Star Wars: Rogue One *spoilers from post 1195*

eeguy

Hugh Mungus wrote: »

I'm 99% sure the antenna doesn't get blown up at all...

There's no antenna, just the huge dish on top of the building.
The controls to run the dish are mounted directly beneath it in the centre of the tower, but the controls to adjust the position of the dish are out on the catwalk.

So the dish is misaligned, she runs out to fix it, the the catwalk is destroyed but no matter, the job is done.

I'm a big fan of all the retro screens showing the same readouts of the original. The copy/paste cameos from A New Hope im the final battle are very jarring.
"This is Gold Leader"

doubledown

Just out. Lifelong Star Wars nut (I'm 42) and this did not work for me AT ALL.

Mild spoilers below -

A first hour of clunky planet-hopping and exposition. Dialogue riddled with cliches. Everything Vader felt off. Tarkin was technically impressive but overused and creepy. By the time the third act (which felt like a giant video game cut scene) eventually came along I just wanted it to be over. I never felt any emotional connection with any of the characters or story. I just sat there impassively viewing it all unfolding. Many of the cameos felt forced and unecessary.

I have zero desire to revisit it in the cinema which is a bad sign for me. I usually catch Star Wars films multiple times.

Positives? It looked pretty. Giacchino's score was terrific. Ben Mendelsohn was great. A few chuckles here and there.

Luckily it ultimately doesn't matter. It's a spin-off, anthology, Star Wars Story - call it what you will. Episode 8 is the one I really care about.

And anyone who says this is better than The Force Awakens needs their head examined.

david75

doubledown wrote: »

Just out. Lifelong Star Wars nut (I'm 42) and this did not work for me AT ALL.

Mild spoilers below -

A first hour of clunky planet-hopping and exposition. Dialogue riddled with cliches. Everything Vader felt off. Tarkin was technically impressive but overused and creepy. By the time the third act (which felt like a giant video game cut scene) eventually came along I just wanted it to be over. I never felt any emotional connection with any of the characters or story. I just sat there impassively viewing it all unfolding. Many of the cameos felt forced and unecessary.

I have zero desire to revisit it in the cinema which is a bad sign for me. I usually catch Star Wars films multiple times.

Positives? It looked pretty. Giacchino's score was terrific. Ben Mendelsohn was great. A few chuckles here and there.

Luckily it ultimately doesn't matter. It's a spin-off, anthology, Star Wars Story - call it what you will. Episode 8 is the one I really care about.

And anyone who says this is better than The Force Awakens needs their head examined.

Felt exactly the same on my first viewing. In my third now and have come to really appreciate it. I'd say give it one more go on the cinema and go home and watch even the first ten minutes of a new hope. It raises it.

FortuneChip

I thought that was really poor...
I've never been a "star wars fan", if that's a qualifying statement, but I loved Force Awakens - it had lots of fun characters that each had some semblance of motivation for being there.

Yes, this movie had the balls to

kill off serious characters

but they forced in weightless sacrifices

the pilot spending his last moments telling the rebels to blow up the shield - the exact thing they were trying anyway... and then they're like "Hey, I've got an idea...

Felicity Jones is a great actress, but they didn't do enough to try separate her from Rey in my opinion.

The movie feels "unfinished" - so many character stories feel underdeveloped (reshoots?)

On DoubleDown

Giacchino's score was terrific
It was, but Christ, it's ok to cut to a new scene without something epic...

Ben Mendelsohn was great.
I'm a big fan of Mendlsohn, I think he's brilliant. But casting him as a new character

destined to die

seems pointless. They could have shaken a few feathers

casting him as Tarkin, and letting him live beyond the rebellion, thinking himself safe

and it wouldn't have damaged anything...

Again, not a big Star Wars fan, but the last scenes with

Darth Vadar

were fantastic.

bradolf pittler

Did anyone else notice 2 cool shots from the trailers left out in the actual film?
1.When Krennic is walking in shallow water,Cape trailing behind him
2.The TIE fighter rising up to meet Jyn on the platform

Josey Wales

bradolf pittler wrote: »

Did anyone else notice 2 cool shots from the trailers left out in the actual film?
1.When Krennic is walking in shallow water,Cape trailing behind him
2.The TIE fighter rising up to meet Jyn on the platform

There are more shots than those two missing. I hope we get the full story behind all the reshoots at some point.

