So the official trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens dropped during Monday Night Football. I have my tickets to the movie for three showings, came back home and have watched the trailer a few dozen times .. might be quickly approaching 100 views for me. I am that BIG a Star Wars fan. It's been with me my whole life, through the good times and the bad (that story is for another article - coming soon).
I decided to break this trailer up and give my 2-cents on what we are seeing here and some speculation on what I think it may all mean. A warning to all who are reading, from here on out, this is speculation, but could also be viewed by some as *Spoilers* - so be warned! Don't blame me if any of this comes true - I don't want a Wampa showing up at my door. Thanx ...
***NOTE*** after watching this a few dozen - maybe hundred more times, I have more to add. The additions will be after three *** I have also added one image still to this article. I did not put it in, as to not ruin anything because I believe it is a HUGE spoiler and it just broke my heart when I noticed it. However, now it is posted all over the internet anyways, so I have included this still and will talk about it later in this article.***
Here is the trailer in it's entirety, in case you have not seen it yet .. heheh - who hasn't!?
I am now going to break this thing up shot by shot (well shots that I think are important) and the lines that are said in the trailer and give what meaning to them that I see ...
Rey is shown here in her desert scavenger garb. The goggles are so freaking amazing! Very kool touch with the light on the side. Wouldn't it be awesome if there is an action figure that eventually comes out that lights up!? Hasbro 6" Black Series or a Disney Elite Series with lights and removable wrappings and goggles! Wow!
I feel like this scene is showing Rey entering the Star Destroyer that we all see in the trailers on Jakku. Perhaps this is not as ancient a battle as we all first thought .. maybe it is a more recent battle, and only crashed a few days to weeks ago and she is discovering it for the first time. This may be the first time she comes across and learns about the Dark Times and the Jedi and Sith. Is this where she finds Anakin's Lightsaber to start her on her journey, but then again, why would it be on a Star Destroyer and not on Bespin still? Does Finn have it and steal it from Kylo Ren when he defects from the Stormtroopers that we see chasing him on Jakku!?
Rey and BB-8 walking off into the desert on Jakku. In my opinion, this has to be after she gets BB-8 - or rescues him - from other scavengers. Perhaps she actually purchases him, like Luke and Owen did R2 & 3PO in A New Hope. We'll have to wait and see. We know from the toy packaging that BB-8 belongs to Poe Dameron, so does this mean that Poe crashes on Jakku in the battle with the Star Destroyer and for a while it is only BB-8 that is "functional"? Maybe Poe is unconscious or something and it is BB-8's mission to find help and comes across Rey and brings her to his aid - but only after running into Finn and getting tangled in all this mess that becomes The Force Awakens. The Force works in mysterious ways and it is my belief that she is a Skywalker or Solo and has the Force and will be able to use it once she is trained.
"Who are you!?"- Who is that speaking?... Leia? *** or someone else?***
What ship is this taking off from Jakku? Is it a Corvette? Corellian?
"I'm no one." Does this line mean that she doesn't think that highly of herself. A small person on a huge planet of ruff and tumble scavengers eaking out a living. Someone insignificant, who could never change the course of history? We all can only imagine, how wrong she is!
General Hux, Captain Phasma and the Stormtroopers of The First Order on what we now know is StarKiller Base. A Planet that has been converted into a super-weapon capable of destroying, not only planets, but entire star systems! Something more powerful than the Death Star!? How will The Resistance tackle this thing!? - let's all hope it doesn't have any small thermal exhaust ports! heheh.
"I was raised to do one thing ... " Finn Solo defecting from The First Order. Yes, I say Solo, because I really do believe he is going to be Han's child from a previous engagement ... or could he be a Calrissian? I would lean more towards a Solo because we see him with Anakin's Lightsaber - so it is my feeling that there is some Force within him .. but then again - if he isn't Leia's child, then how did he become Force sensitive? Perhaps there is more to reveal about Han's wife in the comic books!? ...
What is the "one thing"? - work for The First Order? - That is my guess. Then, perhaps, he sees something that disturbs him and causes his defection. Something that weighs on his conscious and something he knows deep down is just plain wrong and unjust. Much like the back story of Han, that we all know - when he rescued Chewbacca from Imperial enslavement.
We know from other trailers that it appears as though Finn steals a Special Forces Tie Fighter from one of the Star Destroyers in what I am calling, The Battle of Jakku. I believe this is him being blasted out of space and falling into Jakku's gravity-well. He crash lands on the planet and survives The First Order then sends more Tie Fighters after him to make sure he is dead. Maybe he knows something about the First Order that he shouldn't and they really want to make sure he keeps his mouth shut!? Like the Mafia Gangsters of old .. "Let's go out to the desert, Bobby, we'll have a nice long chat!" heheh.
