Rogue One (spoilers!)

[Kingpin]

Saw the move last night. Have to say I am pretty disappointed. I quite enjoyed the visuals, new planets, and the last 5 minutes, but the characters were dull and there was several plot holes. Not terrible, but could be a lot better.

[Maveritchell]

Split this topic so that post-movie, spoiler-filled discussion can occur. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

My thoughts?

Holy cow. That was a great movie that makes Star Wars (as both a franchise and a movie) better.

Besides a few liberties with hyperspace (again, thanks much 201X Star Wars movies!), this was a super fun one to watch as a long-time fan. There was a ton of great fanservice, including:

Hidden/Spoiler:

Bast(?) Castle!? Did they really go there?
The lookalikes - wow. Besides some iffy Leia CGI, they had Mon Mothma, Dodonna, Tarkin (who I just found out was CGI? Impressive. I assumed it was a stand-in.), Bail Organa (although it was just Jimmy Smits again, so not really a lookalike?), Garven Dreis!!! (Red Leader - I'm floored that they made this effort), Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan (is this real life?)
The callout to Rebels with the "General Syndulla" line
Red Five being conspicuously shot down

And hoooly smokes, the last sequence, from

Hidden/Spoiler:

the start of the space battle all the way to Vader's boarding party.

That was really, really cool.

[Twilight_Warrior]

Hidden/Spoiler:

Really? I could tell Tarkin was CGI much more than I could Leia. He looked like a character from The Polar Express.

That said, I did really enjoy the movie. I liked all the little references to the movies and to Rebels

Hidden/Spoiler:

(Chopper showed up, too, when Mon Mothma found out that Rogue One was on Scarif)

And I'm really glad the movie ended the way I hoped it would. I'm really excited for future standalones. This movie definitely didn't feel like the main saga (in a good way), but still managed to feel like part of the Star Wars universe. If they can keep that up in the future, maybe we'll even see a day where Star Wars goes Marvel, and we get to experience a galaxy far, far away more than once a year.

[DylanRocket]

Hidden/Spoiler:

Really? I could tell Tarkin was CGI much more than I could Leia. He looked like a character from The Polar Express.

I think that may be a little bit of an exaggeration. I've seen some complaints about the CGI (I thought he looked great) but in no way does he look anything like a Polar Express character.

[RevanSithLord]

All spoilers. Beware. Also, all is my opinion.

Hidden/Spoiler:

I have to say for me personally, the movie was beautiful. It wasn't just a movie full of memberberries and references. I felt it overwhelmed with emotions. I don't think any other Star Wars movie made me cry through HALF OF IT like this film did. After the credits, I stood up and saluted and calmly walked out. Of course, some of the CGI of Tarkin and Leia were a bit strange at times, but it didn't bother me that much. Tarkin really did look convincing to me.

The little details and the classic characters and cameo ships/lines were of course extremely welcome:
Bail Organa
Mon Mothma (can't have the Rebellion without this tough broad! Hah!)
General Dodonna
Red Leader
Gold Leader
The Ghost, mention of Hera, and at least three Hammerhead Corvettes (in which one was prominent in taking down not one, but TWO Star Destroyers in a way I've never seen - essentially using one as a blade to cut the other in half and both of them destroying the shield gate) and it's said they escaped, so yay. I was wondering about that because I don't think I caught the Ghost actually retreating to hyperspace before the Devastator arrived to finish off the Rebel fleet.
Bail's mentioning of Obi-wan Kenobi
The prominence of Saw Garrera, who we originally see in The Clone Wars.
There's too many things to list. The fact that Vader's abode was on Mustafar...I mean you'd figure the poor man would have flashbacks, but I guess it fuels his hatred for Kenobi? No text showed it was Mustafar, but upon further research, that's what I discovered. It seemed more like Sullust at some points, but whatever.
I feel like they toyed with us with Cassian and Jyn, because they kept giving off this Dark Forces vibe when they were in the process of stealing the plans.

I'm sad that all of the main heroes died, but I guess you have to have sacrifice to have some sort of hope. I'm glad there wasn't a lot of plot armor - just only enough to push the Death Star plans into the correct hands. The escape of the Tantive was welcome and it gives new context for me personally for ANH (of course, originally SW77, before it was called ANH). That little data disc relay of getting it to the Tantive IV was awesome. I might sound like a wuss, but this film made me cry more than I thought it would. The music was beautiful and it was a gritty war film, which is actually quite welcome from traditional Star Wars scroll text. The soundtrack is really powerful. The fact that the Death Star used minimal power to destroy both Jedha and Scarif is still nothing short of awe inspiring and was like 5 Tsar Bombas going off.

