Star Wars Discussion Thread v. Rogue One

[Zantera]

I thought the line was okay. Cheesy, but I didn't really mind.

It fits in with how Vader is as a character IMO. Look at the OT, Vader definitely has a cheesy vibe to him and there was a "wink wink" quality to his character where he was a badass, but would still find time to mock people in a humorous way. I feel like Rogue One picked up on that and the pun was a nice little nod to how Vader's character was in the original trilogy. The idea that Vader is a dark and brooding, 100% serious child-murderer like portrayed in the prequel trilogy, I always felt like that was a little bit off. I get that Vader is a bad guy, but in the OT he always walked that fine line of being a fun and somewhat cheesy character while also being menacing. To quote Plinkett, "Did we really need a scene where Anakin murders children in a Star Wars movie?"

[soupytwist]

I'm not much of a Star Wars fans, but surprisingly really enjoyed The Force Awakens - it was just so much fun.  I'd class Rogue One as decent, but not as good - the first half is kind off drab and the characters are pretty forgettable.   The Second Half picks up well and I came out happy enough.

Rankings...

The Force Awakens.
Rogue One.
Star Wars.
Jedi
Empire (I just don't get the love of this film).
****
The Prequels - Hard to rate as I simply couldn't finish either Menace or Clones.  I did manage to get though Sith but I wasn't much cop.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

After seeing the film a second time today, I might have to downgrade it to the "Really Good" tier with Return of the Jedi. The slow first couple of acts and less memorable characters stood out a little more this time around.

Otherwise, I still loved it. The third act is unbelievable and the final five minutes or so are perfect. I was actually even more impressed by CGI Tarkin now than I was before. I also enjoyed the soundtrack more than originally. What a time to be a Star Wars fan, eh?

[Kotowboy]

I was thinking that Disney are basically set.

I mean they're obviously going to try to make great movies.

But no matter how poor a future SW film is - people can just go " well it wasn't the best but it's not Attack of The Clones "


Any future SW movie will have to be Pretty Damn Awful to be worse than the Prequel Trilogy.

[Phoenix87x]

I still don't really get the plot to phantom menace and definitely didn't have a clue when I saw it when I was 11.

So, if she signed the treaty then how does that help Palpatine again? And Maul was dispatched to bring her back to naboo, but her getting to coruscant allowed the vote of no confidence which palpatine definitely wanted.

[bosk1]

I could go into greater detail, but I think the big picture is simply this:  Palpatine was orchestrating civil war and takeover of the Senate, and was setting up several contingency plans to bring that about.  He also was orchestrating Anakin being trained.  Although things appear not to have gone exactly according to plan, he was successful in laying the groundwork for all of that, and we see the aftermath in the next two films.

[YtseJam]

They made those prequel movies with all of these politics that kids either didn't understand or still don't understand yet laid it out as a kids movie and then murdered kids in the movies.  It's such a train wreck. You can't tell if you are watching a cartoon or not half of the time. I just don't even count them.

With everyone being a super douche about politics over the last few years-months it was nice to be able to enjoy a Star Wars movie again without it having all of the political overtones. I really enjoyed Rogue One more than I thought I would  For me:

1) ESB V
2) Star Wars IV
3) ROTJ VI
4) Rogue One
5) Force Awakens

Prequels = DIE! 

[Zantera]

I got a chuckle 

[BlobVanDam]

Now I'm imagining James Earl Jones delivering those lines.

[King Postwhore]

And getting it out of his suit?!  Fugeddaboutit!

[BlobVanDam]

Maybe he got it in his suit and that's why he has trouble breathing through it.

[King Postwhore]

He does save money on suntan lotion.


He's already tan.

[Kotowboy]

Maybe he got it in his suit and that's why he has trouble breathing through it.

He's definitely got sand somewhere . . .

[Implode]

On the note of the score, did anyone else notice the music after the main character's father dies and they are leaving? It sounded just like the reality/waking up in a pod scene music from The Matrix. The result of temp music maybe?

[Implode]

Over all, I thought the movie was fine. It's easier for me to pick out the little complaints I have rather than everything it did right, so here's a nitpick list:

For the first 30 minutes of the movie, I was kind of confused as to what was going on, what they were trying to accomplish, etc. That's might've just been me though. I understood later, but it would've been nice if I had understood it a bit sooner.

I think a big part was the whole business with the soldier that saved Jyn. He was barely a character, and for some reason I thought he was going to be more important, but really, he wasn't. So that confused me.

" Don't choke on your aspirations..."

