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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is up on US Netflix

Staf

Member
I'm a casual fan of Star wars, as in i liked episode 4-7. From what little i've seen and heard of Rogue one i have no interest in seeing it. I am looking forward to the episode 8 though, love Hamill.
 
It's pretty bad when you compare it to TFA,imho. And i know this isn't a popular opinion here pm gaf, but idk, it just felt so forced and cheap to me :

Last scene was cool tho.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Rogue One
4. The Force Awakens
5. Return of the Jedi
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. The Phantom Menace
8. Attack of the Clones

Come at me.

This is my exact order as well. Rogue One was a lot of fun and the best 'modern' Star Wars film.
 

Harmen

Member
Direction, acting, and cinematography put it well above the prequels.

But the characters are literally just a slight notch above. In the prequels, they’re one-dimensional cardboard cutouts dressed as clowns with murky motivations and give you little reason to care about whether they live or die.

Rogue One just removes the clown outfits.

I understand that, but I actually thought the characters worked well. Cassian and Jyn where raised as rebels (Jyn even as an extremist) as their the sole purpose and they refrained from givng them a sappy typical hollywood style character arch. I liked that they didn't behave very emotional for a large part of the film, it makes sense to me given their past. I understand that part of the viewers don't care for them, but I don't find these characters poorly thought out at all. The rest of the cast is okay to me, aside from some minor cringey moments here and there.

Furthermore, the dialouge is leagues beyond the prequels, the acting as well. Not even that special, but the prequel trilogy is emberassing in those aspects. That alone makes the characters more valuable to me. I am not saying RO had this A-tier cast of characters, but to me they were more than sufficient for driving a good film.

Dr strange?

Dr. Strange is bad too these days?

There can be quite a big space between bad and good you know.
 
1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Rogue One
4. The Force Awakens
5. Return of the Jedi
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. The Phantom Menace
8. Attack of the Clones

Come at me.

This is correct. I MIGHT swap Return and Force Awakens, but eh...they both have their weaknesses and strengths.
 

magawolaz

Member
Rogue One is fantastic. Complete hyperbole around the characters (they're perfectly fine), and the cinematography and battle sequences are the best in the entire series.
For real. I do think it has some problems (which Star Wars doesn't?), but I absolutely adore the aesthetics
(spoilers ahead, watch the movie first. Lots of images but they are only 3MB total)
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How they managed to put in better and new vehicles and troopers compared to TFA remains a mystery.
Duck-faced stormtroopers in the sequels are hilarious.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
Magawolaz, you just made me want to watch Rogue One again.

You guys should watch Killing Them Softly, Greig Fraser DP'd that movie as well and it's just as gorgeous as Rogue One. There's a drug related scene that's especially beautiful.
 
Complete hyperbole around the characters (they're perfectly fine)

Perhaps for you.

Not liking something =/= hyperbole

It says a lot that I re-watched the OT again a couple of months ago while having zero interest in R1.

I have had multiple opportunities to see it again with little effort (on a plane for 9+ hours, on VOD, now on Netflix) and yet, like TFA, I am good.

I love SW. R1, not so much.
 

bebop242

Member
1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Rogue One
4. The Force Awakens
5. Return of the Jedi
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. The Phantom Menace
8. Attack of the Clones

Come at me.

This ranking just highlights to me how piss poor this movie franchise is after the first 2 releases.
 

Haines

Banned
First half was boring.

Last battle was imsane.

See how it holds up on a rewatch at home.

I think my friend has it on bouray so maybe i should borrow that instead
 
All the action sequences are pretty good, especially in the 3rd act. Some of the best action scenes in Star Wars period.

Story is whatever tho lol.
 
For real. I do think it has some problems (which Star Wars doesn't?), but I absolutely adore the aesthetics
(spoilers ahead, watch the movie first. Lots of images but they are only 3MB total)

How they managed to put in better and new vehicles and troopers compared to TFA remains a mystery.
Duck-faced stormtroopers in the sequels are hilarious.

So glad they got Edwards to direct this movie, he has an amazing style when it comes to visuals and set pieces. Shame he isn't doing any of the Godzilla 2014 sequels, I feel he could make a really solid movie.
 

LiK

Member
Rogue One is fantastic. Complete hyperbole around the characters (they're perfectly fine), and the cinematography and battle sequences are the best in the entire series.

Jyn was an awful character. I agree that the ground/space combat was awesome.
 

Kurdel

Banned
Tried watching it a second time.

There are some really awesome shots and the production design is flawless.

The characters were so bland, the robot was the most relatable developed character of the bunch.
 

winjet81

Member
Good action scenes, but characters were generic and not worth caring about... like a poorly written superhero ensemble movie.

