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[TAJ]

Jesus, that was a chore to sit through. I never thought I'd choose to walk out of a movie but this broke me.
I left when they were pulling the Death Star plans. I probably wasn't far from the Vader action part. You know what? IDGAF

 

[Fliesen]

In ANH did they ever specify that it's weakness was a lack of oversight?

well, straight from the horse's mouth, we kinda know that the Imperial commanders themselves weren't really aware of the weakness.

TAGGE
And what of the Rebellion? If the
Rebels have obtained a complete
technical readout of this station,
it is possible, however unlikely,
that they might find a weakness and
exploit it.

MOTTI
Any attack made by the Rebels against
this station would be a useless
gesture, no matter what technical
data they've obtained. This station
is now the ultimate power in the
universe. I suggest we use it!

they had to analyze the rebel's attack to even figure out what the Rebels were going for.

OFFICER
We've analyzed their attack, sir,
and there is a danger. Should I have
your ship standing by?

"Why are they flying down that trench, what's at the end?! ... oh, an exhaust port that leads straight to the .... ooooh ....oh no ... shit...."


also:

GOLD LEADER
Pardon me for asking, sir, but what
good are snub fighters going to be
against that?

DODONNA
Well, the Empire doesn't consider a
small one-man fighter to be any
threat, or they'd have a tighter
defense. An analysis of the plans
provided by Princess Leia has
demonstrated a weakness in the battle
station.

So, in ANH it's pretty much a weakness that the Rebels deem exploitable, while the Empire deems it miniscule and not worthy of any serious protection

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

Most hardcore Star Wars fans obsess over Wedge, so I'm kind of confused about the complaints about lack of characterization given that Wedge barely even qualifies as a character to begin with.

Hell, we have people here in this thread making these complaints who have said they love Qui-Gon and Mace Windu.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

If this was the "saved" script with heavy Tony Gilroy rewrites/restructures, then what the fuck was the Gary Whitta version...

 

[Aiii]

well, straight from the horse's mouth, we kinda know that the Imperial commanders themselves weren't really aware of the weakness.

they had to analyze the rebel's attack to even figure out what the Rebels were going for.

"Why are they flying down that trench, what's at the end?! ... oh, an exhaust port that leads straight to the .... ooooh ....oh no ... shit...."

Except that thanks to this movie, they don't know that a shot to the core would actually cause enough damage to destroy the entire station. Sure there could be damage, but normally there would be a failsafe of some kind that would not make the entire thing go kaboom, were it not for Galen Erso's intentional sabotage.

 

[Sanctuary]

Also, final act was amazing and I don't know if 8 or 9 will have a space battle that good.

Probably not, but it also probably won't matter as they should be better movies overall. In a way, the last thirty minutes just seemed like their eleventh hour edit where they realized not a whole fucking lot was going on with the film, and it needed something to justify viewing. Is it any coincidence that the final thirty minutes are about the only thing that anyone has been super positive about?

I finally got release from my space battle blue balls that the prequels and awakens denied me.

What? The opening sequence of Revenge of the Sith was pretty damn good. Probably the best thing to come out of the prequels. The one in this film is one of the best in any of the movies, but it's not like they were completely absent in the prequels. In fact, I'd argue that the scenes in The Force Awakens were some of the most tepid of all.

 

[NekoFever]

Besides Mon Mothma, Bail, Tarkin and Leia what other cameos were there? I saw R2/C3PO, red leader, gold leader, chopper, the "I got the death sentence on 12 systems" & his friend + the ghost and on yavin the p.a paging for General Syndulla(yooooooooooo) and Antilles reference.

General Dodonna

I think he was recast rather than an effect but I recognised him.

 

[rec0ded1]

I finally got release from my space battle blue balls that the prequels and awakens denied me.

 

[Magwik]

If this was the "saved" script with heavy Tony Gilroy rewrites/restructures, then what the fuck was the Gary Whitta version...

Probably a less "Hollywood" feeling film. The characters, the plot beats, are all just fairly tripe. I can only hope that the other versions of Rogue One actually had an identity.

 

[valkyre]

Why would a fully intelligent AI character be any less to your emotional investment than the human character?

There's an All AI Lives Matter joke in here that I'm choosing not to make.

I think his comment has less to do with the sacrifice of lives, rather than the characters sacrificed. And I agree with him.

The human characters in this movie are just irrelevant really, you feel close to nothing about them, they are very poorly handled. K2 however is much more appealing and fleshed out. And K2 does that even if it is "only a Droid" in terms that it doesnt have a mouth/eyes/flesh, ie a full range of human expressions that are a big plus if you want to convey emotion as a character.

