Don't know what to expect.
It's pretty good, but probably not your usual Star Wars film.
Going in a few hours. I have no strong expectations, but I'm expecting to have fun. We will need to get a spoiler thread rolling.
I had mixed feelings about it. Lots of good action, but darker. Felt like just a need for Disney to capitalize on the Star Wars franchise for little reason.
I thought it was a bit funnier than it should have been, but overall, we liked it.
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I really enjoyed it. I think they did a good job of making it self contained while still fitting into the whole. I loved the score and the look of everything and there were a couple fun surprises.
I thought it was pretty good. Better than the prequels, maybe better than force awakens. Much more original than Force Awakens at any rate.
Different for sure. This ones not for the kids.
Quote from: Matmosphere on December 16, 2016, 05:14:21 PM
Much more original than Force Awakens at any rate.
It would almost *have* to be!
Quote from: MatmosphereDifferent for sure. This ones not for the kids.
Good! Not everything needs to be Ewok-infused.
Saw it. Honestly did not like it very much...not nearly as much as TFA. I know TFA had its issues but R1 just wasn't very engaging. Not that I hated it...lots of little things in it I really enjoyed and I appreciate they were trying to do something different. I just didn't enjoy it like the last one.
Spoilerish opinion below
Last warning - the thing I really really hated was the cg/performance capture of a couple of well known characters from Ep4. It was just terrible for a feature film of this caliber. Very good for a video game but not a Star Wars movie. Too much uncanny valley. They should have just omitted those characters altogether.
It's pretty liberating, not really caring about star wars movies anymore.
After Phantom Menace, star wars is a big meh for me, moviewise.
The first two thirds were... meh. The pacing was all over the place, the dialog was clunky as hell, and quite a lot of the acting was as realistic as a certain unfortunate characters CGI.
The last third, though, sold it. Once the group actually becomes "Rogue" one its everything I was hoping the flick would be. Right down to that dark hallway scene at the end. Oooh boy. So happy a Star Wars movie actually decided to try being a War movie for once. I just wish they had played the first two thirds that way.
So, the good things: The opening set piece with Mads and family. The scene in Jehda city. And pretty much everything after "They're asking for a call sign".
Meh things: Most of the dialog (so many forced inspiration speeches that would be more aggravating than invigorating), the lead actresses acting... and motivations... and characterization really. The random tentacle monster scene.
Bad things: The CGI characters, so so SO distracting. Everytime it was on screen all I could think of "That looks like plastic. Stop this. Please".
Unpopular opinion: I was perfectly fine with the amount of Vader we got. He's got a job, and that isn't dealing with a project manager's bureaucratic screw ups. It makes sense that he'd only pop up when shit got real.
Wasn't perfect by any means. I'm with you guys on some of the cgi but Tarkin didn't bother me a bit, the did a nice job with him. A lot of the rest of it wasn't great.
There was some clunky dialogue. It would have benefited from a little more backstory, and there was a few moments in there that seemed too much like a video game. It wasn't perfect but it was fun. I think somnif nailed it, the last two thirds were the strongest part. Seeing those AT-AT's and the space battle was pretty fun. The hallway scene was great but way to short, and IMO made up for a weak, and disappointing scene earlier in the film.
I wonder what it was like before the reshoots.
My 2c
The bad - the CGI characters were incredibly off-putting and really took away from the real life actors. The beginning was hard to follow, understanding who was who and what was happening.
The good - The new droid was great. Vader was great. How it tied in to the ANH and gave the rebels plight more context was great. I'd put it somewhere between Episodes I-III and TFA for me.
I'm glad most of you agree with my thoughts on the CGI. (The guy I went with thought it was nice.)
All I could think of with the CGI was "that dude's eyes look like Dobby from Harry Potter."
It's odd to me that my wife and Bean have almost the exact same opinion...moving on.