When they all died, the reaction was more 'meh' than 'omg'.
 

wilsonda

Member
Good action scenes, but characters were generic and not worth caring about.

When they all died, the reaction was more 'meh' than 'omg'.

As much as some folks could argue that the beginning was slow, I think it could have used some more scenes to flesh out the characters more... give me more of her background, what was it like to grow up without her father... etc.
 

Meowster

Member
I already liked it but it was a lot better on rewatch.

V > IV > VII > second half of VI > R1 > III > first half of VI > I >>>>>>> Those random Ewok movies >> The Clone Wars movie >>>> The Holiday Special >>> II
 

Poppy

Member
1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Rogue One
4. The Force Awakens
5. Return of the Jedi
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. The Phantom Menace
8. Attack of the Clones

Come at me.

i cant really argue, except i might just tie tfa and rogue into one number and throw the prequels into a sewer where they all just kind of hang out on the same gross level because i wont ever watch any of them again

i am glad that people recognize jedi as not being all that good.

honestly the most fun ive had in star wars is probably just playing jedi knight 2 anyway, so maybe the universe is simply worth more to me than any movie will ever reach
 
To me, a great film is one that gives an emotional response (not sarcastic or cynical)

Because of this thread I watched the movie again and just the thought of
everyone that volunteered knew the ultimate outcome, but still was willing to try and sacrifice themselves
gives me appreciation for this film.

i am the force and the force is with me, onions man…

Nostalgia aside, my favorite star wars film.
 

LiK

Member
The music sucked ass. It was so bad it made me hate the movie even though I admit that last act was a lot of fun.

Would it surprise you that Giacchino only had 4 weeks to compose the entire soundtrack because the previous composer left the project?
 
Would it surprise you that Giacchino only had 4 weeks to compose the entire soundtrack because the previous composer left the project?

Desplat didn't leave the project, his schedule didn't allow for him to do it because of an altered post production.
 
It's a mess of a movie. Was bored out of my mind at the theatre. First act is just pointless cinematic universe shenanigans and the second act was also inconsequential. The lead character character development is laughable while the supporting cast is paper thin.

Plus one to this. And I really wanted to enjoy this movie, it just didn't give me anything to grab onto... A likable character, an intriguing mystery, anything. It's mediocre. Cool that it's on Netflix though so I can watch it with my kids without having to buy the BD.
 

Ridley327

Member
Has it ever come out why they decided to do a digital recreation of Peter Cushing for Tarkin? Regardless of whatever issues that exist as far as the question of the proper usage of long-dead actors, I'm really baffled as to why they wanted to go that route when they were perfectly OK with using a different actress for Mon Mothma and straight-up reusing footage for Red and Gold Leader. I felt that it was a mistake to try and play that up, because while Guy Henry does a good Cushing impression, the film trying to convince me that it's the man himself made the fact that it's an impression stick out more, to say nothing of how off his appearance and demeanor looked that made the CG more obvious. I'll admit that I would care more than most since I'm such a horror fan and Cushing starred in approximately half of the horror films made between 1955-1975, but still, that gave me a lot of whiplash.
 
The music sucked ass.

Hard disagree. The music isn't bad. And the fact he only had like 4 1/2 weeks to compose and record it, while notable, doesn't feel like either a good excuse or a pointed demerit. Regardless how long it took to write & record: It's a legitimately great score, and better than some of Williams' own works in the mainline films. Giacchino does a lot of very good work introducing his own style, while sticking to established "Star Wars" type sounds, while also bridging the gap from Episode III to Episode IV, sonically. It's pretty tricky, what he had to do, and he did it deftly and (amazingly) with some subtlety. It doesn't seem subtle at first listen, but there's a lot of really interesting work with leitmotif in this score. It definitely rewards multiple listens/views.

(I'd say that applies to the movie as a whole, as well)

Has it ever come out why they decided to do a digital recreation of Peter Cushing for Tarkin?

I think they just felt like they wanted to go for it. The Leia thing was, I think, a much later in the game decision? But the Tarkin thing - they could have just put some makeup on Guy Henry and it would have worked just fine. But they saw the opportunity to break ground, and went for it.

They didn't quite land it, but I think it wasn't anything more than "lets finally give this a try. Let's go for it"
 

Ridley327

Member
I think they just felt like they wanted to go for it. The Leia thing was, I think, a much later in the game decision? But the Tarkin thing - they could have just put some makeup on Guy Henry and it would have worked just fine. But they saw the opportunity to break ground, and went for it.

They didn't quite land it, but I think it wasn't anything more than "lets finally give this a try. Let's go for it"
Fair enough. I do appreciate the advancement they made in rendering a human being on a technological level, but going as far as bringing someone back from the dead for a significant role is a line that I don't think should be crossed. There's too much baggage involved, and I think it's just way too distracting for someone to think about that it overwhelms the intent, as well-meaning as it might have been.
 
