Just saw it. The first half is rather droll. The second half more than made up for it!
I rather liked CGI Tarkin and Leia. Was also cool to see Red and Gold leader. I'd rank the final battle above any star wars movie battle ever put to film. But that's just me.
(http://68.media.tumblr.com/7c53a0454aa607ef4cec820972961e69/tumblr_o5fiynvcm41rlapeio1_540.gif)
Agreed on the final battle. That was a truly epic half hour.
Such as:
(https://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/rogue-one-gif-1.gif?w=806&h=453)
(http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RogueOneGifChase.gif)
(https://media.giphy.com/media/qHjCDjYtlAC1q/giphy.gif)
(https://images.hellogiggles.com/uploads/2016/04/06222340/Rogue-One-3.gif)
Gareth Edwards said that he deliberately shot a lot more than he felt he strictly needed so that he'd have the flexibility in the editor's booth. Additionally, it wouldn't surprise me if the theatrical trailers were actually separately scripted and some footage shot exclusively for the trailer.
the spoiler about the spoiler, spoilering the spoiler, with the spoiler happening to the spoiler and then spoiler. It was all very spoilery.
Spoiler has become unrecognisable as a word now...
BenRG's Star Wars ranking:
1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
=3. Return of the Jedi
=3. Rogue One
=5. Attack of the Clones
=5. The Force Awakens
7. Revenge of the Sith
8. The Phantom Menace
FWIW, if the Powers That Be amongst the Empire of the Mouse decide to 'resurrect' Jyn and Cassian, it will be something to do with Jyn being a Force sensitive. I was quite surprised to see Jyn's mother wearing Jedi robes and that made me wonder if in the movie canon she was just a member of Chirrut's Force-worshipping religion (as she was in the novel Catalyst) or she actually was, like Kanan in Rebels, a former Jedi Padawan who started a new life after the Purge.
Yeah; I'm still in denial. Let me deal with it, okay?
Especially the last third, where I basically regressed to childhood and bounced up and down in my seat a lot.
I was impressed how it managed to stay tense and extract an emotional response from me in spite of my knowing how it had to turn out to connect with A New Hope (which it succeeded in doing quite well).
* Including that line. You know the one.
Is the squadron named "Rogue One" in the movie? Wouldn't that be non-canon (IIRC, Luke formed & named Rogue-Squadron post-ANH? And wouldn't that make Luke the proverbial "Rogue One"?)
Uhmmmmh - Jeremy Jahns, born May 12, 1980 about "The Empire Strikes Back", US release May 21st, 1980:
"When Empire Strikes Back first came out, I was like ..."
... like nine days old, Jeremy?
:roll:
* Including that line. You know the one.
I've got a bad feeling... // Quiet!
The majority of Rogue One takes place in the days and weeks right up to the beginning of A New Hope, with the film literally ending as Leia's ship comes under fire. The thing is, Rogue Squadron is a flight team, while Rogue One is more an informal codename/callsign for the team that steals the plans for the rebellion, making it more akin to the Dirty Dozen or the Expendables.
'Rogue One' is the fraudulent mission call sign that Bode makes up on the spot to get their stolen Imperial light freighter past Yavin Base's traffic controllers.
FWIW, I'm looking forward to seeing some reverse continuity with Rebels. Maybe we'll start seeing U-Wing gunships turning up at Phoenix Base?
The Ghost and Chopper are seen in Rogue One and someone calls for either Hera or her father over the PA in the Rebel base towards the end of the movie.
More Denial:
Until explicitly confirmed otherwise, my headcanon is that Jyn's kyber crystal necklace, combined with some latent Force sensitivity, did something weird with the energy of the superlaser detonation blast-wave and gave Jyn and Cassio just enough protection from the blast to survive. In response to a 'gut feeling' from Ezra or Kanan, the Ghost sneaks back and rescues their toasted-but-alive bodies from the remains of the beach on Skarrif.
More Denial:
Until explicitly confirmed otherwise, my headcanon is that Jyn's kyber crystal necklace, combined with some latent Force sensitivity, did something weird with the energy of the superlaser detonation blast-wave and gave Jyn and Cassio just enough protection from the blast to survive. In response to a 'gut feeling' from Ezra or Kanan, the Ghost sneaks back and rescues their toasted-but-alive bodies from the remains of the beach on Skarrif.
Seriously, if you haven't seen the film, do not read this. Sadly, Star Wars is a franchise that isn't afraid to brutally kill or maim main characters. The "gut feelings" of Force Sensitive people can be a reaction to a great loss, for example Alderaan's destruction and Obi Wan reaction. Sometimes the heroes die, but they die for something more than themselves.
@Case,
'Rogue One' is the fraudulent mission call sign that Bode makes up on the spot to get their stolen Imperial light freighter past Yavin Base's traffic controllers.
FWIW, I'm looking forward to seeing some reverse continuity with Rebels. Maybe we'll start seeing U-Wing gunships turning up at Phoenix Base?
