Star Wars: Rogue One (2016)

[ybrik]

Just back from seeing the movie and it was definitely a good addition to the SW-verse. Definitely a fitting prequel.

I agree with the poster above with wanting to see the original cut.

Liked both Tarkin and Leia in the movie. Didn't really notice too much bad CGI.

This Vader was definitely more like the OT Vader and Anakin but there were still little bits of prequel Anakin. There was the bad pun after force choking Krennic that was definitely something Anakin would say. Also seriously living on a lava planet that screams emo Anakin.

While I like the flaw design being explained, I can't help but think Galen couldn't have made it a little easier for the Rebels to get to?

[Browncoat]

Any easier to get into, and it might have been too noticeable and thus fixed before the Rebels could take advantage of it.  Two meters square is a mighty big hole, really (and a mighty big rat!).

[absnow54]

Was it ever explained how the design of the Death Star turned into Galen's project when it was established as a Geonosis creation in Attack of the Clones? Is that something that's mentioned in Catalyst?

[tennisgurl]

I just got back from seeing this, and I was blown away. I remember a lot of fans complaining that Disney was going to "Disney-fy" everything, but holy crap was that not the case! We had real moral ambiguity from the rebellion, lots of in fighting and factions forming even between people with the same goals, and, of course, all of Our Heroes end up dying by the end. I swear, my sister and I were sitting in the theater, and we kept whispering "no way is EVERYONE going to die! This is Star Wars brought to us by Disney!" and the by the end we were both holding back tears (unsuccessfully).

I got really invested in all the new characters, especially Bodhi the pilot, and Chirrut, and I thought they all played off each other really well, and were well written and acted. I also started shipping Cassian and Jyn pretty much right away, although that is clearly not going to be an option any more. It makes since that they all died, as explaining why all these people who did such important things for the rebellion weren't around for the original series, but I never thought they would actually kill everyone! I have really mixed feelings. It was heartbreaking, but also bittersweet, because we know that, because of what they did, the Death Star will die, and the Empire will follow. And I assume the Rouge Squadron will be named after them.  

This did, to me, what a prequel should do, unlike certain other stupid sequels that shall remain nameless. It adds weight to A New Hope and the importance of destroying the Death Star, even beyond the obvious. Now, when the rebels say how good people died to get these plans, we can feel something beyond a vague "yeah that happens in war". Also, we finally know why the Death Star has such a stupid design flaw! It was on purpose! It was also cool to see Mads Mikkelsen play a good guy after seeing him as a villain the last few times I've seen him.

All in all, kudos Rogue One. Kudos.  

Edited December 18, 2016 by tennisgurl

[starri]

54 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

Was it ever explained how the design of the Death Star turned into Galen's project when it was established as a Geonosis creation in Attack of the Clones? Is that something that's mentioned in Catalyst?

The Republic was building its own planet-killer to go against the one the Separatists were building.  Krennic was in charge of it.  Galen was neutral in the Clone War and doing research in the crystals that end up powering the thing, but gets kidnapped by the Separatists.  Krennic rescues him.  When the war ends, Krennic sets him up doing research, telling him it's for power systems.  Galen and his wife eventually figure out what was going on, and Saw Gererra helps smuggle them off Coruscant.

[Traveller519]

The opening scene was great, followed by whole lot of choppy exposition scenes bouncing between planets, but once our Scooby Gang gets together, man was it a lot of fun.

The shades of grey and mistrust across the spectrum felt very relevant to a cold war that was about to explode, and explored the non-Jedi element of the struggle.

The final battle scene just plastered a smile to my face that didn't go away. The Co-mingling of the sabotage, ground fight, air fight and logistics on both sides played so well. And Admiral Raddus commanding everything up above was an element of the "war" on Star Wars that has been explored better through other mediums than the movies to this point.

A film in a series needs to make the whole universe better. Rogue One would have done that just by explaining the Death Star's vulnerable design, tying together everything was awesome!

[VCRTracking]

From io9:

All the Major Star Wars Cameos and Connections You May Have Missed in Rogue One

and:

Here's How Rogue One Got Its Hands on Unseen Star Wars Footage

I really went "Whoa!" when Red Leader and Gold Leader from the original movie showed up in the space battle. I assumed they reused clips of them from ANH but it really came from unused footage.

