May the hype be with you

We are getting closer to the end of the year. Aside from thinking about the usual holiday season, many people are anxiously waiting for December to come. This is not because they are eagerly waiting for their presents, nor for the family gatherings. Instead, they are anticipating being able to watch the long-awaited seventh “Star Wars” movie in theaters.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is the seventh episode in the Star Wars saga and a direct sequel to “Return of the Jedi,” which was released in 1983. Naturally, because the movies in the second trilogy were prequels to the original trilogy, the fans have been waiting for more than 30 years for a chronological sequel. That is why fanatics went mad on Oct. 20 when the second movie trailer for “The Force Awakens” was released, and with it, news that pre-order tickets are now
available.

After watching the movie trailer, I did what every fan is supposed to do: I went to buy the tickets online for the premiere. Because of the huge number of people trying to access each movie theater website at the same time, the servers could not handle the traffic and as a consequence, people all over the world reported problems and errors while waiting for pages to load. The process was tedious and stressful and I was able to buy my tickets after a long and frustrating hour. Aside from the ticket buying experience, I am excited to watch this movie, though I don’t know much about the plot.

I believe the editors handled the release of both movie trailers well; they serve only as a way to build hype without giving away major plot points or show the most interesting scenes. I was very young at the time, but I know that “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” created similar hype among fans prior to its release in 1999. Episode I was the beginning of a new trilogy set a few decades before the originals and nobody knew what to expect from it. In the end, the movie could not live up to its high expectations. According to the movie review website, Rotten Tomatoes, “The Phantom Menace” received a 57 percent rating by critics, whereas the most popular Star Wars film, “The Empire Strikes Back,” received a 95 percent rating.

It is certainly dangerous to get this excited about “The Force Awakens” because nobody wants to walk out of the theater disappointed, but let’s hope for the best. We do know that Jar Jar Binks is not going to be in this movie and that the movie is not going to rely as heavily on computer generated images (CGI) as the previous trilogy did. That is why I would say we are safe. Either way, I hope to see many of you Vaqueros there, having a great time and sharing a few tears of joy while enjoying the premiere Dec. 17. May the force be with you.