This was kind of bad for me. I was like, "Is this happening now? Darth Vader is punning?" "Don't choke on your aspirations...I don't want to force you into an awkward position...Don't call back until you have the Rebels by the throat...Hopefully your next report will really take my breath away...

I think it could've work if he had said the line sooner or there was less of a long drawn out choking sequence. The timing was just a bit off.

And on the Deathstar blowing up that Imperial base:

Made for one hell of a cool shot, with the explosion in the background and everything.

Yeah, it's a good thing that they randomly decided to shoot a couple dozen miles outside of the base instead directly at it like on Jehda, otherwise we wouldn't have had a neat looking explosion in the background.

This:

If we are going to get picky, not sure how I feel about the Rebel Blockade Runner fleeing the actual scene of the crime where Vader was just steps from gaining entry.

It would be the equivalent to a police car chase ending with the police stopping the car, confronting the driver and the driver says "is there a problem officer?"

And then a couple of monents where there were shoehorned Star Wars(TM) things like the blue milk (omg did you see it??? Remember that?), the cantina characters, C3PO and R2 (which I think could've worked if they'd simply changed 3PO's line from "they're going to Scarif?" to "we're going to Scarif?"), and Leia's cameo with the embarrassing smile and "hope" line. Those kinds of wink wink nudge nudge moments worked in TFA because that was like 90% of the entire movie. Not so much in this one imo.

Tarkin's face was obviously CGI. But I thought it was acceptable.

[bosk1]

" Don't choke on your aspirations..."

This was kind of bad for me. I was like, "Is this happening now? Darth Vader is punning?" "Don't choke on your aspirations...I don't want to force you into an awkward position...Don't call back until you have the Rebels by the throat...Hopefully your next report will really take my breath away...

What's the issue?  He has always been doing that.  Remember, "Apology accepted?"  And that was in ESB--pretty much everyone's favorite portrayal of Vader.

[Kotowboy]

It's still not perfect but I thought CGI Peter Cushing was the best i'd seen.

Compared to CGI Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy it's massive improvement.

[Phoenix87x]

At first, I seriously thought it was an actual look alike actor. I was pretty impressed with the cgi tarkin

[Implode]

" Don't choke on your aspirations..."

This was kind of bad for me. I was like, "Is this happening now? Darth Vader is punning?" "Don't choke on your aspirations...I don't want to force you into an awkward position...Don't call back until you have the Rebels by the throat...Hopefully your next report will really take my breath away...

What's the issue?  He has always been doing that.  Remember, "Apology accepted?"  And that was in ESB--pretty much everyone's favorite portrayal of Vader.

Saying "apology accepted" isn't quite as bad as the pun especially with that delivery. But like I said, I think the problem was mostly in the timing. It seemed to be edited as a comedy scene, or at least that's how it came across to me. Like yes, it's a joke, but that kind of thing shouldn't be laugh out loud funny. Like when he said "apology accepted," it's not funny in a haha kind of way. It's like, holy shit this Darth Vader guy is a maniac.

And also, these are just little nitpicks that don't really ruin the movie for me or anything. Just my small worthless opinions.

At first, I seriously thought it was an actual look alike actor. I was pretty impressed with the cgi tarkin

It was really clear to me, because the CGI face has kind of weird head movements. Almost like it can never stay still while talking. There's the really subtle and smooth head bobbing thing...I'm not sure how to explain it, but it something I've noticed in all realistic CGI characters, even the non human ones, and in how they talk.

[Kotowboy]

Like in All Hanna Barbera cartoons - where people constantly nod when talking

[Phoenix87x]

I wonder if whoever left Rey on Jakku, bargained the Falcon as payment for simon pegg to look after rey

[Kotowboy]

I wonder if whoever left Rey on Jakku, bargained the Falcon as payment for simon pegg to look after rey

I Love that Simon Pegg hates the prequels so much and ends up playing the new Watto

[BlackInk]

I immediately saw that Tarkin was CGI in his first scene, and it distracted me a little bit. But then I thought it got better as the movie went on. There was one or two scenes in there were I thought it looked completely believable.

Leia though.. Not so much.

[Kotowboy]

Actual Rogue One screenshot.

[Logain Ablar]

I immediately saw that Tarkin was CGI in his first scene, and it distracted me a little bit. But then I thought it got better as the movie went on. There was one or two scenes in there were I thought it looked completely believable.

Leia though.. Not so much.

I went for a second viewing today, and tbh the CGI Tarkin was better than I remembered. There were definitely a couple of scenes that were 100% spot on. Others were so close, but just not enough to fool my brain into thinking I was watching a real person.

With Leia, I think it was something about the mouth movement that just looked off. It was like her face looked a little too long. I think this scene could have worked better with no dialogue, just a turn to camera and a hint of a smile, maybe.

