Spoilers Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Grading & Discussion

[dahj]

Clone Wars era Ahsoka (under her master Anakin Skywalker as played by Hayden Christensen), or older Ahsoka fighting against the Empire?

How 'bout post Clone Wars season 5, but prior to RotS?
Or even post RotJ?

 

[davejames]

Zeb would likely have to be CG character with motion capture on set. Chopper they already have. At which point they'd just need to find people that can look at least somewhat like Kanan, Erza, Sabine, and someone who can act very well with Twi'lek makeup for Hera.

Rebels has been using a sound-a-like actor for Tarkin for a few years.

The Rebels cameos were Chopper at Yavin base. The Ghost on Yavin base, and the Ghost with the fleet during the battle. I thought I saw it jump to hyperspace just before Vader's Star Destroyer arrived.

Actually the current voice actors all look like they'd fit the characters well and look really good in the costumes. Although I realize that would never happen and Disney would want to put some more established names in there instead.

 

[LJones41]

I'd rather see an Ahsoka movie first.
The Rebels characters can be in it though.

I wish to God that her character had never been introduced in the first place. Or I wish that she had never been Anakin's padawan.

It has been confirmed that Mustafar is where many of the captured Jedi were sent for torture, interrogation and execution, presumably by Vader. So that reference tracks.

Why Mustafar? Why not Coruscant? And the Empire was still tracking down Jedi by 0BBY?

 

[JD]

One thing I forgot to mention in my other post is how much I loved the look and the way RO was shot. I think it's the most visually interesting of all of the SW movies.

 

[Ithekro]

I wish to God that her character had never been introduced in the first place. Or I wish that she had never been Anakin's padawan.

Why Mustafar? Why not Coruscant? And the Empire was still tracking down Jedi by 0BBY?

The hope of no Ahsoka is a lost cause by now.

As for the rest, Vader has likely had that place for over a decade by Rogue One, so it is home. It gets him away from the Emperor for a time, and for strange reasons, he feels like he can relax on Mustafar. The Empire may or may not still be tracking down Jedi by 0 BBY depending on the status of Kanan and Erza two to three years after we've last seem them in the "present day" of Star Wars: Rebels season three, which is currently in either 3 BBY or 2 BBY. By Tarkin's line, it seems they are dead, or considered dead, or just not considered to be Jedi by Tarkin by the time of 0 BBY.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Here is some of the backstory behind the usage of Mustafar.
A small excerpt...

It went back to the original idea of, “Well, why would Vader be here?” and there was a series of paintings and sketches that Ralph McQuarrie did, where Luke actually visits Vader in this underground lava cave. I always thought that was such a compelling image, because you have this lava lake inside this cave and there was Vader’s throne. So we took that idea and thought, “Okay, well, maybe on the lower levels of Vader’s castle, there’s a more ancient part. That he actually built this castle on a foundation of an ancient structure.” If you look at the finished design, it has this very strong element of a structure that was there for a purpose, and that purpose was to draw energy from the lava lake. If you look at the design of the base, it feels very much like a dam, and how the lava flows through it, possibly getting energy. And so we thought, “Okay, well, that’s the foundation. Maybe even deeper, or underneath that, is an even more ancient part, which is a natural cave where Vader goes to meditate.” Visually, we’re trying to create a sort of history for the tower. The bottom is the most ancient, the lava lake dam part was perhaps what Vader built his foundation on, and then the tower was Vader’s addition.

What were the Rebels cameos? The only one I saw was The Ghost in the fleet.

Here's Chopper. There was also a mention of a "General Syndulla", which has been confirmed to be Hera rather than her father.

 

[Reverend]

Clone Wars era Ahsoka (under her master Anakin Skywalker as played by Hayden Christensen), or older Ahsoka fighting against the Empire?

What I'd like to see is the Siege of Mandalore arc as a straight-to-home-video movie. At this point I think a live action Ahsoka would just look weird, even if they went and made Ashley Eckstein herself up in Togruta prosthetics.

Zeb would likely have to be CG character with motion capture on set. Chopper they already have. At which point they'd just need to find people that can look at least somewhat like Kanan, Erza, Sabine, and someone who can act very well with Twi'lek makeup for Hera.

I've seen some claim that the weird gorilla looking thing in Saw's base is meant to be a Lasat. I'm not convinced that's the intent, but if it is I can't see them doing that to Zeb. The children would cry.

 

[Tuskin38]

I've seen some claim that the weird gorilla looking thing in Saw's base is meant to be a Lasat. I'm not convinced that's the intent

It isn't a Lasat, I don't remember the aliens actual name, but it was confirmed not to be a Lasat.

Yup. I raised this point up thread a bit, but there's a possibility that place has some significance to the Sith beyond what went down between Vader and Kenobi.

It was confirmed in the Rogue One Visual Guide that the Emperor is the reason Vader's castle is on Mustafar.

Some fans see Mustafar as the place where Anakin died and Vader was truely born.

