Star Wars : Rogue One

wat · Dec 16, 2016

I think I expected too much. First half drags. Jumping around to different locations, different planets, to different people, half of them with very Star Warsy names that I find hard to keep track off. There was very little sense of distance, space or time. Characters are one note for the most part, wish they would have focused a little more the rogue one squad. Only character I gave a shit about was the robot and I think that's just because I like Alan Tudyk so much. Last act picks up a bunch but the action isn't anything amazing. The movie isn't terrible, it's OK, its just other than a few scenes I found it very forgettable.

Spoilers for last few scenes

Watching Vader wreck shop was cool but it felt tacked on. Yay he kills a bunch of nameless cannon fodder we give no shits about. I was hoping he would murder a few of the main cast, you know, the people we are supposed to care about. I was waiting for him to force choke the shit out of Donnie Yen and tell him the force doesn't give a shit about him. It just felt like a wasted opportunity, maybe my fault for getting my hopes up that the finale act would just be Vader hunting everyone down like it was a horror movie.

Miguex · Dec 16, 2016

Guaze, the character you asked about is either Benthic or Edrio Twotubes, there's actually two of them in Saw's group.

Qhue · Dec 16, 2016

Spoiler for the nerd-gasm aspects that played to the deep fans. Things that jumped out

The Temple of the Whills, Chirrut referring to "The Force of Others" when he is proselytizing in the market before calling out to Jyn, Kyber Crystals -- all of these references to the original drafts of Star Wars that have been repurposed and tossed around by a variety of extended universe applications but never made use of 'in canon'.

Having the Death Star 'super laser' be based on the same fundamental technology as a light saber was pretty ingenious.

Y-Wings, which have always been referred to as bombers, actually bombing things and being instrumental in crippling the one star destroyer.

Vader's castle being located on Mustafar AND it having a design that connects directly to the concept art for the Emperor's 'lava planet' fortress that was created and then tossed for Return of the Jedi.

Items that cameo shots and nods for more normal fans

Erso family drinks blue milk. Framed well enough in the shot in the opening sequence that its almost certain to be recognized.

The assholes from the Cantina that get owned by Obi-Wan -- This is a bit more subtle, but is played up enough when Jyn bumps into one of them that it should be noticed by normal people. They must have hightailed it to a ship seeing as the whole city is blown up less than a day later.

Mon Calamari members of admiralty -- no sign of Ackbar, but still a largely Mon Cal presence in terms of the capital ships for the Republic Fleet.

'Death Star Droid' wandering around on Jedha. Nice use for a character that most people will remember from the action figure more than from his limited appearance in the original movie.

blatant items

Tarkin -- I figured they would have gone with Wayne Pygram with maybe some added makeup to be Tarkin as he was in the Episode III cameo, but they instead went full CGI as others have noted. They did at least get the general mannerisms of Peter Cushing implemented nicely.

Bail Organa -- Jimmy Smits reprising his role from Episode III and who the audience knows is going to his death when he heads back to Alderaan. The reference to Leia in terms of sending someone to get Obi-Wan was a bit hamfisted and really telegraphed her cameo by the end.

C3PO and R2D2 being in the hangar on Yavin IV -- since this is less than a day before the start of A New Hope it is somewhat weird that Threepio seems completely ignorant of the Rebel Base, but then again maybe he's just that obtuse.

Leia at the end. They show her from behind until the very last line of the movie and her CGI resurrection is not nearly as good as Tarkin's. Hopefully they can tighten this shot up significantly in later renderings. Honestly I'm not sure why they didn't just have her daughter take on the role for that one scene. She already looks enough like her mom that it would be believable even without CGI

There were a few occasions where I wish they had backed away from the tie-ins and just allowed the movie to stand on its own as it is certainly capable of doing so.

Warr · Dec 16, 2016

I'm reserving official judgement until probably a second viewing sometime but right now I have it ahead of everything except the original trilogy. So #4 at worst. Biggest thing that bothered me:

Darth Vader's line "Don't get choked by your aspirations" or whatever it was. Got an audible groan from me. Seems totally out of character, like he's Dad Joke Vader. Then immediately following, we get all the cheesy speeches to set up the 3rd act. But after that, shit got pretty real and we even got Vader fan service at the end with him crushing rebels like a boss.

