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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story |OT| They rebel - SPOILERS

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Just got back and it was absolutely amazing. The first half was a drag like the pacing was all over the place, but the second is incredible. My god that ending. That fucking ending. Vader is a boss.
 
Was anyone else surprised with how bleak this turned out?
Like damn. Coupled with Catalyst, Jyn Erso is the most tragic character in the series. Everything bad happens to her.

Krennic's whole existence, taking Catalyst into account, is hilarious dark comedy. No matter how much he schemes he just gets screwed over.

Krennic: Here Poggle, have your freedom and build us this Death Star.
Poggle: Ok. *starts a riot and flees* See ya suckers!
Krennic: WTF.

Krennic: Here Galen, have this top of the line facility to do your dream job working on energy research *secretly gives Galen's notes to scientists in another facility on another planet*
*secret facility blows up*
Krennic: WTF.

Krennic: Hey Has, go drop weapons on this planet so the Empire has pretext to invade.
Has: Ok.
Krennic: Hey Tarkin, I set up a situation so you can have pretext to invade.
Tarkin: Ok.
*Has actually starts a real rebellion with Saw that bogs down Tarkin for months*
Krennic: Keikaku douri.
*Tarkin captures Has, forces him to go back to Coruscant to mess with Krennic while he gets accolades for defeating a rebellion*
Krennic: WTF.

Krennic: *blows up Jedha City* See, my creation works!
Tarkin: I think you mean my creation. You're demoted.
Krennic: WTF.

Krennic: Vader, tell the Emperor I'm a good boy!
Vader: Screw you, you're causing too much paperwork. *force choke*
Krennic: W...T...F....

Krennic: Finally, I'll stop you rebels!
*gets shot*
*gets Death Starred by his own project*
Krennic: WTFFFFFFF-
 
Great movie. Fit in pretty well with the original Trilogy. Though, why was the Tantive IV at Scariff for the battle? They were supposed to receive a transmission, not be there to get it personally. Yeah, everyone was going to die, so that didn't surprise me at all. Alan Tudyk is an absolutely amazing voice actor. I am very happy he's voicing something in pretty much everything Disney does now.

They tried and got really close with Grand Moff Tarkin and Leia. Uncanny valley was still there, but there were a few shots with Tarkin where it didn't show that much.



For me there was only prequel worthy shit-stain on the film...

"Don't choke on your ambitions"

Who the hell thought Vader needed a one-liner?
 
My theatre burst into cheers and applause during that line. You guys need to lighten up.

After the election, I've been a lot more indifferent towards GAF's opinions lately.

The movie was a lot better than I expected. The Droid was hilarious, Vader kicking ass in the end was awesome, enjoyed most of the newer characters, and was blown away at how well done that Leia CGI was. It's amazing that we are capable of pulling that off now.

My only real gripe was the scene with Forest Whitaker's character pulling a Man of Steal with letting himself get killed when he could have gone with the others. I sort of understand why but still thought it was kinda dumb.

Also that line "Save the Rebellion...save the dream!" was pretty cringeworthy to me. But overall, was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the film.
 
For the first time in 30+ years, we got to see Vader be a badass and not a whiny emo teenager.

I am happy.

Also, while Tarkin's CGI was admirable, it wasn't the best and overused, and really didn't fit in.
 
wait... weren't the material that powers the death star (something crystals) being mined from that town they blew up?

Why do that? Unless the death star gets fuel from something else? The dialogue was confusing.
 
Oh yeah I was getting so scared at the end that Vader would only have that scene with Krennic and nothing else but then the end of the movie happened and it was so good.

Everything about that hallway scene was just tense as all hell.
 
I loved all of the characters that they put into the movie. Jyn and Krennic being the best but I enjoyed them all. The boyfriend felt like there were too many characters and planet jumps that got him lost in the first third of the movie - and I do agree that it was a little confusing at some points. It was a little disappointing how much emphasis they put on Saw for him to have only been in a few scenes.

Cinematography and the score were fantastic. The action was all very well done and that space battle at the end may have been some of the best in the series. Darth Vader going ham made the fanboy in me go berserk (as did my crowd).

Probably my fourth favorite for now (which doesn't mean much since I love all of them but one) but I'm excited to go see it again.
 
wait... weren't the material that powers the death star (something crystals) being mined from that town they blew up?

Why do that? Unless the death star gets fuel from something else? The dialogue was confusing.

Presumably they'd extracted what they needed and didn't need to keep the place around anymore.

