Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 36

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (Official Teaser Trailer HD)

  I can't even.   

Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 35

Will The Episode VII Trailer Be Released With The Hobbit?

     Not much happened this week in The Force Awakens news (I'll be using The Force Awakens and Episode VII interchangeably from now on). Nothing, that is, until two reports emerged almost simultaneously about the Episode VII trailer. Now, no Star Wars movie has ever released a trailer more than 10 months in advance. Lucasfilm was known to be secretive, not wanting to give away any details. Was known to be secretive.

     According to Star Wars Episode VII News, the trailer for The Force Awakens will be premiering next month, with December 17th's The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. This comes from a tweet from Reece Steel, who said: "Had a talk with Thomas Gormley today, when asked about the teaser trailer for Star Wars VII he said, 'You might want to go see The Hobbit.' :) ". His tweet and Twitter account were shortly deleted. Strange if he was just making it up. If this rumor is true, it would make a lot of sense, as it is almost exactly a year before Episode VII's premier (December 18). It's strange that Disney would cross promote. It would seem more likely that The Force Awakens trailer would debut on a Disney TV show, like Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Star Wars Rebels. It is very possible, though; Disney has cross promoted in the past. All of this could be rendered null and void if the trailer leaks online, like with Avengers: Age of Ultron. With all the secrecy at Disney, it would be difficult. But never mess with hardcore Star Wars fans; they'll somehow find a way.

     The details may have already leaked: According to BadAss Digest, some unknowable sources say that the trailer will be one minute long or less. The Force Theme (the one that plays as Luke Skywalker gazes at the twin sunset on Tatooine in Star Wars) will be playing on woodwinds, with an overlay of shots of the cast of Episode VII in succession, with each fading to black. The orchestra gets louder and louder, then a female voice whispers, "Wake up." Then the title: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, appears. The Millennium Falcon with full blasters firing, flies toward the camera. Cut to black.

     "Wake up"?! Can Disney be any more obvious with the whole The Force Awakens thing? But, in reality, this is probably exactly what a trailer for Episode VII needs. No huge reveals, no in depth craziness. It's still over a year away, and the first trailer needs to pump fans up just enough to get them excited, but not enough so that they get impatient. A teaser trailer should be just that-- a teaser. If this is what the trailer consists of, then it will be a reminder that something huge is on the way.

     And it is.

Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 34

Does Luke Skywalker Awaken the Force?

    The internet is still getting used to the new titled for Episode VII. Eventually, most people will start calling the film The Force Awakens, but most sources are still calling it Episode VII. Regardless of what it's called, new information is coming in about casting. Wait, casting news? Now? After filming already stopped? That makes no sense! But, this rumor goes back earlier, and seems to be a confirmation of an already acted out part. A while back there was a rumor going around that stated that Billie Lourd, the daughter of Carrie Fisher, was playing a role in Episode VII-- I mean The Force Awakens. The rumors have received little attention, but Carrie Fisher's mother may have confirmed it. Onstage in Las Vegas, According to Comic Book Movie, Debbie Reynolds divulged that Carrie Fisher and Billie Lourd were both working with “Harrison Ford… and the other boychik." "The other boychik" is presumably Mark Hamill. It might be possible that Lourd has a cameo role, since she didn't have a role big enough to be announced along with the other cast members in April. It could mean something, but it might just be a response to a request on Fisher's part to have her daughter act. Either way, she'll be noticed.

     We don't know much about the main villain, besides his Darth Vader ambitions, his possible outfit, and the fact that he is Luke Skywalker. Oops, spoiler alert. However, according to MSW (You know these guys by now), the villain has more Darth Vader parallels than we realized. A leaked scene has emerged (or so they say). The setting is Tatooine, and a bunch of Stormtroopers are in the process of burning a small village, with flamethrowers (I wonder what space flamethrowers look like. The description doesn't say.), fighting fierce resistance. Then a shuttle lands and Darth Vader ascends. According to MSW, he's a placeholder for the real villain, but the shot closely resembles a shot from Return of the Jedi, in which Vader is descending the shuttle on the second Death Star. This means that the main villain is supposed to be a new Darth Vader, going around with troops and destroying things. However, the fact that both Vader and this new villain go around personally with Stormtroopers suggests that this new villain is only a secondary villain, with a new villain to be revealed in a hologram (The Empire Strikes Back style) or something. Because, if you think about it, a real villain doesn't go around personally attacking things. He's usually a general, a behind-the-scenes guy. So here's some possible news for Episode VIII and beyond...