As for the film itself I thought it was great. I enjoyed TFA but I think one is better.

FortuneChip

bradolf pittler wrote: »

Did anyone else notice 2 cool shots from the trailers left out in the actual film?
1.When Krennic is walking in shallow water,Cape trailing behind him
2.The TIE fighter rising up to meet Jyn on the platform

"What will YOU become?" also cut (thankfully, don't think I could stand more dialogue from Whitaker using that voice)

DivingDuck

FortuneChip wrote: »

"What will YOU become?" also cut (thankfully, don't think I could stand more dialogue from Whitaker using that voice)

I feel like this was to make people believe there was a chance Jyn might defect, or be a double-agent for the Empire.

Either that, or at some point she WAS a double-agent for the Empire, which was deemed too dark and was re-written and re-shot.

The Nal

Star Wars "fans" are worse than Radiohead fans. Way worse.
Im a fan but not like that. 
Best movie since Return of the Jedi. Loved it. So much fun.

whatawaster

"Be careful not to choke on your own ambition"

Even by Star Wars standard, that's some cheesy dialogue

gct

0ph0rce0 wrote: »

Hahaha well i didn't want to say anything but

the first hour was so boring i fell asleep

Its been a long week, I'll give it a proper bash next week

I have to admit I fell asleep too during the first hour. Second half of the film was amazing. The scene at the end where Vader runs amok was So COOL!

doubledown

whatawaster wrote: »

"Be careful not to choke on your own ambition"

Even by Star Wars standard, that's some cheesy dialogue

The Vader stuff was all off. Fan service at its worst.

The corridor scene was straight out of the Battlefront game.

delly

delly wrote: »

Just back from it and by the end was blown away by how good it turned out. A little slow to start and I also felt it was projected abnormally on the dark side, but a very satisfying watch.

One major recommendation I have is if you are intending to see it, do it sooner rather than later. There are so many unexpected twists, you'll kick yourself if you hear a spoiler in advance.

What were the unexpected twists? I thought the whole thing was fairly bland up until the very end tbh

Burgo

Wen't to see it last night, in a half empty screen in Santry. 2D with the Atmos sound.
As a long time star wars fan I thoroughly enjoyed it, even the OH who I dragged along was pleasantly surprised by how much she like it.

This to me felt like the next star wars film the original trilogy deserved.
After been disappointed by the force awakens, and having relatively low expectations of Edwards directing I was extremely pleased with what I saw.
From the trailers and reading some of the early press it was touted as been a gritty war film, and having grown up watching war movies it hit those same notes for me.

Some of the performances were fantastic; Felicity Jones did a brilliant job, she carried her scenes well, and she has such damn expressive big eyes. Ben Mendelson has shown in the past that he can play the baddie extremely well, and I felt he played the middle manager from hell perfectly. He's just a guy trying to get things done you know? Climbing the corporate ladder.
I wouldn't have complained with more Mads either, he always brings a fantastic presence to his scenes.

I did really enjoy Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, as someone else has said probably the closest we've gotten to a HK-47. Just needed a meatbag comment to cement it. But I'm not sure how well the humour will hold up over time.

I really wasn't sure if this was going to go the typical way of the protagonists miraculously surviving, and the film was so much better off for it. Though the romantic element between jyn and cassian seemed to be thrown in at the end, an afterthought almost since it was never built up in any way through the film.

Also what a way to end a film and set up a new hope, the last

Some criticisms/nitpicks:(sorry I can't help myself!)

The first 20 minutes were a bit frantic and suffered from pacing problems the most out of the film, so many new names,places and people shoe horned in.
noticed abit of the reshoot splicing and adr dialogue.

The CGI characters, Tarkin and Leia just felt so strange to look at, very uncanny valley I'm afraid. It definitely doesn't capture the presence Cushing brings, I especially noticed that the movement seemed especially off.They nailed the voices though. Though I do think they handled the Gold and Red leader incorporation quite well by comparison . But really, no Porkins?

I'm really glad the "I rebel" line was cut from the film. It was just awful.

Forest Whitaker was chewing up the scenery.