Just his voice and his body language was enough to put the human characters to shame. Which means the director, the scriptwriter and the actors themselves, even though they have the means to express emotion in a wider range, they absolutely failed at that.

His comment is legit, if I interpret it correctly...

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

Also, final act was amazing and I don't know if 8 or 9 will have a space battle that good.

Given that IX will be Trevorrow I expect it to crank spectacle up to 11 for the final battle, but also crank up stupidity sooooo, eh.

 

[faberpach]

I really liked it.

 

[CygnusXS]

I thought it was a lot of fun, all the way through. Seems I'm in the minority but that's everyone else's problem.

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Probably not, but it also probably won't matter as they should be better movies overall. In a way, the last thirty minutes just seemed like their eleventh hour edit where they realized not a whole fucking lot was going on with the film, and it needed something to justify viewing. Is it any coincidence that the final thirty minutes are about the only thing that anyone has been super positive about?

Wait, I don't follow your train of thought here. Are you criticizing the movie for making a segment of the film good, so that people would think that it's good?

 

[Fliesen]

Except that thanks to this movie, they don't know that a shot to the core would actually cause enough damage to destroy the entire station. Sure there could be damage, but normally there would be a failsafe of some kind that would not make the entire thing go kaboom, were it not for Galen Erso's intentional sabotage.

aye, and i love this 'soft retcon'

as i said in previous posts: making the entire 'unprotected exhaust port thing' some kind of fuse straight to the reactor would have diminished Luke's achievements imho.

making it so that - any blast to the reactor would lead to a chain reaction, the act of delivering said explosion is still a huge feat. Galen could have meant they should have somehow smuggled explosives into the Death star via infiltration of their black ops team.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

K2 was a little bit to much C3PO for my taste, but I still liked him.

 

[teeny]

Well, it certainly doesn't help either that there's a Bail Antilles as well as a "Captain" Antilles (who are unrelated) who worked for the House of Organa.

I don't understand the loathing for Attack of the Clones. It was awful, but so were the other two prequels. It also had the second best opening sequence too of the prequels. Regardless, I'd rank them about like that too, if not exactly in degrees. Although I'd still place Return of the Jedi well before The Force Awakens, despite my dislike of the Carebears.

In my opinion, Attack of the Clones has no redeeming qualities. TPM has interesting design work (which was squandered) but a boring narrative and cartoonish characters. ROTS absolutely nails a few scenes but borks Anakin's transmission and a number of other key narrative elements completely.

Attack of the Clones just doesn't make any sense. It wastes every character it introduces or reintroduces. It makes a complete meal of every relationship that should be critical to Anakin, namely Obi-Wan and Padme. It reduces the Jedi down to a council of morons. It absolutely wastes it's only interesting premises - One, that Dooku is a Jedi gone rogue, tired of the Council and the Republic. Two, the moral question of growing clones to be used as canon fodder in a military conquest.

And Jedi has more problems than Ewoks:

1) There is no plan to get Han back from Jabba. Things just happen to make all of the key characters get to that location so they can resume the "real" story.
2) Luke then proceeds to forget that he has telekinetic Force powers and chooses to wield a giant bone and a rock instead.
3) The stunt work is appalling.
4) Boba Fett.
5) Leia is Luke's sister - that makes things weird and is a ham fisted way of tying up the love triangle.
6) Han does not die in sacrifice - Ford wanted him to and it would have completed Han's character arc perfectly. Would have tied up the love triangle in a much more interesting way.
7) Should have been Wookies on Kashyyyk rather then Ewoks on Endor - could have given Chewie some much needed character development.

On top of that, Carrie Fisher and Harrison ford clearly don't care about their performances any more for the entirety of the film. The pay off with the duel and the space battle, Mark Hamill's performance along with Ian McDiarmid and Vader's redemption more than make up for these flaws, but I cannot pretend they aren't present for me when I watch the film.

 

[TheMagician]

In terms of today's standard pop corn movies, I enjoyed it more than any of the Marvel Universe movies.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

K2 was a little bit to much C3PO for my taste, but I still liked him.

I think it's just the working out the odds thing, which has become a common trait in AI/android characters in general.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Man this was really solid.

Loved seeing so many older, obscure characters like the Red and Gold Leaders. Someone said the effect looked bad (reused footage?), I disagree. I thought it looked awesome. Maybe I was just caught up in the moment though.