Edited December 18, 2016 by VCRTracking

[Morrigan2575]

Wow. I totally missed the Rebels tie-in. That's awesome, at least we know Hera survives Rebels ?

[SnoGirl]

I loved Rogue One. I can't believe they killed everyone, but I'm impressed they did. No one is safe now (if The Force Awakens wasn't proof enough). I actually thought Bodhi was going to survive at once point, I thought he'd have to fly somewhere and would be the sole survivor. Him being a pilot would be easy to head cannon away why we don't see him the originals. I wish we would have seen Cassian and Jyn check the comms to see if anyone else had survived.

I loved Chirrut and Baze. I would love to see their story if they make another prequel. I also shipped Cassian and Jyn, and their ending was beautiful.

I spent the entire movie looking for Poe Dameron's parents, they were pilots weren't they? That would have been a fun little Easter Egg. At one point, I wondered if Cassian and Jyn weren't Rey's parents but Poe's. But I knew Dameron had some sort of already set Star Wars history.

After seeing how beautiful and carefully made this movie was, I really want them to remake the prequels. With Ewan. And with an Anakin who was actually Obi Wan's best friend, and one helluva a pilot. We had one movie with Chirrut and Baze and their friendship is crystal clear, something the prequels never really ever nailed.

[starri]

Another small moment that got to me:  Mon Mothma trying really hard not to break out in a grin when they figure out that Rogue One had hit Scarif of their own accord.  She appeared to be so calm and serene at all times, and then all of a sudden she was almost giddy.  It was a lovely, human moment.

ETA:  Oh, wow.  Someone from Jedha is a...Jedhai.  Oh, that's clever.

Edited December 19, 2016 by starri

[benteen]

I saw it a second time and loved it.  I could hear the woman next to me gasping with all of the deaths.  That still isn’t easy to see.

I saw that earlier about them finding unused footage of Red Leader and Gold Leader from ANH.  I noticed it the second time as well as Red Leader is calling out to Red Five and it seems clear it’s the actual actor’s voice and not a voiceover.

Speaking of which, the voice of Tarkin was Stephen Stanon, who voiced Tarkin on both The Clone Wars and Rebels.  He also provided the voice for Admiral Raddus.  Supposedly David Ankrum, the voice of Wedge on The Clone Wars, could also be heard.

Speaking of Rebels, Saw Gerrera will be returning to his animation roots for the show pretty soon.  Someone found a Star Wars Rebels poster with him on it, with “Save the Rebellion.  Save the dream” on it.

About the Death Star having pinpoint accuracy, Tarkin does say in ANH that “Perhaps it is time we test the full power of this station.”  That means it had been tested before, though in what capacity wasn’t revealed.

Edited December 20, 2016 by benteen

[Morrigan2575]

1 hour ago, starri said:

ETA:  Oh, wow.  Someone from Jedha is a...Jedhai.  Oh, that's clever.

That is clever.

[anna0852]

So I went straight home and turned A New Hope. *This* is how you make a prequel! 

[Morrigan2575]

Jeremy Janns said that in his spoiler review. As soon as you get out of Rogue One, go home and watch ANH. He said it ties everything together in a great way.

[benteen]

It is so impressive how the end of the movie goes straight into A New Hope.  Once you see that lighting looking actually like ANH and hear the music that goes with the original scene, it really does feel like you enter back into that movie.

[Proclone]

Just got back from seeing this and I thought it was great.  I echo everyone else's "This is how to make a Star Wars prequel."  I was really supervised just how dark it was.  I figured that most of the cast was going to bite it during the final battle, but I thought until quite close to the end that Jyn (and maybe Cassian) would find a way off the planet.  The final shot of Jyn and Cassian on the beach was both beautiful and tragic.  Though it wasn't just the end that was dark. Cassian shooting his informant, shooting the rebel on Jedda to save Jyn and being prepared to kill Galen, were all pretty dark things for a hero in  a Star Wars film.  I also love that for the first time (that I can recall anyway) the Rebels were painted with even a hint of grey.  They collectively always seemed to be portrayed as complete white hats to the Empires' black.  It's nice and realistic to finally see that in war even the "good guys" do some morally objectionable things. 

