Go Behind-the-Scenes of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in Chills-Inducing new Video

Watching the opening of this brand new behind-the-scenes featurette on Star Wars: The Last Jedi (via USA Today), you could be excused for forgetting how stellar a filmmaker writer/director Rian Johnson is, and instead focus on how much he sounds like you or me as he channels the emotions and feelings of any Star Wars fan finding themselves not only on set, but the one in charge. Here’s Johnson describing walking through the Millennium Falcon set:

“Walking up the ramp, walking in the hallway, I flash back to when I was a kid with the action figures…suddenly I had a big lump in my throat. You know, it gets you.” 

As humble and genuinely moved as Johnson is, he is still the writer and director of The Last Jedi, and his bold vision is evident in the way the actors talk about the film. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Mark Hamill (Rey, Finn and Luke Skywalker—of course—respectively) all speak about how daring and fresh Johnson’s approach to their characters and the story was. As always, the late, great Carrie Fisher put it best: “He has flaws in other areas, I just don’t know about them.”

There are so many chill inducing moments packed into this two minute look (Luke’s robotic hand, up close and trembling, Johnson eliciting a laugh from Chewie, a brand new, and massive, alien animal), so many fresh, never-before-seen moments (yet without giving really anything away), that you’d be hard pressed to watch this and not feel very, very excited about this film. And this look at the film is centered on the writer/director, who clearly had the love and support of his cast and crew. You can feel it in every frame.

“Concentrated work split with a lot of holy craps,” is how Johnson describes working on The Last Jedi. For the fans, we’re likely going to be in the “holy crap” camp for the entire ride.

The Last Jedi opens on December 15. Check out the video below: