Take A Closer Look At The 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Trailer

Robin Parrish, Tech Times 28 November 2014, 12:11 pm

Probably the biggest news about the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer is that there's nary a glimpse to be seen of any of the returning actors from the original trilogy. No Han, no Luke, no Leia, not even Chewbacca.

But what it does do — in about seven clips — is whet our appetite. Star Wars is back, baby. We have more reason to hope than ever that The Force Awakens is a return to the franchise's glory days.

The very first shot we see of the new era of Star Wars is a Stormtrooper — but we've never seen a Stormtrooper that's this kind of frantic.

Actor John Boyega makes a striking impression as he rises into frame after either a crash or a fight. Covered in sweat and breathing hard, he's clearly on some kind of mission. I'm guessing it's more of a personal mission than one for the Empire. Rumors have mentioned one character as a Stormtrooper-turned-hero, and this clip could be our first confirmation of that.

Next we see what looks like an astromech droid's head playing soccer.

FIFA owes J.J. Abrams a solid for this one. I hereby dub it "Fútbol Droid."

Is that a podracer engine it's speeding past?

Then we get some quick jump-cuts of Stormtroopers being deployed. The helmets verify the leaked details showing that the Stormtrooper armor has gotten a modern upgrade.

Looks like handheld shaky-cam to me.

Rumored to be a major character of the new Star Wars films is whoever actress Daisy Ridley is playing. In other words, she may very well be the Luke Skywalker of the new trilogy. Here's our first look at her.

What kind of speeder is that she's riding? More importantly, is she Han and Leia's daughter?

This shot of X-Wings flying low over water and skimming the surface is just gorgeous.

It's hard to tell with that big helmet on, but that might be actor Oscar Isaac.

My first thought upon seeing this shot was that it's probably Adam Driver, who's rumored to play the main villain.

But since then, word has reached us that the trailer's voiceover is done by Andy Serkis. So it's possible that the maestro of mo-cap is the baddie in this scene. But it's probably Adam Driver.

And how about that red lightsaber? Undeniably cool looking, but not real sure about what function those two little prongs serve. Maybe they're just there to give it more of a "medieval broadsword" appearance.

Finally, at long last, we see something familiar. And it's the best, most welcome "familiar" thing possible.

This is the money shot. The fan service everyone's been waiting for. The Millennium Falcon, back in action.

J.J. Abrams has made it clear that he and his crew have worked hard to replicate the look and feel of the original trilogy, but this shot of the Falcon is the one moment in the trailer where we see more of Abrams' directing style. That twisting, winding camera work following the Falcon's movements is flipping sweet.

Really not in love with this title treatment.

I seriously think I have that font on my computer. The designs of the original trilogy titles were much more interesting. Heck, even the prequels had title treatments that looked more professional. This is so pedestrian, it screams "fan film." A movie this momentous deserves something way cooler.

But we don't watch Star Wars for the titles. We watch it for story and spectacle, and as brief as it was, this trailer delivered. And the wait for the movie just got a whole lot longer.