Official Star Wars Thread

Also only just found out that Michael Giacchino did the score and not John Williams. Didn't even notice the difference tbh.
 
Short review: I loved it, possibly better than The Force Awakens, but it shamelessly plays off my nostalgia to do so, in ways that even TFA wasn't interested in trying.

Long review:
Rogue One is the story of the Rebels that give their life so that Luke Skywalker can be in the right place at the right time. Sacrifice is the name of the game. The main character, Jyn, is the daughter of one of the main designers on the Death Star, and who was raised by an extremist (aka terrorist) that even Mon Mothma and the Rebel Alliance can't deal with. When Mothma and the Alliance hear that an Imperial shuttle pilot has defected with a message from Jyn's father, they rescue her and send her to find the pilot and message, currently held by the terrorist that raised her. Meanwhile, the Empire's new superweapon, the Death Star, becomes fully operational...

Stylistically, this film does an amazing job bridging the 1970s gap. Remember when Lucas attempted to "modernize" the original trilogy with new effects? This does it right, by using the same "older-style" technology props but using CG to fill gaps. Same with the costuming, which is just marvellous. You'll see some stuff which makes you think, "wow, that looks like the helmets they wore in Return of the Jedi", or "wow, there's a Boushh bounty hunter". And you'll see lots of stuff that makes you go, "I've never, ever seen anyone dressed like that! Who is that guy!" Same with the set design. Some stuff looks like familiar tech and settings, some stuff looks new, but nothing looks out of place. The physical props were made by people who clearly loved Star Wars.

The music was really well done. Giacchino put in lots of calls to the various Williams scores, but it's clearly his own music, avoiding long Williams-esque sweeping movements for shorter, more intense sounds and suites, though there were one or two moments I found myself missing some of the traditional score and he could have gone a little more in that direction. Still, Giacchino made it his own, and given the task of "Hey can you be the first guy to score Star Wars not named John Williams", he did an admirable job.

CG is phenomenal, from the little touchup stuff to the big set pieces, everything looked great. ILM really outdid themselves. Sound design was bitchin' as well. ILM and Skywalker Sound remain the pinnacle of their fields, and prove that Disney did right by making sure they were part of the Lucasfilm deal.

Characters: I enjoyed the characters of Jyn, Saw Gerrera, and K-2SO most. Alan Tudyk did a fantastic job bring the sardonic K-2SO alive; his death really began the cascade of emotions at the end, as character after character, some you know a lot about (Jyn and Cassian, Bodhi Rook, Baze and Chirrut), some you know less about (General Merrick, who led Blue Squadron to its heroic demise, Admiral Raddus, the Mon Calamari predecessor to Ackbar. We even feel the pain when a young pilot flying in formation as Red 5 is destroyed - he'll need to be replaced by someone else) all die. There was legitimate emotion in the theatre at each of these deaths, as they all gave their lives so that a single new hope for the survival of the Alliance could be born.

High stakes, high drama. It's closer to Platoon in space than it is Lord of the Rings in space. There are no space wizards, save a few brief glimpses of Darth Vader; there is a belief in the Force, but few who can use it. There's something right about the mood, the desperation. There are those who want to flee, and those who stand and fight. It takes almost every ship, every fighter, every soldier the Rebel Alliance has, leaving only a handful of snub fighters and one blockade runner afterwards.

Fantastic film.
 
Well, I needed some time to cool down...
Unsurprisingly, I love the film. It IS real Star Wars, no doubts. I so much appreciate the way in which it expanded the universe. New characters, locations, trooper designs... Everything's cool and fitting. The film added layers to the Rebellion and managed to make A New Hope feel completely different now (in the most positive way), which is a remarkable achievement. The action sequences are hands down the best in the whole series (I guess the word "Saga" no longer fits). TFA battles pale in comparison with those in RO. I didn't notice any story/flow/dialogue issues. Acting was great. The only technical/filmmaking issue I'm able to point out for now is that I wish they didn't use shaky cam outside of action scenes. It looked kind of cheap during dialogues etc..

The Vader scene at the end... OMG. Jaw-dropping. One of the best SW moments ever. Basically since the beginning of the Rogue One production that has been the biggest questions for many fans (me included) - are we going to see Vader in action? I wasn't sure until the end, so it felt amazingly satisfying when he ignited the lightsaber. If we didn't get that scene, it would be a huge missed opportunity.

Oh, and I'm perfectly ok with the cold open. Some people complain about no crawl, but I'm glad it's not there for standalones. I hope Lucasfilm will be consistent with the openings now. It would be nice if all spin-offs started with this kind of orchestra stab, that was cool. The jingle during the Rogue One title card was weird, though... They should have made it just a simple rendition of the main SW theme, it would be very effective IMO. This one sounds like it was avoiding copyright, lol.