     Finally, to the conflicted subject of Luke Skywalker's role in the new movies. Some sources are suggesting, that he is in fact, not the main villain of the whole new trilogy. In fact, just the opposite. According to Latino Review (as well as MSW), Luke Skywalker, at some point in the 32 years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, has discovered a "Force breakthrough", making him the most powerful Jedi of all time. However, he doesn't have full control over his abilities, and after one too many disasters, he stops trusting himself, abandons civilization, and becomes a recluse. He is terrified of falling to the Dark Side, so he stays away from others. Both the villain and the hero try to convince him to join them on separate occasions. However, they realize that he is not completely sane. He also gets random visions about the future and past. His sanity will become a wild card for the course of the trilogy, as he could still go either way. The awful plot twist could yet be avoided! Who knows, Luke Skywalker could just save the universe (again)...

Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 33

The Title for Episode VII Just Dropped

(And It's Really Lame)

     This week has been very important for Episode VII. To begin, principal photography wrapped up, leading to a massive cast and crew party in London. It will probably be the last time everyone who worked on the film will ever be together at one time, besides contractual conventions and other events. Maybe they'll be back for the sequel. A large part of the creation process for Episode VII has ended. What began in May has been (mostly) completed. Now everything has been shot, and the wonders of editing will make this film what it will become, be it great or terrible. The editing process is just as or arguably more important than shooting. The editors need to bring their A-game to this project in order for it to be polished and at its best. Hopefully they will. Editing can make or break a movie. However, if it's done right, then Anthony Daniels believes it will be better than The Empire Strikes Back.
     This claim came from Daniels' Twitter account, in which he boldly compared the newly shot film to the Holy Grail of Star Wars. I know I'm technically supposed to think that TESB is my favorite, and I can see how it is superior to the others, but I've personally always like Star Wars the best. You can't beat what started it all. Technical flaws and all, it still is on the top spot of my list. Anyways, Daniels comparing TESB and Episode VII seems a little arrogant. However, if you haven't acted in a good Star Wars movie in over 35 years, I can see how you can get excited about the coherent plot line, the realness of locations, and other things. It just might be the best one since TESB, but better than it? That remains to be seen.
     Speaking of Star Wars movies that begin with the word "The", the official title for Episode VII is finally upon us, after 2 years and 7 days since the announcement that we were getting an Episode VII. This information was released via Star Wars' Facebook page. It took the Internet by storm. This is now officially the the title for the direct sequel to the original trilogy:

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

     REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!

     Let's break this down.

THE

     Okay, so the title of Episode VII begins with "The". There is only one other Star Wars movie that begins with "The", and that is The Empire Strikes Back. Now, this is interesting. Is Episode VII (or should I say, The Force Awakens?) comparing itself to TESB through its title? Is it that good? Or is it that full of itself? Who knows!

FORCE

     So, something is happening to The Force in this movie. This implies some major shift or change with the Force. Besides the generic subject matter, what could possibly be affecting the Force so heavily that it features in the title?

AWAKENS

     Oh, so the Force is awakening. I see. Wait, awakening from what? What was the Force doing in the other six movies? Did it hit snooze? I would think that Luke woke up the Force in the original trilogy by saving the universe or whatever, so how is the awakened force going to be manifested? It might be like one of those superhero movies, where superheroes discover their powers, and they grow stronger with practice. Is that what will happen to the Force? Will the Sith suddenly gain the ability to Force choke ten billion people or be able to smash planets together? Will the Force somehow become available to everyone? You see, with such a vague title, you can never know what the movie pertains to. You see, Star Wars (not the vague A New Hope that was added later) was about a war in the stars (space). The Empire Strikes Back was about the Empire getting revenge on the rebels. Return of the Jedi was about the Jedi being restored. Even Revenge of the Sith was specific. Vague titles, such as The Phantom Menace don't add much to a film. You can't really add much to The Phantom Menace, though, because it's so bad as it is. The only time when specific titles don't work are when they are so utterly ridiculous that you can't take seriously. Example: Attack of the Clones. Mark Hamill once likened the title to Attack of the Puppet People. The Force Awakens isn't nearly that bad, but it could do better. But, I guess eventually we'll probably get used to it. There are worse titles out there.