from Facebook: people are very excited about this new Star Wars poster

Unlike any previous Star Wars poster, it has a female character who appears to be doing something?

(The very first one had Leia with a blaster as well as implausibly long legs. After that, even less female agency.)

After the first three films, it’s been the triumph of hope over experience.

Something I actually thought was true of the posters for the last 5 Star Wars movies too

So the only poster you liked was for the original film, then? But that’s pretty busy too, and doesn’t tell you anything about the plot details of the movie either.

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/star-wars-trilogy/images/9/9e/Star_Wars_Episode_IV-A_New_Hope_Theatrical_Release_Poster.jpg

But for simplicity and boldness and showing some action from the movie, I like this teaser poster for ROTJ, from before they tweaked the title. I think it’s possibly the best of the Star Wars posters.

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/3/32/Revenge_of_the_jedi_poster.jpg

There is an obvious focal point, but they left him off the poster. The dead space in the middle just calls attention to the mystery. I wonder if it was intentional. If I were conspiracy-minded, I’d wonder if they’re going to release an updated version, later in the year, with Luke in the center—maybe even in an image that hints at a few more plot details.

In any case, I’m glad that we finally get to see a woman in a lightsaber battle.

There is an obvious focal point, but they left him off the poster.

Well, I think the poster clearly indicates that Daisy Ridley’s character will be the focal point of the movie, which supposedly focuses on the new characters and their adventures, with the original cast in supporting roles.

Leaving Luke off the poster IS intriguing, and is pretty clearly intentional — I don’t see how something like that could be an oversight. Maybe Luke’s outfit or appearance reveals too much about the plot? Pretty clever, to create interest and conversation by NOT showing something.

In any case, I’m glad that we finally get to see a woman in a lightsaber battle.

Apparently there have been female Jedi in lightsaber battles in the animated series, which I haven’t followed; and there may have been some female Jedi in group battle scenes in Attack of the Clones, which I don’t remember too much about. But yes, there hasn’t been a saber battle prominently involving a woman in the live-action films. I’m not sure if Rey gets to use one, though; in this poster she’s holding a regular staff, which just happens to align with Kylo Ren’s red saber. So she may not get to wield one, but she gets to actively fight anyway. (We’ll see if the upcoming trailer reveals more!)

I’d like a movie studio to hire Tomer Hanuka

http://thanuka.com/#

Or Matthew Woodson.

http://ghostco.bigcartel.com

And I’d like Dave McKean to design a poster for a film he didn’t direct.

http://www.movieposterdb.com/tags/dave+mckean/?page=1

But that would require the studios to publish something more adventurous than a picture of the film’s stars looking glamorous. With only one woman in it.

For the record (he said after looking it up), the first poster in this thread is the “Style C” poster, which was used for the original international release. The given reason for it is that they specifically wanted to highlight the characters more:

http://www.theforce.net/collecting/posters/anh/style-c.asp

“Style D” from the 1978 re-release is my favorite, though:

http://www.theforce.net/collecting/posters/anh/style-d.asp

Maybe he’s one of the guys wearing a helmet.

That’s the poster I most often think of when I think of the original movie. And while it’s not exactly an accurate description of the actual movie, it’s certainly more iconic than any of the more recent examples posted above.