Just a few days remain before "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (opens in new tab)" launches into theaters around the world to wrap up Skywalker saga, and Disney has dropped a tantalizing new look at the film on its new streaming service.
The new "special look" at "Rise of Skywalker" went live on Disney Plus (opens in new tab) today (Dec. 18) as a bonus extra clip for episode seven of the live-action series "The Mandalorian." If you haven't been watching, "The Mandalorian" chronicles the adventures of a Mandalorian bounty hunter on the run with a Baby Yoda in tow.
Disney intentionally released this week's "The Mandalorian" two days early (it normally drops on Fridays) to avoid a conflict with "Rise of Skywalker," which lands in theaters Friday (Dec. 20). You can read our full Episode 7 review here. But first: the "Rise of Skywalker" special look.
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You'll need a Disney Plus subscription to see the new "Rise of Skywalker" footage (the video above is the final Lucasfilm trailer), or you can see it for free in a seven-day trial here (opens in new tab). But if you don't want to sign up, we've got you covered.
Spoiler alert for the "Rise of Skywalker" special look if you're trying to go into the film cold. I'm going to talk about what we saw.
The new clip runs one minute, 46 seconds and kicks off with a view of an icy world seen in previous trailers with TIE fighters closing in on the Millennium Falcon. The Falcon is parked in a network of icy caves that look surprisingly like the maze-like flyways inside the Death Star from "Return of the Jedi."
Aboard the Falcon, Poe Dameron and Chewbacca are clearly in distress, asking Stormtrooper-turned-Resistance-fighter Finn if everything's set since they're "about to be cooked." "We're almost there," Finn says, then retrieves some sort of cassette or plug from R2-D2. They've got what they needed, and apparently it came from an alien friend with four horns.
"How do we thank you?" Finn asks the multi-horned creature.
"Win the war!" it replies.
Hatches close. The Millennium Falcon undocks. And the race is on through the ice-covered corridors, with TIE fighters on the Falcon's heels. It feels a bit like Lando's Death Star run from Episode VI in reverse. There's also a snail-like alien friend aboard because, why not? We see a lot of TIE fighters, the Falcon zooms through an ice wall and finally shoots into hyperspace.
What follows are a series of short, but eye-catching, scenes set to a sweeping "Star Wars" soundtrack, including hints of John Williams' Duel of the Fates from the epic lightsaber showdown between Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. in Episode I.
There's the desert chase of Rey by First Order troopers on the planet Pasana; a stomach-churning flight over an ocean world with Death Star debris from Episode IV (Endor, most likely); Kylo Ren wields his lightsaber and takes down an opponent with a gut-punch; Poe, Finn and Chewie look back in a forest; Lando cheers in the Falcon with Chewie and the Falcon zooms around some pointy-looking spires as TIE fighters give chase.
Next, we see a lightsaber battle between Rey and Kylo Ren on the remains of the Death Star (Endor again, we think); the Resistance fleet flying through a blood-red nebula and then engaging a seriously well-funded Star Destroyer group; and more flashes of action in space and on planets.
As a teaser, the Disney Plus (opens in new tab) clip for "Rise of Skywalker" doesn't disappoint but we'll have to see the entire film to see how it all fits together with the Skywalker saga. We can't wait for Friday to see those words on appear on the screen: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."
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Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