As for negatives, at this point I'm able to pinpoint two main things I didn't like.

- The fact that everybody died... I can't stand the argument "where are they during OT, if they survived?!". In such a gigantic universe as Star Wars, there are many ways they could have made it work. I wish at least Jyn survived, so we could return to her adventures in novels, comics and stuff... It surprised me they left no gates open. Maybe I'm just being emotional right now, because I simply like these new characters and want more of them. Don't get me wrong - technically it all works in the film the way it is. For me it's just an unexpected move given the potential for expanding canon. But well... I guess that from another point of view it's a good thing that they just did what they thought is right for the film instead of thinking about the future.

- Huge changes between what was shown in the trailers and what ended up in the film make me... unsettled. The third act was clearly reworked. Now I feel robbed of several scenes. I'm talking mainly about the moment when they are running on the beach with the plans and the walkers fire at them. I thought that this whole sequence would be one of the most iconic and epic scenes in all Star Wars films and a great climax of Rogue One. And it's not there... It's not simply cut - it's clear that they altered the story in a way that makes that scene impossible to happen (Jyn and Cassian never join the battle after stealing the plans). I keep wondering what was the other version of the third act and maybe that was the version I would like more... Speculations and uncertainty make me frustrated, I guess. I know it's subjective, but hey... These are MY impressions. :P It's possible I'll change my tune if Lucasfilm ever shares details on the exact differences between pre- and post-reshoots versions of the film.

Now a few words about the soundtrack. At first I was disappointed with the music. I've always thought Michael Giacchino is a great composer, but nothing in the score stood out to me. Everything changed after I listened to the album version at home. I managed to notice many interesting details, impressive technical proficiency and fully fledged new themes, which are outstanding. Just listen to the 3 magnificent suites at the end of the album. However, I still think the original themes could have been used more. More, but not much more. It should be definitely driven by new music, but the story screams for musical callbacks IMO. Anyway, mad props to Giacchino for pulling this off in 4 and a half weeks.
 
Just took my son (for his birthday) with his cousins and a friend from school to see RO.

I agree with what was said prior: the scene with Vader in the end I have waited my whole life to see! A scene like that should have been in Ep III. Also, Vader's castle I have read about in novels in the past, but this is the first time we have seen it and was well worth the wait. Too bad it looked like it was stolen from Lord of the Rings. Vader deserved a grand entrance back to cinema like that. Loved the visuals and that is what I call a Grand Finale! Great location to shoot. We have not seen that tropical setting in a Star Wars film prior. Yes, I already predicted everyone would die since that was mentioned (I think) in Ep IV. If not, just the fact none of these characters are in the later films told me they were going to die! I liked that we finally see a Star Wars film that shows the name of each planet!

I am glad I read the prequel novel Catalyst. It really helped me understand why Krennic and Galen seemed so familiar with each other at the start of the film. I am glad none of you (so far) have complained about the CG Tarkin & Leia. They were very well used in the film. I have a friend who is watching the films for the first time and he has watched I & II. Now he will watch III and then RO. I am jealous he gets to watch the films in chronological order for his first viewing.
 
Just saw it .. holy crap that was good. Reminded me a bit of old WWII movies like Bataan in the overall tone of the film. Really well done
 
So can anyone think of a scenario where you would show this to someone new to SW first instead of IV? Unlike the prequel trilogy, it doesn't ruin the twists of the OT and I think it actually raises the stakes of the original. It also fixes a major plot hole in a satisfying way. It actually enhanced the original movie for me.
 
Like I said in a previous post, my co-worker is watching SW films for the first time. He is watching them in chronological order. He saw 1 & 2. Now going to watch 3 & then RO.
 
I saw Rogue One yesterday. It sure is better than The Force Awakens. I loved the spaceships battle scenes and the references to the old Star Wars movies!
 
My question:
I watched the movie and loved it. I felt that it did a great job of the following:

  • Putting some costs to the the opening scenes of IV-- while you felt for the Princess, now you know just what it cost to get to that point
  • showing what the rebels had to go through to survive -- I like that early scene where he killed the informant so that he could get away-- dirty hands they had
  • showing how someone could start out not caring (Jyn) and be drawn into the rebellion and start to care by the end
  • Showing just how badass Vader was... man that was great to see him take out all those rebels at the end!
My question is this, was the story strong? I feel like it was. My co-worker states that he didn't connect to the characters and only knew the name of Jyn when he walked out. I think he is wrong because I felt a little heart broken when they died on the beach at the end. It was right, and a good ending, and it made sense, but it sure made me sad....
 
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