I agree with somnif and Matmosphere. The first two thirds were a bit slow and sometimes awkward. I personally feel like they should have either explained more about the relationship between Jyn and Saw or just cut him out of the movie altogether. Saw had so much stuff in the trailers but basically added nothing to the film (which was really confusing). Also, what was up with the tentacle monster?
The last third of the movie was worth the price of admission for me though. All the tie-ins were great. I also loved how they portrayed Vader at the end. The hallway scene brought back the fear of the Vader that I remembered having when I was a kid (which the prequels kind of ruined..."NOOOOOOOOOO!").
As far as the CGI characters, I didn't really care much about Tarkin (although my wife hated it). And the 2 seconds at the end weren't terrible. But I don't think it was necessary. I feel like they could have brought in someone who looked similar to Peter Cushing and no one would have really cared.
Quote from: sonnyboy27 on December 19, 2016, 03:45:13 PM
Also, what was up with the tentacle monster?
Right! When you have something like that, it's sort of like it would have come back in greater capacity. At the time, there was no reason to really care about the pilot. Then all of a sudden the guy says a couple words and all the damage that the monster did was erased? There has to be more to it that's on the cutttinf floor.
Quote from: madbean on December 18, 2016, 02:28:33 AM
I know TFA had its issues but R1 just wasn't very engaging.
This. I didn't feel any real connection with the characters. They
seemed cool and likeable, but the movie never really put any effort into connecting with the audience. The plot was very predictable and I never really felt the the weight or urgency of any of the situations. I have to give Rogue One credit for never really making me cringe though. When the prequels were bad, it was embarrassing. Where Rogue One is bad, it's just kind of flat but not awful. Even though soundtrack was just kind of... serviceable.
BUT, the cinematography was incredible. Gareth Edwards did an outstanding job. With the exception of poorly rendered CG characters, the special effects were seamless. The action was way more fun than any other action movie I've seen since I was a kid. The last act was worth the price of admission and then some.
Just read a suggestion somewhere that Tarkin should have been done as hologram communication. Would have been a great move, and I'm sure everyone would think it was less awkward.
The thing I just realized is that all the stuff with the old pilots and the few seconds at the end were probably old footage from the filming of the first film. Which would explain why they didn't look very good, because film of extra takes from 40 years ago probably wouldn't be in the best shape today. I originally had thought that was all CGI, but I'm pretty sure none of it actually was. Some of it I'm pretty sure I've seen in some cut of ANH somewhere.
And just so there is no confusion I really like the Force Awakens, but as time passes I wish they had not relied on the old films for so much of the plot. I'm sure I'll watch it many more times than Rouge One, but in some ways Rouge One was a breath of fresh air comparatively.
More backstory would have been nice, but I think they intentionally didn't want to make the characters have much depth or be super likable. I'm guessing the reshoots are the only reason any one liked any of the characters at all.
Quote from: mremic01 on December 19, 2016, 04:05:01 PM
Quote from: madbean on December 18, 2016, 02:28:33 AM
I know TFA had its issues but R1 just wasn't very engaging.
This. I didn't feel any real connection with the characters. They seemed cool and likeable, but the movie never really put any effort into connecting with the audience. The plot was very predictable and I never really felt the the weight or urgency of any of the situations. I have to give Rogue One credit for never really making me cringe though. When the prequels were bad, it was embarrassing. Where Rogue One is bad, it's just kind of flat but not awful. Even though soundtrack was just kind of... serviceable.
BUT, the cinematography was incredible. Gareth Edwards did an outstanding job. With the exception of poorly rendered CG characters, the special effects were seamless. The action was way more fun than any other action movie I've seen since I was a kid. The last act was worth the price of admission and then some.
Just to be the devil's advocate, how could the story not be predictable. All and all I think they did an okay job for a tough situation. And they were probably worried that if they made the characters any more likable, or had them connect with the audience more, people would have ultimately been really pissed off.
