Star wars episode 7 trailer

[Revelation]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOVFvcNfvE

So, there it is. Our first look at the new Star Wars.

While i'm leery given the prequel series feeling lackluster, my inner child is really excited at pretty much everything we see there.

[consortium11]

Giving a lightsaber a crossguard strikes as an excuse to cut your own hand off... and that design doesn't even seem to protect  the hand (as the beams don't connect meaning an opposing lightsaber would slide now the crossguard then chop the lightsaber (and likely hand) in two.

Anyway, of course I'm excited; it's a new Star Wars film. While I may not be the biggest fan of J. J. Abrams he's generally a solid director and for me did a fairly decent job of the Star Trek remakes (although I know a lot of Trekkies hate them) so I expect the film to be better than the prequals if somewhat generic and not necessarily capturing the essence of Star Wars.

[Inkidu]

You know, people are probably going to say these are good to awesome, and I'm going to tell you why. This looks more like the Star Wars of so many peoples' childhoods that it hits all the neat little nostalgia points.

Still excited though.

[Vorian]

Honestly, between that droid, that speeder design, the weird and pointlessly dangerous lightsaber, and the lack of any real content aside from that, I'm not impressed so far. I want to like this movie, but they're going to have to bring their A game to make a reboot worthwhile for me and none of that was it.

Anyway, of course I'm excited; it's a new Star Wars film. While I may not be the biggest fan of J. J. Abrams he's generally a solid director and for me did a fairly decent job of the Star Trek remakes (although I know a lot of Trekkies hate them) so I expect the film to be better than the prequals if somewhat generic and not necessarily capturing the essence of Star Wars.

Thing is the Trek reboot felt more like Star Wars than Star Trek. If that's any indication of his style I expect Star Wars will be a better fit for him.

[Revelation]

The crossguard is dumb, but there have been stupider things in star wars so I can look over that.

[Ryven]

Yeah, it was the crossguard that did it for me.  I don't see the point.  It's like reinventing the wheel.

[Lustful Bride]

I am very excited and very curious to see how thigns have progressed in this AU since the fall of the empire.

[SapphireStar]

I've heard that everything from the Expanded Universe, novels and comics, novels mostly are all considered non-canon. I'm on the fence about the movie, more so about the story then action. I like J. J. Abrams as a director. He does action pretty good.

[consortium11]

Thing is the Trek reboot felt more like Star Wars than Star Trek. If that's any indication of his style I expect Star Wars will be a better fit for him.

As a non-Trekkie I can't really comment too much on whether he captured the nature of Star Trek or not (although from reading what Star Trek fans say it seems he didn't) but my thought pattern is basically this; Phantom Menace wasn't just a bad Star Wars movie, it was also just a bad movie. The JJ Star Trek reboot may have led to bad Star Trek movies but to me they were decent movies (by popcorn flick, Sci0fi standards).

I've heard that everything from the Expanded Universe, novels and comics, novels mostly are all considered non-canon. I'm on the fence about the movie, more so about the story then action. I like J. J. Abrams as a director. He does action pretty good.

Everything that isn't mentioned in the "official" sources (the main movies and TV shows being the biggest) is non-canon but it's been made clear that the writers are free to grab pretty much anything they like for the non-canon AU to stick into the "official" stories.

[RubySlippers]

Honestly, between that droid, that speeder design, the weird and pointlessly dangerous lightsaber, and the lack of any real content aside from that, I'm not impressed so far. I want to like this movie, but they're going to have to bring their A game to make a reboot worthwhile for me and none of that was it.

Thing is the Trek reboot felt more like Star Wars than Star Trek. If that's any indication of his style I expect Star Wars will be a better fit for him.

The lightsaber is no sillier than the light staff or the light whip both of which seem as dangerous or the prolonged light saber duels where neither opponent seems to want to really kill the other person (like pro-wrestling where its all staged to look good). Just don't hit your hand with the cross guard. Duh!

For me it depends on lots of factors though like how the trilogy plot looks but it seems to me a dark force user may be backing the remaining Imperial forces for a come back and they mean business.

