'Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens' Trailer Analysis
Michael Moccio ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Executive Editor
The next trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens was released on Thursday at Star Wars: Celebration. Narrated solely by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the trailer gave us a lot of great visuals and hints at where the movie could possibly be going. There’s still a lot that we simply don’t know and probably won’t be revealed until we actually see the movie. For those of you who were a little confused watching the trailer, let’s take a step-by-step guide through it.
When the original trailer was first released, fans were convinced that this desert planet was Tatooine. As revealed earlier and now confirmed through twitter, this planet isn’t Tatooine, but a new one called Jakku. Not much is known about this planet, as it’s completely unique to the film and wasn’t introduced in the decades of Star Wars Expanded Universe canon (the books, comic books, and other non-movie material).
As revealed at the Star Wars: Battlefront panel at Star Wars: Celebration, Jakku has significance to this new and expanding student universe. In the aftermath of the fight on Endor, Rebels and Imperials fought on Jakku, which is where the fallen Star Destroyer comes from.
The dialogue going on during these images was directly from Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi, which is why Luke refers to his father in the present tense. There’s a clear theme of legacies going on in this trailer, as evidenced by Leia (supposedly) handing Darth Vader’s lightsaber onto another, presumably her daughter.
The new trio of main characters were featured nicely in this trailer. Rey’s role as a scavenger on Jakku seems like it will play into the movie heavily, especially now that we know Jakku is an important planet in the new Star Wars mythos. Ace pilot Poe Dameron gets a few seconds with his X-wing in the trailer and it’s clear that the space battles will be visually astounding.
The identity of the snowy planet is still in question. Best guesses include Hoth and Rhen Var. The Imperial insignia doesn’t look the same from the original trilogy, which means that the Empire has evolved since then. According to several articles since the trailer aired, the Empire has been renamed as “The First Order” and the Rebellion has been renamed as “The Resistance.”
One of the most striking aspects of the trailer is the special effects, especially of the vehicles. It’s surprising to see that thirty years in the future, everyone is still using the same model spacecraft—though there are noticeable differences in color schemes and materials used to make the ships. Judging by the TIE Fighters, X-Wings, and the Millenium Falcon, some of the best scenes will be from the space battles.
In an article by Uproxx, it’s been confirmed that Gwendolyn Christie is the actress behind the armor of the Chrome Stormtrooper. While it’s great to see an added diversity in the Star Wars cast, hopefully the writers and J.J. Abrams will remember that reactionary characters—characters who only exist to be the opposite of harmful tropes—are just as detrimental as one-dimensional characters.
The last shot of the trailer is Han and Chewie in the Millenium Falcon, with Han saying, “Chewie, we’re home.” While we don’t know anything about the context of the scene, Han perfectly captures the feeling that every fan watching the trailer will feel.