This X-Wing is not modified but its based on first X-Wing Concept Art by Ralph McQuarrie

Rumour: 'Star Wars: Episode VII' to Feature Key Flashback Sequence, Villains Revealed
15 August 2014



This shouldn't be necessary, but here goes: spoilers ahead. Now with that said, these are just rumors, so always, take it with a grain of salt and the knowledge that things are subject to change. But onwards we go, as the latest buzz around "Star Wars: Episode 7" is pretty meaty, and concerns the villains and one sequence that...well, read on....

Latino Review is reporting that the villains in the movie, will be "The Inquisitors." If you're not up on your expanded universe lore, read more here, but it's interesting to note they are also the baddies in forthcoming, animated "Star Wars Rebels" (set five years before the original movie trilogy). Anyway, the main thing you need to know is that they are defenders of the Sith Order, and have been kicking around a long time. How long?

Well, as you might recall, the plot revolves around a band of young newcomers, along with Han Solo and Chewbecca, searching for Luke Skywalker who is being held captive. When they finally meet up with him, Skywalker will have a story to tell, that will launch a flashback sequence explaining the history of the Inquisitors and that's not all. The scene will feature a young Princess Leia (played by Carrie Fisher's daughter) and a brief appearance by — wait for it — Darth Vader.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/ ... d-20140815

Sounds promising!...

Upcoming 'Star Wars' Films Will Feature More Practical Effects and Less CGI
21 August 2014



As if it wasn't clear already, it sounds like the next trilogy of 'Star Wars' films is going to do its best to distance itself from the derided prequel trilogy of the last decade. We already knew that director J.J. Abrams planned to shoot 'Star Wars: Episode VII' on film (both 35mm and IMAX) rather than in digital, and it sounds like he's also planning to use more practical effects in the next film in addition to the inevitable CGI effects that will surely be necessary for a film of this scale.

Speaking on Grantland's podcast, director Rian Johnson (who will helm 'Star Wars: Episode VIII') said that Abrams' film will be more grounded in real world effects than its predecessors:

"They're doing so much practical building for this one. It’s awesome. I think people are coming back around to [practical effects]. It feels like there is sort of gravity that's pulling us back toward it. I think that more and more people are hitting kind of a critical mass in terms of the CG-driven action scene lending itself to a very specific type of action scene, where physics go out the window and it becomes so big so quick."

This isn't the first hint we've gotten that the new trilogy will pull back a bit from the CGI overload in the prequels — last year, details emerged that the film would feature plenty of on-location shoots and models from Lucasfilm's Industrial Light and Magic. More recently, Abrams has posted several on-set videos — one of which showed off some live-action alien costuming. Still, these are high-budget fantastical blockbuster films, so we're not expecting them to be entirely free of CGI.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/21/60535 ... e-less-CGI

time to change the forum title to Star Wars - The Force Awakens instead of VII?

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/

on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOVFvcNfvE

as SW fan i must admit i like all the chapters very much. i know, the recent movies could be a bit better but they told the context of the story very well.

but to see familiar ships, troopers and a more badass and aggressive lightsaber then Darth Maul i think this will work out very well

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser #2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngElkyQ6Rhs

BB-8 Droid from 'The Force Awakens' Rolls Out on Stage at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim
16 April 2015



The real BB-8 droid rolled out onto the Star Wars Celebration Stage during 'The Force Awakens' panel with JJ Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_K10fX9DSY

Original 'Star Wars' Stars and New Stormtroopers Appear at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim
16 April 2015



Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) appeared at 'The Force Awakens' panel with JJ Abrams during Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2015, along with three new cast members and new stormtroopers from the upcoming 'Episode VII' film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=222-yrMLZFs

'The Force Awakens' Facts: Fresh Characters, Old Vehicles and Revised Factions
17 April 2015



The new teaser trailer for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' is only part of the treasure trove of new information we have on the film. The Star Wars Celebration event has a big Force Awakens costume and concept art gallery, with some really tasty details. Among them are vague teasers about the new factions in the film. The six existing Star Wars movies (and many related stories) have charted the fall of the Galactic Republic, the rise of the Empire that followed, and the Rebellion that fought the Empire to a standstill in Return of the Jedi.