I also thought the look of the film meshed really well with A New Hope.  The Star Destroyers looked like the original models and I mean that in the best way. I was pleasantly surprised by Tarkin.  I thought the CGI was pretty darn great (honestly for half a second I wondered how they had found an actor that looked that much like Cushing).  Tarkin was always a great villain (and in certain ways almost scarier than Vader)  And of course Darth Vader was badass.  I'm glad they resisted the urge to overuse him.  I didn't think the Leia CGI was quite as good.  I almost would rather have not seen her face, it's not as if we didn't know who the plans were being handed to, but a very minor quibble to be sure.  I loved all the cameos and call backs (or I suppose calls forwards in this case) to the originals.  They all made sense and they didn't beat you over the head with them unlike the first set of prequels.  Honestly I think a story like this is the best kind of story to tell in a prequel.  Have it be a story that impacts the original, but is something that we don't learn very much about during the original so you have to go through fewer plot contortions to make everything work out and not violate established cannon.  Part of the problem (one of many problems) with the other prequels is that George Lucas twisted the plots of them into pretzels trying to make them not break cannon and still tell the story he wanted to tell at that moment, but still didn't really manage to succeed.  He would have been better off telling a tangentially related story rather than the story of Anakin.

I also enjoyed all the new characters...except for Forest Whitaker.  Apparently that character appears the Clone Wars the cartoon and I haven't watched that so perhaps he's doing an accurate representation of what that character was like in the show, but I found it to be a bizarre bunch of acting choices.  From the voice to the mannerisms, he just took me out of the moment every time he was on screen.  Thankfully he wasn't in it that much, so my enjoyment of the film wasn't damped that much by him.  I thought the rest of the performances were strong.  I especially liked Diego Luna who played Cassian.  I thought he pulled off the moral grayness while still coming across as a hero well and he and Felicity Jones had wicked chemistry.  Donnie Yen was also really great.  

While this isn't a perfect film, I found it to be a damn enjoyable one.  And now I look forward to the other "Star Wars stories".  I'm still not sure we need a Han Solo prequel but I'm much more willing to give it a chance now that seen the job they did with this one.  And since the Star Wars universe is so large I do hope they find other really interesting stories to tell like this one.

[arc]

I think the Tarkin CGI model looked great, but he looked to move stiffly. Then again, who can say how much of that is because I knew it was CGI. It's weird, presumably they had a real actor on set who was digitally replaced with the Tarkin model.

[VCRTracking]

Quote

I also enjoyed all the new characters...except for Forest Whitaker.  Apparently that character appears the Clone Wars the cartoon and I haven't watched that so perhaps he's doing an accurate representation of what that character was like in the show, but I found it to be a bizarre bunch of acting choices.  From the voice to the mannerisms, he just took me out of the moment every time he was on screen.

No it is not even close to what Saw was in Star Wars Clone Wars. He had an American accent for one in the series. I don't think Forrest watched it at all to copy it. I can explain it away is that he's been fighting for so long that he's become a little crazy. This extremist way of life obviously took a toll on him physically and spiritually so that's why he's different. I'm curious to see how he's depicted on Star Wars Rebels.

I think one of the problems with CGI Leia is that I've seen Leia/young Carrie Fisher smile before and it doesn't quite look like that. Rogue One Leia's mouth was too low. There's too much space between her upper lip and nose.

Edited December 19, 2016 by VCRTracking

[thuganomics85]

Saw this Friday, but I waited a few days to process it and think on it a bit.  Honestly, I was kind of disappointed at first, because I wasn't as wowed as I hoped I would be, and despite my best attempts, I kept comparing it to my reaction to The Force Awakens, and why it didn't match it.  But the more I thought about it, the more I have come around to the film, and I just have to remind myself that it is best not to compare them, and appreciate them for what they are.  The Force Awakens was mainly about revitalizing a franchise that took some licks thanks to those prequels.  For Rogue One, it was about expanding the universe and show a different side to it.  And, in the end, I think it pulled it off.

