It's 20XX and people are mad online about Star War!

[Great Rumbler]

[Great Rumbler]

Whitta hasn't been involved with Rogue One for a while now.

[Himu]

I just don't give a fuck about rogue one. It's out in a few weeks and I don't give a single crap and everything inside me is telling me "this should be ep 8"

Fuckkkk I really wanna see ep 8

[I'm a Puppy!]

Stressed out after Christmas shopping yesterday (I have no problem performing or presenting to massive crowds, but being in one gives me panic attacks) so came home and bought a digital copy of ep7, made burritos with the kids and watched it. I really forgot how fun that movie was. Not shakespear or citizen kane or anything, but just fun.

[Human Snorenado]

Rogue One getting pretty much universally positive reactions from people that have seen it so far.

[chronovore]

Stressed out after Christmas shopping yesterday (I have no problem performing or presenting to massive crowds, but being in one gives me panic attacks) so came home and bought a digital copy of ep7, made burritos with the kids and watched it. I really forgot how fun that movie was. Not shakespear or citizen kane or anything, but just fun.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I agree that it's a collage more than an homage to the original trilogy. I REALLY didn't need another Death Star or another trench run. But it respects the original movies in a way that the Prequels dismissed entirely. It has fun looking at itself and recognizing itself for what it is.

[Boogie]

I mean...so did  Batman v. Superman.

except not really.

[Stoney Mason]

Outside of knowing about them having to do reshoots I haven't followed Rogue One at all. I'm still interested to see it though although I sense the general public isn't as hyped about it as they were episode 7 (for obvious reasons).

Hopefully it turns out well. I'm just looking for a good movie. I don't care if it connects every dot in the lore.

[benjipwns]

Every movie does reshoots these days. Especially with all the post-production involved in everything anymore. Lots of re-staging to fit better rather than redo the effects since costs have flipped.

I think the hubbub here was that the director wasn't involved in the reshoots.

But then apparently this director also didn't do the reshoots on Godzilla and the same person did the reshoots for that so it's actually not a big deal?

Depends on how much you want this to suck I guess?

[chronovore]

I mean...so did  Batman v. Superman.

except not really.

Yeah, Boog, agreed. I just SMH'd my way through that.

[chronovore]

http://wilwheaton.net/2016/12/the-last-time-i-loved-a-star-wars-movie-as-much-as-i-loved-rogue-one-it-was-1977/

[benjipwns]

it sounds like they took the right approach, create this spy adventure, and then layer Star Wars all over everything in sight

something similar was what Josh Trank claimed he was doing with the Boba Fett film before he claimed the same thing with Fantastic Four and then got shot out of a cannon away from Hollywood

[chronovore]

If you like reading SW novels, Tim Zahn wrote a heist novel with Star Wars all over it.

[Great Rumbler]

82% with 128 reviews, 7.5/10 average score:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rogue_one_a_star_wars_story

[Dennis]

Reviews are pretty strong.

Maybe the best movie since the original trilogy.

[chronovore]

[chronovore]

There's a showing at my local theater at 9AM Friday, but my son's negotiating for a time when I can go watch the subbed while he watches the dub in a neighboring theater. 

Even so:

[Atramental]

I'm actually REALLY excited for this one. 

[Dennis]

It's gonna be great.

[fistfulofmetal]

It's gonna be great.

It's gonna be great.

[Atramental]

[Himu]

reviews making me excited. maybe i won't have to wait for ep 8 for that sw darkside fuckery

[chronovore]

reviews making me excited. maybe i won't have to wait for ep 8 for that sw darkside fuckery

Whoever that white-cape Imperial is, he looks like a fantastic villain. His sullen looks, and his weary aspect -- you know he's just going to abuse power left and right.

[Oblivion]

Rogue One getting pretty much universally positive reactions from people that have seen it so far.

So did TFA. 

[ToxicAdam]

Someone I heard on a podcast described it as 'a WWII movie with a Star Wars skin'. Which sounds fine.

[Great Rumbler]

Rogue One getting pretty much universally positive reactions from people that have seen it so far.

So did TFA. 

And it ended up being really good.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Sooo anyone seen it?

[Boogie]

Sooo anyone seen it?

Got tix for Saturday afternoon.   My brother is working nights, so he couldn't do the opening night showing this time around, so I'm being patient and waiting an extra couple days.

[Let's Cyber]

I liked Gareth Edwards' Monsters so I'll probably check this out this weekend.

I also enjoyed TFA.

[etiolate]

my question is: what kind of movie is it?

All the others had to live in the space opera sphere of Star Wars. Is this a thriller? Plain old action? whut

[Atramental]

I'm gonna keep my expectations moderate to low but tbh I just want to see x-wings n shit blowing up. 

[benjipwns]

so you're saying it's almost as good as Birdemic???

