You guys seen the new Star Wars sizzle reel from Comic-Con? Oh, hell yeah!

#1

This increasingly gives me hope. Chills and thrills and unexpected tears.

Ho-leeeee shit.

#2

Fuck you man. I’m bawling right now. I’m literally overwhelmed.

I-… I just want this to be good sooo badly! But I don’t want to be hurt again. It’s tearing me apart man!

I…Guess, if Hamill is confident about it, that’s as good an indication as any.

AND THE REAL SETS! ALL THOSE REAL SETS! And the miniatures! And creature effects. They’re doing it right!

#3

For once in our lives, pure market forces are in favor of a top-quality Star Wars movie with all of what you want, and none of what you don’t. Consider: Disney paid $4 billion for Lucasfilm. They certainly want to maximize return on their investment. And everyone at Disney (in addition to J.J. Abrams) has had full, unfettered access to the Internet since the craptastic prequels came out. They’ve read all the feedback. They know how much more beloved the old movies are than the prequels. They know exactly what we hated about George’s missteps. And look at how they’re addressing them: practical sets! Puppets and miniatures instead of CGI! And George’s worst problem was always a crappy script coupled with indifferent direction of his actors. So they bring in Lawrence Kasdan (co-writer of the best of the old movies) to write the script, and they hire a guy who can direct actual actors, and was a dyed-in-the-wool Star Wars fan since childhood.

Disney also knows that we disgruntled old-school Star Wars fans are the ones with the money to spend on tickets. They know that no matter what they do, we’ll take our kids to see a Star Wars movie once, no matter how lame it is. But they also know that if they don’t disappoint us, we’ll go see it many times more.

We kinda can’t lose here. I’m still keeping my expectations managed (honestly I am), but as far as I can tell so far, all indications show that they’re doing everything exactly right.

#4

You guys seen the new Star Wars sizzle reel from Comic-Con?

no, and I ain’t gonna!

I’m going to walk into the theater, the lights will dim, and I’m gonna watch the motherfucker start-to-finish.

this modern cycle of leaking trailers at intervals over the course of the production is wack to me. I didn’t really even like trailers in the pre-internet days, though, so maybe it’s just me. but seeing a movie based on word-of-mouth or because of a certain director without having seen any of the promotional clips and it turns out that it’s a good movie is doubly good–you get to discover the whole thing and have the story told to you from scratch.

I don’t need any promotion for this film, I already know I’m going to go. I want to be surprised–good or bad.

#5

I’d say his worst problem with the prequels, is that instead of telling a story, with a protagonist, he tries to tell six stories simultaneously with no protagonists, several villains (who are clowns and don’t really have any sense of malevolence), and then tries to replace any semblance of story with, essentially an after school special about how loving anyone only causes bad things to happen.

#6

For what it’s worth, this particular reel isn’t a trailer as such, and doesn’t indulge in the recent trend of trailers giving away major plot points. It’s mostly some behind-the-scenes work, with nifty shots of the cast (both old and new) in and out of character and makeup. It’s surprisingly affecting to hear and see Mark Hamill with a grey beard and a gravelly old-man voice, and to recognize dear old friends like Peter Mayhew, Tony Daniels, Warwick Davis, Harry Ford and a quick glimpse of Carrie Fisher. And it’s fun to see the naked excitement of Simon Pegg (that’s Simon Pegg, right?), Daisy Ridley, and John Boyega for the experience and for the old-school way they’re shooting it. On film, no less! With rubber monsters and latex appliances! And practical explosions!

But I get where you’re coming from. I, myself, am a big fan of trailers and always have been. To quote Jamie Lee Curtis, “These previews were often better than the movies themselves, and with good reason. Even the worst films should have enough good footage to create two or three exciting minutes.” I’m not a fan of trailers that give away too much plot, but a well-crafted trailer is, to me, always a delight.

But I really enjoyed this particular clip, even though I really have no idea what’s gonna happen in Episode Seven. Except I think at some point a TIE fighter must have crashed.

#7

My biggest beef was how he tried to tie every last character together like an incestuous interstellar version of Our Town.

Seriously, a completely stock off-the-rack protocol droid like C-3PO was built from spare parts by a youthful Darth Vader? Lucas, please.

#8

I still love the shot from the first teaser with the X-wings flying over the lake.

In the orig-trige, you never got a feel for the speed and mass of the X-wings. They were either in space and floaty (most likely by necessity since they’re tiny models on sticks), or the shot was from inside the cockpit, and sure the scenery’s going by fast, but it’s not the same.

But the X-wings flying over the lake, vibrating with the turbulence of the atmosphere, kicking up sweet rooster tails. Pulling a low-g turn that’s actually realistic because 100G turns will liquify your bones. The streamers coming off the trailing edge of the Falcon, these details make a big difference in immersion, but they’re not going to make the movie great. But they get me excited beyond belief.

They’re paying attention to details!

#9

Guess I know what I’m doing for Life Day this year!

#10

I am looking forward to this, and I really, really hope Han is played as an old, tired adventurer. Kind of a homage to Sean Connery in Last Crusade. Han doesn’t fly the falcon to save the day, he complains while his side kick flies the falcon and saves the day.

#11

“After the whole carbonite… incident, I haven’t seen so well… She said my sight would return in time. But I guess it doesn’t all come back to ya. DAMMIT CHEWIE! I SAID GIVE ME THE HYDROSPANNER!”

#12

Looks like Pesco’s put it on the front page, so for further discussion…

#13

The first minute of music is by Philip Sheppard, a supremely talented composer although full disclosure he is my brother-in-law… Philip Sheppard scores Star Wars trailer

#14

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