off topic Star Wars - now with SPOILERS! (Read at your own risk)

[ubkev]

Went to the theater again tonight to see Rogue One, this time with my kid. 8:10 showing, 2nd week after release, arrived about 15 minutes early: sold out! Ouch, the kid took it really well. I felt bad. Oh well, he'll live. Maybe next week.

[jsb]

That movie sucked. Some of the worst acting and dialogue I've ever witnessed. Basically Episode 1 level dialogue and acting

??????

 

Star Wars troll! 

Yep

 

Watched Rogue One for the 2nd time today. Enjoyed it even more than the 1st viewing. For my own ranking, this Star Wars movie is in the top 3. 

I'll see it 1 more time in theaters. 

Agree with you again, I saw the original Star Wars while I still lived in Buffalo which was soon to be over. It blew away all special effects movies in its time. Episode V was good too, but this one ranks right behind those 2 for me.

[WildCard]

I'm not trolling, that dialog was forced, awkward, and just not fun when it wanted to or serious when it tried to. It was bad

[Samson's Flow]

I'm not trolling, that dialog was forced, awkward, and just not fun when it wanted to or serious when it tried to. It was bad

Meesa called Jar Jar Binks. Meesa no likey Star Wars.

 

:nana:

[TrueBlueGED]

I'm not trolling, that dialog was forced, awkward, and just not fun when it wanted to or serious when it tried to. It was bad

I mean, it's Star Wars...that's what it is. The original movies do the same thing, but they're beloved for being campy. Because...?

[WildCard]

I mean, it's Star Wars...that's what it is. The original movies do the same thing, but they're beloved for being campy. Because...?

Probably because I was younger when I saw them, and nostalgic now.

[sodbuster]

I'm not trolling, that dialog was forced, awkward, and just not fun when it wanted to or serious when it tried to. It was bad

It's a space themed soap opera. It's kind of supposed to be like that. Edited December 28, 2016 by sodbuster

[Robviously]

I mean, it's Star Wars...that's what it is. The original movies do the same thing, but they're beloved for being campy. Because...?

 

 

Probably because I was younger when I saw them, and nostalgic now.

The original movies hold up perfectly.  They make sense within the universe they created.  The whole "campy" thing started as a (weak) defense of how bad the prequels turned out.  The original trilogy movies all still work as great summer movies, and they're still tough to beat in terms of imagination, storytelling, special effects, etc.  There's a reason those movies still resonate nearly 40 years later.

 

Then there's Rogue One.  It was a B, I guess.  It benefited from a really tense final battle and how cool it was to see all the vehicles from the original trilogy in action again.  The premise, a Star Wars "war movie", was really interesting when they announced it but now that I've seen it, I'm not sure we needed one.  I hate the "we need a new, darker version..." trend in Hollywood, and I feel like I need a Trump hat with "Make Star Wars Fun Again" on it.

 

Spoiler-vision notes:

 

 

- Why did the tone get darker as the film went on?  Wouldn't you start dark and end on a tone that matches Episode IV?  It's a movie about the first Rebel victory.  Why not start from the premise that the Empire is unstoppable and can't be challenged and then end on a Rebel victory?  Instead, the Rebels seem to do pretty well against the Empire all movie long right up until they took on an entire planet of them.  Start the movie with the Empire easily repelling a Rebel attack and then end with the opposite.

 

- The ending was so awkward.  Again, tone, but you have Princess Leia's ship at the final battle and nearly boarded after a slaughter before escaping, which makes everyone's actions at the start of Episode IV seem fairly ridiculous.  The Imperial forces don't have nearly as much urgency as they did just minutes before and Leia's explanation is ridiculous.  Have her ship show up at the end of the battle, get the plans, and then zip off before the Empire can attack them.  At least they'd have some deniability then.  I think they were just trying to jam in the Darth Vader horror show though.

 

- Krennic.  I thought he was going to be amazing based on the opening minutes: "You talk about peace, but you promise terror."  "Well, you have to start somewhere."  (Tremendous.)  And then he did nothing most of the rest of the movie.  He didn't even interact with our heroes.  When he finally confronts Jyn Erso, he says... "Who are you?"  Oof.  You really need a good villain for these movies.

 

- Killing everyone.  Yes, it was bold, but it's not a good sign for your script if the only plot twist is that everyone gets vaporized at the end.  And if you're going to have a harrowing movie, pay it off with something the audience can cheer at the end.  Take your audience on more of a journey than "See how dark we can make this?"

 

 

 

Anyways, it was entertaining enough and a decent addition to the series but certainly a step below the original trilogy and TFA last year.  I'm looking forward to Episode 8 because of Rian Johnson and because it'll be the first of the Disney movies that they aren't making on a compressed timeline.  It should help.

[dudacek]

I'll just use the immortal words of Freddie ...

 

'Jaws was never my scene and I don't like Star Wars'

 

Bonus if you know the reference.