[Freyj]

I liked the blind guy, his friend and the droid about 20x more than the two mains.

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Where was my fuckin' "meatbags" line?

[close]

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That Leia CGI worked pretty well. Come a long way since Tron.

[close]

[chronovore]

I liked the blind guy, his friend and the droid about 20x more than the two mains.

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Where was my fuckin' "meatbags" line?

[close]

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That Leia CGI worked pretty well. Come a long way since Tron.

[close]

CGI stuff in Captain America Civil War was really, really impressive. Young RDJ was entirely believable, with only some lighting issues (subsurface scattering inconsistencies?) being any kind of clue that it wasn't just a live actor.

[chronovore]

I liked the blind guy, his friend and the droid about 20x more than the two mains.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Where was my fuckin' "meatbags" line?

[close]

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That Leia CGI worked pretty well. Come a long way since Tron.

[close]

CGI stuff in Captain America Civil War was really, really impressive. Young RDJ was entirely believable, with only some lighting issues (subsurface scattering inconsistencies?) being any kind of clue that it wasn't just a live actor.

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Leia was surprisingly really, really good though. Especially when they gave the same treatment to Peter Cushing and you could tell he was CG.

[close]

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Cushing in the Prequel endings? Or Cushing in Rogue One? Cushing in the Prequels was weird-as-hell. I assumed they were physical prosthetics.

[close]

[Rahxephon91]

Really good movie.

[Mr. Gundam]

That was a great, fun Star Wars movie.

I'm kinda done nerd raging and nitpicking about everything SW. It's not high cinema.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Someone I heard on a podcast described it as 'a WWII movie with a Star Wars skin'. Which sounds fine.

this is entirely accurate. Later in the film the subtext is damn near text with some of the visual schemes and costuming. Its not quite The Dirty Dozen, But With Space Shit, but its comes kinda close.

But yeah, I dug it. Quite a bit in fact. The only parts I didn't care for were the...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

mostly extraneous bits of Empire power jockeying. That the CGI resurrection of Peter Cushing gets worse the more you see of him doesn't help.

[close]

But other than that, it was a well done film with a much more cohesive, tactile sense of atmosphere than any Star Wars film has had since the 80's. Great cast too (man, do I ever love it when Forrest Whitaker gets a chance to play weird).

[Great Rumbler]

I really liked it. The first third was a bit messy and some of the performances/lines weren't too good, but the middle part of the movie was pretty good and the final third was just great. And it even had a cool space battle! It was pretty much exactly what I want from a spinoff Star Wars movie, no major complaints from me.

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Some of the call-backs to the original movies were a little bit ridiculous, but CGI Peter Cushing [even though he looked a bit off] was a-okay by me.

[close]

[king of the internet]

Like TFA this was a lot of fun to watch and it successfully appealed to the repressed Star Wars dork inside me, but also like TFA it starts to fall apart once the credits hit and your critical faculties kick in. Compared to the prequels, Disney has done a pretty solid job with the franchise, but they're still only in the 7-8/10 range imo. Hopefully the Empire Strikes Back remake will be the one to surpass that.

[Great Rumbler]

I don't know that you can ever really recapture the magic of the first two Star Wars movies, not with where the franchise is right now and not with the way blockbuster movies are made these days. With New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, particularly, Lucas and his crew were basically flying by the seat of their pants and the studio largely let them do what they wanted. But now, the Star Wars franchise is just too huge and blockbusters are so focus-tested and committee built. I am still hoping that Rian Johnson can somehow pull Episode VIII up to the next level, but I'm not going to be surprised if it's just a really good scifi action/adventure movie but not a great one.

[Human Snorenado]

Rogue One is lit, fam. It is, for lack of a better term, the least "Star Warsy" Star Wars movie, but that's not a bad thing. That lets it do things the other movies couldn't.

Whoever said it had a WW II movie vibe in a Star Wars skin called it, particularly The Dirty Dozen. The first 1/3 to 1/2 is disjointed, but it ends up not mattering by the end. I probably like it better than TFA tbh.

[ToxicAdam]

Just got out of a late showing. I thought it was great. I was real ambivelant about TFA. But this one hit the spot.

My only small gripes was that the casting on Cassian was off, the guy should've been the Han Solo of the movie and he was a charisma sink. Also they pushed the CGI faces too far. They should been more clever in disguising them. Moff looked great as just a reflection in the window and they should've done a profile of Leia.

But that was it. I had the same feeling as when I left LOTR. Just amazed they pulled it off.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Cant wait to go aaarghhhh

[Boogie]

Loved it.  Not perfect, but it was everything I would have hoped a "spinoff" movie would be.

Donnie Yen and his buddy were definite highlights.

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I lost it when Forrest Whittaker's goons hood everyone, and Donnie's character goes "ARE YOU KIDDING ME

[close]

I can see the complaints about the two leads, but they worked for me.