CG Tarkin was weeeeird. I think it was the movement, too cartoony. CG Leia looked fine to me.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

And Jedi has more problems than Ewoks:

2) Luke then proceeds to forget that he has telekinetic Force powers and chooses to wield a giant bone and a rock instead.
4) Boba Fett.
6) Han does not die in sacrifice - Ford wanted him to and it would have completed Han's character arc perfectly. Would have tied up the love triangle in a much more interesting way.
7) Should have been Wookies on Kashyyyk rather then Ewoks on Endor - could have given Chewie some much needed character development.

"Problems"

 

[ClosingADoor]

Jesus, that was a chore to sit through. I never thought I'd choose to walk out of a movie but this broke me.
I left when they were pulling the Death Star plans. I probably wasn't far from the Vader action part. You know what? IDGAF

You walked out in the last 10 minutes or so?

 

[Fliesen]

1) There is no plan to get Han back from Jabba. Things just happen to make all of the key characters get to that location so they can resume the "real" story.
2) Luke then proceeds to forget that he has telekinetic Force powers and chooses to wield a giant bone and a rock instead.
3) The stunt work is appalling.
4) Boba Fett.
5) Leia is Luke's sister - that makes things weird and is a ham fisted way of tying up the love triangle.
6) Han does not die in sacrifice - Ford wanted him to and it would have completed Han's character arc perfectly. Would have tied up the love triangle in a much more interesting way.
7) Should have been Wookies on Kashyyyk rather then Ewoks on Endor - could have given Chewie some much needed character development.

2) well, Luke's kinda good at doing Force pull, but otherwise his telecinetic abilities take huge amounts of focus and are super slow - like when he makes C3PO float. I don't think that when the Rancor is taking a bite at him, his telekinesis would have helped as much as his Jedi reflexes did.

 

[Sanctuary]

Wait, I don't follow your train of thought here. Are you criticizing the movie for making a segment of the film good, so that people would think that it's good?

No, I'm criticizing the fact that just about nothing memorable at all happens in the film until that point. It's so memorable, and so far the only thing that seems to be worth any praise at all because a) it's so well done and b) it looks even better when compared to everything that came before it in the film. It honestly feels like an "Oh shit, we need some kind of hook fast!" filmmaking moment than part of the original cut.

Although with all of the emergency reshoots that happened last year, who the fuck knows other than the production team?

And Jedi has more problems than Ewoks:

1) There is no plan to get Han back from Jabba. Things just happen to make all of the key characters get to that location so they can resume the "real" story.
2) Luke then proceeds to forget that he has telekinetic Force powers and chooses to wield a giant bone and a rock instead.
3) The stunt work is appalling.
4) Boba Fett.
5) Leia is Luke's sister - that makes things weird and is a ham fisted way of tying up the love triangle.
6) Han does not die in sacrifice - Ford wanted him to and it would have completed Han's character arc perfectly. Would have tied up the love triangle in a much more interesting way.
7) Should have been Wookies on Kashyyyk rather then Ewoks on Endor - could have given Chewie some much needed character development.

On top of that, Carrie Fisher and Harrison ford clearly don't care about their performances any more for the entirety of the film. The pay off with the duel and the space battle, Mark Hamill's performance along with Ian McDiarmid and Vader's redemption more than make up for these flaws, but I cannot pretend they aren't present for me when I watch the film.

Oh, I know there were more problems than just the Carebears in Return of the Jedi. However, some of your "issues" are hindsight from research, not from your initial viewing, so I'm not sure why you listed them. I also don't really get your argument about there not being a plan to get Han back. They had a plan, but it was more like a sloppy plan and then the backup plan.

 

[TAJ]

You walked out in the last 10 minutes or so?

How would I know? I really, really wanted to leave during the meeting about Scarif, but I thought the "good part" was coming.

 

[NekoFever]

CG Tarkin was weeeeird. I think it was the movement, too cartoony. CG Leia looked fine to me.

I felt the opposite. I mean, you can tell that both are CG and I fear the effect won't hold up when we watch this movie in a decade, but Tarkin had texture and looked quite expressive. Leia looked more mannequin-like. I appreciate there's a difference in skin texture between a man in his 60s and a woman in make-up in her 20s but it still stood out as looking more unnatural to me.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Remember in when they said "A moment of silence for those who got the secret plans?"

GOOSEBUMPS

GAH THAT MOVIE WAS SO GOOD

That was Return of the Jedi for the people who got the second Death Star plans.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

When are you geeks going to admit that The Phantom Menace was a great Star Wars film? It utterly puts this to shame.