More spoiler talk
It looks like they re-shot a good portion of the ending. There were shots from the trailer that showed Jyn running around with the databox thingy on the beach, I think. So, something was changed in how the Death Star plans were ultimately transmitted and I bet how some of the main characters died. Plus, there were a bunch of shots in the trailers not in the movie like that Tie Fighter behind the catwalk, etc. I'd bet good money that scene with you-know-who getting the plans at the end was shoe-horned in which is why it looked so terrible. I guess we'll never get to see the movie that it was supposed to be before the studio got involved!
Uh oh this isn't looking good...
Not seen it yet but I'm getting a bit of a 'meh' vibe from you guys?
I've also seen a lot of mixed reviews. Couple of my friends that have seen it said it was average.
What you reckon... should I lump the (now extortionate) cost of going to the cinema, or wait for it to come out on streaming platforms?
@raulduke, I'd still go see it. I really enjoyed it overall. There were just some things that didn't really need to be there.
@madbean, they did redo the ending. Originally Felicity Jones had something written in her contract to appear in future movies, but because of the reshoot for the ending they changed that up too.
Changed the name of the thread because there's starting to be some spoilers here. So now I think we're free to say whatever. Those who haven't seen the film have been warned.
Quote from: raulduke on December 19, 2016, 04:41:17 PM
Uh oh this isn't looking good...
Not seen it yet but I'm getting a bit of a 'meh' vibe from you guys?
I've also seen a lot of mixed reviews. Couple of my friends that have seen it said it was average.
What you reckon... should I lump the (now extortionate) cost of going to the cinema, or wait for it to come out on streaming platforms?
Yes, it's worth seeing on a big screen, just be aware that you will have to deal with an only "ok" firsthe two acts. The third act, in both concept and execution sells this flick, and other than a couple sloppy edits it's damn near perfect ( for what it is, anyway)
Suspicions have been confirmed. I don't know why this didn't occur to me. At the time I figured it was just CGI.
http://www.slashfilm.com/old-star-wars-footage-in-rogue-one/
The Vader In The Hallway Kicking Arse And Not Bothering With Names scene was pretty much worth the price of admission. JUST PASS THE THING THROUGH THE GAP DAMMIT!! VADER'S COMING!!!
I like how we got to see the original Red 5. I didn't see Porkins though. I always thought calling a fat pilot Porkins has to be some sort of in joke, surely.
I wasn't bothered by the Tarkin CG. I didn't even realise until I remembered he'd died and I'd read they were CGing him anyway. Leia wasn't bad.
We always knew how it was going to end though - EVERYBODY DIES.
Hah, I was wondering why I found Tarkin a bit odd looking. I've been avoiding all the press about the movie, so didn't know he was CG. And yes, the actor died. That would have been a hint if I remembered that.
Overall I enjoyed the movie - the thing that weirded me out the most was that there was only about 10 people in the whole cinema watching it. I would have thought that on the first day of school holidays it would be packed. Then again, they were showing it starting every half hour, so maybe the later sessions were more busy.
I liked the new droid, but after a while I stopped laughing at his lines... maybe because I felt like a git laughing out loud in an empty cinema with no one else joining in. Or maybe the lines were just a little bit forced (no pun intended).
My 9 year old liked it, but he was disappointed that they didn't do the Star Wars writing at the start, and that they changed the music. I actually enjoyed the new music - I found I was paying more attention to it because it wasn't the usual Star Wars theme in every scene.
Maybe I missed it, but I was waiting for a line about Bothans... did I snooze through that?
The bothans died getting the plans for the second Death Star, so that's a different story.
I liked the droid too. He and bb8 are contenders for the best new characters in their respective films.
Ahh, that would explain it. Getting my Bothans mixed up.
My kid thought that Princess Leia looked 'too smooth, but her eyes were too sharp'. He didn't notice anything wrong with Tarkin though.
I read IMDB and train and Leah were actually look alike, or at least that what it says. I thought Vader looked sort of thin and not very broad shouldered.
The real problem with that very last bit with the plans being handed off wasn't the bad cgi, it was the giant wide-eyed grin on the caracters face. Shit is going down and they are literally surrounded by a war, a more solemn look would have made it much easier to swallow.