As for the excised shots of Krennic and Jyn on the battlefield, most likely the original cuts had the plans in a separate facility from the broadcasting tower, so they had to run from one area to another. Maybe cut that to streamline things?
 
Not bad Rogue One! References were a little on the nose, but I was surprised how much I liked the gang. That Vader scene too.... damn

I'm mixed on the Vader scene. One one hand, it was cool seeing him mow down the rebels. On the other, we were 5 minutes away from having a lightsaber free Star Wars film.
 
Okay I'm all on board the CGI actors train now. What they did with Peter Cushing/Tarkin was just downright stunning. My mind was nearly convinced he was still alive somehow. Carrie Fisher's touchup was pretty amazing too.

Lots of things in this movie were amazing, I quite enjoyed it.

The Digital humans were pretty bad yo
 
I am still trying to figure out how R2D2 and C3PO teleported up into the space battle, since they watch everyone taking off.

What? The New Yorker review actually said that AotC and RotS were the two best entries in the entire series.
Nah, I meant the sentiments of the Inquisitor I agreed with. Guy who posted was a bit of a dick, so I felt no need to clarify with him.

In short, the Rogue One reviews put out by the New Yorker were absolute Bantha poodoo, and reeked of pretentiousness and white privilege
 
wait... weren't the material that powers the death star (something crystals) being mined from that town they blew up?

Why do that? Unless the death star gets fuel from something else? The dialogue was confusing.

My impression from the movie: The Death Star's turbolaser needed the crystals to focus it, and they needed a lot because initial iterations of it weren't working properly. But once they had a working version of it they didn't need any more.
 
Not bad Rogue One! References were a little on the nose, but I was surprised how much I liked the gang. That Vader scene too.... damn

That Vader Scene had me and the audience like...
dx6mqj.gif
 
For the first time in 30+ years, we got to see Vader be a badass and not a whiny emo teenager.

I am happy.

Yeah it's funny how despite how powerful he is and how he is perceived to be the strongest Sith Lord ever, we never really got to see his "dominance". While the first time he fought Luke and won, it was a struggle. But then struggles again in the next fight and gets overpowered in defeat. We mostly just see him be slow, stiff, and only flashes of his power like his classic force choke.

So happy we finally get that scene where Vader just completely destroys everyone with little to no effort. The Theater was in full Nerd Gasem when Vader turned his lightsaber on, I loved it.
 
So, was Gold Leader CGI or was the helmet and visor enough that they were able to put in a look-alike?


edit: Did they just use ANH footage of him?


Okay I'm all on board the CGI actors train now. What they did with Peter Cushing/Tarkin was just downright stunning. My mind was nearly convinced he was still alive somehow. Carrie Fisher's touchup was pretty amazing too.

Lots of things in this movie were amazing, I quite enjoyed it.

Wait, that was a touch-up Carrie fisher, not straight CGI? Tarkin looked OK in some shots, bad in others.
 
I just got back from seeing it and thought it was pretty good. I agree with what I've read looking back a few pages, the first third or so of the movie was really clunky with odd pacing and editing. You're introduced to a bunch of characters, a bunch of planets, and tons of names are thrown around that you have no context for. That's when I started to get worried for this movie but I thought once they got to Eedo (however you spell Mikkelsen's planet) the movie finally picked up and got going. Of course, the final act was pure GOD-tier.

In the end, I liked this movie WAY more than TFA as I felt it had way more heart and emotion instead of relying too much on nostalgia and fan service. What's weird is I felt way more tension watching this movie, even though it's a prequel, than TFA since I didn't know what would happen to these characters. On the other hand, once TFA revealed itself as ANH clone a lot of the tension sucked out and replaced with predictability. I actually cared for the Rebel pilots in the end battle, whereas with TFA, God Mode Poe Dameron made me feel nothing for him and his merry band.

Pros:
- A lot of nice practical effects.
- Respectful fan service instead of trying to cram things down our throat with, "HEY, remember R2-D2, he's here!"
- KS20
- The entire final act.
- Vader wrecking fools.
- Gold Leader, Red Leader, and Red-5. We eating now, fam.
- The amount of feels this movie had me going through.

