Anghus Houvouras on the five best things about the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer…
By now you’ve watched The Force Awakens teaser for the 7th installment of the world’s most iconic franchise. There were only snippets and pieces in this 88 second teaser, but there were a lot of things to like. Here’s the 5 Best Things about the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
5. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Voice Over
The voice over is effectively creepy, thanks to the actor with the most awesome voice since Orson Welles, Benedict Cumberbatch doing the honors. He’s been rumored to be involved with the production for awhile. I don’t know who he’s playing, or how big of a role it will be, but hearing his hair-raising, spine tingling growl in the trailer was enough to get me excited about what’s to come.
4. X-Wings on the Water
This was a quick bit without much context, but it reminded me of the amazing GameCube game Rogue Squadron. We’ve always seen the X-Wings as space vehicles in battles orbiting moons and rogue space stations. But space doesn’t seem to come into play in this teaser (more on that later). I like the idea of some land based fight mechanics.
3. There wasn’t a lot of stars in the Star Wars trailer
Did you notice how much of the teaser took place on the confines of planets rather than the outer depths of space? The Millennium Falcon flying on the surface of Tattooine battling TIE Fighters. The distinct lack of massive battle stations drifting in space or hyperspace jumping spaceships makes me think J.J. Abrams is making something terrestrial. Where we explore the planets and the landscapes of these worlds. For me, that would be an interesting direction to take the series.
2. That lightsaber has a hilt
It’s a cool shot, though I’ll be the first to admit that cool shots do not always equal an amazing cinematic experience. We saw a similarly cool shot in The Phantom Menace with Darth Maul and his double-bladed lightsaber and we all know how that turned out. The Jedi and/or Sith have finally figured out that a hilt would be fairly effective in lazer sword duels. Apparently after a millennia of wielding lightsabers, no one ever thought about sliding their weapon straight down and taking off their enemies wrists.
1. Hey! It’s Moses from Attack the Block
There weren’t a lot of ‘stars’ in the Star Wars teaser. No Harris Ford, no Mark Hamill, no Carrie Fisher. That tells me a lot. Especially when the first character you see is played by John Boyega. I love Attack the Block. Seeing John Boyega in the opening shot excited me because I’m infinitely more interested in the new heroes of the Star Wars Saga than the old bones of Harrison Ford being rolled back out. Abrams has done a great job with casting some new and exciting actors to the franchise. If there’s hope for The Force Awakens, it lies in the future of this story… not the past.
What did you think of The Force Awakens teaser?
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published November 29, 2014. Updated October 24, 2022.
