Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Same, that looked weak. Sounds like Benedict Cumberbach's voice in the trailer. That light saber looks cool but wonder what the purpose of the two lateral beams are, maybe it has an advantage in close combat when both users are close to each other.

Should we have a separate Star Wars topic, bet there'll be a lot to discuss in the months to come!
 
Never been a Star Wars fan but i got to say, i'm pretty interested to see what Abrams will do with this franchise. Can't be as bad as the previous films.
 

Walter

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Aazealh said:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOVFvcNfvE

I'm not excited.

I don't blame you. There's nothing to be excited about in that teaser. It's indicative of nothing other than that a new Star Wars movie is coming. That narration was truly awful, though...

IncantatioN said:
That light saber looks cool but wonder what the purpose of the two lateral beams are, maybe it has an advantage in close combat when both users are close to each other.
More likely that's the lightsaber version of the guard on a longsword.
 
IncantatioN said:
Sounds like Benedict Cumberbach's voice in the trailer. That light saber looks cool but wonder what the purpose of the two lateral beams are, maybe it has an advantage in close combat when both users are close to each other.
Yeah that sure sounds like Benedict.
I'm sure that they wanted to add a new light saber design, so they came up with this variation. I don't really like it though.

Johnstantine said:
I thought it looked awesome. Can't wait!
Ditto, i'm really excited for this movie.
 
Kinda lackluster teaser it didn't hype me at all. Besides the Zweihander Dark Souls saber scene there wasn't any atmospheric shots to bring me into the Star Wars mood. Still it's nice seeing new Star Wars nonetheless.

Btw the "LightZweihander" (that's what I'm gonna call it from now) is not a new thing, I believe it's in a Star Wars book or comic so it's nice to see something new and a sword that would be quite handy in duels given the weight of Lightsaber vs LightZweihander probably isn't that different compared to a katana vs medieval style swords.
 

Walter

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JoeZeon said:
Still, that x-wing shot though.....

I thought that was actually the most informative shot we got, in terms of Abrams' interpretation of Star Wars. I liked it. Didn't care for anything else though.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Looks like the EU is strong with this one (the only significant reveal is confirmation that dumbsaber from the lowest depths of glorified EU fanfiction is real, yikes)! Due to them just having wrapped I wasn't expecting much and that's what was delievered (actually, it showed more than I thought, but just nothing important). It was sort of a throwback in that today usually trailers are more tightly produced than the films themselves, and this was clearly just what they had lying around. Almost like a fan trailer really, when I heard Cumberbatch I questioned whether I was watching the real thing. Anyway, there was an easy way to make this special, and that was to end it with old bearded Luke on screen, no fan could have resisted, but they went with a cgi B shot of the Millenium Falcon more reminiscent of the prequels than the flesh and blood they're supposedly trying to restore to the franchise. So, that was a missed opportunity to create a moment out of this. I mean, would that have been so hard or revealing (unless he's holding the dumbsaber and wearing spanx)? I'm not all down on it though, it looked like Star Wars and like I said I don't think this trailer is indicative of the final product either way; whether you were optimistic or skeptical, I didn't see anything to change your mind. The name is less stupid if the force has in fact been dorment or something for 30 years, but now the DAHRK SEYED has returned! :magni:
 

Aazealh

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Staff member
IncantatioN said:
Should we have a separate Star Wars topic, bet there'll be a lot to discuss in the months to come!

Alright.

IncantatioN said:
That light saber looks cool but wonder what the purpose of the two lateral beams are, maybe it has an advantage in close combat when both users are close to each other.
Joe Chip said:
I'm sure that they wanted to add a new light saber design, so they came up with this variation. I don't really like it though.
bandofthehawk (Salem) said:
That light saber has been in the star wars universe for a long time, just not in the movies.

Yeah I'm not a fan of that design either. It might have been in the EU but it's still terrible (the EU was scrapped for a reason :iva:). A traditional guard is meant to protect the hands and to lock the opponent's sword, but here because of how a lightsaber works it has a big design flaw: the cross-section for the guard, the place the opposite blade naturally comes to rest in, is vulnerable...

asic said:
the "LightZweihander" (that's what I'm gonna call it from now)

This doesn't look particularly like a Zweihander... It just has a guard.
 

Walter

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Griffith said:
Anyway, there was an easy way to make this special, and that was to end it with old bearded Luke on screen, no fan could have resisted, but they went with a cgi B shot of the Millenium Falcon more reminiscent of the prequels than the flesh and blood they're supposedly trying to restore to the franchise.

God, you're right... even my cold heart would have been swayed for that.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Aazealh said:
Yeah I'm not a fan of that design either. It might have been in the EU but it's still terrible (the EU was scrapped for a reason :iva:). A traditional guard is meant to protect the hands and to lock the opponent's sword, but here because of how a light saber works it has a big design flaw: the cross-section for the guard, the place the opposite blade naturally comes to rest in, is vulnerable...