Cons:
- No opening crawl, every other EU media has it but now Disney wants to be dicks and horde it for the main lines. Stop.
- Clunky first act.
- The characters aren't fleshed out enough and scream for more screen time.
- Why did the movie need to display each planet's name? That's a SW first right? Felt like crap modern film making, trust the audience can pay attention for two seconds.
- Forest Whittaker's character (Saul whatever) is just hammy and also squandered.
- CGI Tarkin and Leia, it just looked bad and this is coming from a guy who thought Flynn looked really good in Tron.
- Krennic felt under utilized, he was basically just a whiny administrator.
- Michael Giacchino's crap score, I know he had a tight deadline but I've been a critic of his for some time. His scores are just serviceable nothing really noteworthy sticks out, it just feels like standard SW imitation music.
- Movie just didn't feel as tight.

The last critique is what brings the movie down overall, basically all the parts don't click together as a good movie and a good SW movie should. There are character arcs that happen off screen, I'm looking at cargo pilot guy. We're just told he decided to defect because of Jyn's dad but have no real insight into why he did it and his character doesn't really grow from the first time we meet him. We don't get enough interaction with Jyn and her dad, the first act could have really used this. Also, what was the deal with Jyn's necklace? Following Chekov's Gun principle I expected it to come into play at some point in the movie but it never does, we just forget about it after Jedha. In fact, we forget about the Kyber Crystals completely after Jedha, something tells me they were a bigger part of the original script. Also, Cassian and Jyn should have totally kissed at the end, fuck this hugging bullshit.
 
Great movie. Fit in pretty well with the original Trilogy. Though, why was the Tantive IV at Scariff for the battle? They were supposed to receive a transmission, not be there to get it personally.

I think it still works. Vader said the plans were beamed to the ship by rebel spies, which is essentially true, they were sent from the planet originally.
 
Not sure how many of y'all of play/have played Star Wars Battlefront but the entire time the battle of Scarif was going on I couldn't stop thinking that playing Conquest on here would be pretty fun. Even drew up an idea:

 
So, was Gold Leader CGI or was the helmet and visor enough that they were able to put in a look-alike?


edit: Did they just use ANH footage of him?




Wait, that was a touch-up Carrie fisher, not straight CGI? Tarkin looked OK in some shots, bad in others.

Pretty sure both she and Tarkin were fully CGI, based on body and facial mo-cap of those actors posted before.
 
I am not a super fan so I have forgotten a lot of the original movies.
How does Leia know of obi wan?
The one high ranking rebel made a passing reference to him (I think...right?).
Was his existence just common knowledge?
 
On my drive home, I was wondering whether I blacked out for a second because I couldn't remember where this scene happened. That scene from the trailers really made an impact on me and I was looking forward to it. Good to know that it didn't make the cut and I'm not crazy. But what a shame

Also her running with the drive on the beach was cut too

Yeah, was waiting for this. Wonder how it originally played out.

Started going back and watched the teaser from April again.

Forest Whitaker's character is bald in original teaser trailer, too. I think he had hair in the opening scene. Regardless, the setting here looks like it's later in the film.

UP8cO4G.jpg


Later trailers, film:

8bq1Yyg.jpg


Jyn being chased by Stormtroopers with the drive in here hand, too.

Troops running en masse is in the final cut but when the Rebels create a diversion and set off explosions around the base.

01MSV1p.jpg


Krennic surveying the battle didn't make it in the final cut either. He never leaves the confines of the base.

oAFjDYI.jpg
 
Of all the returning ANH characters that bothered me, the worst was Vader in his lava palace scene. His tone of voice wasn't one of disinterest/dispassion bordering on intimidating annoyance, it seemed almost playful, and that felt out of place.

I leaned in to my mate immediately after the mendelson + vader scene and said "not sure why vader seemed so campy" and he laughed. It was a bit odd I agree.
 
Also, what was the deal with Jyn's necklace? Following Chekov's Gun principle I expected it to come into play at some point in the movie but it never does, we just forget about it after Jedha.

She touched her necklace while Bodhi was transmitting the clearance codes to get past the shield gate. I thought it implied the Force helped sway the mind of the guy on duty to accept the codes.
 
I am not a super fan so I have forgotten a lot of the original movies.
How does Leia know of obi wan?
The one high ranking rebel made a passing reference to him (I think...right?).
Was his existence just common knowledge?

The High Ranking Rebel was Jimmy Smits character. The Senator for Alderan who adopted Leia.
 
Just got back and really, really liked it. The first half or so does have some pacing issues, but once they take off as Rogue One, the film is just clicking together so well.

The CGI Tarkin was very impressive most of the time, with some moments where the uncanny valley kicked in and the illusion was broken.