Evernothing · Dec 16, 2016

Other easter eggs

Cassian's blaster looks almost the same as Han Solo's.
The stormtrooper chatter about the T16 being discontinued.

kegkilla · Dec 16, 2016

This was pretty fucking boring other than the 15 second scene with Vader at the end that we've all seen by now. 5/10.

Sterling · Dec 16, 2016

Warr said:
I'm reserving official judgement until probably a second viewing sometime but right now I have it ahead of everything except the original trilogy. So #4 at worst. Biggest thing that bothered me:

Darth Vader's line "Don't get choked by your aspirations" or whatever it was. Got an audible groan from me. Seems totally out of character, like he's Dad Joke Vader. Then immediately following, we get all the cheesy speeches to set up the 3rd act. But after that, shit got pretty real and we even got Vader fan service at the end with him crushing rebels like a boss.

Well, you see Anakin cracking corny lines throughout Clone Wars, etc. Even if it wasn't totally out of character though, it really was jarring considering the tone of the scene in general.

Neki · Dec 16, 2016

Also, it is 100% confirmed that stormtrooper armour is as useful as wrapping a piece of paper around you in terms of protection.

It doesn't stop lightsaber attacks, grenade explosions, blaster rifle fire, kicks to the head, wooden sticks and stones thrown by Ewoks.

Regime · Dec 16, 2016

Neki said:
Also, it is 100% confirmed that stormtrooper armour is as useful as wrapping a piece of paper around you in terms of protection.

It doesn't stop lightsaber attacks, grenade explosions, blaster rifle fire, kicks to the head, wooden sticks and stones thrown by Ewoks.

But damned if it doesn't look cool as fuck.

Miguex · Dec 16, 2016

Evernothing said:
Other easter eggs

Cassian's blaster looks almost the same as Han Solo's.
The stormtrooper chatter about the T16 being discontinued.

There are also multiple appearances tying into the Rebels animated show. A call going out for General Syndulla on Yavin 4, Chopper rolls through a scene quickly also on Yavin, and during the space battle you can clearly see the Ghost multiple times, especially near the end of the battle as it circles the Mon Cal capital ship. A friend told me you can see the Ghost parked on Yavin the first time the planet is in the movie but I missed that one

Malakriss · Dec 16, 2016

Miguex said:
There are also multiple appearances tying into the Rebels animated show. A call going out for General Syndulla on Yavin 4, Chopper rolls through a scene quickly also on Yavin, and during the space battle you can clearly see the Ghost multiple times, especially near the end of the battle as it circles the Mon Cal capital ship. A friend told me you can see the Ghost parked on Yavin the first time the planet is in the movie but I missed that one

Rebels References (from Star Wars Rebels • /r/starwarsrebels):

The Ghost can be seen in no fewer than four shots, the two from the TV spots, one on Yavin 4 the first time we visit it, and another space battle shot, from the perspective of Admiral Raddus' bridge.

VCX-100 is said over the intercom, which is the model number of the Ghost.

"General Syndulla" is said over the intercom

Chopper shows up (only one I missed) reportedly in the scene where Mon Monthma is learning about the Scarif attack. Also another chopper scene, when they were leaving the hangar near the point when RO flies to Scarif. You can even hear him go "Wu-wub" - thanks /u/AnbuWeegee

Sato's CR-90, "Liberator", can be seen in two space battle shots. The clearest one is the shot of the TIEs striking Raddus' command ship.

Hammerhead Cruisers

Steve Blum (voice of Zeb) clearly continued his moonlighting as Imperial Stormtroopers.

Unconfirmed:
"Black Saber" project name when searching for the Death Star plan's may be in reference to the Darksaber.

