The first trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was released this morning — delivering some tantalizing new twists on the beloved science-fiction franchise.
As you might expect, I’ve already watched it twice. On a big screen, using my Chromecast.
Love the return of the Millennium Falcon. Intrigued by the light saber that has energy coming out of both sides of its hilt. The teaser trailer has just enough new, with a large dollop of homage to the original three movies, to appeal to fans praying that J.J. Abrams and Disney don’t screw this up — like Lucas did with his lame prequels.
And long-time Jedi watchers will note that most of the teaser trailer’s scenes appear to take place on Tatooine, the desert planet that’s been prominent (or mentioned) in each of the other six “episodes.”
I saw the original Star Wars film as a teenager a week before it was released, at the invitation of writer Harlan Ellison, with a group of science-fiction writers at the MGM/Academy screening room in Hollywood. We had no idea what to expect. What we saw was jaw-droppingly awesome. So I’m very much looking forward to this series sequel, even though it seems to have something like a podracer in one scene. At least there’s no sign of Jar Jar.
Star Wars Episode VII opens next year, in December 2015.
