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

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This bodes well for future anthology films.

I look forward to the day we can watch a Star Wars movie that has absolutely nothing to do with the Skywalker family, planet-killing superweapons, or the perpetual Empire/Rebellion conflict.
 
I guess, except in Jedi when Luke asks Leia "Do you remember your mother? Your real mother?" and then Leia goes on to describe someone she actually knew.



Please nobody say it was the force, Lucas just clearly wrote himself into a hole.

I always assumed she was talking about her adopted mother, I don't know if she knew she was adopted until Luke told her he was his sister.
 
This bodes well for future anthology films.

I look forward to the day we can watch a Star Wars movie that has absolutely nothing to do with the Skywalker family, planet-killing superweapons, or the perpetual Empire/Rebellion conflict.

Han Solo movie directed by Lord and Miller.
 
I enjoyed Rogue One more than Episode 7, primarily for being more unique and not feeling like a reboot.

Some thoughts:

+ I really enjoyed the last 30 minutes and the entire battle scene. The space battle and ground battle affecting each other. It felt like a real suicide battle and they didn't back out of that. I actually loved how they basically all died.

+ The most interesting look at the Imperials yet. I really enjoyed Ben Mendelsohn's character.

- I still have an issue with the tone of this film and episode 7. The weird mix of comedy and forced nostalgia within such serious and dire circumstances seems in bad taste. I just don't think they should approach comic relief in these films as relaxed as they do in the Marvel films. It's hard for me to invest in the world and characters when it feels like a cartoon. I get that the old star wars films were campy, but it just doesn't apply here.

- Which brings me to my annoyance with the robot AI character everyone seems to love. The audience loved him too. I felt his level of sarcastic comedy went too far, and it's completely unbelievable. I get that these are kids movies, but the robot character's comedic lines weren't very smart or ironic, it was just bad comic relief.

- I really can't stand the speeches about hope. It's so force-fed. There's just no way these actors can make it engrossing or believable when it's so poor.



I feel like if Star Wars continues with the tone of Episode 7 and Rogue One, it will lose me. I was really hoping the Rogue spinoff would be darker and grittier, which is was, but still not enough. The tone of these new Star Wars just feels so off to me, like they are trying to appeal to nostalgia above literally all else.

Looking at your negatives, the kind of movie you want doesn't sound all that fun. This is a movie wherein the whole cast dies, their (almost) entire squad and support fleet get destroyed, and you're saying you wanted it to be darker?
 
anyone thinks that the attack on the tank was made to look similar to an attack on us troops in the middle east? many extremists looked like middle eastern terrorists, the way they dressed. maybe its just me.

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that allusion. Definitely looked like an IED ambush with guerilla fighters, too. Could they be portraying Americans as imperialists?

Edit: Throw in the whole "desert planet" context and it's clear they have a message to say...
 
The only thing that I got tripped up on was what I thought was a possible reference to Ahsoka Tano when Bail Organo used the pronoun "her" right after mentioning the jedi that served him well during the clone wars. I believe that was just awkward writing, combining a reference to Obi Won and Princess Leia in the same quick conversation.

Rogue One really made me appreciate the unsung heroes that made it possible for the big name characters to save the day in Episode 4. The Rogue One heroes get just the smallest of mentions during the attack on the Death Star briefing, something like good people lost their lives getting us this information.

So now we know the original vent and reactor core designs were an intentionally designed fatal flaw of the original Death Star. Why then would they build the second DS with an even bigger core reactor that can be blown up by ships actually flying straight into the infrastructure?
 
Only issue I had with diversity in Rogue One was that the empire was totally white. Like completely, it was just odd. I mean, yeah, they were lily white in Episode IV, but so was the Rebellion. It really stood out when Cassian wore the officer's uniform. He completely stood out the entire time. Not only because of his race, but his beard and haircut too. No way he didn't get stopped.
It's white and male. It makes you wonder why all minorities and women don't join the rebellion out of principle. :p
 
anyone thinks that the attack on the tank was made to look similar to an attack on us troops in the middle east? many extremists looked like middle eastern terrorists, the way they dressed. maybe its just me.

They definitely played with the usual Star Wars binary of "Rebellion = noble freedom fighter / Empire = evil fascist dictatorship", which I really appreciated. When I saw that scene I though "Oh man, Trump fans are gonna be so mad" lol.

We get characters like Cassian with checkered pasts who are willing to do "bad" things for the greater good, such as killing his informant at the start of the film and almost killing Galen); Jyn, who puts survival above politics and doesn't align with any faction until before the third act; and Galen, who worked for the Empire but was secretly subverting it (people forget that a lot of Germans didn't like Hitler and several tried to kill him).
 