I still think that the beginning was rushed and I didn't warm up to the characters like I did with Han, Leia, Luke, Rey, Finn, etc. in their introductions, but once it picked up, it really became fascinating to watch.  No surprise, the battle scenes were epic and probably the best in the franchise.  Gareth Edwards really knows how to do scale.  He just made the Death Star, Star Destroyers, and even AT-AT walkers just so massive and intimidating.  As I mention after one of the trailers, it was just a great way to show how much of a disadvantage the Rebel Alliance was, and how much more impressive it is that they managed to pull it off as well as they did.  He was a great choice for these kind of scenes, even if I didn't think he quite nailed with some of the more character moments.

I definitely enjoyed the darker take and it was certainly surprising (but strangely good) that they actually did have all of the main characters get wiped out.  Thought for sure that it was going to somehow end with Jyn getting of the planet, but nope: baring a miracle, she totally got pulverized with the rest of them.  And I liked how a lot of the rest of the deaths almost came off like scenes you would see in a regular war film, like Bodhi and Baze both getting taken out by random grenades, and Chirrut getting shot out of nowhere.  It really was Star Wars version of a part heist film/part war film.  Only not quite as violent, but I still think it was darker then most of the other ones (which is kind of funny, since Revenge of the Sith had Anakin murdering children, but that got nothing from me.)

Again, I still wish I warmed up to the characters as much as I did the rest, but they were enjoyable enough, and well-cast.  Really want to see a spin-off of Chirrut and Baze and how they met and what they meant to one another (the final scene really did feel like they might have been lovers)  K-2S0 was hilarious, and I see Alan Tudyk has apparently become a Disney fav now.  Cassain was actually one of the more intriguing characters, because he was part of the "good "guys" a.k.a. the Rebel Alliance, but did some very dark stuff.  It kind of shine a light on some of the darker elements of the RA, and I kind of want to see more of it.  On the other hand, Jyn was fine, but I never really was wowed by her or Felicity Jones performance.  Again, I'm trying my best not to compare films, but while arguably considered a better actress from a technical standpoint, I just felt like Jones lacked the energy and spark on screen that Daisy Ridley brought to The Force Awakens.  Not sure why I was underwhelmed.

Galen didn't have much to do, but Mads Mikkelson was awesome as always, and I'm glad he got to play a decent guy for once.  Krennic was one-note, but Ben Mendelsohn was a having a ball camping it up (kind of bummed they cut is "THE POWER IS IMMEASURABLE!" line from the trailer).  On the flip side, Forest Whitaker's style of camp was just ridiculous.  I'm really getting the sense he's an actor who can shine if a director is guiding him, but if he goes uncheck, his performances are just... weird.

CGI Tarkin was kind of weird, but I can understand them wanting to bring him back, and maybe honor Peter Cushing in their own (if strange) way.

Darth Vader didn't do much, but he more then made up for it in quality.  Him just annihilating those poor Rebel troops has got to be one of the best scenes this year.  Maybe even one of the best in the entire Star Wars franchise.

And, yes: it delights me that this recon's the entire "flaw in the Death Star" bit from A New Hope!  It was all thanks to Hannibal... I mean Galan!

Despite my initial misgivings, I ended up enjoying, but I do want to watch it again and see if it continues to grow on me.  It might be one of those films that gets better with a second viewing.  Either way, I continue to enjoy the direction the franchise going and I still think that, gasp!  Disney acquiring the Star Wars franchise has been one of the best things to happen to it. 

Edited December 20, 2016 by thuganomics85

[starri]

"He put a fuse in the middle of your machine, and I've just told the entire galaxy how to light it."

[absnow54]

I think the Tarkin CGI model looked great, but he looked to move stiffly. Then again, who can say how much of that is because I knew it was CGI.

My husband is not a fan of Star Wars by choice, and although he's seen the movies a bunch of times (only because I'm watching them and he comes in and out of the room), he can't name a character beyond Our Heroes, and even that's pushing it sometimes. Therefore, going in, he had no idea who Tarkin was, or that the actor who originated him was long dead. It did take him a minute or two, but he did figure out that the character was CGI'd before the end of his first scene. I think the technology has come a long way, and that Tarkin was done very well (even though the voice performance wasn't up to par with Cushing) but there's still something about the way the eyes focus and some of the facial tics that's not quite there.

