied.

The new lightsaber can't be any weirder than the Inquisitor's from Rebels. I'm okay with it.

It's sillier when they pretty much have the same technology in the Old Republic stuff.

I honestly thought the trailer was a parody.

It's bullcrap. I don't consider KotOR or most of the EU canon.

I think the new designs are different enough, considering what I said in your quote. The TIE Fighters seem to have transparent wings and the X-Wings have two engines (which split into four) instead of four.

some are saying that the wielder of the cross lightsaber and the lightsaber itself can be ancient. the saber has an archaic vibe, unstable, crackling energy with a more erratic flow. occasional sparks flying and electrical streaks running along it. synth-crystal blades were powerful enough to (though rarely), overwhelm and burnout/break standard blades. an ancient symbolic relic that may have been one of the first sabers ever crafted. the user could be an ancient or a Sith that had discovered the blade in attempt to rebuild a new Sith Order.

My guess, probably not a crossguard.

Someone who knows the EU condescendingly told me that it's not a crossguard, but an exhaust. He said that this fiery blade is unstable and that it's an imitation of a lightsaber. That would explain why the "crossguard" appeared second.

@ezekiel: Yeah I've heard the story about the exhaust as well but then that would be a pretty bad location for an exhaust. And the side exhausts/crossguard thing does look exactly the same as the main 'blade'. The entire thing looks pretty fiery.

Looks better than the prequels. That's not saying much. I'm not a fan of Abrams' returning Star Trek to its (shitty) campy 60s roots. Except for maybe the fourth movie which successfully threw some comedy into the mix, Star Trek was always at its best when it did smart sci-fi and really hit its peak with some of the more cerebral episodes of TNG, DS9 and Voyager. Star Wars has always been kind of campy and silly, so maybe he'll do better here. Though nostalgia factor alone pretty much determines it will not be as good as the original trilogy no matter what he does.

Is it? I watched the first 15 minutes and got bored. Should I go back and watch it?

@zevvion: Yes. Once it gets going it's fantastic.

Those X-Wings look legit. Am I correct in hearing that they aren't doing CGI, but full-fledged scale models? If so, they've already won me over.

I would suggest reading the wikipedia article on the B-52. It's gone through various revisions over it's life span and by the time we plan on not using it anymore, it will have been in service for around 90 years.

You know what? Who's to say the hilt of the saber can even do damage?

Either that, or that scene is from a long long time ago in the star wars universe. like maybe the lightsaber is one of the first ever made or something.

I was really hoping some new start up indie company would have picked up the rights for Star Wars, but I guess we'll deal with this big budget trash.

Old timers like yourself who only watch the OT are scary. I guess I was only 13 or 14 when I watched Phantom Menace, but those prequel movies really aren't that bad. I mostly enjoyed them. What's bad is A New Hope. Oh well.. this will forever be an argument between people depending on their age when they watched the movies. I watched the OT first, but I wasn't rusted when I watched the prequel films and enjoyed them just fine, like almost anyone who watched them then.

These new films are going to be fine. I have some serious nostalgia for the OT, which is why I'll never dislike them, but overall I bet these movies are going to be a lot better than those.

@zevvion: Did you just say that A New Hope is bad? That's arguably the best of the series and one of the most influential movies of all time.

The Phantom Menace is okay, Attack of the Clones is garbage, and Revenge of the Sith is also okay.

Looks pretty cool to me. The internet's cynicism won't get me down for this one. :) It's still a little weird for me to see this made after having just read some of the thrawn books...

@spraynardtatum: I did. I really don't like A New Hope. The acting is horrible and it suffers more from 'bad guys can't hit anything'-syndrome than any of the other movies. I'm not saying a movie needs great special effects, but you do need to make me believe that what's happening is at least plausible within the fiction of the movie's universe. At best you make me not question it. A New Hope fails that far more than any of the others. It's also the reason why I think the prequels aren't that bad. Yeah, the story is a little less involved, but at least I can believe what's happening. Exception to Revenge of the Sith. I think that's easily the best of the prequel movies and one of the better ones of the entire saga, minus the dry acting from Anakin.

That trailer looks pretty good.

Wait, what? Where'd you hear that? The stuff from the trailer all looks like CGI.

I can't tell if you're agreeing with me or not. Do you know Knights of the Old Republic takes place 4000 years before the movies? That's 44 times 90 years.

I really like the teaser, very much a tease though which is great! I love how that ww2 styling is still there. The writing on the X-Wing pilots vest says "pull to inflate" in aurebesh. He's wearing a lifejacket like spitfire pilots in his space-ship.

@ezekiel: Neither the TIE nor the X-Wing have been in service for 20 years by ANH. Unless you are complaining about using blasters for all that time in which case you'll find that issue in all sorts of fantasy where cultures exist for thousands of years but never get past the middle ages.

I should probably state that realism was never my problem with it, at least not too much. I just think it's a really boring direction from the looks of it. I'd rather have something more unique than just a bunch of fan service for something that has already had an infinite amount of fan service as it is. Not trying to argue the point further or anything, just clarifying what it was that bothered me about it.

If this keeps him away from Star Trek Im all for it.

"Look, this time Luke says 'I am your father'!!"

Good work JJ, do you clown. It'll be pretty to look at at least. I don't have a super strong affinity to Star Wars, its impossible to sell out when your IP basically invented film-tied merchandizing. So it'll be what it is, crazy people will complain how the book continuity is so much better and casual fans (me) will have an alright time at the light show.

I don't understand what you're trying to say with the first sentence. I happen to think that the prequels changed too much for such a short period of time.

As for the second point, I haven't yet found a fantasy setting in which I like that. It's one of the reasons I wanted Dark Souls II to be a new IP.

@ezekiel: I'm saying that neither the X-Wing nor the TIE fighter are very old all things considered so seeing newer models that look similar 30 years after they were introduced doesn't strike me as particularly unreasonable. Perhaps I've misread your post and we agree about this.

We do agree. I've been saying that. I feel like I'm confusing everybody.