By Anastasia Kadiyala
Arts Reporter
Star Wars, the fourth highest grossing film franchise worldwide, recently released a trailer for the long-awaited seventh installment, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The Force Awakens is set to be released in December 2015. The movie is set thirty years after Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi.
Since the first Star Wars movie premiered in 1977, many advancements have been made in the film industries, especially with special effects. Fans of the movie have said that, based on the trailer, the new Star Wars movie looks much flashier and all the stunts and effects look much more realistic than in previous movies.
“I could tell that they had made things a lot more fancy: a big improvement from the previous movies, but I hope they stay true to the older movies, and don’t change it too much,” sophomore Peter Stephens said.
Previously, the franchise’s special effects have had faults, and in some scenes the green screen was visible.
“With all of the funds invested in the movie, and all the advancements in this field, I think the the special effects will be much better than previous movies. I don’t think this one will have any stale green screen effects, like in a few occasions in the old movies,” sophomore Sammy Burnham said.
The franchise has changed how the iconic lightsaber looks from the previous movies, and now rather than having one singular blade, there are two additional smaller blades coming out from the sides.
“I saw that they had changed the look of some things up, like the lightsaber,” Burnham said. “But I hope that they keep the movies like the old ones were.”
The trailer did not leave much insight on the plot of the movie, or who many of the new character were, leaving fans with many questions.
“The trailer was definitely a teaser, and there are still a lot of things left to be asked, like what’s going to happen next?” Stephens said. “I could tell that they were trying to keep some of the things the same.”
Many of the original cast members are returning for the new movie, such as Carrie Fisher (as Princess Leia), Mark Hamill (as Luke Skywalker), and Harrison Ford (as Han Solo).
To replace non-returning actors, the franchise hired Crystal Clarke and Pip Andersen as two new characters.
“The Star Wars saga are such old movies, and all the new actors have big spots to fill,” Burnham said.
The last Star Wars movie was released in May of 2005, a ten year difference between release dates, arousing anticipation and excitement for all the fans of the franchise.
Trailer Link: http://www.starwars.com/films/star-wars-episode-vii-the-force-awakens