But those two factions have evolved into The First Order and The Resistance. In addition to that info, we have some other character details thanks to official art and costumes, and a few other tidbits that dropped during Celebration panels. We’ll hand over all these Force Awakens facts below.

First up, let’s talk about the two main factions as we know them: The First Order, and The Resistance. Some of the players in this part of the game you’ll know by their familiar designs, but there are some tweaks that suggest other differences.

The First Order

The remnants of the Empire have rebranded themselves, and are now called The First Order. Combined with the very fascist inspired display we saw in the teaser that’s some pretty ominous stuff. But it gets worse: there are new troops, including a Flame Trooper whose only job is to burn enemies alive. Overall, the redesigned Stormtroopers, which “enforce the will of the First Order,” are clearly based on Empire designs, but also appear to no longer be clones. Does that mean they’ll be more fearsome overall?

And this doesn’t even get into the new TIE Fighter designs, much less the elite-looking Chrome Troopers. We’re guessing the Chrome Trooper is an elite unit, and that the individual seen in the trailer might be played by Gwendoline Christie. There is also speculation about the identity of the person on the center of the stage seen above — it could be the character played by Domhnall Gleeson, but there’s no confirmation on that.

The Resistance

But the Rebels are still around, too, and there are some that are ready to fight the Empire, or the First Order, or whatever the hell they want to call themselves. The Resistance, as they’re now dubbed, has some upgraded tech based on familiar Rebel hardware. There are also a bunch of new R2-type droid domes that were built for the film, many of which exist just to be installed on the back of these X-Wings.

To build those guys, and to build the film’s R2D2, Kathleen Kennedy hired Lee Towersey and Oliver Steeples, who are members of the R2D2 Builders Club, based on their work seen at the last Celebration. They also built some R4, R5, and R6 units, and said that the new droids navigating the X-Wings will be specifically paired with chosen pilots.

One of those pilots is Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Isaac. The actor, asked about his role, said “He’s the best freakin’ pilot in the galaxy, that’s who he is.” Isaac added that Poe is “sent on a mission by a certain princess,” then he encounters Finn “and their fates are forever intertwined.”

Wait, what was that about a princess? Does Leia send Poe off in search of Luke?

Kylo Ren

Who and/or what is Kylo Ren? We’re guessing this is Adam Driver‘s role, and we can see that the character has a distinctive lightsaber design — not just in the crossbar hilt, but in the ragged details of the blade. These costume designs won’t give you any serious clues, but there is one thing: this design seems not only ominous, but protective. Is this derived from the need to exist in a desert landscape? There’s also a big of Eastern influence in the design of his mask.

Finn

Finn is the perpetually-distressed (so far) former Stormtrooper played by John Boyega. (On stage with JJ Abrams he playfully danced around confirmation as to whether or not he’s a Stormtrooper. He is.) Once he gets out of that Trooper suit, he scores some duds that would look right at home in the original trilogy. He also manages to find a lightsaber, as the concept art shows. But is he using that as a weapon, or is he transporting it? And is that Anakin’s saber?

Boyega said that “Finn is in incredible danger, and the way he deals with the danger launches him into the Star Wars universe in a unique way.” Does that unique way involve blasting his way out of a TIE Fighter hanger, as the new teaser suggests?

Boyega also charmingly revealed that did didn’t tell his parents he was cast in the film until after the cast photo was released, telling them instead that he was studying up for a role in 24. And he sheepishly asked Harrison Ford to sign a large “Han in Stormtrooper Suit” action figure for him. He said Ford growled “this is weird,” before signing it.

Rey

The heroine of The Force Awakens, and possibly the entire new trilogy, is a scrappy and determined-looking young woman on the planet Jakku. Actress Daisy Ridley explained that Rey is a scavenger in a ship graveyard, and that she is quite “self-sufficient and solitary, until she meets another character” and her adventure begins. Presumably that other character is Finn.

The costume designs show some really interesting details. One is that Rey is holding what appears to be Han Solo’s signature blaster. Between this and the Finn concept art with the lightsaber, it’s almost like Finn and Rey are a revised version of the Luke and Han pair from A New Hope.