 

[Kahless the Unforgettable]

Yup. I raised this point up thread a bit, but there's a possibility that place has some significance to the Sith beyond what went down between Vader and Kenobi. So that might not be the only reason Vader hangs out there, but I'm sure it helps in his "meditations" on the dark side.

Well, considering it was already built way before Vader was even born, yeah, there's some significance to it.

 

[Mudd]

Carrie Fisher is not in Rogue One. Talking about it as "her final performance" is macabre.

You might need to get used to it if Leia is to appear in Episode IX without majorly significant re-writes...

They should rewrite it if necessary, or the production should be swallowed by an earthquake.

Disney probably doesn't employ people stupid enough to try that CG stunt for more than a couple of shots.

 

[Ithekro]

By the musical queue, the Empire would have the Tantive IV on sensors for less than 45 seconds before it jumps into hyperspace.

 

[Venardhi]

I guess the tractor beams weren't due to arrive until Tuesday.

 

[Skywalker]

Tractor beams have to lock on, they're not just instantaneous.

 

[Ithekro]

And they probably kept the crippled cruiser Profundity between them and the Star Destroyer Devastator.

 

[davejames]

Have to admit, while watching the movie again tonight I did find myself getting surprisingly choked up at the end when Leia appears. As imperfect an effect as it may be, it still does just enough now to remind you of the iconic character and actress and make the scene a whole lot more emotional than it was before.

Unfortunately I'm not sure the rest of the movie has grown on me very much. It's got a good story, some nice action sequences, and a great sense of atmosphere (all of which already puts it miles above the prequels)... but the characters are mostly pretty dull and unengaging and seem to lack the energy and spark of characters in the OT and TFA. The only ones I find interesting to watch are Chirrut and K2, but they don't get nearly enough moments to shine and mostly feel like background characters.

I think the bigger problem for me though is this never feels like a story that really needs to be told. Or at least not in the form of a huge, big-budget movie. Especially 40 years after we already watched that original Death Star get destroyed and the story has long ago moved on. The whole time it feels like I'm just watching a footnote to a much larger and more important story-- one I'm a whole lot more interested to get back to.

 

[Ithekro]

There are always war movies about the little important things that allowed the larger campaigns to happen, or the war to continue for one side or the other. Take the upcoming Dunkirk film for example. It is about the evacuation of the Brititsh and Allied troops from France using every ship and boat that could possibly get there and back the England, saving the Army, while ditching their equipment on the beaches, not to return for four years after D-Day. It is an important eve, but not one there is a bigger story to be told for other major campaigns, or the Battle of Britain which takes place not too long after that. Yet it will still likely be a good movie.

 

[JoeZhang]

The man who never was is a good example of this - and no less of a good film for that (and true-ish to boot!)

 

[Reverend]

Yeah, the value of a story is not determined by it's scope but by how well it is told. On that score, I'd say Rogue One did very well.
Is it a perfect movie? Well no, obviously. But that's fine. Seriously, if the best criticisms people can muster is that they didn't fine all the characters 100% engaging and the plot took a while to get going then I'd call that a pretty good movie.

As for war movies: most if not all are about little victories that allowed others to move forwards. That's what a real war is. Grand battles that unambiguously win or loose a war are very are. Generally speaking, it's a slog and the winner is usually the one that doesn't collapse from exhaustion first.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I think the bigger problem for me though is this never feels like a story that really needs to be told. Or at least not in the form of a huge, big-budget movie. Especially 40 years after we already watched that original Death Star get destroyed and the story has long ago moved on.

That's the relevant point; this story did not need to be told; it only exists to milk a popular period of Star Wars history, and for Kathleen Kennedy's own stated agenda. In truth, all of Rogue One's plot was covered in the manner it deserved: a reference in the opening crawl of A New Hope. No one needed to know about the lifeless "rogue" characters stealing the plans. Their lives meant nothing as they were not fleshed out, thus the audience has no reason to care about their part in a bigger story that (ultimately) rested on the shoulders of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker. There was nothing gained by seeing Bail Organa, Mothma, or the new characters--all leaving no great impression as the characters of A New Hope did in 1977.

The whole time it feels like I'm just watching a footnote to a much larger and more important story-- one I'm a whole lot more interested to get back to.

Well observed.

 

[Mage]

So many stories don't NEED to be told, but it can be cool to read them, hear about them or watch them.

I am of the opinion that this wasn't a character movie, but an event movie, and that in event movies, the characters are only there to move the story along. I was hardly emotionally invested in any of them, nor was that the point. It was sad to seem them die, sure. But because they lost there lives for something so important, while history will never remember them. How many small but necessary victories have we had in so many wars, where the people responsible for those victories are never remembered? Countless. And that's what this was about. The struggle of freedom. Not about Jyn, or Cassian. Not about Saw, or K2. So yeah, I feel this movie did that very well. The amount of death and destructon was staggering and overwhelming. As it would be in real life.

So yeah, I loved this movie. However, I also understand how people prefer movies that are about the people, not the events. And generally speaking, I'm one of them. It's why I usually don't care for war movies and such. But this time, it worked for me.