The first movie I ever saw in the theater when I was 5 years old was the original Star Wars, now called A NEW HOPE. I don't hate the prequels, although I concede they are not great and they pale in comparison to the originals.
This whole new crop of things interest me, but not like they did when the prequels were coming out. The first teaser was good. The 2nd way better.
But THIS....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTNJ51ghzdY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTNJ51ghzdY
Now
THAT simple BTS pulled my heartstrings and has me truly excited about Star Wars again.
I have no doubt that this film (actually shot on celluloid no less) will dethrone TITANIC as #1 box office of all time.
I too first saw Star Wars when I was 5 years old, back when it was re-released in theaters in 1998.
Like many of us, the Star Wars films were the inception of our desire to make films, and they still sort of are for me, even now. I could not have been more pleased and excited with the first teaser trailer of Episode VII, not just because I got me pumped despite how little it showed, but "because" of how little it showed. Because I have been getting sick and irritated with how blatantly spoilerific trailers are these days. I'm sure in some ways trailers have always liked to show more than is necessary, even back in the 40s and 50s. But I think back in the day trailers used to have a sense of brevity, and said just enough to get your interest without showing you the entire plot in 2 minutes. Then-again, perhaps the problem is that we have far too many extended length "trailers" and not enough "teasers," and dedicated "teasers" for that matter: with content specifically shot just for it.
But I too was also surprised, impressed, and made just a little more confident in the work that J.J. is doing on the new Star Wars, when the Comic-Con reel was released. Because this is far more footage and reveals than I expected to see already. In some ways, I think it even ruins the magic a little bit, even though I know full well how films are made now that I've made them myself. But I think that alls shows a sort of vulnerability that the production is willing to expose, because they have confidence in their work and what they are doing, and this reel shows us that no matter what other things they may reveal in upcoming trailers and such, this thing is not going to disappoint like the last films did. They are ready and prepared to not let this one falter.
Do I think there's a chance that it could still end up more average and "okay" than the "UBER SPACE EPIC" that we all are hoping for? Of course I do. I think it's foolish in this day and age, and foolish at my own age (as an adult) to expect that everything is going to be super-special-awesome and will live up to everything the trailers seem to promise. And it's not because I've become jaded or that I've lost faith in the medium, but simply because I would rather keep my expectations realistic and leave the theater having gotten out of it all that I can, instead of leaving the theater feeling cheated that it didn't meet all of my bullet points.
Maybe Ep. VII will rekindle the magic of the original films like it so desperately wants to, and maybe it'll fall short of that. At the end of the day, I know that J.J. will have done his best. And no matter how the film turns out, I don't want to leave the theater this December saying that he failed to recaptured the magic. I'd rather leave saying, that was fun.