[VCRTracking]

Quote

And, yes: it delights me that this recon's the entire "flaw in the Death Star" bit from A New Hope!  It was all thanks to Hannibal... I mean Galan!

It also helps the Empire's decision to build a second Death Star make more sense. Wasting so much resources and manpower on a failed weapon would be foolish but if they knew that flaw had been intentionally put there by a scientist sympathetic to the Rebellion, they could blame it's failure on him and not the weapon.

[Browncoat]

Compare this CGI Tarkin to the (stupidly added later) CGI Jabba in A New Hope.  Tarkin is miles and miles better.  Jabba (and that tacked on conversation between him and Han) just is idiotic.  I miss the original originals.

[absnow54]

Important question: does anyone recall hearing a Wilhelm scream? There was a moment when a Storm Trooper was being pulled off the platform in Eadu that I was certain would be the moment, but heard a different scream instead. The film seemed to go out of its way to subvert Star Wars Episode expectations between cutting the opening crawl, teasing the Star Wars fanfare but then taking the score somewhere else, cutting off KS20 in the middle of his "I have a bad feeling..." line, and possibly foregoing the most famous stock scream.

[starri]

17 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

Important question: does anyone recall hearing a Wilhelm scream? There was a moment when a Storm Trooper was being pulled off the platform in Eadu that I was certain would be the moment, but heard a different scream instead

I heard that as a Wilhelm Scream, but maybe not.

[arc]

48 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

Important question: does anyone recall hearing a Wilhelm scream? There was a moment when a Storm Trooper was being pulled off the platform in Eadu that I was certain would be the moment, but heard a different scream instead. The film seemed to go out of its way to subvert Star Wars Episode expectations between cutting the opening crawl, teasing the Star Wars fanfare but then taking the score somewhere else, cutting off KS20 in the middle of his "I have a bad feeling..." line, and possibly foregoing the most famous stock scream.

I remember hearing it and thinking "Wow, glad that wasn't a Wilhelm scream", which I honestly hate now. And then I was dreading a real one to come later but if it did, I missed it.

[Jediknight]

Chirrut was awesome, I liked all the characters, but Chirrut was above them all.  They should make it canon that Luke somehow honors him in the Jedi Temple.

I guess I was wrong about Jyn being Rey's mother.

Gareth Edwards is beyond amazing when it comes to creating scale.  The star destroyers, AT-ATs, and especially the Death Star were massive.

I said it before, and I'll say it again, the Force Theme always hits me.  I liked that we got it twice, the first time being when Bail appears, and the second obviously being at the end.  Like in Revenge of the Sith, it's a great way to say "Hey, shit is bad right now, a lot of heroes are dead, but don't worry, there's hope, the Force has got this."

[Perfect Xero]

On 12/16/2016 at 2:06 PM, David T. Cole said:

Right? Acting notes: "Fanatical but slightly sleepy."

That must be what the CPAP mask was for.

[Dandesun]

Oh this was good. Very tense and exciting and moving.

I've been working so hard at not knowing anything going into the flick (I have a spoiler problem. It's real. It's a struggle.) that I didn't even know Mads Mikkelsen was in this! He's becoming rather like Sean Bean for me. He's either evil or he dies. (Sometimes both!) Doesn't matter, Mads and his diamond-cutting cheekbones have made me weak ever since he was Tristan in 'King Arthur.' Also, I finally got my elegant, sharp-tongued Imperials back. CGI!Tarkin, Krennic and his cape, Vader being sassy and brutally deadly. Finally! The prequels only really had Palpatine playing up that smooth manipulative seducer. (Yes, there was Count Dooku briefly but even if he was played by Christopher Lee his name was still Dooku and I had a hard time with that. Too close to Dookie and... just no.) Meanwhile, the Force Awakens had two sneering boys with a really big cannon fighting over a hologram. Ugh.