So now we know the original vent and reactor core designs were an intentionally designed fatal flaw of the original Death Star. Why then would they build the second DS with an even bigger core reactor that can be blown up by ships actually flying straight into the infrastructure?

Because that whole last battle was an intended trap for the Rebels by the Emperor, so the Empire made it as obvious and enticing as possible. The Rebels wouldn't have gone in without some kind of plan of attack, but the Empire was already waiting for them (and with a fully operational Death Star II). They even hid the Imperial fleet on the other side of the moon to lull them into a false sense of security.
 
The only thing that I got tripped up on was what I thought was a possible reference to Ahsoka Tano when Bail Organo used the pronoun "her" right after mentioning the jedi that served him well during the clone wars. I believe that was just awkward writing, combining a reference to Obi Won and Princess Leia in the same quick conversation.

Rogue One really made me appreciate the unsung heroes that made it possible for the big name characters to save the day in Episode 4. The Rogue One heroes get just the smallest of mentions during the attack on the Death Star briefing, something like good people lost their lives getting us this information.

So now we know the original vent and reactor core designs were an intentionally designed fatal flaw of the original Death Star. Why then would they build the second DS with an even bigger core reactor that can be blown up by ships actually flying straight into the infrastructure?

The 2nd DS was also not complete at the time of the attack. That tunnel that rebels use probably would have been sealed during final construction or otherwise protected.
 
Because that whole last battle was an intended trap for the Rebels by the Emperor, so the Empire made it as obvious and enticing as possible. The Rebels wouldn't have gone in without some kind of plan of attack, but the Empire was already waiting for them (and with a fully operational Death Star II). They even hid the Imperial fleet on the other side of the moon to lull them into a false sense of security.
Which begs the question - they set up an ambush and lost, so why would they try it yet again with the third super death star thing in TFA? lol
 
As an America, I go out of my way to avoid the clapping fans. For Rogue One I went to a 9:30 a.m. Sunday showing at the "old person" theater. The C-3P0/R2-D2 and bar dudes cameos had me rolling my eyes already. If I had people cheering for dumb moments like those they would'e done 360s in their sockets.

Which begs the question - they set up an ambush and lost, so why would they try it yet again with the third super death star thing in TFA? lol

Starkiller is horrible and cannot be rationalized in any way.
 
anyone thinks that the attack on the tank was made to look similar to an attack on us troops in the middle east? many extremists looked like middle eastern terrorists, the way they dressed. maybe its just me.

I expected them to yell "the force is with me" before blowing themselves up
 
As an America, I go out of my way to avoid the clapping fans. For Rogue One I went to a 9:30 a.m. Sunday showing at the "old person" theater. The C-3P0/R2-D2 and bar dudes cameos had me rolling my eyes already. If I had people cheering for dumb moments like those they would'e done 360s in their sockets.
You sound like fun.
 
Which begs the question - they set up an ambush and lost, so why would they try it yet again with the third super death star thing in TFA? lol

Pffft, that's the First Order, they don't count... *shifty eyes*

They probably though they were being smart with the whole planet thing.... But nope.
 
Only issue I had with diversity in Rogue One was that the empire was totally white. Like completely, it was just odd. I mean, yeah, they were lily white in Episode IV, but so was the Rebellion. It really stood out when Cassian wore the officer's uniform. He completely stood out the entire time. Not only because of his race, but his beard and haircut too. No way he didn't get stopped.

The Imperial pilot who defected wasn't white.
 
You sound like fun.

I was thinking about this as Rogue One was starting, and I'd maybe be okay with it if people cheered actually good moments in the film. A character realizing what they should do, a win for the good guys. I don't know. But as long as stupid fan service gets cheered I'd like my audience to be as quiet as possible. Not too much to ask.
 
So now we know the original vent and reactor core designs were an intentionally designed fatal flaw of the original Death Star. Why then would they build the second DS with an even bigger core reactor that can be blown up by ships actually flying straight into the infrastructure?

The second Death Star wasn't complete at the time of the attack, the Empire assumed that the shield would protect them.
 
Pffft, that's the First Order, they don't count... *shifty eyes*

They probably though they were being smart with the whole planet thing.... But nope.

To be fair, Solo's trick to get to the planet was a pretty risky move that almost got him and Finn killed.
 
I just found it odd that all the engineers were old white dudes... thats not how that works!

That felt strange to me too. The movie proclaims diversity but hasn't reached the stage where they can kill an innocent woman on screen. So natually the cannon fodder is all white dudes.
 