Vader lives in Mordor. Is he Sauron, or just a fan.

I enjoyed the nods to the original trilogy (and rebels!), but the C-3P0 and R2-D2 scene to me felt unnecessary and in your face and could very easily have been left out as it stopped the flow of the scene. The film was rife with fan service, this was just one too far imo.


Right now I'd give it an 8/10 And would put it up with ANH and ESB.

whatawaster

Burgo wrote: »

Wen't to see it last night, in a half empty screen in Santry. 2D with the Atmos sound.
As a long time star wars fan I thoroughly enjoyed it, even the OH who I dragged along was pleasantly surprised by how much she like it.

This to me felt like the next star wars film the original trilogy deserved.
After been disappointed by the force awakens, and having relatively low expectations of Edwards directing I was extremely pleased with what I saw.
From the trailers and reading some of the early press it was touted as been a gritty war film, and having grown up watching war movies it hit those same notes for me.

Some of the performances were fantastic; Felicity Jones did a brilliant job, she carried her scenes well, and she has such damn expressive big eyes. Ben Mendelson has shown in the past that he can play the baddie extremely well, and I felt he played the middle manager from hell perfectly. He's just a guy trying to get things done you know? Climbing the corporate ladder.
I wouldn't have complained with more Mads either, he always brings a fantastic presence to his scenes.

I did really enjoy Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, as someone else has said probably the closest we've gotten to a HK-47. Just needed a meatbag comment to cement it. But I'm not sure how well the humour will hold up over time.

I really wasn't sure if this was going to go the typical way of the protagonists miraculously surviving, and the film was so much better off for it. Though the romantic element between jyn and cassian seemed to be thrown in at the end, an afterthought almost since it was never built up in any way through the film.

Also what a way to end a film and set up a new hope, the last

Some criticisms/nitpicks:(sorry I can't help myself!)

The first 20 minutes were a bit frantic and suffered from pacing problems the most out of the film, so many new names,places and people shoe horned in.
noticed abit of the reshoot splicing and adr dialogue.

The CGI characters, Tarkin and Leia just felt so strange to look at, very uncanny valley I'm afraid. It definitely doesn't capture the presence Cushing brings, I especially noticed that the movement seemed especially off.They nailed the voices though. Though I do think they handled the Gold and Red leader incorporation quite well by comparison . But really, no Porkins?

I'm really glad the "I rebel" line was cut from the film. It was just awful.

Forest Whitaker was chewing up the scenery.

Vader lives in Mordor. Is he Sauron, or just a fan.

I enjoyed the nods to the original trilogy (and rebels!), but the C-3P0 and R2-D2 scene to me felt unnecessary and in your face and could very easily have been left out as it stopped the flow of the scene. The film was rife with fan service, this was just one too far imo.


Right now I'd give it an 8/10 And would put it up with ANH and ESB.

A long time Star Wars fan giving ESB just 8/10. That's surprising.

To me this was a very enjoyable movie, but a million miles away from the quality of ANH or ESB. Nothing that happened in Rogue One has anything close to the emotional weight of Obi-Wan's death or the Vader-Luke reveal. No villain nearly as menacing as Vader in the old films, no protagonist as likeable as Luke, Hans and Leah (as much as I liked Felicity Jones in this)

heebusjeebus

whatawaster wrote: »

"Be careful not to choke on your own ambition"

Even by Star Wars standard, that's some cheesy dialogue

Twas even better than that:

"be careful not to choke on your aspirations"

.
It's a cracking line.

Burgo

whatawaster wrote: »

A long time Star Wars fan giving ESB just 8/10. That's surprising.

To me this was a very enjoyable movie, but a million miles away from the quality of ANH or ESB. Nothing that happened in Rogue One has anything close to the emotional weight of Obi-Wan's death or the Vader-Luke reveal. No villain nearly as menacing as Vader in the old films, no protagonist as likeable as Luke, Hans and Leah (as much as I liked Felicity Jones in this)

I said I gave Rogue One 8/10, not ESB.

robinph

Burgo wrote: »

I really wasn't sure if this was going to go the typical way of the protagonists miraculously surviving, and the film was so much better off for it. Though the romantic element between jyn and cassian seemed to be thrown in at the end, an afterthought almost since it was never built up in any way through the film.