Whilst the climax of this was a semi-exciting space and land battle, TPM had a more thrilling 3-way climax - the space battle, land war and the Jedi fight with Darth Maul.

Whilst TPM had Darth Maul, one of the coolest villains ever, this had some dastardly cliche character in a white top.

Whilst TPM had the Pod Race, arguably the best action sequence in the entire series of Star Wars films, this had...I don't even know.

I don't give a damn that TPM had Jar Jar Binks, that doesn't detract away from the fact that it was a great film.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

You walked out in the last 10 minutes or so?

Reminds me of GameFAQs forum posts along the lines of "MW3 was so garbage I snapped my disc in half and threw it away the day I bought it."

 

[GAMEPROFF]

When are you geeks going to admit that The Phantom Menace was a great Star Wars film? It utterly puts this to shame.

Whilst the climax of this was a semi-exciting space and land battle, TPM had a more thrilling 3-way climax - the space battle, land war and the Jedi fight with Darth Maul.

Whilst TPM had Darth Maul, one of the coolest villains ever, this had some dastardly cliche character in a white top.

Whilst TPM had the Pod Race, arguably the best action sequence in the entire series of Star Wars films, this had...I don't even know.

I don't give a damn that TPM had Jar Jar Binks, that doesn't detract away from the fact that it was a great film.

no.

 

[thenexus6]

I just want a movie on Darth Vader between Episode 3 - 4 in his prime going HAM. I started reading that Darth Vader comic after TFA last year and it was pretty cool seeing what he got upto.

 

[Aiii]

Reminds me of GameFAQs forum posts along the lines of "MW3 was so garbage I snapped my disc in half and threw it away they day I bought it."

I don't really mind people not liking a movie and posting their thoughts on what "ruined" it for them.

But drive-by posts that just go "look at me, I hated this thing and I walked out, it sucked" don't really do anything for me. Best left ignored.

 

[Metalmarc]

Woah this film is really polarising, seems Gaf either loves it or hates it, theres not many that now say it was just okay, i mean there are a few that feel that way, but they seem fee and far between.

 

[Fliesen]

How would I know? I really, really wanted to leave during the meeting about Scarif, but I thought the "good part" was coming.

to make this the one film you ever walked out of makes you seem rather weird, i am sorry.

I've walked out of films before, don't get me wrong. Not liking this film is okay, but saying it's so bad it's not even worse sitting through the entire movie - ESPECIALLY when it's a prequel that is clearly going to end where ANH starts - just seems like a huge overreaction.
But hey, you do you.

Woah this film is really polarising, seems Gaf either loves it or hates it, theres not many that now say it was just okay, i mean there are a few that feel that way, but they seem fee and far between.

i don't think so. There's many people who said "deeply flawed, but kinda okay". There's opinions all across the spectrum, but most are positive.

 

[Jyrii]

Besides Mon Mothma, Bail, Tarkin and Leia what other cameos were there? I saw R2/C3PO, red leader, gold leader, chopper, the "I got the death sentence on 12 systems" & his friend + the ghost and on yavin the p.a paging for General Syndulla(yooooooooooo) and Antilles reference.

I compiled a list previously. Movies only though.
Not entirely sure if that is all. Seems to have all you listed, except for Jan Dodonna

Edit. Missed NekoFever's reply.

I tried to compile a list of all returning characters. Movies tie-ins only, not the animated series.

Did I miss anyone?

Darth Vader
Leia Organa
Bail Organa
Mon Mothma
Jan Dodonna
Garven Dreis (Red 1)
Jon Vander (Gold 1)
Captain Antilles
Grand Moff Tarkin
R2-D2
C-3PO
Ponda Baba
Dr. Evazan

 

[CloudWolf]

It's interesting that so many people here complain about the pacing of the film. The pacing of this film IMO was much better than that of TFA, which was just constant action scenes with very little downtime.

I also had no problem at all with the characterization. I mean, it's a one-off ensemble film, they are never going to go extremely deep into the characters because there's simply no time for that unless you make the film 3 hours long. At least the characerization was a lot better than for instance The Magnificent Seven (the 2016 version), where certain characters literally had no other backstory than "he's Native American and also good with a bow".

dad joke vader was just NO

Honestly, it fits the character. Vader also makes "jokes" like that in ANH.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

I compiled a list previously. Not entirely sure if that is all:

Pondas ugly friend with the skin over the eye was also in this. The other guy from the Cantina.