I really enjoyed this this afternoon which is a testament to how good the second half of the film is as the beginning is a total mess. I would love to know what happened with the story/editing of this but they have made a really enjoyable Star Wars film and I look forward to seeing it again.
 
I for one am shocked they gave the main roles to minorities instead of random grunt characters. More grunt and henchmen representation please.
 
Was that in TFA? I thought that blob alien hologram guy that Kylo talks to is the head of the Empire 2.0?

No, she's in the books. Mas Amedda is de jure head of the Empire after Endor, but Sloane controls the fleet. Although she herself is really under the influence of Gallius Rax, who is still mysterious.

Snoke is the head of the First Order, which is a Neo-Imperial separatist/hardliner revivalist organization, not actually the Empire itself.
 
Even weirder because the de facto head of the Empire after Palpatine dies is Admiral Rae Sloane, a black woman.

I think she commands the Imperial Navy, not the Empire as a whole.



Was that scene where that one guy attempted to make a suicide run for the master switch and was immediately shot supposed to be funny? Because it kinda was.

"I'M GOING!!!" *shot*
 
I think she commands the Imperial Navy, not the Empire as a whole.

Right, but it's she who has the real power over the core remnant as far as everyone knows (since they don't know about Rax). When Amedda offers surrender to Leia and Mothma they just laugh at him and say "Come back when you actually control something". When Sloane offers surrender, false as it was, they threw a parade.
 
No, she's in the books. Mas Amedda is de jure head of the Empire after Endor, but Sloane controls the fleet. Although she herself is really under the influence of Gallius Rax, who is still mysterious.

Snoke is the head of the First Order, which is a Neo-Imperial separatist/hardliner revivalist organization, not actually the Empire itself.
So in the book universe, there's the Empire AND the First Order? They're completely different organizations?
 
So do you think that with more films like Rogue One and films that are closer to the prequel timeline that Disney can undo people's distaste for that timeline.
 
This was more enjoyable than EP7. The visual design is much more diverse and interesting; it feels more inspired.

Vader's... *final* appearance... was packed with ten times more menace than anything Kylo Ren did in TFA.

My gripes with the film have to be the messy plot and undercooked characters, however. What kept me going was the general premise, as I wanted to see how the mission would unfold. Also, some of the battle sequences stretched on for too long, in my opinion. I probably would have enjoyed this more if they trimmed out some of the excess fat and reduced the film to a solid 90 or so minutes.
That's the point
 
So do you think that with more films like Rogue One and films that are closer to the prequel timeline that Disney can undo people's distaste for that timeline.

Probably not. You can bring back certain world-building things from the prequels, but what made the prequels bad goes beyond that.
 
Probably not. You can bring back certain world-building things from the prequels, but what made the prequels bad goes beyond that.
I don't mean the movies themselves, but the world from that era. Like normalizing it by featuring more of its material in good films, such as Rogue One and mustafar
 
So in the book universe, there's the Empire AND the First Order? They're completely different organizations?

The Empire fractures after Endor due to warlordism among the Moffs and military commanders, with some like Adelhard carving out their own Space North Koreas proclaiming that Palpatine never died and it's all a Rebel trick. The bulk of the Imperial fleet that survived/stayed loyal to the core was under Sloane's command since Piett died at Endor. Mas Amedda, since he was the Grand Vizier, became the official leader but nobody paid attention to him. The Empire surrendered one year after Endor when it agreed to the Galactic Concordance, which smacked it with huge reparations and prevented it from recruiting more Stormtroopers or building more weapons. As the economic situation got worse, over time the Empire faded away and its remaining member systems joined the New Republic.

The First Order was established in the Unknown Regions by hardliners who refused to give up and made their exodus to a place the Republic didn't control. How Snoke came into power, we don't know yet. The FO existed in secret for decades, funding itself through control over pirate and terrorist groups like the Amaxine Warriors. What we do know is that there was a sizeable faction of Centrist senators (the political faction that wanted a stronger central government) who were in on the conspiracy and eventually seceded when the FO made itself public.
 
I don't mean the movies themselves, but the world from that era. Like normalizing it by featuring more of its material in good films, such as Rogue One and mustafar

Oh. Yeah that's completely possible. There's a weird vacuum in between the prequels and original trilogy that everything that wasn't in the original trilogy got sucked into because Lucas didn't think that far ahead, so films in between usually have to explain why these things no longer exist, but there are things that can be played off as not having been mentioned because they had no relevance in the original trilogy, like Naboo and Mustafar and podracing.

I think they usually leave it to the shows to bring legitimacy back to the prequel story elements.


I'd like to see what became of the rest of the 501st over the years.
 
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