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

[Atramental]

That's how they refer to Chinamen in Great Britain, Tasty.

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[bluemax]

Movie at times felt like the first Dark Forces game, except Kyle Katarn had character than Jyn Urso. Also casting another pouty lipped British woman who mostly looks angry or sad for the whole movie seems like kind of a miss.

So many location jumps in the first hour made things really disjointed, also don't understand why they didn't tell us that the castle in the lava was on Mustafar. And the longer Vader was on the screen for that part the cornier he was.

Forrest Whittaker also corny.

Imperial pilot guy who magically recovered, kinda corny.

"The force is with me I am one with the force", cornyish.

Random C3PO and R2D2 moment, corny.

Space battle, super lit fam.

Overall it was cool that we can get a Star Wars movie that isnt 100% about the Skywalkers or Jedi but we still couldn't escape callbacks to A New Hope. The best characters weren't the main characters and that feels like a reoccurring problem with Star Wars movies. Soundtrack was completely forgettable.

[Great Rumbler]

"The force is with me I am one with the force", cornyish.

I was fine with that, since it was basically a Buddhist mantra. The Prequels especially made The Force more of a science thing, something that could be measured with a medical scanner, so it was nice to see it pulled back into the realm of mysticism.

[Momo]

New star wars movie is legit unenjoyable, I didnt need that story told, I didnt give a fuck about anything happening on-screen until the last 5 mins and then only for cool factor. Still better than SWVII though

[chronovore]

Overall it was cool that we can get a Star Wars movie that isnt 100% about the Skywalkers or Jedi but we still couldn't escape callbacks to A New Hope. The best characters weren't the main characters and that feels like a reoccurring problem with Star Wars movies. Soundtrack was completely forgettable.

I agreed with everything else you said, though I am at a loss here. The entire movie is a lead-up to A New Hope, so it would have been very difficult to make without nodding at it. I agree though that the C-3PO and R2-D2 appearance was basically goofy fanservice. I loved seeing the older footage of the dogfighting pilots brought in for continuity though.

"The force is with me I am one with the force", cornyish.

I was fine with that, since it was basically a Buddhist mantra. The Prequels especially made The Force more of a science thing, something that could be measured with a medical scanner, so it was nice to see it pulled back into the realm of mysticism.

Yeah, I felt the same way. He's a khyber crystal Guardian, not a Jedi, it was gratifying to see someone with a different relationship to The Force than fake-calm Jedi Council members. (C'mon, you KNOW Mace Windu was seething with constant rage. Yoda, too.)

[TakingBackSunday]

Thought it was excellent.  I echo much of what Boogie has stated.

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I really didn't need the Leia thing at the end – and if they really wanted that, what's wrong with showing her from behind with the pastry-buns visible and her voice saying "hope?"

Also, the Tarkin stuff...while obvious it was CG, I was VERY impressed by how far we've come with CG animation of facial intricacies.  To be honest, it was the VO for him that took me out of it as opposed to his face.  But even still, I'm with Boogie that I think they could have minimized his role greatly.

The cast individually was weak, I thought, beyond Donnie and his buddy (lover?).  I didn't care about Jyn or Cassian really.  HOWEVER, I think as a whole the Rogue One team was spectacular, and I particularly liked how they didn't force a romance.  Despite a hand-hold and hug at the end (which I interpreted as strictly a "let's comfort each other while we perish" sort of thing, this was just a great story of lesser parts creating a strong whole.

Did anyone else find it shockingly violent for a Disney/Star Wars film?  I was shocked at the intensity of gunfire and explosive damage to the characters and ships.

[close]

If this is any indication of Disney's handling of future spin offs for Star Wars, I think we can be at ease.  While I preferred Episode VII by a fair amount, this was by far one of the best side-stories the Star Wars universe has put out.  Including the old canon.