Bode? Do you mean Bodhi? (Sorry, haven't seen the flick yet, and hence wasn't sure whether you were referring to a R1-character, or an EU-character)
Apparently, R1 also explains the 'deep mystery' behind Luke's 'Red 5'-callsign (https://www.inverse.com/article/25326-star-wars-rogue-one)
In addition to surprise appearances from very familar characters from the past of Star Wars, Rogue One also explains a very big detail in the life of Luke Skywalker. Specifically, we learn why the Rebel Alliance needed him to fly in the Battle of Yavin in A New Hope.
"Captain Needa, Sir! A giant, planet-destroying space-station is coming straight at us!
Don't panic - we still have Red 5!
Urrrrh - Cpt. Needa ... maybe the Captain forgot that Red 5's ticket got punched last Wednesday?
Ensign Wrublslig - are you telling me that a giant, planet-destroying space-station is headed our way and we don't have anyone flying with the Red-5 callsign?
Sir .... Uhmmmh ... Yes, Sir ?!?
ZOMG! We're all doomed! WOOOOOOOOOP WOOP WOOP!"
Man, I've been loosing sleep over that one since '78! Glad we finally seem to be getting some truth on the callsign-front ... :wink:
This wasn't just a case of equipment either. Stormtroopers and other Imperial fighting personnel were brainwashed during training to consider themselves as as interchangeable identical tools with no intrinsic value beyond their function and capable of being totally replaced in an instant without any significant loss of efficiency to the whole machine.
This was really typified in the Starfighter Legion. The TIE/ln TIE Fighter was cheap, low-spec and basically intended first and foremost for quick and easy manufacture and also (this is important) that it was possible to quickly and easily routinely return them to factory specifications at the end of every mission. Similarly, the pilots were practically programmed to consider themselves as interchangeable and quickly and easily replaceable. So you had interchangeable and identical fighters that could be flown by what were effectively 'plug in' interchangeable and identical organic CPUs. No individuality, no personality and no intrinsic value.
That's why Tarkin had no problem blowing up Skarrif Base (even with the battle over and a tactical justification that was iffy at best). There was nothing down there that the various factories, academies and indoctrination and training camps couldn't replace in a few days at most.
It's details like this that make me shake my head in horror at all the people who openly admit to admiring the Galactic Empire and consider them the good guys.
[tweet]810019218607456256[/tweet]
Back from Rogue One and I enjoyed it
I will say the CGI of Tarkin and Leia was a little unnerving, especially Tarkin because of all the time he had on screen
I felt Cassian was a rather weak character. I can see they were trying for a Han Solo-eque 'Angel with a dirty face' rogue, but he just didn't have the charm of Han, and I didn't feel they particularly communicated his inner conflict between his orders and what he's done compared to how he feels about it. He came off as rather the least interesting of the cast to me.
Maybe not the least interesting, but his character felt ... unfinished. Like some crucial pieces ended on the cutting room floor - or as if they couldn't decide which take of the character to go with and ended up with a bit of everything. As to Saw Gerrera: For somebody of Whitaker's calibre, that role was an insult. I'm still a bit pissed about it. (To add insult to injury, Whitaker's German dub-actor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubbing_(filmmaking)#Germany.2C_Austria.2C_and_Switzerland) seemed hell-bent on making him sound as demented as possible)
And I didn't really see the 'big revelation about using the Force' that some people seemed to have gained from Chirrut's character? Great martial artist, weakly force-sensitive - what's new about that? Maybe I missed smth.?
On the whole, I really, really liked the ideas in R1 - but not this "We got a great new idea for SW-Canon! Now we need another disposable character to introduce it"-sickness. I felt that the fleshing out the Rebellion's character, them having a darker side, was a great idea - maybe Han had more reasons to be wary of the Rebels than his lack of altruism? - but I felt that much of that could have been done with a new take on old side-characters. Cassian's role would have been great to round out Wedge Antilles character - like: Why does the guy have to be on the Frontline of every major battle of the Rebellion? The only pilot to go up against a Death-Star twice? Because he's made some questionable moral decisions and feels like he can't prioritize his own survival after that?
Or the conflict in the Rebellions' leadership over whether to stand and fight or dissolve the entire outfit - I felt that Mon Mothma and Bail Organa were too meek here. They're founders of the whole friggin' Rebellion. What did they have to lose by fighting on? They had to assume that Palpatine was suspecting them already. It would have made sense to have a scene where Mothma and Organa butt heads over whether to commit to outright warfare, or cling to the rest of the influence they had in the still-extant Senate. That could even have been introduced with a reference to Palpatine's cunning, like: "Why do you think Palpatine keeps the Senate around? Maybe in order for us to have this stupid discussion precisely when we can least afford it?"
OtoH: zomG!ThatVADER-SCENE!!! :-o :-o :-o