Force Awakens Bits: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Blu-Ray Release Date, An Unfortunate Opening Crawl Grammatical Error, BB-8 Ice Cubes
You're not sick of reading about Star Wars: The Force Awakens quite yet, right? Okay. Good. We still have jobs. In today's edition of The Force Awakens bits:
The reliable Blu-ray.com has Star Wars: The Force Awakens set to hit shelves on April 5, 2016. However, this date hasn't been officially announced in any way, so this news should be treated with the appropriate amount of skepticism until we hear something official. After all, The Force Awakens could very well continue to play well in theaters for the next several months. But also after all, the window between theatrical and home release has been getting shorter and shorter...
Well, here's a wacky theory that is complete and total nonsense. Still, it's the kind of complete and total nonsense that we can get behind. Mic.com notes that the opening crawl of The Force Awakens features one of two things: either an impossibly minor grammatical error, or a clue that will shake up the Star Wars universe as we know it. As you can see in the image above, there's no comma after Luke and... well, we'll just let them explain it:
The commas are necessary because "Luke" is not essential to the meaning of the sentence — "brother" is. His name is unnecessary information, as Leia has only one brother, meaning it should be offset by commas.
So either Darth Vader found time to make another kid at some point or they forgot a comma. We'll go with the latter. For now.
The LA Times spoke with legendary composer John Williams about returning to the Star Wars saga for the seventh time. While some of the quotes are a little familiar (Williams has been creating this music for 40 years, after all), he does take a moment to explain the motivation behind the music for the new characters. Take Rey, for example:
It's an interesting challenge with her, because it doesn't suggest a love theme in any way. It suggests a female adventurer, but with great strength. She's a fighter, she's infused with the Force, and it needed to be something that was strong but thoughtful.
For Kylo Ren, Williams worked to transplant the character's conflicting feelings (as well as his connection to another iconic character) through the score:
There's a more ruminative part that is usually done softly. I don't think it portrays any particular weakness, but possibly hesitancy. But then there's the motif that's often strong, that seems to be the embodiment of evil. I thought that it should be a relative of Darth Vader, but also something entirely different in terms of melody.
The folks over at CinemaBlend have put together a fun (if slightly batty) theory that suggests how the First Order may be more deeply connected to the Force than the Empire ever was. While reading through information about various ships on the official Star Wars website, they noted that the Star Destroyer Finalizer (the command ship of General Hux and Kylo Ren) is equipped with lasers powered by Kyber crystals. What does that mean? Well:
That may seem like a minor detail on the surface, but it's one with wide reaching implications. Kyber crystals are a special substance uniquely in tune with the Force and they are what power each and every lightsaber. This provides a deep connection between a Jedi Knight and his or her weapon, allowing it to be an extension of themselves more than just a simple tool. (This is why Rey has such a reaction when she touches Luke's lightsaber, she's feeling the entire history of the artifact.) Natural kyber crystals glow green or blue, though the Dark Side traditionally uses synthetic ones, which glow red.
Does this suggest that Supreme Leader Snoke has been quietly bulking up his fleet with items that will give them an edge against traditional technology? And if so, is this the kind of thing that gets explored in moves or in future novels and comics alone?
The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is available for purchase right now at this very second, but Buzzfeed has a collection of new images from the book. You know, just in case you need a little more encouragement to pick this thing up. As is often the case with concept art, some of these pictures showcase the DNA of the final product and others... don't. (You can also get a more in-depth look at some of the concept art here.)
Director Adam Green, the director of horror movies like Hatchet and Frozen (not the animated one), contributed a long and very personal post to The Talkhouse where he explained just how much Star Wars means to him and how The Force Awakens captures what he loves about the saga. So go ahead and add Green to the list of "filmmakers who have publicly gushed about this movie." To be fair, that's a long list that includes everyone from Mark Romanek to Kevin Smith. After all, people seem to like this movie and, contrary to popular belief, directors are people, too. Here's an excerpt from Green's post:
The point in all of this is that J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens made me believe all over again. It is so much of the original holy trilogy (to its greatest strength and also possibly to one of its few weaknesses) yet it brings us so many new characters, ideas and moments that my life will never be the same as it was before seeing that Lucasfilm logo fade up on the giant IMAX screen this past Friday morning at the 2 a.m. screening at Universal City Walk. I'm so proud of J.J. Abrams and the entire team behind this incredible new piece of cinematic history that I wouldn't even have strong enough words if I ever got the chance to say it to any of their faces.
The Hollywood Reporter has put together a fun article comparing aspects of The Force Awakens to characters, elements, and concepts from the Star Wars "Expanded Universe" that Disney and Lucasfilm wiped out of existence. It turns out that bits of and pieces of those old novels and comics and video games still linger on in the new canon, albeit under different names and tweaked in significant ways. For example, Kylo Ren is essentially Jacen Solo:
The son of Han Solo and Leia Organa who turned to the Dark Side after being trained by Luke Skywalker? That not only describes Adam Driver's Kylo Ren, but also Jacen Solo, one of three children of Han and Leia in the Expanded Universe chronology. Jacen was at the heart of many EU stories, including the Young Jedi Knights YA prose series — which, as the name suggests, centered around Luke's class of new Jedi — and the later Legacy of the Force series, which tells the story of his transformation into Darth Caedus, a Sith Lord at odds with his family and ultimately killed by his twin sister, Jaina. (Also worth noting: Kylo Ren's birth name was Ben, after Ben Kenobi. In the Expanded Universe, Ben is the son of Luke Skywalker.)
Eventually, every single character in The Force Awakens will get their own highly detailed, hugely expensive figure. But right now, we're still working our way through the main cast. John Boeyga's Finn is the latest hero to the get the Hot Toys treatment and how could you possible own that figure without also owning "First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper"? Look, you really don't need to buy food this week. Or next week. These are very important.
If you want some new Star Wars merch that doesn't involve breaking your savings account, Big Bad Toy Store is selling a BB-8 ice cube mold. Because nothing says "grown-up in the year 2015" quite like having an adorable droid hanging out in your scotch.
Once upon a time, Daisy Ridley could have shared pictures and thoughts on social media without an army of nerds descending upon her to dissect every single world. Those days are gone. Forever. At the end of this innocuous Instagram post, which exists simply to showcase some new jewelry, Ridley mentions more The Force Awakens stuff before the year is over. But what kind of stuff? What is she talking about? Is this something official or just something fun for the fans, courtesy of the woman who plays Rey?
A photo posted by @daisyridley on