[Inkidu]

You know, considering it's a red lightsaber and they're wielded by evil people nine out of ten times, the cross-guard might be more like the metal spikes on claymores. The idea might be to stab someone in the face with it quick and dirty, not block with it. :P

The lightsaber has always run on rule of cool anway, this just makes it look more European than Japanese. :P

[Mathim]

I was disappointed to see newcomer John Boyega only being on screen for a brief moment, and what was weirder was seeing him what looked like Storm Trooper garb. Aren't they all supposed to look like Jango Fett under there? Anyway, let me just say this for those who haven't: Please do yourself a favor and watch Attack the Block. It'll give you a reason to look forward to Boyega's performance. Seeing at least one other thing a new actor is in usually helps us warm up to them, and on top of that, Attack the Block is another kick-ass sci-fi movie. Also, those unfamiliar with certain accents will benefit from getting a little used to how Boyega speaks in case he doesn't use some other accent in episode 7.

[Lustful Bride]

I was disappointed to see newcomer John Boyega only being on screen for a brief moment, and what was weirder was seeing him what looked like Storm Trooper garb. Aren't they all supposed to look like Jango Fett under there? Anyway, let me just say this for those who haven't: Please do yourself a favor and watch Attack the Block. It'll give you a reason to look forward to Boyega's performance. Seeing at least one other thing a new actor is in usually helps us warm up to them, and on top of that, Attack the Block is another kick-ass sci-fi movie. Also, those unfamiliar with certain accents will benefit from getting a little used to how Boyega speaks in case he doesn't use some other accent in episode 7.

Only a certain percentage of Stormtroopers are clones. The rest are people who join up.

[Mathim]

Only a certain percentage of Stormtroopers are clones. The rest are people who join up.

Ah. Didn't know that. Thought those who weren't clones would be dressed more like the dudes in black, such as the dude who got choked by Vader for his disturbing lack of faith. Still, anyone who hasn't ditched the porcelain look must not have got the memo about the Empire falling.

I forgot to mention, although I'm not terribly emotionally invested in the series (completely stopped caring after Revenge of the Sith made me fall asleep) I'm still concerned about Disney fucking it up even though the only Marvel pic (their biggest cash cow at the moment) they've allowed to be complete crap was Iron Man 3. Everything since then has been a vast improvement so let's hope they've learned their lesson.

[Vorian]

I was disappointed to see newcomer John Boyega only being on screen for a brief moment, and what was weirder was seeing him what looked like Storm Trooper garb. Aren't they all supposed to look like Jango Fett under there? Anyway, let me just say this for those who haven't: Please do yourself a favor and watch Attack the Block. It'll give you a reason to look forward to Boyega's performance. Seeing at least one other thing a new actor is in usually helps us warm up to them, and on top of that, Attack the Block is another kick-ass sci-fi movie. Also, those unfamiliar with certain accents will benefit from getting a little used to how Boyega speaks in case he doesn't use some other accent in episode 7.

I would speculate that the Empire switched to recruits from the general population either sometime between the prequels and the original trilogy like they did in the original EU, or after Return of the Jedi due to no longer having the resources to purchase clone soldiers. Still, I'm a bit surprised to see him in an Imperial uniform - there's some fairly heavy racism in the Empire, both explicit and implied.

[Mathim]

I would speculate that the Empire switched to recruits from the general population either sometime between the prequels and the original trilogy like they did in the original EU, or after Return of the Jedi due to no longer having the resources to purchase clone soldiers. Still, I'm a bit surprised to see him in an Imperial uniform - there's some fairly heavy racism in the Empire, both explicit and implied.

It's a good explanation, although I don't buy that they weren't able to muster as many clone soldiers as they wanted. "Hi, Kamino people, we're the Empire. We just wiped out all the Jedi so there's basically nothing stopping us from making you guys extinct too. Oh, and we're only a few years away from being able to just blow up your little water balloon planet here, but maybe we'll play nice if you keep on making our clones like you've been doing. Or at least showing us how to do it ourselves so we can set it up on our own territory."

And I don't know what you're talking about with the racism bit, I would attribute that to Lucas more than Palpatine.

[Inkidu]

I would speculate that the Empire switched to recruits from the general population either sometime between the prequels and the original trilogy like they did in the original EU, or after Return of the Jedi due to no longer having the resources to purchase clone soldiers. Still, I'm a bit surprised to see him in an Imperial uniform - there's some fairly heavy racism in the Empire, both explicit and implied.