Anyway, here we had the Empire as a vast monstrous entity... a villainous conglomerate that was worthy of the sacrifices made to bring them down. The ending was a bit of a downer but, at the same time, earned because it was dangerous, it was against something huge and brutal and unafraid to 'make examples' and it was just cool as fuck to see Rogue One get that bit of information out.

I may have leaned over to my niece and said 'Sassy Vader!'

I may have leaned over to my niece and repeatedly said 'The Mon Calimari are awesome!'

There was a ripple through the theater when Bail Organa showed up.

I may have squeed when Bail mentioned Leia without actually mentioning her. "I would trust her with my life."

The Empire picked a lovely location to house their Death Star plans. Really. Beautiful ocean view. Just gorgeous.

The splinters within the Rebellion was nicely done, too. Nothing is easy, after all. Rebellions are not pretty. It actually made me think of Captain America: The Winter Soldier when Steve talked about how they compromised during WWII and did things that didn't make it easy to sleep at night but they did those things so that people could be free. The talk about rebellions being about hope kind of echoes that... you do things to make things better for who is to follow. That's the hope.

When Cassian showed up with the group that wanted to go with them to Scarif I thought to myself "That's a lot of dudes." I do think there should have been some female types in there, too. But I was also pleased with the diversity in the main cast. I did think that was cool.

The timeframe of the movies, particularly when the Jedi are spoken of as legend/myth in A New Hope, always kind of confuses me but Vader's tearing apart that rebel batallion was amazing and did a good job of portraying him as a terrifying creature with strange abilities no one knows how to combat.

I really enjoyed it. I will most likely see it again.

[sashabear21]

I saw it opening night and then watched it again yesterday with one of my closest friends from childhood who is almost as big of a Star Wars nerd as I am. Loved the Easter eggs, and caught more the 2nd viewing than I did on the first (because really the first time around, I was fangirling like Principal Skinner over Ralph Wiggum's non-diorama).  I loved the characters and also that there was not a lightsaber in sight, other than Vader.  These were the ground floor Rebel Alliance characters making everything possible.  K-2SO is by far my favorite droid ever, BB-8 is cute and all, and R-2 knows everything, but K-2 was awesome! I came home and Attack of the Clones was on tv, and it just cemented that Rogue One really belongs more to the original trilogy than any of the prequels could have ever hoped to. This was the prequel we waited for. I nearly crapped my pants when I realized they were going to Bast Castle, even though they put it on Mustafar instead of Vjun.  Plus this Vader was a little sassy, but at the end, the Vader I remember from my nightmares as a child (I watched A New Hope on my early 80's top up VCR on my console tv every day when I was a child, stands to reason I would have a few nightmares involving Darth Vader). Pretty sure I was yelling at the Alderaanian guard troops to just push the plans through the crack in the door opening and get them to Leia during both viewings because that whole last sequence was intense.  Some part of me really wishes they could have saved Jyn and Cassian and just made them some deep undercover alliance spies to explain away their non-presence in the rest of the movies, but I appreciate the way they ended the movie (far more than the girl sitting down the aisle that starting having an emotional breakdown when K-2 died and it just got worse from there, honestly hope she had either hot chocolate or tequila waiting for her at home, it seemed to hit her pretty hard). 

Edited December 20, 2016 by sashabear21

[irisheyes]

Ok, my husband is taking my teenage boys to see it next Friday.  For those of you who have seen it, should my nine year old go, or should I take him to see Moana with his little sister?

Edited December 20, 2016 by irisheyes

[Morrigan2575]

40 minutes ago, irisheyes said:

Ok, my husband is taking my teenage boys to see it next Friday.  For those of you who have seen it, should my nine year old go, or should I take him to see Moana with his little sister?

I think it depends on what you normally allow him to watch. It's PG-13 so, there's no blood, guts, nudity or sexual situations.  I don't think it's anymore violent than a typical Comic Book Movie. If he's watched Guardians of the Galaxy or Captain America Civil War he should be fine with Rogue One.  That being said, a lot of characters that you care about (the good guys) die. As such it's a very emotional movie, I teared up several times during the 3rd act. 