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I haaaaated the Tarkin and Leia cgi-ing though.  Thought it was cheesy and took me out of it.  Thought some restrain there might have been good.  See them just from behind, the side, some sort of lighting/camera trickery, not throw them front and center like that.

Some of the callbacks were too much.  I didn't need to see r2 and threepio.   I'm not sure about the re-use of the original Star Wars x-wing pilot footage.

Vader's first scene was just okay, but LOVED his bit at the end.  Just a stalking, unstoppable force.

Jyn's speech was "ehh", but I really liked that it didn't work, that she DIDN'T convince them.

And I liked the discord in the rebel alliance, the shades of grey/grittiness, the leaders having doubts and fears and wavering resolve.

I loved how the Death Star itself was portrayed.  The gravitas of it, the sense of awe.  It was like some kind of technological Cthulu.

And of course, the world building was great, loved the chaotic bustle of Jedda, loved Scarif.  The movie was gorgeous.

Loved how all the team members' sacrifices were handled.

[close]

[Human Snorenado]

Minor quibbles:

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Some of the dialog was straight up fucking velveeta levels of cheese, man. Especially when Vader is choking whats his nuts and tells him not to choke on his ambitions. That line of dialog should never have been written, and whoever wrote it should have all of their fingers broken as an example to others.

The CGI Tarkin and Leia stuff was meh, but it wasn't as obnoxious to me as it was to others.

Also- did Jyn and Cassian take an elevator all the way down to ground level, PAST THE BAD DUDE'S SHIP THAT WAS JUST CHILLING WAITING TO BE STOLEN so they could die on the beach together? If so, they deserved to die.

[close]

[Atramental]

It was amazing. 

[MMaRsu]

This movie was really great except the movie theater sucked and I hate it when I have to pay a lot for a shitty theater experience with rowdy teenage girls around that make a fuckton of noise and are checking their phone constantly.

But the movie was pretty amazing, I loved how

spoiler (click to show/hide)

It tied in to the intro of A New Hope

[close]

[Boogie]

The vehicle scenes were the best in the series. They really made every prequel battle and even the episode 7 battles look like crap.

I've wanted a space battle like what we got since ROTJ.

It is amazing that Jedi set the bar for a sci-fi space battle that hadn't really been surpassed to this day.  It shows that it takes more than just fancy effects and budget for such an action set-piece.

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It's all the more remarkable, I think, that Rogue One may have matched or surpassed Jedi, when you realize that Rogue One does it without having any actual characters involved in the space battle that you give a damn about.   In Jedi, you have Wedge (yes, I'm one of those Wedge fanboys, deal with it), and Lando who you already know and can "follow" through their actions in the battle.  Plus the addition of Akbar for the "strategic" viewpoint.   In Rogue One, you only have the barely-introduced Admiral guy as a character "involved" in that aspect of the battle.  And yet......it still works great as an action setpiece.

[close]

[Great Rumbler]

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It's all the more remarkable, I think, that Rogue One may have matched or surpassed Jedi, when you realize that Rogue One does it without having any actual characters involved in the space battle that you give a damn about.   In Jedi, you have Wedge (yes, I'm one of those Wedge fanboys, deal with it), and Lando who you already know and can "follow" through their actions in the battle.  Plus the addition of Akbar for the "strategic" viewpoint.   In Rogue One, you only have the barely-introduced Admiral guy as a character "involved" in that aspect of the battle.  And yet......it still works great as an action setpiece.

[close]

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The cruiser slamming into the disabled Star Destroyer and pushing it into the other Star Destroyed and then forcing both to crash into the shield gate was an absolutely incredible moment.

[close]

And speaking of RotJ, here's the Battle of Endor in its entirety, so we can enjoy what a great battle it is:



The space battle scene from Phantom Menace was really meh, and Anakin was so annoying. The one from Revenge of the Sith was so bad, virtually nothing that happened had any impact at all.

[Boogie]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's all the more remarkable, I think, that Rogue One may have matched or surpassed Jedi, when you realize that Rogue One does it without having any actual characters involved in the space battle that you give a damn about.   In Jedi, you have Wedge (yes, I'm one of those Wedge fanboys, deal with it), and Lando who you already know and can "follow" through their actions in the battle.  Plus the addition of Akbar for the "strategic" viewpoint.   In Rogue One, you only have the barely-introduced Admiral guy as a character "involved" in that aspect of the battle.  And yet......it still works great as an action setpiece.

[close]

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The cruiser slamming into the disabled Star Destroyer and pushing it into the other Star Destroyed and then forcing both to crash into the shield gate was an absolutely incredible moment.

[close]

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Only to be matched by the moment where the Rebels are all "Yes!  We have the plans!  Time to blow this popsicle stand!"  And then Vader's Star Destroyer jumps in and says "FUCK YOU, ,y'all are fucked" and starts wrecking all their shit.

