Theatrical poster, the last The Force Awakens trailer, and release dates
This article contains spoilers and speculation.
Theatrical poster and movie premier information on the Official Site is here: http://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-force-awakens-theatrical-poster-first-look-in-theater-exclusives-and-more
The movie tickets are now on sale worldwide, about two months before the movie’s release (see the end of this article for a link to specific release dates by country). The above article also includes information on cinema theaters in the United States and Canada participating in Star Wars marathon events, as well as other promotions. Can you sit through the first two trilogies straight without losing the will to stay for TFA?!
Teaser to the trailer (an expansion of one of the trailer scenes) is here: https://youtu.be/k8ueMlJN26M
The trailer itself on the Official Site’s YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/sGbxmsDFVnE
John Boyega’s reaction: https://instagram.com/p/9DN_LbsCtp/
Daisy Ridley’s reaction: https://instagram.com/p/9CzDvblE6W/
I could break down the trailer in a shot-by-shot analysis, but other people are much better at it.
Read this by Lucy O’Brien on IGN, with slightly fewer spoilers (includes text, pictures, and a video): http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/10/20/dissecting-the-final-force-awakens-trailer-ign-rewind-theater
And this by io9, which is more up-to-date on spoilers (includes text with many GIFs): http://io9.com/heres-a-shot-by-shot-breakdown-of-all-the-goodies-in-th-1737486310
My questions and predictions that should be answered in The Force Awakens:
IGN and io9 seem to disagree whether that female voice-over in the end of the trailer is Leia or Maz Kanata (the alien pirate played by Lupita Nyong’o), though both do agree that in the beginning it’s Maz Kanata. If Force facts have faded into obscurity, how would Maz know about them? Is it because she sees the lightsaber and realizes that at least some stories are true? Is she some sort of Force mystic?
Does Rey really think she is “no one”? She appears to have a similar life and background to Luke’s, but not even he was that negative. What’s the context?
Does Finn even know how to use a lightsaber? I’m sure there’s not much choice when he has to defend himself, but is there any way he can possibly win that fight? Does he receive training sometime earlier?
From behind, Kylo Ren appears unmasked in that lightsaber scene with Finn (it looks like his hair is out). Can he not breathe in that thing? Will we see his face?
BB-8 seemed to belong to Rey, but he also flies as an X-wing astromech. Does he belong to Poe first? Is there any reason people lug their astromechs on long walks?
What kind of guy is Leia’s protocol droid, PZ-4C0? Will he/she build on the theme of droid sentience? Will there be bickering with C-3PO?
Does the shot with Captain Phasma take place on Sullust (with the dark rocky environment, as seen in the new Battlefront game)? Will we see more Sullustans like Nien Nunb in Return of the Jedi?
Will Rey have fifty billion wardrobe changes like Padme or very few like Leia? I’m guessing the latter — the sequels are retaining a lot of the Original Trilogy style and in this case I think they will continue the tradition of Leia changing costume for the middle and/or conclusion of the movie to reflect an overall change. Therefore I’m predicting that the final scene in TFA will show Rey’s change from a desert scavenger to … something else. (A Jedi? Resistance soldier?)
The first movie of both previous trilogies saw the death of a leading Jedi character in a lightsaber fight. Who will die in this movie? There aren’t many Jedi to choose from anymore, and I doubt the main villain or either of the young protagonists will go. Will someone die from a lightsaber situation regardless? There are rumors but I need not go any farther with that here.
Whose work is Kylo Ren, a J.J. Abrams-described Darth Vader fanatic, attempting to finish? The clips imply it’s Vader’s work (or Palpatine’s, or the Empire’s/First Order’s in general), so maybe it’s a finished Death Star, the defeat of the Rebels (now called the Resistance), or the extermination of the Jedi. Luke is still out there.
Will the accents perpetuate movie stereotypes? John Boyega seems to use an American accent, while Daisy Ridley still sounds English. I was hoping to see actors use accents without regards to their characters’ personalities or good/evil alignment, and these seems to maintain a good variety despite some actors not using their natural accents (also, an American Imperial and a desert scavenger with RP sound like a cool reversal). Then there was this article about Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson using an English accent for a villain, after all — though Gleeson was probably joking: http://www.gamesradar.com/domhnall-gleeson-says-star-wars-general-hux-merciless/
Questions which will hopefully be answered sometime in the Sequel Trilogy if not in TFA:
Luke is missing from the theatrical poster and, apparently, from most of the galaxy. He will clearly play some role, but how much? Does he care about his father’s first lightsaber? Also, Luke chopped Vader’s hand off with its lightsaber, too. Does he have the weapon? Will the two lightsabers someday fight each other, Light vs. Dark? Red vs. Blue?
Did certain events of the Galactic Civil War, such as Luke’s actions as a Jedi, fall into legend? Apparently Han has to explain to Rey and Finn that certain aspects (Jedi and the Force) are in fact true. Perhaps the in-universe news media was censored, or news just didn’t travel far. How many people, even Rebels, ever knew Luke was a Jedi, anyway? Or that he’s Leia’s brother and Vader’s son?
Finn, Rey (I’m no one), and Kylo all seem to have identity issues. Finn and Rey’s surnames have been intentionally withheld, and Kylo Ren is confirmed as not being his original name. Are all three of them Skywalker relations in some way? (My strange hope is that either none of them are or all of them are.)
The Force Awakens will have its Los Angeles premiere on December 14; theater showings in different countries will begin on various dates, including: December 16 in France and South Africa, December 17 in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and December 18 in Canada and the United States. Check this link for the release date in your country: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2488496/releaseinfo
–Victory-class Woman