Rogue One doesn't have that handicap, so I could see where a direct comparison might cause it to fall short for some people. but for me, even with that handicap removed - there are better performances from characters who, even though thinly sketched (by necessity, really) still make an easy to understand, easy to read, easy to follow, easy to invest in impression on an audience, thanks to the strength of the actors essaying them.

Return of the Jedi is about 90 minutes of wheel spinning and place setting, and 30 minutes of a great sequel to Empire Strikes Back. Rogue One is a better-than-average men on a mission movie that leads to the best 30 minutes of prequel storytelling the series has gotten by a wide margin, and (I still believe this) the single best battle in the entire series.

The problem is that the film never bothers to explore the characters, giving you no reason to care about them. None of the characters (calling them characters is actually being kind of generous) ever feel like they're part of a team and the film doesn't really give you any to care about any of them. It never explores any of the relationships between them, so they end up being just there feeling like they're doing nothing. They almost never interact or talk about the things they going through. I can barely remember anything about Donnie Yen's friend except that he has a gun (not even his name) and Donnie Yen's character was basically blind Donnie Yen (and he and K2SO were probably the best characters of the film). There's no scene where they bond and you get to care about them as people.

It's not even an excuse that it's a "men-on-a-mission" style story. Sure, those styles of movies may have simple characterization, but they also show the characters interacting together quite a bit. The Magnificent Seven had the seven bonding with each other and the villagers for a lot of the film, which ends making their choice to come back for the final battle resonate. Wonder Woman, who's side characters are no more likely to appear in a future film, even managed to add a lot of character to the people helping her. The campfire scene where Charlie runs into the woods and Chief talks about how his people's land taken. The scene in the Veld after Diana saves it is another great scene that builds attachment to the characters. I ended up being more attached to those characters than any of the characters in Rogue One.

And that's why the space battle fails. I don't care about any of the characters that are fighting it. Even if I cared about any of the mains, none of them are fighting in the space battle, while in Return of the Jedi, I still cared about Han, Leia, and Lando, which made RotJ's battle more engaging then Rogue One's. The fight over Scarif felt like I was rewatching the battle over Corusant in Episode 3, because it ended up being a flashy but boring display of special effects where I didn't care about the characters involved.
 
The problem is that the film never bothers to explore the characters, giving you no reason to care about them.

Nah, it does. It doesn't dig all that deep, but there is some "exploration" there. I don't think "men on a mission" is an excuse, either. That's the kind of movie it is, and those sorts of movies don't really dig too deep into any characters outside of maybe one or two at most. And Rogue One's biggest problem on that front is the character who is definitely the lead is also the character that is, unfortunately, the most wishy washy. I'm sure there are multiple reasons as to why she's that way, but those don't really matter in the face of the overall execution, really. Either Jyn Erso lands or she doesn't, and most of the time, she doesn't. Not as intended. She gets her moments, but they don't feel as solid as they should. There are three instances where I think Jones gets to dig into her role (watching Galen's hologram, yelling at Cassian, making her plea) but she's asked to carry a lot more than just those three scenes.

But that's just one character, and those missteps, while readily apparent, don't nullify or wipe out of hand all the cool character bits that are sprinkled throughout the movie. And there's a lot of 'em. And I feel like they land more than they don't. Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsson - they do good work in a film that only gives them so much room to work in, for a director who is like, the opposite of an actor's director, judging by his past work.

I mean, I'm not saying I don't understand why people are like "I can't care" or probably the more accurate "I don't care," I just disagree. It's really easy to care for these guys, and I do.

I wouldn't call Rogue One a "failure" by any stretch. Even the Tarkin/Leia VFX aren't "failures." They're not successes to the extent they probably wanted them to be - but they're not bad, and they certainly don't suck. (or look like a fuckin PS4 game, jesus)

The only thing close to a total failure I can think of is Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera. Almost nothing about him works.

But other than that? It's a pretty damned good movie. I really like it.

1) The Empire Strikes Back
2) Star Wars

3) The Force Awakens
4) Rogue One



5) Revenge of the Sith
6) Return of the Jedi


7) The Phantom Menace



8) Attack of the Clones
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
I'm a casual fan of Star wars, as in i liked episode 4-7. From what little i've seen and heard of Rogue one i have no interest in seeing it. I am looking forward to the episode 8 though, love Hamill.

So instead of watching it yourself and forming your own opinion, you let the internet do it for you?
 

Dhx

Member
5) Revenge of the Sith
6) Return of the Jedi

I just threw up a little. Differing opinions and all but this is going too far. The Throne Room sequence giving us one of the all-time most satisfying conclusions to a trilogy elevates RotJ to the moon when compared to RotS. It has the high ground (barf).
 
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