[helios]

Just saw it. Didn't like it. It all comes down to the characters for me. Donnie Yen and his life partner are more interesting than Jyn and Cassian. They had more personality and charm. Jyn and Cassian are just bland, generic characters with standard backstories. 1337's YA description is pretty apt.

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As soon as Cassian got the order to kill Jyn's father, I could already see where the plot was heading. I knew it would be resolved fairly shortly and without consequence.

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In order for me to buy into the story and the adventure, I have to buy into the characters and this film doesn't give me any reason to invest in them. Jyn has no quirks. Cassian has no idiosyncrasies. There's nothing that sets them apart from bog standard tripe.

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Actually, Cassian had some quirk to him. He murdered a guy. That was interesting and it hints to his readiness to kill Jyn's dad.

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These characters hardly interact with each other. Jyn and Cassian share the screen most of the time. Jyn starts icy with K2SO, but warms up to him in the end. Jyn speaks to Donnie Yen, but only about Cassian, iirc. I don't recall her talking to Riz Ahmed or Machine Gun dude. Donnie Yen talks to Machine Gun dude most of the time. I think I just described most of the interactions between our heroes. They don't share moments, they share events. There's nothing that deepens the relationships between these characters which results in deaths and romances that are unearned.

Donnie Yen is basically Toph from Avatar.

[studyguy]

The New IP Man was pretty dope, I don't know about though, he probably should have beat up like 10 more space nazis tho with his pointedly not jedi powers 

[benjipwns]

the first three minutes of this

[Tasty]

Max Landis did the EXACT same thing in tweet form last week. But he thought RLM would probably like the movie cause it's a well-done blockbuster.

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They must have read his tweets, or at the very least the last one.

[Tasty]

They've been doing it for weeks leading up to force awakens and the occasional Buzzfeed joke video. I doubt Landis was the main influence here.

Sure but the last tweet he replied to here is like, a literal prediction of exactly what happened:

[Atramental]

I agree with most if not all of RLM's criticisms. Especially their point that this film was essentially Star Wars porn.

[studyguy]

What are these complaints about anyway? That SW got popular? I don't understand the context other than Disney is pimping out a hot property and nerds don't like it.

[Tasty]

What are these complaints about anyway? That SW got popular? I don't understand the context other than Disney is pimping out a hot property and nerds don't like it.

- It's trying to be both a gritty war movie like Saving Private Ryan yet has a goofy robot, mystic monk character, and pew pew lasers with storm trooper outfits. Also Vader looks like a Halloween costume (as he was in A New Hope.)
- The characters are boring and don't have backstories.
- The shoehorning in of Star Wars elements just for the sake of fanservice.
- CGI characters looked terrible and are a potentially-terrible precedent.
- There doesn't need to be a new Star Wars movie every year.
- The Star Wars universe is too shallow to make an Extended Cinematic Universe out of.
- Forrest Whitaker died for literally no reason.
- We already know how the story ends.
- Not enough new stuff.

To be fair they praise some aspects too, like the ending.

[ToxicAdam]

The analogy was that they took an average space war movie and wedged Star Wars references (the sex!) in the cracks to get people so excited that they don't notice all the flaws.

[AdmiralViscen]

It seems like it's the people critical of R1 that are overinflating what Star Wars is. Star Wars is a fun action packed space romp and that's what R1 is. None of them have "new ideas"


Yes the lava castle is in the movie, based on old storyboards from the 70s

[Tasty]

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I don't think the story was one that should have been told in the first place.

It's like one tier above a throwaway line in A New Hope and there's a big budget movie about it. We all know the real reason it exists is because it's a way for Disney to bring back Vader and sell his toys.

Also I've seen this thrown around and have to ask: Does Vader live in a castle with lava and shit in this? Reminds me of some of the early draft work for Empire, where some SciFi author lady came up with Vader living in a volcanic castle with pet dragons and shit. If that's in the movie I might just drive to Bahrain to see it.

Yes, Vader has a castle on Mustafar.