Hope this helps.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

2 hours ago, irisheyes said:

Ok, my husband is taking my teenage boys to see it next Friday.  For those of you who have seen it, should my nine year old go, or should I take him to see Moana with his little sister?

Honestly, it depends on what kind of kid he is. Because this is not, as the cliche goes, your parents' Star Wars. I found it strangely uplifting, despite the fact that all the main players died, but a nine-year-old might not see the sacrifices as something that will lead to a better world, as it were.

Or, y'know, what @Morrigan2575 said. :-)

[VCRTracking]

Quote

Compare this CGI Tarkin to the (stupidly added later) CGI Jabba in A New Hope.  Tarkin is miles and miles better.  Jabba (and that tacked on conversation between him and Han) just is idiotic.  I miss the original originals.

The one in the Special Edition that came out in 1997 did look terrible, looked nothing like the Jabba in Return of the Jedi, but they replaced it with a better looking Jabba model. I like it because it showed Han's relationship with him before he got in deep debt with him but the part where he stepped on his tail was awkward in both versions.

Edited December 20, 2016 by VCRTracking

[absnow54]

The one in the Special Edition that came out in 1997 did look terrible, looked nothing like the Jabba in Return of the Jedi, but they replaced it with a better looking Jabba model. I like it because it showed Han's relationship with him before he got in deep debt with him but the part where he stepped on his tail was awkward in both versions.

Yeah, BluRay Jabba is a lot better, but the scene is so unnecessary because he has the exact same conversation with Greedo in the scene before it. The problem is the Greedo scene became so iconic that they really couldn't trim it, and Han shooting first (or whatever version...) says a lot more about his character than anything that happened in the Jabba scene, even though Jabba's introduction is more important to Han's overall story.

To get back on topic... I was confused by Cassian's introduction where he draws his informant into an alley because he was Our Hero and it took me a moment to realize that he was the one who shot him. The editing was a jumbled mess there, but that was a pretty great scene and told you everything you needed to know about the side of the rebellion we never saw in the OT.

[benteen]

Yeah, I kept wondering who shot Cassian's informant and finally realized it was him because he didn't start running afterwards.  In all fairness, that guy was such a whiner that I couldn't blame Cassian for shooting him.  The guy playing the informant wasn't the best actor either, felt like he was acting in some other movie.  But it was a good character moment for Cassian.

[Morrigan2575]

It took me a second to realize Casian killed the informant. It was pretty much Casian's non reaction that clued me in. If it was a Storm Trooper I'd have expected Casian to look up/jump back/run etc. However, he kind of just stood there, with a sad look on his face. 

It was a light bulb moment for me. Oooohhhh ?

[benteen]

I loved that location where Cassian shot the informant.  The Ring of Kafrene.

I mentioned earlier that Saw Gerrera would be making his Star Wars Rebels debut.  He will be on January 7th, in a two-parter and Forest Whitaker will be reprising his role and voicing the character. 

http://ew.com/movies/2016/12/20/rogue-one-saw-gerrera-star-wars-rebels/

Edited December 20, 2016 by benteen

[Morrigan2575]

Oh cool, thanks. I enjoy Rebels but, have been struggling to work my way through Clone Wars. I'm going to see if I can run down the Clone Wars episodes with Saw Gerrera so I can get the full experience from Clone Wars to Rebels to Rogue One.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Morrigan2575

[VCRTracking]

3 hours ago, absnow54 said:

Yeah, BluRay Jabba is a lot better, but the scene is so unnecessary because he has the exact same conversation with Greedo in the scene before it. The problem is the Greedo scene became so iconic that they really couldn't trim it, and Han shooting first (or whatever version...) says a lot more about his character than anything that happened in the Jabba scene, even though Jabba's introduction is more important to Han's overall story.

It sounds like the same conversation because it is! Han's line "Even I get boarded sometimes..." was originally from the Jabba scene. After it was deleted the line was put it in the Greedo scene for exposition in 1977. Notice Han says it offscreen while he secretly draws his blaster from his holster. Again I like the scene because it shows Han's relationship with Jabba. Also it makes him leavingthe Rebellion before the battle even more selfish. Before I was like "Hey Luke stop being so mad, there are bounty hunters trying to kill him!" Now I think Han was a douche because he wasn't in as big trouble with Jabba yet.

