On The New Star Wars Video: Feeling That New Hope

The last time I talked about Star Wars here on GEEKPR0N I was talking about how it was made of mysteries. I thought that was what made the Old Trilogy so effective. You saw characters that died before you could get to know them more like Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even characters you didn’t ever see despite the lead up into thinking you would see them like Bail Organa on Alderaan. These are the stories that, at the time, could have been and it just added another layer to the story that we already had right in front of us. But there is more to Star Wars than mystery.

I eventually found out about the Old Trilogy when I was eleven or twelve years old. Before that, I’d only known about the Ewoks and Droids cartoons, but I never thought they were part of something much more potentially vast. Even so, I loved those stories as they conveyed that age and feeling that I couldn’t name at the time. Then, of course, I saw the Old Trilogy and that specific feeling exploded inside me more fiercely than an obliterated Death Star.

There’s nothing I can really say about the behind the scenes video of Star Wars Episode VII shown at the San Diego Comic-Con of 2015 that hasn’t already been said before. However, there is one thing I can tell you. A little while ago, Kevin Smith was invited onto the set of Episode VII and he described how he felt, without violating confidentiality, just how he felt to be there: especially when he came across the set of the Millennium Falcon.

I know that I’ve shown a lot of hesitation when thinking about more movies in the Star Wars universe after much of the disappointment inherent in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. I mean, as a fan I will be honest and say that I will be seeing these films no matter what, but that hesitation — in hoping to avoid more disappointment — is hard to overcome. But my reaction to this behind the scenes video of Episode VII drew on the interest I started to feel in the first full trailer of the movie and it hasn’t been until now that I’ve been able to name that feeling that I had when I first encountered and watched the Star Wars Old Trilogy.

Kevin Smith said it best when he stated that he felt wonder. He felt magic. This is precisely what I felt was missing from the Prequel Trilogy and even a lot of the work drawn from it. But when I did watch this behind the scenes trailer, I’m not sure how it happened really. Perhaps its because J.J. Abrams is insisting on the creation of actual sets and props. Maybe it’s due to the selective use of CGI that will hopefully be implemented to complement instead of overwhelm. Or it could be due to the use of real locations. And yes: the inclusion of the original cast is also a selling point.

But since the Sequel Trilogy and the Star Wars standalone films had been announced, I’m actually starting to feel a bit of that wonder again. I’m starting to really hope for the magic and the movies many of us have been really waiting for since the end of Return of the Jedi.

Yet more than that, watching this behind the scenes video of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens reminds of another feeling from my childhood that perhaps maybe of us could relate to. Han Solo himself said it, and is hopefully going to say, it best.

“Chewie, we’re home.”