[Atramental]

When I saw that castle I turned to my brother and made this exact same face: 

[Samson Manhug]

- The Star Wars universe is too shallow to make an Extended Cinematic Universe out of.

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_books

[Great Rumbler]

We all know the real reason it exists is because it's a way for Disney to bring back Vader and sell his toys.

As far as I'm concerned, Rogue One and Vader's presence in it is completely justified by a scene at the end that's only about a minute long.

[chronovore]

Movie kicked ass. It's the Dirty Dozen with Star Wars hats on every head. Mads Mikkelson is in it. Alan Tudyk makes the best droid character ever. The ending rocks.

[Human Snorenado]

Guys, let's stop being over critical and picking on every little thing with Star Wars movies.

We only do that with DC Universe movies. (justifiably so)

[Tasty]

It's only useful to nitpick good movies IMO.

The DCEU has been trash ever since Snyder got his grimy hands on it. It's fruitless to nitpick anything so inherently flawed. It's like telling a mentally challenged person every little reason their life is fucked up. They know it, you know it, so it should remain unsaid.

[AdmiralViscen]

Watchmen is good

[Human Snorenado]

Watchmen is good

[AdmiralViscen]

Man of Steel is good

[I'm a Puppy!]

Man of Steel is good

[Joe Molotov]

Dawn of the Dead is good.

[bluemax]

Overall it was cool that we can get a Star Wars movie that isnt 100% about the Skywalkers or Jedi but we still couldn't escape callbacks to A New Hope. The best characters weren't the main characters and that feels like a reoccurring problem with Star Wars movies. Soundtrack was completely forgettable.

I agreed with everything else you said, though I am at a loss here. The entire movie is a lead-up to A New Hope, so it would have been very difficult to make without nodding at it. I agree though that the C-3PO and R2-D2 appearance was basically goofy fanservice. I loved seeing the older footage of the dogfighting pilots brought in for continuity though.

"The force is with me I am one with the force", cornyish.

I was fine with that, since it was basically a Buddhist mantra. The Prequels especially made The Force more of a science thing, something that could be measured with a medical scanner, so it was nice to see it pulled back into the realm of mysticism.

Yeah, I felt the same way. He's a khyber crystal Guardian, not a Jedi, it was gratifying to see someone with a different relationship to The Force than fake-calm Jedi Council members. (C'mon, you KNOW Mace Windu was seething with constant rage. Yoda, too.)

All the "never tell me the odds", "I have a bad feeling about this" etc etc. I get that the movie is leading up to ANH but do we have to literally drop the same classic lines or subversions of them spoken by other characters? Having a Red 5 and having him die, that's fine, having people say things that became catch phrases, annoying.

I was okay with the mysticism, I just think the constant mantra got a little obnoxious I guess.

I had fun overall, the last 30 or so minutes was pure Star Wars action porn (and as someone whose all time favorite game is Tie Fighter I loved the space battles). The general plot was kinda dumb and essentially nothing but it is a blockbuster action movie so it is not a big deal.

[seagrams hotsauce]

I really didn't like this. The first action scene was such a fucking bummer. It looked like Homeland with aliens. Combine that with Dakota Whitaker distinguished mentally-challenged fellow voice, endless cringey ass references to the first trilogy, zero tension, Grand Moff Mass Effect, the awful WWII motivational speech, ugh. Even Riz Ahmed and Mads Mikkelson couldn't save this for me.

[seagrams hotsauce]

The new score was distractingly bad at points, too

[Himu]

I thought it was okay at best. It had its moments but the characters were flat. There were literally no "Star Wars moments" where they chill and talk. We get to know and love Luke and co. because of their development. We have Luke training on board the Falcon, with Obi Wan teaching and Han criticizing but it helps flesh them out. Luke failing to pull the X-wing out of the swamp, Han and Leia alone on the ship in Empire. These were slow moments that helped make is care for the characters. The stakes are high in this, but there's no reason to care about a single character besides Jyn. And K, I guess. I like Donnie Yen's character but he's not fleshed out at all. He's just blind guy who believes in the force. When the stakes are at their highest you want to care for the characters, and unlike The Force Awakens, the movie has given you no justification to.

