Star Wars Trailer Features Millennium Falcon

The first trailer for the new Star Wars has been released and it contains some old favourites including the Millennium Falcon, stormtroopers and a new-style lightsaber.

The footage for Episode VII: The Force Awakens features British newcomer John Boyega who is wearing a stormtrooper outfit and is seen breathless and panicked in the desert.

It begins with a voiceover saying "There has been an awakening - have you felt it?" before Boyega's character appears.

The trailer also includes Imperial TIE fighters attacking the Millennium Falcon, which was flown by Harrison Ford (Han Solo) in the original movies.

There are also several X-wing fighters flying just above water and a shadowy hooded figure carrying a sword-style light sabre in a snowy forest, with the voiceover saying: "The dark side ... and the light."

This is a reference to the good and evil sides of The Force.

It concludes with the traditional Star Wars theme composed by John Williams.

The film features some of the original cast including Ford, Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), but none of them appear in the trailer.

The movie, which is set 30 years after Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi, is directed by JJ Abrams, who breathed new life into the Star Trek franchise.

Episode VII is out in cinemas in December 2015.