[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bSZXucTH4A[/video]

I really enjoyed it, I felt it was far better than Force Awakens. Felt more like a view of the actual war that the rebels were fighting that you otherwise only get a glimpse of at Hoth in Empire and the fleet battle during the attack on the 2nd Deathstar in ROTJ.

While there was a lot of CGI I think they managed to keep the Episode IV-VI aesthetic that I-III dratiscally lacked. I felt leia was more obviously CGI than Tarkin (who took me a good 30 seconds to realised Cushing had been dead 20 years!)

I think it was a good move to kill everyone off, gives a sense of sacrifice to the rebellion and removes the question of why they are not present in ANH. I thought there were enough characters from IV-VI to carry continuity and mention of enough more that it felt like a proper prequel.

I did feel the use of a conveniently designed ship to push one Star Destroyer in to the other was a bit lame, I think that a supreme sacrifice ramming manoeuvre by one of the Rebel cruisers or frigates would have been more in keeping with the sacrifice aspect and less ‘convenient’ and achieved the same this with a bit more drama and emotion.

All in all I thought it was a good action film in keeping with Starwars Canon with only a few Disneyfi’ed moments (Coms cable etc etc).

Just saw it – not bad, but it was a bit worrying that the only character I really warmed to was the robot.

Not sure they tied it in very precisely with ep IV – Leia claiming to Vader she’s on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan when he’s just watched the ship come out of the shuttle bay of a rebel flagship in battle!

Also the whole ‘send a message to get them to attack the gate’ thing was utterly pointless. They were already attacking it!

Plus the AT-ATs seemed pretty much impervious to large cannons in Empire, but cut in half with ease by a bunch of X-wings here.

Good fun though.

I think the previous/older SW films haven’t set the stage well in terms of ‘realism’ of some of the battle physics, IE. The xwings in R1 destroying the AT-ATs is more realistic in the sense that they would and should be able to do that.
I mentioned the screen play earlier being spot on, but meant it to be about the script. I heard the same about the load of re-shoots for some of the scenes mentioned above. I don’t agree about the beginning being flat, thing is, people go to a Star Wars film expecting the signature dramatic intro, when really this isn’t a film that’s diving straight into the midst of it. This is a film about the rebellion just starting to kick off big time and getting that crucial bit of info on the old laser ball 😉 I don’t need no Trumpet fan fare to get me in the mood. The scenery and detail of the shots is staggering and (from my POV) completely believeable. It’s one of the many parts of the film that sticks in my mind. The stormtrooper laser gun fodder is funny. They just keep flooding out them doorways like a pack of lemmings!

Very, very good.

Great characters, loved the under-played start and the new locations, very little cheese and a satisfying lack of drawn-out show downs with a seemingly invincible baddie who somehow gets defeated.

basically it was all just a bit less obvious than the last movie, which I felt was good but disappointingly derivative.

Had an ominous feeling about two-thirds in that nobody was gonna make it out alive, and I think the lack of the usual dramatic escape scene was in keeping with the darker, more realistic tone of the movie.

My fave Star Wars movie, for sure.

CGI Leia was naff though.

Loved it.

B2SO or whatever it was struck the right balance of comedy character vs pointless addition for the kids.
Liked the grey area rebellion ethics. Good easter eggs with the bar guys and squadron leaders.

Downsides? Vader talked too fast, seemed to lack some of the presence. What else? Lack of Wedge making an appearance.

Geek points, second death star had its own faults too… being under the control of a bounty hunter droid Ai being one.

The computer games kind of cover more of the events till a new hope though which could redeem the this is a diplomatic mission bit

Have we done the leaked sequel spoiler photos yet?

8)

Really enjoyed the film tonight.

Amazing how they bought Peter Cushing back and Carrie Fisher right at the end.
Hope she’s OK after her flight today and the bad news about her health

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38423963

Apparently they approached the actor who played Wedge Antilles and he said that he couldn’t be arsed!!

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2014/5/12/5711780/star-wars-episode-7-wont-feature-wedge-antilles-actor?client=safari

Pretty reasonable to assume that job was done/mostly done.

That and they mentioned they were all gone.

I missed that one

Just seen it tonight.

For my money it’s the fourth best Star wars film. You don’t need to ask what the other 3 are. Why though?

In no particular order:

A relatively tight story. A wee bit of irrelevant twaddle but not as self indulgent as the prequels.

Limited gimmicks. K2SO could have been a jarjar binks but he was quirky without being irritating and I bonded with the character.

Minimal mystical bollocks. The Kung fu force monk was a sufficiently minor character and nicely under played so that he added to the story rather than making you think the whole thing was a foregone conclusion.

A dark ending. Those of us that grew up on the originals are old enough to take that and it won’t do the kids any harm either.

No preternaturally talented children.

Half decent acting. By which I mean no Ewan MacGregor.

Saw it on Christmas Eve & really enjoyed it. Great new direction for the series to take. Actually rewatching The Force Awakens now & it is really suffering by comparison, just a poorly conceived/acted cheesy kiddy adventure film with added nostalgia “bonuses”. So glad they kept JJ Abrams away from Rogue One!

Just watched it today. Loved it!

Leia claiming to Vader she’s on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan when he’s just watched the ship come out of the shuttle bay of a rebel flagship in battle!

We don’t know how much time has passed since the end of that one and the beginning of ANH do we?

Good film though. Main point for me was the bleak reality of war and sacrifice. Pretty intense. Seeing all the characters you know going down one by one…

K-2SO is mates with TARS I reckon, certainly a similar sense of humour

Also, next off-shoot movie already sounds brilliant (and set before this one, just to confuse people even more)

Spin – Member

For my money it’s the fourth best Star wars film. You don’t need to ask what the other 3 are

Phantom Menace, Caravan of Courage, and the Holiday Special obvs.

