Popular Star Wars characters will pop up in Apple stores and other retail outlets around the world next week in a promotional event powered by augmented reality. Apple and Disney teamed up for the Star Wars promo, which coincides with the release of new toys for the upcoming movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
The 11 most inspiring, imaginative and all-around best movies of 2015
It was a little tough to whittle our choices for the best movies of 2015 down to 11, but we did.
If you’d told us five years ago that we’d be getting new Jurassic Park, Star Wars and Mad Max movies, and that they’d all respect their predecessors while forging their own paths, we’d have ask the bartender for whatever you’d been drinking. But all of those things happened, and 2015 was better for it.
We also got some great original movies, including some charming comedies and one of the scariest monsters in recent memory. It was a pretty good time, regardless of your tastes, is what we’re getting at.
Here are our picks in no particular order.
You can now listen to The Force Awakens soundtrack on Apple Music
If you’re already bored of playing Christmas songs on repeat, there’s some good news — since Star Wars fans can now enjoy John William’s The Force Awakens soundtrack on iTunes and Apple Music.
Force Awakens cast gives us all a nerdgasm with a cappella version of Star Wars
There are two things in the universe that give us incomparable joy: Apple devices and Star Wars nerdery.
The latter is strong with the video below, where Jimmy Fallon, his house band The Roots, and the major cast members from The Force Awakens sing a medley of Star Wars music in a giant Brady Bunch-style colored grid.
If your lightsaber doesn’t explode with joy when you watch, there’s obviously something wrong with you.
Check it out below.
Google shoots first with Star Wars virtual reality series
Google has teamed up with Disney and Verizon to develop a new virtual reality series in celebration of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The story ties directly into the new movie, and Google Cardboard owners can enjoy it on December 2 — but there’s more to check out today!
Take Facebook’s 360-degree tour of Star Wars’ new desert planet
Facebook is bringing 360-degree video to news feeds starting today, showcasing the immersive format with a speeder tour of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ desert planet Jaku.
The tech makes viewing 360 videos on mobile devices simpler than ever, allowing users to select a viewing angle just by turning their devices. You can also watch the videos on the web, clicking around to change the camera’s perspective.
Star Wars: Uprising is hotter than a night on Hoth inside a tauntaun
There’s been a disturbance in the Force: a free-to-play Star Wars game has arrived for iOS and Android, and it’s surprisingly damn good.
Star Wars: Uprising is the first video game that’s actually canon to the new Star Wars Universe, taking place between Return of the Jedi (VI) and the upcoming The Force Awakens (VII).
That alone merits a download, but once you start playing, you’ll find a really well-written storyline, some deep customization options, and an addictive gear collecting and upgrading system that will keep you going back for more. Check out the trailer below for some glorious Star Wars action.
Your very own Star Wars BB-8 droid is not so far, far away
The editing on Star Wars: The Force Awakens isn’t finished yet but one of the characters already promises to be the hot toy of the Christmas season.
BB-8, the roly-poly little droid seen spinning across the screen in trailers for the highly anticipated movie, is now an app-controlled toy with an adaptive personality that responds to voice commands.
Star Wars unveils new Jedi on Instagram
Instagram is finally killing the square, and to celebrate, Disney unveiled a new teaser for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie. The short new clip gives us our first glimpse of new Jedi Finn wielding Luke’s/Anakin’s blue lightsaber.
It looks like Finn and Kylo Renn are about to have a huge lightsaber duel in the wintery forest, and we can’t wait until December 18 to see the carnage.
Watch the full teaser below:
How Apple inspired the design of Force Awakens’ new stormtroopers
Apple’s influence on the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens extends far beyond Kylo Ren’s ugly crossguard lightsaber.
The Force Awakens costume designer Michael Kaplan has designed costumes on movies like Blade Runner and Fight Club, but when it came time to redesign the new stormtrooper armor for director J.J. Abrams, Kaplan said he looked to Apple as his biggest inspiration on how to perfect the stormtrooper’s white, plastic-y armor.
This is what new Star Wars droid BB-8 would look like in space gray
With its roly-poly looks and infectious personality, new droid BB-8 looks primed to be a real scene-stealer when Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters at the end of the year.