I felt like the acting was actually really good and believable. I felt the emotion from all of them, which is a good sign. As was mentioned, it wasn't classic Star Wars formula, but it still FELT like Star Wars, which is a VERY good thing.

The battle itself was massive, combining space, atmospheric, and ground combat. Really set the scale for how the other battles happened in the original trilogy. The Battle of Yavin was extremely small (of course very instrumental in the Death Star being destroyed) when compared to the Battle of Scarif. Heck, even the Battle of Endor seemed a little bit smaller. I still have too many thoughts, I'll type more later. Too tired right now.

[Twilight_Warrior]

Hidden/Spoiler:

Really? I could tell Tarkin was CGI much more than I could Leia. He looked like a character from The Polar Express.

I think that may be a little bit of an exaggeration. I've seen some complaints about the CGI (I thought he looked great) but in no way does he look anything like a Polar Express character.

I disagree. Maybe it's cuz I saw it in IMAX, but it was super obvious that he wasn't real, to me. I just feel like, in 10-15 years, we're gonna watch Rogue One again and go, "God CGI was so bad back then..." Like we do with The Polar Express. Or, another example, The Rock in The Mummy Returns. It danced in the Uncanny Valley for me. Super close to being real, but just shy of real enough, which caused it to be a bit unsettling.

[giftheck]

Split this topic so that post-movie, spoiler-filled discussion can occur. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

My thoughts?

Holy cow. That was a great movie that makes Star Wars (as both a franchise and a movie) better.

Besides a few liberties with hyperspace (again, thanks much 201X Star Wars movies!), this was a super fun one to watch as a long-time fan. There was a ton of great fanservice, including:

Hidden/Spoiler:

Bast(?) Castle!? Did they really go there?
The lookalikes - wow. Besides some iffy Leia CGI, they had Mon Mothma, Dodonna, Tarkin (who I just found out was CGI? Impressive. I assumed it was a stand-in.), Bail Organa (although it was just Jimmy Smits again, so not really a lookalike?), Garven Dreis!!! (Red Leader - I'm floored that they made this effort), Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan (is this real life?)
The callout to Rebels with the "General Syndulla" line
Red Five being conspicuously shot down

And hoooly smokes, the last sequence, from

Hidden/Spoiler:

the start of the space battle all the way to Vader's boarding party.

That was really, really cool.

I get REALLY spoilery in this response. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Hidden/Spoiler:

Vader's castle is where he was cooked extra crispy - Mustafar.

I believe Red and Gold Leaders were both archive footage taken from 1977 and reused. I didn't think Leia looked bad - Tarkin looked iffy in his first appearance but better in the other scenes. Truth be told, I think true synthespian technology is only a couple of years away from perfection. Digital 1984 Arnold set the ground for it last year in Terminator Genisys. Mon Mothma was played by the same actress who portrayed her in scenes deleted from Episode III. At least George knew how to hire right if she's that close to the original actress.

Did you spot the other Rebels callbacks? Chopper can be seen in the Rebel Base, and the Ghost can be seen in the space battle. The ship that rammed the Star Destroyer was also a hammerhead ship, the same type of ship that they stole in Rebels. And the revelation that the exhaust port flaw in the Death Star was INTENTIONAL really clears up one of the biggest problems that the original film had - how could the Empire leave such a flaw to exploit?

And Disney did something extremely bold by killing off all the characters they introduced in the film. I totally get why that was done. Truth be told, Chirrut and K2-SO were the two I felt most bad for, because I feel they were the best-developed characters. Jyn and Cassian seemed a little too flat for my liking, but that seems to have been intentional. In any case, I'm wondering now if Rogue Squadron in TESB was named in honour of Rogue One.

My God, that space battle! That was epic! I think it even outstripped ROTJ. The whole last act was really strong, and Vader! Move aside, Kylo, Vader is still the ultimate badass, and he only has about two or three minutes of screen time in this film! James Earl Jones plays the role like he recorded his final lines for ROTJ only yesterday.

Overall, despite the slow start and lack of an opening crawl (given the film opened about four years after the Clone Wars finished and the Empire was established, an opening crawl would not have been inappropriate) I really enjoyed this movie. It's not as good as Empire, but it outstripped TFA, particularly in the final moments and it now sits as my second favourite Star Wars movie, right behind Empire. I will see it again, probably after Christmas or New Year, and it's a day one Blu Ray purchase too (I'm hoping for another April release date)

[ARCTroopaNate]

Just saw it. I think this is my favorite star wars movie, I loved that it was grittier than star wars, but it still really felt like star wars. I thought it was a fantastic move for the franchise and a wonderful piece of art.

