Wherein I rant a bit about the Star Wars Trailer Thoughts and Reactions
So, tonight, the last Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens trailer was released. And right now, we have the clearest picture of what this movie is going to be about, the emotional tenor of the movie will be like. But, before I talk about that a little bit, and my response to the trailer, I figure I might as well drop it right here for context. Heck, why don’t I just set it to loop while you are reading? Yeah, you are welcome for that.
Last night when the trailer came out, all hell broke loose on pretty much every movie ticket website on the planet. Fandango was the one that giggled mercilessly under the sheer weight of people DOS’ing it as they scrambled like Zombies in World War Z to try to get to the top of the pile in order to come away with tickets. Here’s the error I was seeing throughout the night tonight.
Come on, points to Fandango for ingenuity in their error pages at least. Gotta make lemonade when you are making record numbers and your sites won’t stay up. Yeah, pretty much everyone was trashed throughout the night tonight. When I finally got in I snagged a handful of tickets for friends who I knew would be clueless about the tickets going on sale, but would still want to go.
But before we move on to my thoughts about the trailer – check out John Boyega’s response to the trailer…
I absolutely adore this response. This is a fan’s response. Not a huge huge star’s response to a movie that he is one of the most important characters in. I absolutely guarantee you that he flipped out at exactly this moment right here: 
And just for good measure – here is Daisy Ridley’s response to the trailer. These two actors just had their lives changed forever – that is for sure.
Staying in a little b’n’b with my friend… Set an alarm to watch the trailer… My friend filmed my reaction. Totally emotional seeing it for the first time and so so so incredibly awed to be part of this incredible legacy #starwars #theforceawakens A video posted by @daisyridley on
General Star Wars Trailer Thoughts
But that is all about buying tickets. Let’s talk a moment about that trailer, and what that thing did to me – and I’m sure a million other Star Wars Fanboys – the world over. And I’m sure there are probably a hundred different people out there right now doing a frame by frame breakdown of this trailer… but I would just like to say that it is so nice to finally get back to the baseline story of the Star Wars universe again. Instead of giving galactic Senate perspectives on the trade federation and the international blockades, we are finally seeing a ‘no one’ being called by the Force again to fight back the darkness.
This is a story that has sold millions of books, and made billions at the box office, because it is compelling. It is the single most compelling story out there. This is the reason I hate Star Trek… because of it’s populist message and universal equality message. Star Wars is a Knights of the Round Table story, wherein a pauper is called out of rags to his position as the rightful heir to the throne. Such a magical storyline. Who doesn’t like King Arthur?
But now, as we see in the trailer, the Jedis have gone into hiding. They have become myths and stories told like we tell of the legends of old today. And now they Jedis are needed again. Darkness is rising. But no one knows where they’ve gone. I have a feeling that the opening shot of the trailer probably has to do with a Rebel, or friend of the force of some sort hunting down relics of the old Jedis. Probably my guess is that they are looking for a light saber? Or some sort of hint as to where the Old Republic went? It could be Kylo Ren hunting down more artifacts? But it doesn’t matter specifically who it is or what exactly they are doing… all I know is that the old New Hope storyline is back on track.
We have a galaxy in ruin after the chaos of war…
We have new Star Wars battle lines being drawn…
We have new apprentices that will need to learn to master the Force…
We have old friends, ushering in the myths, and giving credence to the history and the power of the Force…
And many websites are talking about how J.J. Abrams is holding back Luke because of some unknown spoiler in the story line that we don’t know yet. That maybe he’s a bad guy? Or possibly gone lost, or dark? But I tell you right now, that this one shot right here, is Luke. I promise you that this is him…
And to a person, everyone that has watched this trailer, who has enjoyed Star Wars in the past comes away with one response… “Man, I’ve got goosebumps!” And right? Isn’t that what we want? A new line of movies for our own children to enjoy that are truly made whole from the real Star Wars cloth… not the backstories. But new legends. New stories of light and dark. Good and evil. We want to believe in something new again, and to share these stories with a new generation that is so easily encumbered by sarcasm and a lack of wonder. The internet culture has done serious damage to us all in this category. And to be able to share real wonder and awe about anything is beyond special.
So, to have a trailer for a movie, that sparks and kindles an entire world’s imagination? That is really something. I’ve already spent piles of money on tickets. I plan to spend piles more. You just can’t throw enough money at magic like that.