What? Maybe in the expanded universe, but at most it's human-centric. I'm not sure if xenophobic applies in a universe so large with so many races. I don't think the Empire by in large doesn't bother with the racism here on Earth.

[Mathim]

What? Maybe in the expanded universe, but at most it's human-centric. I'm not sure if xenophobic applies in a universe so large with so many races. I don't think the Empire by in large doesn't bother with the racism here on Earth.

Oh, I misunderstood race. Kinda like that Klingon in one of the Star Trek movies called the use of the word 'humanity' racist.

[Vorian]

It's a good explanation, although I don't buy that they weren't able to muster as many clone soldiers as they wanted. "Hi, Kamino people, we're the Empire. We just wiped out all the Jedi so there's basically nothing stopping us from making you guys extinct too. Oh, and we're only a few years away from being able to just blow up your little water balloon planet here, but maybe we'll play nice if you keep on making our clones like you've been doing. Or at least showing us how to do it ourselves so we can set it up on our own territory."

And I don't know what you're talking about with the racism bit, I would attribute that to Lucas more than Palpatine.

There's explicit racism to non-humans, and extending from that and the fact that the Imperial officers and technicians are all white implies that extends to some degree to human ethnicities. You could simply attribute that to real world racism and ignore the on screen implications, but to me it stood out as suggestive of an in-universe retcon or change in Imperial policy. Might just be my read on things, but between that and the clone thing is struck me as a bit odd.

[Inkidu]

Honestly I think it's reading too much into the story to say racism when most imperial officers are white. The hero and the warrior of this little myth are white too. :P

I don't think a male-centric view of the empire is too far off though.

My personal theory for why the empire didn't stick with clones is three reasons:

Expensive as hell. Galaxy-wide conscription is much cheaper.
They didn't want to keep pumping cash into a planet providing them with soldiers. "Let's keep paying the people for our army." Part point one, I guess.
They didn't want someone else to slip another Order 66 in there.

[Vorian]

Honestly I think it's reading too much into the story to say racism when most imperial officers are white. The hero and the warrior of this little myth are white too. :P

I don't think a male-centric view of the empire is too far off though.

Probably. I have a habit of doing that sometimes.

[Mathim]

There's explicit racism to non-humans, and extending from that and the fact that the Imperial officers and technicians are all white implies that extends to some degree to human ethnicities. You could simply attribute that to real world racism and ignore the on screen implications, but to me it stood out as suggestive of an in-universe retcon or change in Imperial policy. Might just be my read on things, but between that and the clone thing is struck me as a bit odd.

Given that this is still pervasive today (I couldn't believe how much shit people were giving Benedict Cumberbatch about being cast as Doctor Strange because he was, surprise surprise, white just like practically every other major player in the Avengers) I wouldn't read too deeply into the in-universe stuff, though, it seems more like a behind-the-camera cause by far. I mean, they got James Earl Jones to do Vader's voice alone, never making an actual on-screen appearance.

[Inkidu]

James Earl Jones wasn't exactly tall either. :P

Plus, Billy Dee Williams is probably enough cool for the whole freaking Galaxy. :3

[Mathim]

James Earl Jones wasn't exactly tall either. :P

Plus, Billy Dee Williams is probably enough cool for the whole freaking Galaxy. :3

He's cool, no doubt, but most would still disagree that there was 'enough' of a non-white proportion of the cast. Of course they do go too far in this by pandering, like in the American version of Death at a Funeral, so all things in moderation.

[SapphireStar]

After Palpatine came to power, they did create an Imperial Academy on Carida. It was prestigous to go there. Which is where Han Solo was before he became a smuggler and was where he met Chewie rescuing him where he was a slave. It was rare that there was a non-human within the Empire. Even women were treated unequally. The few who stood out were Grand Admiral Thrawn, a Chiss, who was featured in the Timothy Zahn books, and Admiral Daala from the trilogy books where Luke was establishing his Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. Daala was mentioned to have been Tarkin's mistress.

Though some of the rumors I have been hearing leaving me a bit confused. Luke exiled? Palpatine is back? Does this mean that events of Return of the Jedi are excluded? Or, are they using story elements involving Palpatine resurrecting through the use of clones of himself from the Dark Horse comic?