[Maveritchell]

Hidden/Spoiler:

I believe Red and Gold Leaders were both archive footage taken from 1977 and reused. I didn't think Leia looked bad - Tarkin looked iffy in his first appearance but better in the other scenes. Truth be told, I think true synthespian technology is only a couple of years away from perfection. Digital 1984 Arnold set the ground for it last year in Terminator Genisys. Mon Mothma was played by the same actress who portrayed her in scenes deleted from Episode III. At least George knew how to hire right if she's that close to the original actress.

Yeah, I knew about the reuse of actors from Episode III; the actress they cast for her in RotS was already a really good fit.

Hidden/Spoiler:

Tarkin looked eerie at the beginning, but I assumed he wasn't CGI because they'd already done a recast of several characters - Mon Mothma, Dodonna, etc. - and I think I assumed they did the same with him or just reused Wayne Pigram(?) from Episode III. Leia looked weird because she was obviously supposed to be Carrie Fisher and clearly wasn't.

CGI Arnold from last year was pretty stellar, but he was in a really short, pretty dark scene. That may also have been part of what caught me off guard about Tarkin - he was used so often, I didn't think they'd have the gumption to stick to a digital face for that long.

I'll see the movie again with family almost certainly in the upcoming week, and I'll have a chance to see if I can't catch more things. I read about a lot of the stuff people caught in the movie and sort've have an eye for where to look. It'll be worth seeing again regardless just to catch the last fifteen minutes. That was how you end a Star Wars movie, TFA. I think this is probably my favorite after Jedi, although it may get edged out by ESB. Time will tell, though; that new-car smell hasn't left yet.

[Marth8880]

Just saw it in IMAX 3D in Downtown Disney! I thought the entire first act was kinda garbage tbh, it's as if the writers completely changed between the first and second act. A lot of the characters that were introduced in the first act were done so with what felt like almost zero context as to who they actually were. With that said, though, I absolutely loved all the worldbuilding in the first act, that felt pretty solid. So yeah, the first act was pretty garbage, the second act got a lot better, and then the third act was freaking amazing, I'd say.

I was really skeptical about the music going into it, since I didn't care much for TFA's score - but I actually really liked it for the most part. Unlike TFA, this score had a number of tracks that I actually wanna seek out and listen to. Stylistically, it felt very much like a nice mix between Williams and Giacchino. I definitely heard a bit of Super 8 in there, which was nice too haha

But man, though, the second act gave me SUCH huge Jedi Knight: Outcast vibes, and the third act gave me huge Rogue Squadron vibes. Anyone else feel the same?

Anywho, forgetting the majority of the first act, I'd probably place Rogue One right before Empire. (which is my second favorite movie of all time, with Terminator 2 at the very top and Aliens at number 3 tbh)

[ARCTroopaNate]

Interesting, I much preferred the first terminator to the second, why'd you like the second marth??

[BF2-Master]

I loved it. I'm not sure what else to say that hasn't been said. I disagree strongly with those who felt the character development was luckluster. I mean, you're entitled to your opinion, but I think they did as well as they could with the restraints of the kind of film they wanted to make. I'd love to get to know them better, but it didn't feel as if time was wasted or as if anyone was generic.

I just wish they'd move Star Wars back to the summer - I always come off these wanting to play BF2 and mod again, but I'm always too busy to get much done and end up losing the spark by the summer. I still associated May with Star Wars, personally.

[Teancum]

Seeing it next week, but I spoiled quite a bit for myself already. For example, a Vader scene was briefly uploaded to YouTube and I stumbled across it.

Hidden/Spoiler:

BOY does James Earl Jones sound tired. (It was the scene with him in the tank/Krennick talking with him.

...

Is anyone else a person that's fine with spoilers ahead of time? I feel like I know several bits about a movie before it comes out, but I haven't seen it happen yet, so I'm still excited in the theater.

[Oceans14]

I really really hate spoilers ahead of time. I mean, once rogue one came out I pretty much stayed off the internet because I didn't even want to see an opinion until I'd reached my own. When I see a movie I like every new piece of information to hit me as it comes, and not know something ahead of time that my overactive imagination will inevitably try to make sense of.