"I think I saw a glimpse of Hera on Yavin 4, on one of those transport car things- just the very top of her head, green with the white headpiece for about a second on the opposite side of the car. Believe it was just as they were gearing up to go to the last planet, not so long after the call for General Syndulla went out. "

Hoss · Dec 16, 2016

Qhue said:
Just got back. Without any spoilers I will say I liked it, not as much as Force Awakens, but more so than the prequels. Elements of fan service given to the DEEP fans was pretty impressive, the gratuitous fan service that more normal people can recognize was a bit heavy handed at times.

Loved the fan service. Nerdgasms, multiple.

I tought the tarkin was doen well, but leia wasn't. I'm surprised to learn they were both CGI. Why was leia so crappy if she was CGI? Also, the things that were wrong wth Vader's appearance IMO were the red eyes and I think his neck was too short. Also, the cheesy ass line about choking on aspirations.

So what happened to the ghost in the big space battle? By the time it rolled around, I forgot to look for it. It would be a nice bow on the series if we saw it get destroyed.

Oh and when K2SO died, I was like, fuckit, errybody better fucking die now. I wuz pleased. Not so pleased with why the death star didn't direct hit the base, and that they didn't get naked and die having sex. But whatevs, gotta give some leeway to the producers and directors.

Jackie Treehorn · Dec 16, 2016

kegkilla said:
This was pretty fucking boring other than the 15 second scene with Vader at the end that we've all seen by now. 5/10.

I have to agree with Keg to some extent on this.

A friend asked me to go watch this with her last night.

Disclosure: I'm not the biggest fan of Star Wars. I like the original movies, I've seen them maybe twice each, I never saw those shitty newer ones, and I watched the one that came out last year and enjoyed it. So there's a good chance I had no idea what the "insider" easter eggs or Star Wars universe shit that came up was, and I probably can't appreciate it not knowing it.

Speaking of it as a standalone movie since I don't know Star Wars...

Pretty cliched. Pretty, pretty cliched. Very trope-y. It wasn't bad by any means, it was entertaining enough to watch, but when I see people say that this movie is "simply amazing," I have to wonder what your breadth of movie watching experience is. Again: Maybe I missed a lot of things not being ensconced in Star Wars knowledge, but this movie, for me, was entertaining fare but not something memorable or which I'd care to see again.

Mizake · Dec 16, 2016

Saw this last night and loved it for what it is.....and entertaining and enjoyable theater experience. I wasn't expecting super nuanced performances like in Manchester by the Sea. All the easter eggs and nods to old Star Wars for the fans were great. I also liked how this movie clearly was made for a more adult audience with more morally ambiguous characters (like what Cassian does in his opening sequence), and no cheesy made-for-kids-toys characters like Jar Jar Binks. I also liked all the difference spacecraft and the space combat scenes were awesome.

Probably the best thing to happen to the Star Wars universe was Disney buying the rights from Lucas. Both this movie and TFA were light years ahead of the prequels, and is a good sign imo of where this franchise is heading. I really enjoyed watching both TFA and R1 in the theaters, and I look forward to the upcoming Star Wars movies if they are of this caliber. If they can keep this up Disney will literally be printing money.

Void · Dec 16, 2016

Loved it, although as others have said it is mainly the last act that is driving that for me. Still, the rest wasn't bad at all. I liked it better than TFA overall, but only because of that final act. And I liked Rey more than Jyn, but not by a mile or anything. There were definite problems, including the aforementioned planet hopping at the beginning.

K2-S0 was definitely the best, except that whenever I see that name I can't help but think of the camwhore KT-SO.

8/10, well worth the view in theaters. IMAX was fucking awesome.

When Jyn went to send the transmission and the computer voice said the dish was out of alignment, I really really wanted to shout "PC Load Letter?!" but I didn't for obvious reasons.

gauze · Dec 16, 2016

Miguex said:
Guaze, the character you asked about is either Benthic or Edrio Twotubes, there's actually two of them in Saw's group.

danke~! Do they gloss over them more in the books? I didn't realize it was two.

Jackie Treehorn said:
Pretty cliched. Pretty, pretty cliched. Very trope-y. It wasn't bad by any means, it was entertaining enough to watch, but when I see people say that this movie is "simply amazing," I have to wonder what your breadth of movie watching experience is. Again: Maybe I missed a lot of things not being ensconced in Star Wars knowledge, but this movie, for me, was entertaining fare but not something memorable or which I'd care to see again.

