Wow. Two years after LucasFilm was acquired by Disney and a new Star Wars film was announced, we finally have a teaser trailer for it! There has been a lot of speculation up until this point, but now we finally have some concrete moments from the film. What follows were the highlights for me.
First up is the soccer-ball droid. The design of its dome feel very 1970s inspired. Very minimalist in details and reminiscent of the droids from the original Star Wars. I think it's great!
Next up is the Stormtroopers. They're definitely not clones, because they're all different heights. This is a good thing. Shows that the Imperial Academy is still recruiting, even 30 years after the fall of the Empire. Also, the design looks futuristic enough, while still maintaining the resemblance to the original troopers.
Next up is the X-Wing pilot. Apparently the pilot is Oscar Isaac's character, but I can't really tell. Haven't really seen him in a lot of stuff. But first things first. What's up with that helmet?! It looks like a bad fan-film, for Pete's sake! Almost like an old leather football helmet the way his cheeks are being hugged. I definitely would have preferred that they stick with the original design. But then again, a lot can happen in 30 years of design and use. I love the angle of this shot, though. It hearkens back to the original trilogy where you felt like you're in the cockpit with our heroes, rather that just observing from a distance, ala Prequels.
The reveal of the new X-Wings is awesome. The frame above looks like a great piece of concept art, but it is in fact a frame from the movie. I don't much care for how the wings split apart as they do, but it could grow on me. I do, however, like the blue paint jobs this time around. Red is awesome, but I prefer blue. The technology has evolved to the point where you can shoot a blue object on a bluescreen (who knows, maybe they used greenscreen instead?) I'm actually building a Blue Squadron right now, which I think is very timely. I love the composition of this shot as well. The layers are built up by the X-Wings themselves, and to have them skimming across the surface of the water like that is great. Best shot in the trailer, for me.
And then we come to this shot. A dark-cloaked character stumbling through the snow, who then angrily ignites his lightsaber. We don't really know who this character is yet, but we know he wields the red, flame-like lightsaber that has a sort-of cross-guard on it, for some reason. Again, this shot feels like it was ripped straight from a mediocre fan-film, although the atmosphere in those woods looks pretty sweet.
And lastly, we come to this shot. The good old Millennium Falcon, performing a high-G turn in the atmosphere of this desert planet, and getting shot at by TIE Fighters. You'll notice the radar dish is different in this film, because Lando knocked it off on their Death Star run in the Battle of Endor. The ship also looks proportioned a bit differently, as well. It looks like it's been on a diet, and is slimmer through the whole of the ship. Looks great though.
And that's pretty much everything that I liked about the teaser. This has definitely piqued my interest, and the interest of millions of people around the world since it came out yesterday. Stay tuned for more!