I feel like the movie would be better if every character had a flashback so you could give a shit. Instead it's just moment after moment without any stops. Due to its lack of stops, the characters suffer and for what is a tragic type story, underdeveloped characters is kind of a death sentence for quality.

And then the ending, while neat in how it ties in A New Hope, just abruptly ends. No wide shot of Star Wars tradition. Just

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Leia's face

[close]

All in all its better than the prequel films (to my memory) but not on the same footing as the originals or even TFA.

5/10. Star Wars with none of the heart.

[Himu]

also

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the shoehorned love story is terrible and only stands to make TFA even better because there was no god awful love story between two people who barely know each other, especially with one of them almost killing the others father

[close]

Turrible

edit:

Actually, now that I think about it, I gotta say it's on par with the prequels. It shares the same flaws. Over emphasis on fan service. Flat characters. No development. Forced romance that makes no sense. You already know what's going to happen. In some cases, overly serous tone for a Star Wars movie that doesn't come off as genuine as ESB or even KOTOR. I put it on par with Revenge of the Sith.

[Momo]

I thought it was okay at best. It had its moments but the characters were flat. There were literally no "Star Wars moments" where they chill and talk. We get to know and love Luke and co. because of their development. We have Luke training on board the Falcon, with Obi Wan teaching and Han criticizing but it helps flesh them out. Luke failing to pull the X-wing out of the swamp, Han and Leia alone on the ship in Empire. These were slow moments that helped make is care for the characters. The stakes are high in this, but there's no reason to care about a single character besides Jyn. And K, I guess. I like Donnie Yen's character but he's not fleshed out at all. He's just blind guy who believes in the force. When the stakes are at their highest you want to care for the characters, and unlike The Force Awakens, the movie has given you no justification to.

I feel like the movie would be better if every character had a flashback so you could give a shit. Instead it's just moment after moment without any stops. Due to its lack of stops, the characters suffer and for what is a tragic type story, underdeveloped characters is kind of a death sentence for quality.

And then the ending, while neat in how it ties in A New Hope, just abruptly ends. No wide shot of Star Wars tradition. Just

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Leia's face

[close]

All in all its better than the prequel films (to my memory) but not on the same footing as the originals or even TFA.

5/10. Star Wars with none of the heart.

with you on everything except it being worse than TFA

[Himu]

There really is no justification for the movie existing IMO and I think I will feel similarly about the other SW side movies. So I will be skipping them from now on.

[seagrams hotsauce]

Pretty much 100% with Himu on this one.

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Didn't see that as a love story - my GF actually cheered when they died without kissing

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[Himu]

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they kissed in the elevator

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[Momo]

Thrawn is in Rebels also

[Samson Manhug]

I'm really confused by the fans who say this movie shouldn't exist/doesn't need to exist. I don't even care about Star Wars but I appreciated learning more about the Rebel Alliance and the battle that got them the plans for the Death Star. The title crawl in Star Wars A New Hope makes sense now (as does the retitle). 3/5 I DON'T have a bad feeling about this, would A Star Wars Story again.

[ToxicAdam]

I felt the same way. It really gave context to the beginning of the original Star Wars. The desperation and urgency of the Rebels to deliver the plans.

It did in one movie what Lucas failed to do with 3 movies in making Vader's redemption (in Jedi) more impactful.

 

[Himu]

I liked that it showed the desperation of the rebels but that's all it showed us.

[chronovore]

Dawn of the Dead is good.

I liked the remake. I know, I know: kill me. (I'll just come running back!)

[bluemax]

I definitely agree with Himu that a big problem with both R1 and TFA is that these movies are almost too breakneck, there's not a lot of catch your breath get to know the characters moments. Both movies have a sort of slow middle section but it feels like the intros try to flood you with places and names and locations and action.