Hidden/Spoiler:

I really liked rogue one. As already mentioned here, it was gritty, something Star Wars never touched on. I thought the plot was pretty formula - we got three acts, each one at a different location - but hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it. The characters left me a little disappointed I guess, but to be perfectly honest that third act made up for everything. I was blown away by the sheer beauty of Scarif and the sheer magnitude of the entire battle. Call me easily entertained, but I was digging every moment of it, and then we see Vader come within inches of the airlock door where he first stepped onto the screen and into history? Man, I'm getting chills.

As for the cgi Tarkin, I was impressed. It was a good enough job that I didnt stop to wonder how they did it, I just went "hey, there's Tarkin".

Great film, excellent and necessary addition to the Star Wars story.

[AQT]

I'll echo everyone else here and say it was an amazing movie! Great characters, story, and easter eggs/references.

Hidden/Spoiler:

(I recently caught up on Star Wars Rebels.) Although for me, the movie ended on a somewhat depressing note, even a horrifying one. Darth Vader! I feel like watching A New Hope again just for some closure.

[Noobasaurus]

Just watched it and it certainly did not disappoint. Really awesome all around.

Hidden/Spoiler:

Once Tarkin appeared, I instantly knew that he was CGI, but he still looked really good and his voice was on point. That Darth Vader scene was awesome (except for maybe the cape blowing in space). There were so many easter eggs in here and I really liked the overall development of the movie, but the beginning felt like a lot. It's crazy how all of the main characters also died at the end - I haven't seen any movies do that so that was really cool. Also when Leia turned around I was so happy and so many memories of watching Ep4 came back. The CGI for her was done really well.

Oh yeah, almost forgot about the blue milk in the beginning.

[BF2-Master]

Seeing it next week, but I spoiled quite a bit for myself already. For example, a Vader scene was briefly uploaded to YouTube and I stumbled across it.

Hidden/Spoiler:

BOY does James Earl Jones sound tired. (It was the scene with him in the tank/Krennick talking with him.

...

Is anyone else a person that's fine with spoilers ahead of time? I feel like I know several bits about a movie before it comes out, but I haven't seen it happen yet, so I'm still excited in the theater.

Hidden/Spoiler:

With all due respect to the great James Earl Jones, he's tended to sound out of step in most of his recent Darth Vader appearances. I'm not sure if Lucas doctored it a bit more in the previous films to make it sound the way it did, or if Jones has simply aged beyond it, but it doesn't sound the same to me in Rebels or R1 as did in the original trilogy and ROTS.

I'm usually pretty fine with spoilers, as long as it's not the big twist moment, or something. Finding out Echo Base is attacked in Ep5 is different than finding out Vader is Luke's father. I think the problem these days is what constitutes a spoiler varies wildly. It used to be material that wasn't released ahead of time, but now some people just avoid trailers entirely to go in blind. I don't consider promo stuff 'spoilers' though.

Besides, I ended up knowing eighty percent of the plot of TFA in advance, but there was so much uncertainty about which spoilers were real and which weren't that there was still a level of excitement.

[Anakin]

I watched it yesterday in 3D. I know that tarkin was CGI before, but it wasn't that obvious from the scene to me. Only some times he looked a bit like TCW.
@Marth: your feelings were right. I read about RO that (i think it was) Disney didn't agreed with the final result and they completely rewrote the story.

I was just wondering about that:
Bail said he'll send directly someone (leia) to the jedi i knows (obi-wan). So how comes that she participated in the battle over scarif? She wasn't a soldier.

3D effect was AWESOME(!!) on the Spacebattle and on Mustafar(?)

[BF2-Master]

I watched it yesterday in 3D. I know that tarkin was CGI before, but it wasn't that obvious from the scene to me. Only some times he looked a bit like TCW.
@Marth: your feelings were right. I read about RO that (i think it was) Disney didn't agreed with the final result and they completely rewrote the story.

I was just wondering about that:
Bail said he'll send directly someone (leia) to the jedi i knows (obi-wan). So how comes that she participated in the battle over scarif? She wasn't a soldier.

3D effect was AWESOME(!!) on the Spacebattle and on Mustafar(?)

Hidden/Spoiler:

Leia was on her way to meet with Obi-Wan when she was captured in the original film - thus why she drops the plans and hologram off with Artoo. The original plan was derailed by the battle on Scarif and recovery of the plans. Her impending capture meant she had to send them elsewhere, have someone else perform the mission.

[Anakin]

yes i know. But in RO bail said he'll contact Obi-Wan and send Leia to him. So why wasn't she on her way to Obi-Wan but in the battle of scarif?