Overall though, the movie was just as good second time. The slow start and the jumpiness between locations didn't seem as bad either. The action still felt as intense, and that hallway scene at the end!

One thing I picked up on that I didn't notice last time is that when Krennic is being choked by Vader, at the very end of the scene he has a smirk on his face as if to say "Job done, got away with that". I suppose he's just happy to still be in command, and have survived an encounter with Vader.

There is still something about that scene that feels slightly off though.. I don't think Vader's line something like "its ability to cause problems is well noted" sounds like something he would say.

[faizoff]

Going to have to look again but I remember in Benjamin Button, Brad Pitt look quite convincing during all of his various ages. The CGI team won an Oscar for their effort that year too. I wonder if it was the scale of the amount of CG involved that made certain parts of the face look off and some that was fine.

[Logain Ablar]

Yeah, the Benjamin Button effects were very good. The de-aging on Robert Downey Jr's for the teenage Tony Stark in Captain America Civil War was also excellent.

Though I suppose a digital nip and tuck on an actor's performance is a different ballgame to creating a whole face based on a deceased actor.

[BlobVanDam]

Yeah, the Benjamin Button effects were very good. The de-aging on Robert Downey Jr's for the teenage Tony Stark in Captain America Civil War was also excellent.

Though I suppose a digital nip and tuck on an actor's performance is a different ballgame to creating a whole face based on a deceased actor.

Yep. When they de-age, they can still usually retain the eyes, and the movement of those mouth muscles, which are the most difficult parts to emulate. Once you have to do that all from scratch, it's a different ballgame. Eyes are notoriously difficult to get right in CG and a lot more complex than they seem, and facial animation is very complex.

It was really clear to me, because the CGI face has kind of weird head movements. Almost like it can never stay still while talking. There's the really subtle and smooth head bobbing thing...I'm not sure how to explain it, but it something I've noticed in all realistic CGI characters, even the non human ones, and in how they talk.

Yes, I noticed that too. There was a subtle jitter throughout his scenes. The body was still live action, so maybe their head tracking wasn't quite perfect in overlaying the CG head, or maybe they used motion capture for the facial performance and didn't filter it smoothly enough, I don't know.
Still, it was probably the most convincing full CG face I've seen in a movie so far. I think CGI Leia perhaps looks a bit better in still shots, but the animation was not right.

[Phoenix87x]

It definitely still had the uncanny valley thing going on, but its moving closer and closer in the realism direction 

[Big Hath]

I may have missed it, but why did Tarkin blow up the imperial base at the end with the death star. It looked like they were in the process of winning the battle as it was and why blow up the archive with all the empire's engineering blueprints and plans?

going back to this question . . . I don't doubt that Tarkin was a bit eager to fire on the base because he knew it would get Krennic out of the way once and for all.

[Adami]

I think he also wanted to show why everyone should be terrified of the Empire.

Dude blew up his own base, he does NOT lose at chicken.

[Phoenix87x]

I may have missed it, but why did Tarkin blow up the imperial base at the end with the death star. It looked like they were in the process of winning the battle as it was and why blow up the archive with all the empire's engineering blueprints and plans?

going back to this question . . . I don't doubt that Tarkin was a bit eager to fire on the base because he knew it would get Krennic out of the way once and for all.

That's a good point. I forgot about internal politics and backstabbing. That makes sense

[King Postwhore]

The base was also compromised adding to the other points and he wanted to destroy any rebels on the base and stop the transmission.

Which he didn't.

[gmillerdrake]

I may have missed it, but why did Tarkin blow up the imperial base at the end with the death star. It looked like they were in the process of winning the battle as it was and why blow up the archive with all the empire's engineering blueprints and plans?

going back to this question . . . I don't doubt that Tarkin was a bit eager to fire on the base because he knew it would get Krennic out of the way once and for all.

That's a good point. I forgot about internal politics and backstabbing. That makes sense

and the fact that the Emperor and Vadar would most likely take out their frustration over losing the plans on a few people....including him. He was just trying to make sure, you know....."I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit...it's the only way to be sure..."

[gmillerdrake]

Oh No!!! It's being reported that Carrie Fisher had a heart attack on a plane flight from London to LA and that she may not have been breathing for 10 minutes or so!? 


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4062946/Carrie-Fisher-60-suffers-heart-attack-transatlantic-flight-fellow-passengers-resorted-giving-star-CPR.html

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-carrie-fisher-cardiac-20161223-story.html

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/carrie-fisher-suffers-heart-attack-plane-report-212835588.html