"I've got nothing to fight for." We hear Finn saying this as he overlooks what I am going to say is the home of Rey - or at least where she will meet up with Finn. A desert scavenger town. Is this the outpost that Constable Zuvio presides over? But wait! - He already has the Resistance garb. That coat in his hands? Where does he get it? Is it Poe's coat? Maybe he does rescue Poe and has to go find help after landing... (more on this when we see Poe being tortured.)
"Nothing will stand in our way. I will finish ... what you started!" THAT VOICE! Wow! That's all I am going to say on that - just wow! Here we have Kylo Ren - Who is he? A Skywalker also? or a Solo twin? or maybe not a twin, but a brother to Rey? How did Kylo Ren come to know and use the Dark Side of the Force? - is he related at all to Luke, Leia and/or Han? He is shown here in a helmet that again, I will say, is clearly a cross between Revan and Vader. That is my theory only - I see they will be making a Darth Revan 6" Black Series because the fans love him so much - does this also mean that we will find out Revan is canon and was a real Dark Lord of the Sith in the past!?
We all know that Kylo Ren is collecting artifacts of the Sith and we now know from the comics that Palpatine had a vast collection of Sith and Jedi artifacts stashed away. Perhaps Revan's helmet was one of those artifacts and Kylo Ren has it, along with Vader's crusted and burnt out helm. He then modeled his helmet on two of the greatest Dark lords of them all. Or - that line may be saying it all - He reveres Darth Vader because Vader was his grandfather and he wishes to complete what his family started all those years ago. "... to bring order to the galaxy!"
Kyle Ren appears to be torturing Poe Dameron. It looks as if he is using The Dark Side of The Force to probe his mind - and not in a good way! Perhaps this changes my previous theory of Poe being crash landed and unconscious on Jakku. Maybe the capture and torture of Poe throws Finn off and he defects because of what he sees Kyle Ren doing to Poe. His loyal Astromech, BB-8 goes with Finn and they both end up in the Special Forces Tie Fighter and crash on Jakku. Or maybe, by order of Poe, BB-8 escapes the Star Destroyer that Poe is being tortured on and takes the X-Wing down on his own and crashes after Poe is captured. Or an escape pod? Then BB-8 is picked up by scavengers and Rey purchases him or rescues him. Maybe it is BB-8 that the first Order is really after and Poe had plans hidden in the droid to cripple StarKiller base!? At this point, this seems to be unfolding a lot like A New Hope, if ya ask me. Will we be watching a clone of a movie we have already seen?
"There were stories about what happened." A great shot of The Falcon being perused by a couple of Tie Fighters. "Just like old times!" Then a great shot of Finn and Rey on what appears to be a really updated Millenium Falcon - complete with new holographic displays ... or are those images coming from a Jedi Holocron!? Wouldn't that be awesome!? Holocrons are canon now because of Star Wars: Rebels, so it very well could be - and perhaps that is just one more thing Finn has with him, or something Rey has found that, together with Finn's recovered Lightsaber, leads her and Finn to Han Solo. Maybe the Holocron (if there is such a thing) has an old story of the Jedi and the Sith - prompting Han to say ...
"It's True .. All of it." A great shot of Han Solo. I am not sure where this would fit in yet. My best guess at this time is, We see that Finn is wearing a Resistance Trooper jacket - so does Han give him this and is Han already in with The Resistance and has been all this time, along with Leia? Would the next step be to bring the Lightsaber and The Holocron (if those holographic images are from a Holocron?) to Leia and then they go to search for Luke? Or is this a scene after everyone is together and closer to the final climactic battle we'll see at the end of the film? I am leaning towards the beginning and Han or someone gave Finn a change of clothes. I think we see Finn running in these clothes on Jakku. Plus, it seems like Rey is wearing her Jakku desert robes.
"The Dark Side ..." Two image stills of Kylo Ren and ... What!? Who!? It appears to be a whole army of men dressed up similar to Kylo Ren! Or are they Mandalorians - The Children of Mandalore? Is this our first glimpse at the Knights of Ren? I see a few wepaons here - looking like blaster rifles or pistols of some kind, but I also see a Force Pike or some such - could it be like the weapon we saw used by the IG-100 MagnaGuard Droids? Do any of these other "Knights" have bladed weapons like Kyle Ren, or is he the only one allowed to wield a Lightsaber? This brings back so many memories of The Knights of the Old Republic Video Game. We may yet have a battle of many Sith vs many Jedi - the battle all us fans have been waiting years to see live action on the big screen! Could we see the Knights of Ren all wielding Red Sabers against Luke, Leia, Rey and Finn? Here's hoping!