Late to the party here, but I just saw this over the Christmas break.
I don't know, but I liked this movie a LOT. And it was way better than The Force Awakens, which was just cramming the same old shit from EP IV - VI into one movie (with a weird Gollum guy that doesn't fit into anything).
Also, I didn't even realize Tarkin was CGI. I actually thought it was an actor with some heavy makeup and other trickery to make him look like the original guy. Now at the end, I sort of figured Leia was some kind of computer shenanigans, but it was brief enough that it wasn't distracting.
Vader was totally bad-ass and his amount of screen time was completely appropriate.
My namesake actor Mr. Whitaker was maybe a little odd, but he really got into the part and I respect that.
I loved the dark tone and unhappy ending. Not everything is Jar-Jar and Ewoks. The film raises important discussion points about rebellion / insurgency and collateral damage and generational war culture.
I fuckin loved it.
Quote from: culturejam on January 07, 2017, 02:40:18 AM
I don't know, but I liked this movie a LOT.
Thanks for helping me feel like I'm not alone in really enjoying this movie. I thought they did really well with the CGI Tarkin stuff. It must have been massively difficult. I felt like he looked like an identical twin to Tarkin. Not precisely the same, but that close. There were a couple times his eyes looked a little funky.
I loved that they killed everyone off. It was a fun story but it's not going to spin off into a bunch of sideways energy.
I thought the droid was fun and there were some pretty stunning visuals. And the fight scenes made me remember why I thought Starwars was cool when I was a kid.
K reply for the spoiler thread.
I REALLY liked R1.
For me what it did was complement the original trilogy. It took was was originally just exposition in the opening crawler text and made a film of it that makes the original Star Wars better.
By this I mean it does one thing that really bugged the hell out of me anyway; it explains why the death star has a fatal flaw in it that means you can throw a hand grenade down a hole and blow up an entire ship.
But in other ways also, it shows the rebels as a disorganised mess pretty much on the point of losing. This ups the stakes so much more. Especially seeing that this is all that's really left of them at this point, and the few of them left in that battle on Scarif going on to fight the death star makes them all more than just red shirts.
You see the amount of death/sacrifice that was required to get the plans.
Basically it complements and adds weight to Star Wars. For that I commend them greatly.
Force Awakens was enjoyable, but pure fan service. It was a re-making of the original trilogy in a compressed form really. It introduced some new and interesting characters, but was just pandering. I seriously worry for the next where we find out that Rey is Luke's daughter... Which will happen, mark my words.
If I'm nit-picking R1, of course it's not perfect. Remember it's a Star Wars film, they're usually littered with little things like that.
The score jarred with me when it had call backs to John Williams. Either go full JW or don't go there at all. I think JW would have added to the epicness, but they could have just as easily gone with Hans Zimmer for that kind of OTT epic flavour. Instead it was a bit flat.
Tarkin, yep he's CG and you can tell. If you're not looking for it, he just occasionally looks a bit wrong. However he needed to be in it. Maybe protheticing up an actor to look like him would have worked, I don't know. But I can overlook it because he needed to be in the film to explain why he was running the death star (he plays a big part in Star Wars after all). CG Leia was so brief as to not make an impression either way.
The opening jumped around a little too much. I'm not sure we needed to see a lot of the stuff in there just to establish she is in prison or he is essentially a wet work operative. That could have been trimmed and flowed a lot better. It definitely needed to open up with Mads and co, that was excellent, it then could have cut to her in the prison transport cuffed up. That's all it needed, we didn't need to see her actually in prison. It's spoon feeding when you do that. Also the bloke who rescues her, you don't need to see him killing the messenger. It just doesn't matter and ruins the flow of the opening of the film.
That's all really I'd nit-pick of it. It's not perfect, but it does what the prequel of the Thing did. Instead of being a lazy remake (like Force Awakens) it shows a story that came before. Sure, like The Thing, we all know where it ends as that's where the next film begins. But that story is much more interesting than seeing the Thing again with different actors.