Yeah, purely decorative, and it could have worked if it were just a regular lightsaber handle with two extra beam holes on the sides with little metal hand guards underneth, protecting the users hands and the handle from other lightsabers; they could have even played around with the lengths and which one is the "primary" blade at any given time). Btw, notice how the blade looks all rough around the edges too? Clearly a less refined lazer metal! I can't wait for the light-Dragon Slayer and light-nunchuks.

Walter said:
God, you're right... even my cold heart would have been swayed for that.

Yeah, that should have been a no-brainer, it was basically all I was expecting out of this. That's the most worrisome indicator here concerning their decision-making (though Abrams has proved surprising unsavvy with marketing in the past, e.g. Khan). The only decent explanation is they didn't want to cash in that chip already, but fuck that I'd go to that well early and often. It's like they're trying to minimize the hype.
 

Aazealh

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Griffith said:
It's like they're trying to minimize the hype.

Well it is still a year away, so I can see why they'd want to wait till, say, Q2 2015 before showing some of the real goodies.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Aazealh said:
Well it is still a year away, so I can see why they'd want to wait till, say, Q2 2015 before showing some of the real goodies.

Sounds like the Lakers strategy this year, "Don't go for the slam dunk!" I just don't know if they're aiming low to manage expectations like you say or if they really think this IS awesome. I think they think they can get away with anything marketing-wise and it'll work, and they're probably right (in any case it's unimpressive by today's standards, and I would have seized the moment). Also, more importantly for future returns, now I worry the reason they didn't reach for that piece of low hanging fruit is they've already picked a lower one and Luke is in that Darth Maul 2.0 costume, possessed by the awakened ghost of Siddius or something! :troll:
 
I was reading another thread where they hypothesized a few reasons for that light saber. The first idea is that it is meant to be a guard but the emitter is inside and not in any danger of being damaged by an opposing saber. The protrusions on the sides of the saber are acting as protection for the wielder so as to not accidentally slice his hand in half. The other idea was perhaps this is an ancient, custom, or amateur job and the saber requires venting because it is over powered and the creator improvised this solution.


I'm a big fan of redlettermedia, especially their reviews of the prequels. Not everyone's cup of tea but I highly recommend them as they take the films to task in a straight up film analysis while being very entertaining. I also enjoyed The People Vs. George Lucas. I am anticipating the film just because I think it has to be better than the prequels and i can watch Star Wars again without getting angry!
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
buttonmasher said:
I was reading another thread where they hypothesized a few reasons for that light saber. The first idea is that it is meant to be a guard but the emitter is inside and not in any danger of being damaged by an opposing saber. The protrusions on the sides of the saber are acting as protection for the wielder so as to not accidentally slice his hand in half. The other idea was perhaps this is an ancient, custom, or amateur job and the saber requires venting because it is over powered and the creator improvised this solution.


I'm a big fan of redlettermedia, especially their reviews of the prequels. Not everyone's cup of tea but I highly recommend them as they take the films to task in a straight up film analysis while being very entertaining. I also enjoyed The People Vs. George Lucas. I am anticipating the film just because I think it has to be better than the prequels and i can watch Star Wars again without getting angry!

If you want to watch Star Wars without getting angry, watch seasons 1-6 of Clone Wars.
 
I liked the shot of the X-wings.

The Millennium Falcon didn't do anything for me. I didn't like or dislike it.

I wasn't a big fan of the (I assume) Tatooine scenes. They remind more of Episode I's Tatooine than Episode IV/VI's Tatooine which isn't a good thing. I kind of wish the movie wouldn't revisit that planet. But the two people who shook up the Star Wars universe the most started on Tatooine so maybe they're giving a nod to that fact by having the new protagonist(s) start there?

For the record, I hate strongly dislike the new lightsaber design. :femto:

All in all, my level of excitement is "meh" right now. We will see how it goes when new information comes out.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
buttonmasher said:
I was reading another thread where they hypothesized a few reasons for that light saber. The first idea is that it is meant to be a guard but the emitter is inside and not in any danger of being damaged by an opposing saber. The protrusions on the sides of the saber are acting as protection for the wielder so as to not accidentally slice his hand in half.

4ZrWQ30.jpg


Look though, you see how the hilt itself isn't protected? It would be exceedingly easy for an adept opponent to cut through it.

Griffith said:
Yeah, purely decorative, and it could have worked if it were just a regular lightsaber handle with two extra beam holes on the sides with little metal hand guards underneth, protecting the users hands and the handle from other lightsabers

Yup.

Griffith said:
I just don't know if they're aiming low to manage expectations like you say or if they really think this IS awesome. I think they think they can get away with anything marketing-wise and it'll work, and they're probably right (in any case it's unimpressive by today's standards, and I would have seized the moment).

Well, like I told Walter yesterday, my two immediate male coworkers, who are not in any way big Star Wars fans, had noted the exact time the trailer was going up and proceeded to frantically search for it, declaring it awesome as soon as they'd seen it. Marketing and a big legacy will do wonders.
 
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