All I want to do is bicycle.

 

(Just saw it. Liked.)

[Sabres Fan in NS]

All I want to do is bicycle.

 

(Just saw it. Liked.)

 

Close ... Bicycle Race.

 

The promo was fantastic ...  :flirt:  (for the song that is).

 

 

I have to say that I do like Jaws, but it's not really my scene, though.

[nfreeman]

Saw Rogue One on Saturday, I thought it was great.

 

 

As sad and kinda ###### as this sounds, I'm glad they all died. It makes it feel like war has real stakes without going super dark about it.  When they say "many died to bring us this information" you don't really get it. They're faceless numbers. Seeing these characters, buying into them, growing to like them, then watching them die without ever knowing if they succeeded in their mission; it really adds depth to the universe as a whole. It makes me wish Ep. 1-3 were better, too...

 

CGI Tarkin and Leia were...pretty good. We're so close to climbing back out of uncanny valley, but we're not quite there yet.

 

 

 

Josie and I saw Rogue One yesterday. In short, I thought it was good. Not exceptional, but I will watch it again and like it. 

 

Spoiler comments below:

 

 

 

Let's get the low hanging fruit out of the way: There's a lot of uncanny valley stuff in this movie. From CGI Tarkin, to new Mon Mothma and the digitized unseen footage of Red and Gold Leader from ANH, this movie tried really hard to make sure it didn't feel too separate from the regular Star Wars universe. Some people didn't like Tarkin. I thought he was perfectly fine. I knew going in that he was CGI and it really didn't bother me. CGI has come such a long way and I think having him in this movie was crucial.

 

I just about fell out of my chair when Red and Gold Leader showed up during the battle though. I had no idea that was coming and it hit me right in the feels. Loved it. I will watch this movie just for that alone. 

 

I REALLY wasn't expecting CGI Leia at the end, but I really liked it, and again, the CGI didn't bother me at all. In fact it almost upset me in a good way. I knew Leia was on the ship, but I didn't think they'd go so far as to CGI her in and have her speak. It was surprisingly emotional for me.

 

One thing I thought stood in contrast to my expected dislike of the CGI was my surprise dislike of James Earl Jones returning to voice Vader. Sure, he still sounds like Vader, but there's some power missing from his voice now. You can tell he's 85 years old. It bothered me. I'd have preferred someone with a stronger voice doing the part and having the sound wizards adjust it in post. 

 

Stealing the show: Malbus and Imwe, our sorta-Jedi Guardians of the Whills. These guys felt like a straight nod to Kurosawa and added some much needed depth to the movie. I would love to see them return in other films. I was more fascinated by them than anyone else, to be honest. 

 

The Imperial Pilot turned out to be a much better character than I expected. He came on strong at the end. I think it would have been nice to see some more about his relationship with Galen Erso. Their connection and his subsequent dedication to Erso felt forced. 

 

I agree with qwk that Saw Gerrera seemed out of place, but he's a major figure in the expanded universe so I understand why they worked him and his band of radical rebels in. He didn't bother me that much but again his presence seemed forced. He could have been a much more intriguing character. 

 

K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) was great. No complaint from me there. 

 

Thing I really liked that I didn't know about until after the fact: The return of the female Rebel Pilots who were cut from the battle in ROTJ. That's a cool nod, and much appreciated in a movie franchise that seems to be working really hard to make strong, bada** ladies into its most important characters. 

 

It was nice to see the Rebel Alliance portrayed in greater depth. In the original trilogy you sometimes get the feeling they're hapless and extremely lucky, or that the Empire isn't really that big of a deal. This does a better job of making their cause a lot more real and a lot more desperate. It makes the Empire feel a lot more evil. 

 

Overall: I liked it. I'm looking forward to more of these little filler Star Wars movies. I appreciate they did the cold-open without the text scroll. I thought the soundtrack was pretty good. 8/10. 

 

 

 

 

I saw it tonight with the family and liked it.  Good summaries here gentlemen.

 

 

Originally I was just as mad at Rogue One as I was at Dr. Strange. But at least Rogue One had a heart and an idea. And it was wayyyy better than Juriassic World and Independence Day 2: Electric Boogaloo.

 

The shotmaking and editing was not good, though, which is pretty unforgivable with the amount of money they had to throw at this movie.

 

I don't understand why they put so much money into Tarkin. The uncanny valley effect hit me really hard. Why not just call up Charles Dance?

 

 

 

Vader's first scene felt very forced. They showed him in his tank, which was a callback to his little breathing ball back in the original trilogy. But instead of using that to tell the story through visuals, it was just an establishing shot. Then he lectures the bad guy and does the choke thing. And then jokes about it with a pun.

 

That was such a fanservice scene. Yeah Vader chokes people right?? That's what you wanna see??!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you not find the scene in which the 2 destroyers collided and then shattered the gatepretty awesome?