The space battles were impressive, but was it just me, or did the Star Destroyers seem less detailed than the models of old? The way they were shot and lit they actually looked like big models instead of massive ships. Although the shot of the two colliding was very cool looking.

This was definitely the best looking Star Wars film to date though. The cinematography was quite good throughout. It looked nice and modern, yet everything seemed to fit in perfectly with the world of A New Hope.

Also, as expected, Giacchino killed it with the music. Some nice callbacks to Williams throughout, while also making it his own thing. In the end, it still felt like Star Wars. I really hope they let Giacchino continue with more work in this universe.

Lastly, dat Vader scene. I have said for months leading up to this that I wanted a scene of Vader as a Jason Voorhees type figure just casually mowing through Rebel scum. Well, I sure as hell got that. The scene was short, but oh was it glorious.
 
She touched her necklace while Bodhi was transmitting the clearance codes to get past the shield gate. I thought it implied the Force helped sway the mind of the guy on duty to accept the codes.

Ah yea, I remember that but that was a really nothing scene. I was expecting her to use it to power something just in the nick of time. Like, the transmitter controls gets blown out by Krennic or something and she uses the crystal to replace the blown fuse and power the relay.

EDIT:

Also, as expected, Giacchino killed it with the music. Some nice callbacks to Williams throughout, while also making it his own thing. In the end, it still felt like Star Wars. I really hope they let Giacchino continue with more work in this universe.

Please, god no.
 
I am not a super fan so I have forgotten a lot of the original movies.
How does Leia know of obi wan?
The one high ranking rebel made a passing reference to him (I think...right?).
Was his existence just common knowledge?

The high ranking Rebel is Bail Organa, Leia's adoptive father and co-founder of the Rebel Alliance with Mon Mothma. Leia knows about Obi-Wan because Bail told her. Otherwise, nobody but Bail, Mothma, the Lars family, and (REBELS SPOILERS)
Darth Maul and the Ghost crew
know about him.
 
So, was Gold Leader CGI or was the helmet and visor enough that they were able to put in a look-alike?


edit: Did they just use ANH footage of him?

I'm pretty sure it was reworked footage from ANH. Both Red and Gold Leader had identical lines to what they said in ANH, they just used it for different situations. If they were CGId I'm sure they would have had them say different stuff.
 
I thought that mind reading alien made people lose their minds, yet the pilot seemed fine afterwards? Was waiting for him to go nuts but it's not a big deal

I really liked it!


If they released the movie in September or October would Trump still have won the Presidency? Jyn's speech could have been a campaign ad!
 
Was I hallucinating or did I see a clone trooper manning the tanks on Jedha?

It's specific armor to tank commanders or whatever theyre called. Almost no clones are in the Stormtrooper corp by this point.

Missed opportunity to shove Rex in the Scarif battle though.
 
The fact that Vader has his palace on Mustafar is all kinds of fucked up awesome, and adds a lot of weight to the fact that in Rebels, the gang joined up with the Alliance in a battle over Mustafar.
 
Just finished watching the film. I really, really loved it. It wasn't absolutely perfect, but I think if you like the prequel you'll this movie. I think it's better than TFA, if only because I think this was a much more "fresh" experience for a Star Wars film. I thought Jyn was great and I liked Cassian as well. I loved how Cassian basically said the Rebels aren't all good people who do good things, but do whatever it takes for the cause. I like the feel desperation this movie had, as it's something the rebel alliance does;t really have in any of the other movies aside from Empire. It actually felt like there were stakes on the line and people were risking their lives. I totally expected everyone to get wiped, but it was believable that their characters were battling with everything they had.

I loved Vader too, I can see why people didn't like his line od dialogue "choke on aspiration" but it's something Clone Wars Anakin would say. I thought it was unnerving and witty. I'm a huge Vader fan and have waited a long time for him to be amazing. My only complaint is that this is probably the last time we will see Vader be amazing again. I'd love to see him wrecking Jedi and such.

Overall, I loved the movie and I'd probably put it just behind the OT and ahead of TFA for my 4th favorite film. Though, I think it comes close to ROTJ in some portions and its similar as both this movie and ROTJ had amazing final acts.

On another note, I've read a couple of times and heard from elsewhere that people have always wanted to see Vader in his prime or what not, well his prime is in ROTS. Once Anakin becomes Vader after Mace Windu dies and once he gets into the suit his power is greatly diminished. He's still super powerful because his potential was Space Jesus, but yea, that's pretty much Vader at his peak. I'd love an Order 66 HBO style short series.
 
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