I was worried it was all going to get soppy before the tsunami hit and they might live, but I though that was just a friendly cuddle of comfort before they get wiped out...nothing romantic, just another human to hold onto in your final moment.

Guess that is a bit soppy, but not Holywood soppy.

Burgo wrote: »

The CGI characters, Tarkin and Leia just felt so strange to look at, very uncanny valley I'm afraid. It definitely doesn't capture the presence Cushing brings, I especially noticed that the movement seemed especially off.They nailed the voices though. Though I do think they handled the Gold and Red leader incorporation quite well by comparison . But really, no Porkins?

Don't have a problem with the CGI. Certainly not the Leia bit as she was barely there and the effects not noticeable really. If you just went straight into watching ANH right after you'd not realise that there was something off with the first shot of Leia at the end of R1. You would notice that Tarkin looked a bit different between the two films, but you'd notice the dodgy special effects of the x-wings forming up to attack the Death Star in ANH far more.

As the same characters appear on screen no more than a couple of hours later in Star Wars time, unless they had cloned the original actors back in the day, or they had children who were the spitting image of them and the right age now, then there wasn't a lot they could do. Tarkin needed to be on the Death Star and involved with it's testing so therefore on screen and talking. Leia needed to be on the blockade runner, although they could have got away with her just being seen taking the plans and not saying anything.

TerrorFirmer

I thought it was really good, better than I expected it to be actually - although there are serious pacing issues in the first 45 minutes, to the point that I was starting to wonder if the film was going to end up a bit of a turkey. However, it recovers incredibly well and the entire final hour is solid wall to wall action of a pretty high calibre.

Few characters did not work for me at all - thought Whitaker was terrible, the blind guy was a bit cringe, and there are definitely some poorly scripted scenes - but the good far outweighs the bad overall, mostly due to the incredible final act which packs in so much frantic pace and originality that TFA was sorely lacking.

Overall, to boil it down for me - the characters as individuals were far weaker than the Force Awakens, but the action and design is better than TFA.

There are a few entirely pointless Vader scenes which could be critiqued as mindless fan service (didn't bother me in the slightest though) but the corridor scene was excellent in my opinion, and they way it's all wrapped up is very well done.

I wouldn't personally bother giving it a rating, other than as a life-long Star Wars fan I consider it essential viewing.

Not Propaganda

Absolutely loved it. It has issues for the first part of the film as they're setting up the story, but other than that and Forrest Whittaker I don't really have any complaints. I get the feeling there was a lot of Saw Gerrera and Jyn left on the cutting room floor. And even though it was in the first bit, I think I loved Jedha the most - it added so much to the lore surrounding Star Wars I felt pretty giddy with it all!

This is essentially the movie I've been waiting for since I watched Empire as a kid. I don't mean the story itself, but something other than the core Skywalker story. You get sucked into Star Wars and the extended universe and all the games and books and TV shows and comics because the possibilities are endless - and here we are, a separate, stand alone story that yes, is linked to the original trilogy, doesn't lean on any OT characters to drive the plot. Some great world-building, some great action - will be seeing it again in the cinema soon

The Nal

doubledown wrote: »

whatawaster wrote: »

"Be careful not to choke on your own ambition"

Even by Star Wars standard, that's some cheesy dialogue

The Vader stuff was all off. Fan service at its worst.

The corridor scene was straight out of the Battlefront game.

I know! Imagine putting scenes in a move that fans and cinema goers want to see! Madness.

homerun_homer

In terms of the ending and what is missing from the trailers, it looks like they went with a whole new approach to that battle and mixed it in with some of what was already shot. Missing are the shots of all the gang running on the beach of Scarif, Krennic walking through the water (awesome visual), the established shot of Jyn in the corridor wearing Imperial outfit (again, great shot I'm annoyed to see lost in final cut), small differences in the action shots from the trailers, the London underground chase which must have been for inside the tower, most importantly the TIE fighter visual.

It looks like initially

it began as a free for all battle, with Jyn, Cassian and K2SO breaking into the tower and legging it away from Stormtroopers. Somehow they escape them and steal outfits to carry out the rest of the plan. Krennic arrives and walks his way through the battle to get to the tower in pursuit. Maybe he gets in to a TIE fighter and that was to be the final conflict with Jyn/Cassian but it was deemed not good enough so they nixed the TIE fighter from the shot, and rejigged the scene.