 

 

 

 

That was fun. Thought it was much better than The Force Awakens. Good times.

I saw Rogue one last week. I thought it was a very good movie, by far better than last years effort "the Force Awakens"

 

The force Awakens felt fake to me, felt like they were shoving Jedi Powers down my throat, and had too much stuff that just 'didn't make sense'.  While Rogue one (as a science fiction movie) has a lot of the plot that isn't feasible in the real world, I felt drawn into it a lot more than the Force Awakens.

 

I too preferred this one to The Force Awakens (which was enjoyable due to seeing everyone from my teenage years again, but was also pretty hokey and derivative of the 1st trilogy IMHO).

 

 

Yep this is the biggest thing that Rogue One accomplished for me, is justifying that maddening plot hole in the later movies. That and the seamless transition into A New Hope.

 

I'm not so sure about that. In all the Star Wars movies, the ancillary characters - specifically droids, act as the comic relief and break the tension and weight of the universe around them. I didn't think K20 was any different than C3PO was in the legacy movies, making snarky quips in response to the orders of their "master".

 

Also, as others have mentioned, I personally liked the heaviness of this being more of a pure war movie and having everyone die and sacrifice themselves for a greater cause made sense given the overwhelming odds. I always hate movies where the main protagonist is able to gun down multiple baddies without so much as a scratch. Those scenarios always ring hollow to me. Rogue One the rebels were able to do most of their infiltration through sneaking and once they were discovered were swiftly mowed down by the overwhelming troop support and weaponry of an Empire stronghold. There is no way anyone should have survived that scenario on the Rebel side - which they didn't

 

 

Good response.

[Huckleberry]

Haven't seen the force awakens or rogue one yet even.     Same reason I don't go and see the new star trek movies.

They just seem so lazy to me, so if they don't put in an effort of creating a good/new storyline, I'll just download it from the internet. :p

[darksabre]

Haven't seen the force awakens or rogue one yet even. Same reason I don't go and see the new star trek movies.

They just seem so lazy to me, so if they don't put in an effort of creating a good/new storyline, I'll just download it from the internet. :p

Dude, watch the new Star Trek movies.

[SwampD]

Dude, watch the new Star Trek movies.

I really liked the first one. The second one was good until it ended with that western style, top of the boxcars fight.

[darksabre]

I really liked the first one. The second one was good until it ended with that western style, top of the boxcars fight.

Agreed. I was entertained though.

[Brawndo]

Dude, watch the new Star Trek movies.

I couldn't stand the original movies or The Next Generation. That being said, I love the new ones

[GoPre]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stHfCbd-WTA

 

funny stuff

[Brawndo]

Episode VIII will titled Star Wars The Last Jedi

[GoPre]

Episode VIII will titled Star Wars The Last Jedi

 

Wonder who they could be referring to? Luke? Rey? Luke and Rey? A new Jedi Order? 

 

I think it's a great title.  Chosen well they have. 

[qwksndmonster]

They shoulda called it STAR WARS 8: THE RIAN JOHNSON ONE

Edited January 25, 2017 by qwksndmonster

[GoPre]

Ha! This is pretty cool.  Leads many to further discussion.  

 

The Force Awakens The Last Jedi.

 

Titles for Episodes 7 and 8 combined to form a sentence.  Noticed this while surfing the internet.  I did not come up with it.  

[DarthEbriate]

So episode IX will have a title that leads back into "The Phantom Menace" -- Finnegan's Wake-style.

The Force Awakens The Last Jedi To Begin the Hunt For The Phantom Menace

 

It's like poetry, it rhymes.

[Robviously]

Wonder who they could be referring to? Luke? Rey? Luke and Rey? A new Jedi Order? 

 

I think it's a great title.  Chosen well they have. 

The brilliant part is that "Jedi" can be singular or plural.  Pretty cool title that hints at the tone but gives nothing away.

[GoPre]

The brilliant part is that "Jedi" can be singular or plural. Pretty cool title that hints at the tone but gives nothing away.

Getting people to talk gives people a greater want to see the movie. Seriously, almost anyone and everyone wants to see a lot of Luke, and of course not see him die. Even when this trilogy comes to a close, I hope Luke is still alive. Don't want to see the entire original 3 killed off.

[GoPre]

I hope the next movie starts off at the top of that mountain, Luke and Rey share a silent moment of recognition at which point Rey pulls something out of her pocket saying "I got those power converters you were looking for."

 

Learned a few days ago The Last Jedi will begin right where The Force Awakens ends. So yep, right at the top of the mountain!  

 

And I agree w/ you Robviously.  People are left to wonder what the title means.  I think its plural, but look at the opening of Episode 7.  At one part it says "will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed." Of course the First Order did not know of Rey at the time, so now, if she becomes a Jedi, they have two Jedi to wipe out.  This makes it plural.  

Edited January 28, 2017 by GoPre