 

[Jyrii]

Pondas ugly friend with the skin over the eye was also in this. The other guy from the Cantina.

That's Dr. Evazan

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

no.

Lol you think this is better than TPM?

 

[GAMEPROFF]

Lol you think this is better than TPM?

Lol, yes.

That's Dr. Evazan

Ah... The guy is a doctor? Wow

 

[CloudWolf]

Lol you think this is better than TPM?

You really are amazing.

 

[Magwik]

It's interesting that so many people here complain about the pacing of the film. The pacing of this film IMO was much better than that of TFA, which was just constant action scenes with very little downtime.

I also had no problem at all with the characterization. I mean, it's a one-off ensemble film, they are never going to go extremely deep into the characters because there's simply no time for that unless you make the film 3 hours long. At least the characerization was a lot better than for instance The Magnificent Seven (the 2016 version), where certain characters literally had no other backstory than "he's Native American and also good with a bow".



Honestly, it fits the character. Vader also makes "jokes" like that in ANH.

Plenty of films are one-off. What should make this one the exception to having cardboard cutouts of characters with no motivations whatsoever? It's kind of amazing actually to have the MCU villain thread going on at the same time, simply because you have people complaining about one-off villains not having enough characterization or motivation. However in regards to Rogue One, somehow giving characters character doesn't matter because it is a one-off.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Lol, yes.



Ah... The guy is a doctor? Wow

Bwaha no chance. I do need to see this a few more times first though.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

Bwaha no chance. I do need to see this a few more times first though.

kay

 

[Jyrii]

Ah... The guy is a doctor? Wow

"Dr. Cornelius Evazan was a male human from Alsakan who was a promising cosmetic surgeon until he became gripped by madness and began practicing "creative surgery" on his patients, leaving his victims horrifically disfigured."

Don't know how canon that is though.

 

[NekoFever]

I just want a movie on Darth Vader between Episode 3 - 4 in his prime going HAM. I started reading that Darth Vader comic after TFA last year and it was pretty cool seeing what he got upto.

I'm glad we got Vader unleashed on screen in live action before JEJ couldn't do the voice any more. We've never really seen why he's so feared because the only time we've seen suited Vader doing anything is choking subordinates or in duels where he's holding back for various reasons.

The scene was really well done. Shot like a horror movie. Dark corridor; unstoppable, implacable enemy; terrified, panicking victims. Shot to emphasise his height and strength. Swap the blasters for normal handguns and the lightsaber for a blade and it could have been Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees.

 

[DocSeuss]

Nice. Just got back from a showing. Best movie in the series. Strong Guns of Navarone vibes, solid characterization.

Sad the "I rebel" line didn't make it.

 

[Sanctuary]

I felt the opposite. I mean, you can tell that both are CG and I fear the effect won't hold up when we watch this movie in a decade, but Tarkin had texture and looked quite expressive. Leia looked more mannequin-like. I appreciate there's a difference in skin texture between a man in his 60s and a woman in make-up in her 20s but it still stood out as looking more unnatural to me.

Seriously, WHY couldn't they get it to work as well as this? The damn movie came out later too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oQ0E3OkaIk

I thought Tarkin and Leia were pretty good though despite being able to tell that they were CGI. I honestly couldn't spot it with Stark, and was trying hard to.

When are you geeks going to admit that The Phantom Menace was a great Star Wars film? It utterly puts this to shame.

Whilst the climax of this was a semi-exciting space and land battle, TPM had a more thrilling 3-way climax - the space battle, land war and the Jedi fight with Darth Maul.

Whilst TPM had Darth Maul, one of the coolest villains ever, this had some dastardly cliche character in a white top.

Whilst TPM had the Pod Race, arguably the best action sequence in the entire series of Star Wars films, this had...I don't even know.

I don't give a damn that TPM had Jar Jar Binks, that doesn't detract away from the fact that it was a great film.

Sorry, nope. Disney kid accidentally saves the day bullshit is in no way a good ending. The Darth Maul fight was both awesome and terrible too. Jar Jar wasn't the worst thing about The Phantom Menace. He was tied with "Young Annie".

 

[Einchy]

Lol you think this is better than TPM?

Lol everyone does.

 

[darscot]

I loved it, easily in the top three. That being said I think it might not be as powerful if you weren't a little kid for ANH. Back in the day when I was little the original was dark and gritty. Now it's cheesy but back then it an Empire were dark. Rogue One fits right in, dark gritty and awesome. Loved it!