I enjoyed the film but I was tired at the midnight screening, as enthused as I had been, and I was distracted by the uncanny valley instances that I didn't pay attention to what was being said. The start of the film was rushed, planet hopping so fast it was jarring. Though it tried to get running quickly it still took time to get the plot flowing and running smoother. Saw Gerrera clearly had more to do and his performance might make more sense if we got to see how it was originally supposed to pan out. Seeing what was missing while watching the film also distracted me. I think I'll have more of an idea how I really feel about the film on 2nd viewing now that I've let it wash over me the once.

strandroad

Burgo wrote: »

I really wasn't sure if this was going to go the typical way of the protagonists miraculously surviving, and the film was so much better off for it. Though the romantic element between jyn and cassian seemed to be thrown in at the end, an afterthought almost since it was never built up in any way through the film.

I think they were definitely showing

growing loyalty and affection: he could not bring himself to kill her father (although he was shown to be a pretty ruthless killer before) and was anguished when he realised she was on the platform; and she was furious to learn about his original plan also because she had personal trust in him.
Happy that they didn't go all the way on the romantic thing though, their tender moments at the end were played very well as they were.

Why did they go for CGI Peter Cushing?? What were they thinking? Were they paying homage to the ridiculous CGI of the prequels? How hard would it be to find a similar actor? Even throwing Leia in there.... It really boggles my mind. Find a similar looking actor with the same outfit and hair. No big deal and no uncanny valley.

DivingDuck

Burgo wrote: »

Vader lives in Mordor. Is he Sauron, or just a fan.

I assumed that was a nod to the Anakin/Obi-Wan battle at the end of RTS?

On an unrelated note, I went with someone who's seen the movies only once. Two minutes into

the CGI Cushing stuff, she turns around to me and says "I didn't know that fella was still alive!"

So maybe for people who aren't up on celebrity information and aren't big SW fans, any issues there flew straight over their heads.

homerun_homer

DivingDuck wrote: »

I assumed that was a nod to the Anakin/Obi-Wan battle at the end of RTS?

In the original expanded universe

Darth Vader lived on a castle with lava waterfalls etc, it's where he spent his downtime when not on a mission for the Emperor. I guess the movie/canon universe decided to go with that influence.

NinjaTruncs

I haven't read all of the replies but did anyone else think Vader's helmet looked terrible, particularly around the neck? It was as if they forgot the real one on the day of shooting and went bought one in Smyths.

heebusjeebus

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

I haven't read all of the replies but did anyone else think Vader's helmet looked terrible, particularly around the neck? It was as if they forgot the real one on the day of shooting and went bought one in Smyths.

But the opening scenes of A New Hope it looked crummy as hell so they may be doing it for consistency reasons.

TerrorFirmer

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

I haven't read all of the replies but did anyone else think Vader's helmet looked terrible, particularly around the neck? It was as if they forgot the real one on the day of shooting and went bought one in Smyths.

I actually went home and watched the start of a New Hope in HD out of curiosity for that exact same reason, and I do agree that Vader from the chest up actually somehow looks tackier in Rogue One.

They nailed everything else from ANH in a perfect blend of the source material with a slightly modern edge but Vader didn't fit in overly well. The sort of red hue on the lenses that's barely evident in ANH is very obvious in Rogue One, and where the helmet joins the body is indeed pretty suspect.

Not a movie breaking niggle but a strange one that I did notice, didn't bother mentioning it in my appraisal as it's a small enough issue overall but since you've mentioned it...:)

robinph

Deleted User wrote: »

Why did they go for CGI Peter Cushing?? What were they thinking? Were they paying homage to the ridiculous CGI of the prequels? How hard would it be to find a similar actor? Even throwing Leia in there.... It really boggles my mind. Find a similar looking actor with the same outfit and hair. No big deal and no uncanny valley.

You could have a similar looking actor have done things if you have a few years difference in the timeline, but when the timelines of the two films are just minutes apart then needed something different. A different actor would have been far more jarring to the timeline.