And now we know what the ballsy little bot would look like if Jony Ive replaced its orange-and-white color scheme with something a little more subtle.
These kids can’t handle the awesomeness of new Star Wars trailer
Looks like you don’t need to be a long-time Star Wars fan to totally geek out over The Force Awakens trailer that appeared online last week, as these cuties so ably prove.
Even super young babies get it: this is the coolest, most exciting trailer ever in their young lives: it’s time to completely freak out.
Check out how these little ones react to the best Star Wars thing in recent years in their own America’s Funniest Home Videos YouTube post.
Control a Star Wars droid with your iPhone, you will
Soon you’ll be able to control the cute new robotic star of Star Wars: The Force Awakens with your iPhone.
The toy version of BB-8, the droid with an R2-D2-style head perched precariously atop a rolling round body, will pop up in Disney stores later this year. While pricing isn’t yet known for the Star Wars toy, it will be made by Sphero, whose roly-poly robotic toy caught the eye of Disney chief Robert Iger.
Good heavens, R2! You’re flying!
Luke Skywalker does his best flying with R2-D2. Now customers of Japan’s All Nippon Airways can fly with the beloved Star Wars droid, thankfully without taking fire from TIE fighters.
18 things we learned from the new Star Wars trailer
J.J. Abrams whetted our appetite for more lightsaber dueling action with the first Episode VII teaser last year, but today’s release of a new trailer has got us counting down the days until Christmas.
We’re still eight months away from Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ public release, and while plot details for the highly anticipated movie are being kept under wraps, there’s a ton of fresh info to glean from the new trailer. We’ve diced the entire trailer up into GIFs so you can rewatch each scene to look for new clues.
Here are 18 things we learned from the new trailer:
15 movies you’re going to want to watch in 2015
2014 was a great year for movies, but — if anything — 2015 looks to be even better. If you’re fretting over which films to build your year around, look no further: Cult of Mac has you covered.
From sci-fi epics from the brains behind The Matrix, to the next instalment in the James Bond franchise, to, yes, the next Star Wars movie, here are the flicks you’ll want to check out this year.
The Meme Awakens with hilarious remixed Star Wars trailers
We’ll admit it: we were all squeeing like fanboys when we saw the official trailer for the upcoming sequel, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
We may have watched it quite a bit more than once, but the YouTubers below have taken their fandom to another level, with some really well crafted remixes of the official short film.
Check out trailers below starring the cast of (and scenes directly from) the original trilogy, the trailer as Wes Anderson would do it, and a bizarre rendering of it all with pets in place of human actors. Oh, and there’s also the obligatory Lego version, as well, so be sure to scroll all the way down.
Spoiler alert: Possible Star Wars: The Force Awakens details leak
Just like The Force, the Internet has both dark and light sides. How you see the possible spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens that just leaked is mostly a matter of perspective.
If you read on, you’ll be exposed to an embarrassing wealth of spoiler-y plot and character details about J.J. Abrams’ upcoming film. But be aware: Whether true or not, the sheer volume of close-up detail and conflicting information will change you.
If you want to go in unspoiled, read the following rumors at your own risk.
As for the supposed insider who leaked the information? Who knows their motivation? Even the Sith think they’re doing “the right thing.”
This is the Star Wars Lego trailer you’ve been looking for
Well, that didn’t take long.
It’s only been four days since The Force Awakens trailer appeared on all of our computer and iPhone screens, and here we have the entire thing recreated with the ubiquitous plastic building toy.
Why did this YouTuber build his stop-motion homage?
“Made this out of boredom,” he says, “… enjoy!”
First Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer is here and it’s glorious
Star Wars looks like it’s in good hands. The first teaser trailer for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming The Force Awakens has been released, and it’s sure to make your jaw drop.
What’s that random guy dressed as a stormtrooper doing in the desert? Who is that mysterious woman on the flying contraption? And WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT WEIRD RED LIGHTSABER OMG?!?
Star Wars: Episode VII’s official title has been revealed
Principal photography has wrapped for the much-anticipated Star Wars Episode VII, and to celebrate the crew has revealed the movie’s official title: Star Wars: The Force Awakens.