To each their own in the end. I think what makes it a standout, and I might not be speaking for many; is simply the amount of detail that goes into it. They completely root it into the universe, with very little tryhard aspects(ie tarkin/vader, but was still awesome) and don't try to hammerfist things into you, pretending you don't know.. at least that I didn't notice. I myself, hate the whole jedi/sith shit, and don't really care too much for the rebellion/empire. It's all about the interlacing background characters, like TFA, I was nutting over the pirates and the cantina scene. Was like a child in a candy store.

It kinda goes well with the Roy Batty speech, the fantasy of seeing all of these worlds and their populous being robust. Taking the original Cantina scene from a 10, to a 100. I would love someone to correct me on how many planets/tradepost they visited, but its well damn near double of any one star wars film made.

Like I said in my previous post, they took the rebellion from this cartoony shit look, and cranked it into the grungy real soldier territory real quick

to

0578-3236030-Rogue_one_Filming_at_the_legendary_Pinewood_studios_Felicity_Jon-a-93_1442358110266.jpg

You got characters running around with m1 helmets, half cocked and unclipped. I was trying to find some sort of FMJ reference, but it felt very Vietnam to me.

Anywho, i'm just one in which attention to detail doesn't go unnoticed and extremely appreciated.

As far as easter eggs go, were there any with the pilots? many faces and callsigns.

Royal · Dec 16, 2016

gauze said:
danke~! Do they gloss over them more in the books? I didn't realize it was two.

Neither of them showed up in Catalyst which doesn't go into the time frame of the movie at all. The one that was pictured earlier and seemed to be someone of rank in the movie was Edrio Two Tubes. He was actually created for TFA to appear on Jakku but they ended up not using him at all, which freed up his design for use in a later movie. So Edwards snagged him from the Creature Shop at Lucasfilm.

zignor 4 · Dec 16, 2016

I was pleasantly surprised by this. I enjoyed it more than TFA, which I also liked. I could have done with better character development and some more careful editing (it was pretty evident where they cut down/excised scenes). I also would have liked it more if they didn't go full close-up on Tarkin. The effect was admirable, but didn't hold up when he was taking up most of the screen. I don't know what people are bitching about with the "other" CGI cameo. I thought it looked fine and only lasted a few seconds anyway.

Was it amazing? Nah, but it was a pretty great Star Wars movie and a terrific lead-up to ANH.

Phazael · Dec 16, 2016

So now there is a three Star Wars movies better than anything Lucas did himself. The dude must be pulling his hair out that other directors/writers consistently make better shit than he does and that he was just lucky.

Agree totally with the FMJ comparisons. This movie was dark and it needed to be. Best of all are all the moments that are clearly the new writers basically saying Fuck You to Lucas for shitting on their childhoods. Like every single pinnacle moment of Lucas fail is addressed at some point in this movie.

Han shot first moment is immediately addressed when Cassian kills a friendly to cover his escape. The Vader NO! moment that encapsulates everything Lucas did wrong is handled by having Vader buttfuck hallways full of rebel yard trash. The entire legacy of incompetent storm troopers and sanitized combat is blown out of the water by showing a gritty prolonged shitstorm of a battle at the end. We finally get a force sensitive guy who is not some cartoonish light or dark extremist. The universe looks lived in and gritty, instead of some elaborate CGI tech demo. Tons of material for the old EU tossed in, because Lucas wouldn't use anything he didn't create personally in the movies. How big of a fucking nerd am I for betting excited to see an Imperial Escort Shuttle from the old Tie Fighter Wars games or a crashed z95?

This was a good movie and a GREAT Star Wars movie. Edge lords are going to be edgy about it and its not without its flaws, but taking the whole thing in collectively, this is what Star Wars should be like. I hope Episode 8 continues this darker gritty edge.

Ossoi · Dec 16, 2016

I liked it, still lolling at the person above who thought Peter Cushing was still alive

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