[Himu]

I think TFA has more slow parts where they just chill and felt that the breakneck pace actually worked there.

[Ichirou]

I liked it, but the characters were really bland. It's kind of like the opposite issue I had with Force Awakens where I thought the story was awful but genuinely liked Rey, Finn, and Poe.

Rogue One with Force Awakens level characterization would have been one of the all-time best SW flicks IMO.

[Rahxephon91]

One of the problems is you get little downtime for these characters to interact and play their role. Them being one note archtypes isn't a problem. You just don't get enough of them being those archtypes. They never feel like a group really.

[helios]

One of the problems is you get little downtime for these characters to interact and play their role. Them being one note archtypes isn't a problem. You just don't get enough of them being those archtypes. They never feel like a group really.

That's what I was saying. Jyn mostly interacts with Cassian and K2SO and Donnie Yen mostly interacts with machine gun dude. Outside of plot related stuff, none of them interact with Riz Ahmed. There's barely any mingling with the characters. The movie is more concerned with plot than with character, but the plot demands that you feel for these characters.

[Freyj]

The further I get from seeing this the less I like it and the more I appreciate TFA.

So mission accomplished?  Hyped up on VIII again.

[Himu]

Movie is TPM tier the more time passes. Was texting my bf and we both agree that movie kinda sucks. I told him it reminds me how I felt after seeing Phantom Menace, where I kind of liked it when watching it the first time but as soon as I left the theater I didn't remember a single thing. There wasn't a single moment where the entire group is together and actually communicating with each other. It's not a surprise that Disney had this film reshot. It's a stinker and they knew it. Definitely not Disney quality. Also not surprised that Wesley fucking Crusher thinks it's great.

[chronovore]

Jesus. Do yourself a favor, go back and watch Episode I again. Your last several posts are the equivalent of "This PS4 game has PS2-level graphics!" It is never, ever true, and undermines any future edicts you make on the topic.

[AdmiralViscen]

300 is good

[Himu]

Nope. I can only compare it to how I feel about TPM. It just reminds me of how I felt about the prequel trilogy. Where I have no desire to ever see it again because I thought it wasn't that good. By comparison, I saw TFA in theaters 5 times.

[Great Rumbler]

Jar Jar Binks

'nuff said.

[Atramental]

Kid Anakin. 'Nuff Said.

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I did like the podracing tho. 

[close]

[Himu]

Jesus, I've only seen TPM once and it was when it first came out. I forgot how bad it was. I'll give Rogue one this: it's no TPM I guess.

[Atramental]

Your brain is just trying to protect you from how terrible TPM was. 

[Great Rumbler]

I mean, I'm not necessarily saying your criticisms of Rogue One are wrong, I actually agree with most of them [though I don't think they're enough to prevent it from being a very entertaining movie regardless], but TPM literally had one good thing: Duel of Fates. That's it. The pod racing scene felt like it lasted for a hundred years. The acting and writing were terrible, kid Anakin and Jar-Jar Binks were even worse. The battle scenes were utter garbage. Just look at this:



This is the climatic space battle scene! And then there's the ground battle with the Gungans, but the less said about that the better.

[Human Snorenado]

This brings up a fun exercise- rank your favorite star war movies.

Empire > New Hope > Force Awakens = Rogue One (might change on repeated R1 viewings) > Jedi > EpIII > EpI > EpII

It's tough to pick if TPM or AotC is worse, but I feel like the Anakin/Padme relationship stuff is ACTUALLY WORSE than Kid Anakin and all the JarJar in TPM. The action in AotC is better than TPM, though. That's about all I'll give it.

[Great Rumbler]

That's roughly what mine would be, I think. Maybe switch Jedi and Rogue One, depending on my mood. AotC and TPM are undeniably the worst, though, with Sith being a bit better but not a lot better.

[Himu]

Empire = Jedi > TFA > ANH >>>>>>>> R1 > fuck if I know