The battle between The Resistance X-Wings and the, about to be overwhelmed, First Order Stormtroopers! I hope they all know what is coming for them across that water .. heheh. Some great shots here! Sure to be an epic part of the film!
"... and the Jedi ..." Notice how Han says Jedi at the exact moment that Finn is the only one on the screen. Is that a hint? I think so. This is also a great scene of the comradery between Finn and Poe Dameron. Perhaps it is Finn who rescued him ... Maybe that Special Forces Tie had Finn and Poe inside. Poe, too weak to get out and Finn goes for help. We know it can hold two people ...
Another great shot of the battle. I am starting to see another mirror of A New Hope here - Could this be the final battle and StarKiller Base is fastly approaching The Resistance base? Will it be lurking in the distance on it's way to threaten to destroy their entire star system!? We'll all have to wait and see.
Oh. My. Gosh! Who or what is this droid!? So freaking kool! And where is this? Are those prayer flags? Jedi prayer flags? Honoring those fallen Jedi before them? Could this be a Jedi Temple on the planet where The Resistance has it's main base? Or is this just the entrance to said base and this droid is some kind of guard? In any case, I want me an action figure of this droid! I sooo hope this s a Jedi Temple. Is Luke here?
*** One more thing .. is that really a Mandalore symbol on one of the flags? ***
"... They're real."
*** This is the image I was talking about earlier. It shows Rey crying over a body. I don't really want to say who or what that body is, just in case you cannot figure it out and want to be surprised during the film when you watch it, but he is one of my top five favorite characters and if what this image is hinting at, is true, then I can see why she is crying and why the whole audience might be crying along-side her. HINT - notice the right side of the image - what does that look like strapped over the bodies shoulder!? I also think this image is a shot that comes after the next image here of Finn, Han and Chewie. I think this image of Rey crying is after a battle that takes place after Finn, Han and Chewie are rescued from whatever has their hands up.***
Notice Chewie is bandaged up... this also reminds me of Return of the Jedi, a little. They all think they have been caught, then someone pops up to rescue them! This time instead of "Chewie! Get down here, she's hurt ... " maybe it's "Luke! Get over here, Chewie's hurt!"
"The Force ... "
Uh Oh - Is that a trench, I see!? Again, another mirror to A New Hope. Will the bad guys ever learn!? There had better NOT be a thermal exhaust port at the end of that trench! If we really do see a clone of A New Hope here with this film, then I might be a bit upset that I bought tickets to three showings already .. heheh. Nah, they would not pull this again! I am sure this is all just to throw us off the track - that J.J. is a clever one...
"... It's calling to you."
Love seeing guys getting blasted into the air or blown out of the cockpits of Tie Fighters after impacting an asteroid .. heheh. Did that trooper lose a leg!?
Is this a welcome home hug? Missed you so much! Tears of joy and sadness. Or Is this a sad hug because she knows what Han is going up against and is afraid she may never see him again? Or has someone has died - A close friend? It looks to be before the battle we saw earlier in the trailer, due to all the pilots running around. So maybe it is a goodbye hug and she is sad to see him go because of the fear of losing him. Why does he always rush into things!?
*** Now I will say what I really think is going on here. Han lost his life-mate - his friend - his bodyguard - the one person in the galaxy that was always there by his side. Leia embraces Han, feeling his pain alongside her own.***
"... just let it in." Here we have it folks - Finn Solo using his Lightsaber - well, Anakin's Lightsaber. Maybe he will say something like, "I am a Jedi, Like my uncle before me!" heheh.
Look at the fear on Finn's face. Watch this scene close. There is true fear in his eyes when he comes upon Kylo Ren. "Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." How is Fin going to get out of this one with so much fear in his eyes? Will Luke come to his aid and finish off Kylo Ren? I, personally, hope there is another way out for Finn and we see Kylo Ren and Finn live through all three films ending in a final confrontation in episode IX! (I also hope Luke does not die .. please, please, please .. let Luke live and be a wise, old teacher for Finn - let's not "Obi-Wan" him. Again, could this be a mirror of A New Hope .. heheh.) One more thing ... just LOOK at that Lightsaber! Awesome or what!? Kylo Ren is THE BOMB!
I don't need to say another word. See you all in the theatres on December 17th and 18th!