The details of Rey’s desert costume are terrific, with many flourishes that are recognizable from other Star Wars costume elements — the flowing white of Leia’s first costume, the Hoth-like goggles, the Tusken Raider-ready accessories — but combine for a distinctive look.

Jakku

Few people had heard the name “Jakku” before today, and many people still assumed that the desert planet seen in the first teaser trailer might be Luke Skywalker’s adoptive home, Tatooine. But Jakku is the setting for at least a good chunk of the first act of The Force Awakens, with Rey hailing from the planet and Finn landing there. It seems that the Millennium Falcon is on Jakku as well, though how or why it came to be there is open to question.

Then there’s the presence of that crashed X-Wing and Star Destroyer in the opening shot, and the implication (thanks to Rey’s work as a ship graveyard scavenger) that there are many more downed ships on the planet.

The angle we see on the Star Destroyer at the opening and what looks like the hind end of a Destroyer that the Falcon flies into at the teaser’s end seem totally different, meaning there could be two crashed command craft on Jakku.

As it turns out, the planet was the center of a gigantic battle between the Rebels and Imperial forces, as we’ll see in the new Star Wars Battlefront video game. As Germain said, after the Rebel victory in the Battle of Endor, “the Battle of Jakku [was] the pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on a remote desert planet on the Outer Rim.”

The Millennium Falcon

Finally, we get back to our old “home,” the Millennium Falcon. Shots from the teaser show the interior to be just as grimy and unkempt as it always has been. Whew! And we see Han Solo and Chewbacca coming on board with weapons drawn, presumably because they plan to take their old ship from whomever has been piloting it. Want to bet that shot of BB-8 peering around a Falcon bulkhead is the robot observing Han and Chewie?

http://www.slashfilm.com/force-awakens-facts/

Mark Hamill Suggests Key 'Star Wars' Character Returns In 'The Force Awakens'
20 April 2015



You've dissected the new 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' trailer by now, but of course, there will be those examining each frame to try and decipher more clues. Mark Hamill has revealed a little something to consider about the movie which will follow 'Return of the Jedi."

The new teaser's voiceover (from 'Jedi') "The force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. My sister has it. You have that power, too." is delivered by Luke Skywalker himself, though he admits that he kept messing up during one crucial part of it.

Speaking with AP, Hamill noted that in re-recording the voiceover, he kept saying, "My father had it". Of course, we all know Luke's father is none other than Darth Vader, and while we see his ruined mask in the new trailer, the new piece of dialogue referring to him in present tense suggests he's still alive in some fashion. Maybe he'll be an Obi-Wan style hologram, like that character in 'Star Wars Rebels'? Or as an all encompassing presence in the galaxy? Guess we'll find out.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/ ... s-20150420

Lawrence Kasdan Says Lando Calrissian May Return to Star Wars
18 May 2015

But Not In 'The Force Awakens'



With the presence of original trilogy characters including the big three – Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) – in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens', there has naturally been speculation about one or two not listed who might make it into the film. One big rumour was about Billy Dee Williams' Lando Calrissian, but 'Force Awakens' co-writer Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi) has shot that down.

Talking with Vanity Fair as part of the magazine's big new Star Wars issue, Kasdan addressed the speculation about Lando. "Right now, there's no Lando Calrissian in this movie". Yet he still offered hope to Lando fans everywhere. "But Lando I don’t think is finished in any way, shape, or form".

Part of the reason that some fan favourites won’t be gracing the screen for the new movie is Kasdan and co-writer/director J.J. Abrams' drive to keep things as lean as possible, while still making it feel hefty. "It’s a big movie. It’s full of wonderful stuff, incident and character stuff and jokes and effects", he says. "One of the things that we always refocus on from the get-go was that it not be one of these very long, bloated blockbusters. A lot of very entertaining movies lately are too long. In the last 20 minutes, you think, why isn't this over?"

"We didn't want to make a movie like that. I mean, we were really aiming to have it be—when it's over you’ll say, 'I wish there’s more'. Or, 'Wait, is it over?' But it means that there will be constant critical looking at it from now to the end, saying, 'Do we need this? Do we need that? Is it better if this comes out, even though we love it?' Killing your darlings."

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=44352