Reading Twitter, a lot of people were fooled by the CGI Tarkin. Either they didn't know Peter Cushing was dead, or they thought it was good makeup.If you knew Cushing was dead of course it looked obvious. I think Tarkin was too important to Krennic's character for it to be done as one scene or a hologram. One of my favorite tweets about Rogue One is this:

 

[Dandesun]

12 hours ago, irisheyes said:

Ok, my husband is taking my teenage boys to see it next Friday.  For those of you who have seen it, should my nine year old go, or should I take him to see Moana with his little sister?

My niece is ten and she was fine. But she's also seen all of the other Star Wars movies and most of the Marvel movies as well. (Here's the thing, you just never know... we watched The Sound of Music at my house together and I found myself having to explain Nazis... which I then had to explain further when we watched Captain America: The First Avenger. I'm thinking of going for the trifecta and watching Raiders of the Lost Arc with her next. I was about ten when I saw it in the theater.)

I mean, it's a bit darker but there's no blood and guts and swearing and sex and nudity. There's lots of explosions, Jedha's destruction is pretty evocative and there is some hard core fighting. Plus, when Vader gets involved it's pretty brutal. The first Star Wars movie did have him crunching a guy's neck, I mean, you did hear the snaps and crunches so... has he seen the others? Then he should be fine.

[Dandesun]

So, I was at Disneyland the weekend before last and, as you can imagine, the Star Wars merch was in full release. The things that I noticed was that there was a lot more very specifically designed for the ladies. Like not just 'lady cut' t-shirts but blouses of all styles, dresses, scarves, bags... There's a gorgeous cobalt blue bat wing shirt with Jyn on it. I got two sparkly shirts for myself (and will probably get more when I return.)

The other thing was that K-2S0 was on a bit of merch, too. Since I went before I saw the movie (and had kept away from I think all trailers since the first one) I noticed a lot of shirts with K2 emblazoned on them and went 'Huh. I'm guessing he'll be a thing?'

Then I saw the movie. Told my sister-in-law and niece 'Now I know why K2 was on so much merch!'

It does seem like they learned their lesson from the lack of Rey. Now if they could make more Marvel merch for the ladies, too...

[afterbite]

4 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Oh cool, thanks. I enjoy Rebels but, have been struggling to work my way through Clone Wars. I'm going to see if I can run down the Clone Wars episodes with Saw Gerrera so I can get the full experience from Clone Wars to Rebels to Rogue One.

Those would be in Season 5, episodes 2-5.

[Browncoat]

Taking the Jabba discussion to the general Star Wars thread...

[ohjoy]

On 12/19/2016 at 5:29 PM, Jediknight said:

Chirrut was awesome, I liked all the characters, but Chirrut was above them all.  They should make it canon that Luke somehow honors him in the Jedi Temple.

Seconded.

[VCRTracking]

Whoa. Now I'm looking forward to seeing Saw Gerrara on Rebels. Cool they got Forrest Whitaker to voice him again but he's playing different than Rogue One. It's actually closer to his Clone Wars version. Rebels is supposed to take place a few years before R1 and A New Hope.  

[arc]

Why did Galen's team do all its engineering on Eadu but the schematics were stored on Scarif instead?

[anna0852]

Well it has now been proven: a great Star Wars story can be told *without* the Skywalker Whining Gene. I do hope the creative teams for Eps 8 and 9 take notice. 

My brain is still bendy from seeing Tarkin again, along with 1977 Princess Leia. 

[benteen]

2 hours ago, arc said:

Why did Galen's team do all its engineering on Eadu but the schematics were stored on Scarif instead?

I believe once the project had been completed, the plans were sent to the Citadel at Scarif where all the Imperial projects are stored.

[Perfect Xero]

I felt kind of bad for the family with a group of 5 or 6 well behaved kids that sat in front of me, the kids were laughing at everything that K2 said, then his death scene happened and their silence was thick and only became thicker as each of our heroes was killed off.

"I'll be there for you. The Captain said I had to."