Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Star Wars: The Force Awakens:

Star Wars characters storm Apple Stores via AR

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Star Wars
Head to your local Apple Store to find AR Star Wars characters.

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

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Best movies of 2015
Our favorite movies of the year were both big and small.
Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac's Best of 2015It 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.

Force Awakens cast gives us all a nerdgasm with a cappella version of Star Wars

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The Force is strong with this one.
The Force is strong with this one.
Photo: Jimmy Fallon

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.

Take Facebook’s 360-degree tour of Star Wars’ new desert planet

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Facebook now supports 360 video.
Facebook now supports 360 video.
Photo: Facebook

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

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The first video game that's officially sanctioned as canon by Lucasfilm is a free-to-play game? Photo: Kabam
The first video game that’s officially sanctioned as canon by Lucasfilm is a free-to-play game? Photo: Kabam

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

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BB-8, the cute little droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is now available as an app-enabled companion.
BB-8, the cute little droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is now available as an app-enabled companion.
Photo: Sphero

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

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Finn is ready to take on Kylo Renn.
Finn is ready to take on Kylo Renn.
Photo: Star Wars

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

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stormtroopers
When designing stormtrooper armor, ask 'What would Apple do?'
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures

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

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What if Jony Ive designed BB-8? Photo: Martin Hajek
What if Jony Ive designed BB-8? Photo: Martin Hajek

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

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Literally blown away. Photo: America's Funniest Home Videos
Literally blown away. Photo: America's Funniest Home Videos

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

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Roly-poly new Star Wars droid BB-8 is impossibly cute. Photo: Lucasfilm
Roly-poly new Star Wars droid BB-8 is impossibly cute. Photo: Lucasfilm

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!

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R2-D2 graces the outside of  this Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that will fly this fall for All Nippon Airways. Photo: All Nippon Airways.
R2-D2 graces the outside of this Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that will fly this fall for All Nippon Airways. Photo: All Nippon Airways.

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

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"Chewie, we're home." Photo: Disney

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

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For long-time Star Wars fans, 2015’s upcoming Episode VII is shaping up to be the movie the prequels should’ve been.Narrowing down our excitement about the new trilogy is a task worthy of the most highly trained Jedi, but we’ve tried our best. Without further ado, then, here are the (appropriately enough) seven things we’re most excited about seeing in Star Wars: Episode VII.
Yes,  this is the year we finally get a new Star Wars movie. But that's not all. Photo: Walt Disney Company

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

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If Wes Anderson was making The Force Awakens, the trailer might look a lot like this. Video Frame: Jonah Feingold/YouTube
If Wes Anderson was making The Force Awakens, the trailer might look a lot like this. Video Frame: Jonah Feingold/YouTube

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

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The sheer volume of leaked rumors is staggering. We want to believe while still hate being spoiled. Photo: Disney
The sheer volume of leaked rumors is staggering. We want to believe while still hate being spoiled. Photo: Disney

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

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Use the force, dude. Screengrab: Cult of Mac
Use the force, dude. Screengrab: Cult of Mac

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!”

VII crazy rumors about the new Star Wars film

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x-wing-pilot

With the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer hitting everywhere this weekend, anticipation for the new movie — and thirst for all the details and rumors we can handle — is at an all time high. What are the story details? Who are the characters in the trailer? What about all the original cast members?

Set 30 years after The Battle of Endor (seen in 1983's The Return of the Jedi), The Force Awakens is directed by hotshot and super Star Wars fan J.J. Abrams, fresh off his success with the Star Trek franchise. If the trailer is anything to go by, the new films are in fantastic hands. What the final product will be is any fan’s guess, so here are seven crazy rumors about the details coming to the films next December.


First Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer is here and it’s glorious

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A mysterious scene from the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Photo: Walt Disney Studios
A mysterious scene from the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Photo: Walt Disney Studios

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?!?