[close]

edit:

Also, in fairness, going back to the

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Tarkin and Leia CGI.  Though it was obvious to me and I hated it, all three of my father, brother, and sister-in-law didn't even notice it was CGI, and it didn't bother them.  They "knew" it had to have been some sort of trickery, via look-a-like actor/makeup/mask/CGI combo, but idn't know it was all CGI, and it didn't "stand out" to them..  So as more "casual" movie-goers, I can acknowledge that I may be in the minority of how much that aspect bugged me.

[close]

[Boogie]

The space battle scene from Phantom Menace was really meh, and Anakin was so annoying. The one from Revenge of the Sith was so bad, virtually nothing that happened had any impact at all.

Very good point.

I feel that the comparison between RotS and Rogue One is a very interesting and compelling one.  The tech is closer to "equal" and shows how much direction matters.

RotS has all the tech in the world, even opening with a fake "One Shot" take.   And follows the very two main characters we are supposed to "care" about.    And yet, somehow, it's boring as hell.

Contrast with Rogue One, which had me going all "WHOA, HOLY SHIT!" with every sequence.

[ToxicAdam]

Minor quibbles:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Some of the dialog was straight up fucking velveeta levels of cheese, man. Especially when Vader is choking whats his nuts and tells him not to choke on his ambitions. That line of dialog should never have been written, and whoever wrote it should have all of their fingers broken as an example to others.

The CGI Tarkin and Leia stuff was meh, but it wasn't as obnoxious to me as it was to others.

Also- did Jyn and Cassian take an elevator all the way down to ground level, PAST THE BAD DUDE'S SHIP THAT WAS JUST CHILLING WAITING TO BE STOLEN so they could die on the beach together? If so, they deserved to die.

[close]

I didn't think about it but a better ending would've been for them

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to steal the spaceship, almost get away but get engulfed at the end

[close]

Would've been a total swerve to what we've been conditioned to seeing.

[Boogie]

ONE MORE THING

Giachinno added fuck all to the Star Wars musical canon.  His score was completely inconsequential until the final act.

And while I felt it a very effective and emotional score in those final 20 minutes, it's still forgettable.  It hasn't stuck with me.

Whereas even with TFA, John Williams still has it, at least a little, with tracks like Rey's theme and the March of the Resistance.

edit: I will cut him some slack because he was apparently brought in last minute, so that's a bit understandable.  But still.

[Great Rumbler]

Feel the same way about the soundtrack. It wasn't all that good and the few good songs still weren't particularly memorable.

[Tasty]

Giachinno was revelatory in the Stark Trek movies but it's seeming like he's the new Hans Zimmer in terms of one-noteness. Dude is doing literally every fucking blockbuster soundtrack these days, from this, to Jurassic World, to Inside Out, to Tomorrowland, to Jupiter Ascending, to Doctor Strange, to Zootopia, to Spider-Man Homecoming, to War for the Planet of the Apes, to The fucking Incredibles 2.

[chronovore]

Saw it. Loved it. Yeah, it's the least Star-Warsy Star Wars movie, but it worked. There are SW fanthings out there whose favorite post-Original Trilogy works are the Rogue Squadron novels. I bet this movie works just fine for them.

I honestly didn't see the end coming that way. I assumed it would go down differently because it's a Disney movie, but DAMN that was a satisfying, beautiful way to handle things.

The CGI characters were fine. It was surprising, but well handled overall -- but I agree I would have preferred to keep it slightly less front-and-center. Some people think one character was handled better than another, but I thought they were equally well-done, but imperfect.

K2-SO had me laughing aloud repeatedly, and Donnie Yen's character had me cheering.

Complaints: Forrest Whittaker was misused; there is some backstory there we should have seen, but didn't. He was Frank Booth-ing it up big time, and we have no idea why. Exposition was handled clumsily, without exception. Character names were mishandled; I have no idea what Yen's character was named. Captain Andor's name is two opposed conjunctions. Who the FUCK designed the Empire's server farm? That thing is five flavors of bullshit. I mean, cool, but it was apparently the same guy who designed the Death Star's impractical tractor beam control.

ANYWAY: Awesome.

[fizzel]

Work projection in a cinema so I watched it on opening night with like... 3 other nerdling staff members. 

Three things i didn't like.

Mostly shit writing, especially with the leads.

Not using your best actor by a mile (whittaker)

The beach fight being gears of warsy with all the hiding behind crates. like... lol.

Other than that it was a fun film, nice to see vader return to form.

Loved the two chinks, especially the big cunt with the gun. And i appreciated the look of the film (sets/props). The original Star Wars is truly timeless in that regard.

[MMaRsu]

I dunno I thought Whittaker was pretty hammy so I think they might have cut some of his scenes

[Tasty]

Loved the two chinks, especially the big cunt with the gun.