Interesting article here about the CGI recreation of old/dead actors…
Gizmodo – Uncanny Valley

Enjoyed it, glad they didn’t do the whole Hollywood thing of dragging out the tension in the ‘will they, won’t they’ get the data files transmitted.

Have known they managed to do it for nearly 40 years.

I think this sums it up for me – I had a big grin across my face when I saw the cutting floor room footage of the pilots from the old films

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/why-rogue-one-is-superior-to-the-force-awakens-w456727

Better than Empire. I said it. They finally did it and went and made a better film than Empire, Abrams – you’re an amateur.

It was the detail as well, the way that the fighter battles actually felt like fighter battles – heavy pieces of metal zipping around the sky instead of the on rail things of Force Awakens.

From Rolling Stone (Tom’s link)

The action is punishing (in a PG-13 sort of way, but still) rather than pulse-pounding.

This is what killed it for me, I thought it was mostly just a shoot em up kids film (which when you see the movie revenue rankings you can understand)

What were you expecting? It’s Star Wars ffs!

As above

Thought it was good but unlike most didn’t think it was as good as FA.

But Im a silly old goat and really enjoyed the nostalgia of FA, the “history” of the story and caring about its characters. (Think my favorite scene in FA is Han craning his neck to get his first glimpse of Leia.)

The shoot ’em up bits … which I know is of course the basis/genre of the films… gets tiring for me. Honestly I was waiting for it to end by the time they landed in “Vietnam”. Were as, in FA I didnt want to have to leave the theatre.

Still want to watch it again mind.

What I want to know is why do so many of the characters carry 3 or 4 car tyre pressure gauges in pockets on their chests?

What I want to know is why do so many of the characters carry 3 or 4 car tyre pressure gauges in pockets on their chests?

I thought they were wine bottle stops 🙂

I thought they were radiation Dosimeters…

😉

Well that makes more sense!

Overall was a good star wars film

Enjoyed some of the references to star wars, Biggs, gold leader, red leader, the number 5 slot opening up in red squadron, bail organa mentioning captain Antilles, is he wedge’s dad?

Loved the way it ended to cut perfectly into episode IV, Vader was pretty bad ass, I didn’t know he lived in Mordor tho !

A few issues with forced plot devices and dialogue.

Why did they need moisture vaporators on Galens already very moist farm!?

Leia and Tarkin CG not 100% though

Still feel that they are scared to just make a completely new film set in the star wars universe, especially as next one to start filming is Han solo, would hope episode viii will be a bit bolder as vii was embarrassing in its lack of originality.

Rogue I one was enjoyable, I’m still waiting for a truly great film set in possibly the richest sci fi universe ever created

possibly the richest sci fi universe ever created

Er… On film, maybe..

Er… On film, maybe..

well yes, though the expanded universe has some great stuff in it (and some bobbins)

in cinema no one has managed to beat Star Wars for epic space opera, happy to be proved wrong tho!

possibly the richest sci fi universe ever created

possibly the richest sci fi universe ever created
Er… On film, maybe..

Someone really should set about making a movie of or in one of Ian M Banks culture books.

Judging by his belt accessories, Han runs tubeless.

Someone really should set about making a movie of or in one of Ian M Banks culture books.

its the first one that springs to mind!
alistair reynolds
foundation
ender series
hyperion could be ace

Dune was a good effort, inspite of its flaws, the matrix impressive in its originality ended up a turd

alienses/prometheus/bladerunner is trying similar

i think cameron is trying it with avatar 🙄

It seems that TV is where the big stuff happens these days

Looked brilliant – it had the dirty, run down grittiness that the original EpIV had. Stormtroopers on the prison planet in filthy armour looked great. Liked the ‘war film’ aesthetic. Good that it tied up plot holes in the original (to an extent).

I thought Leia looked fine but Tarkin looked too CGI’d (his movements were odd). They should/could have used him more sparingly and it would have been more effective.

The plot had glaring weaknesses again though – I still don’t understand how so much can be spent on a film without sorting out some basic plot points. The Empire storing their data in what looked like a manually operated tape store (with big FO data cartridges) and the ‘main switch’ on an open air console in the middle of a beach being the two that bugged me during the film itself.

simons_nicolai-uk – Member

I thought Leia looked fine but Tarkin looked too CGI’d (his movements were odd)

I’ve seen a few people comment on the way he moves but apparently that’s all real person- Guy Henry from Holby City in fact.

The Empire storing their data in what looked like a manually operated tape store

That’s more secure. I bet there are still some tape stores like that in real life deliberately.

Why it isn’t all in an underground bunker though I have no idea. And a transmission terminal on top of the tower where anyone can get at it – that’s daft. And why is the switch for it ona gantry sticking out of the side of the tower? Purely so that a hero can be on it when it gets damaged and can almost fall off but bravely climb back up, that’s why.

kimbers – Member
Loved the way it ended to cut perfectly into episode IV

I realised the following yesterday, after a second viewing:

Tantive IV (the blockade runner from A New Hope) was docked to the flagship of the rebel fleet. Admiral Raddus’ fleet were the first assets to make for Scarif after the rebels discovered that Rogue One had gone there. They were reinforced by starfighters that came from Yavin IV, which launched after the fleet had departed.

In the scene where the X Wings and Y Wings take off from Yavin IV, C-3PO and R2-D2 are seen watching them leave. As the rebel fleet had already left for Scarif at that point, how did the two droids end up on Tantive IV, and when they did, why was whoever delivered them not given a copy of the Death Star plans?

Still, it’s a good movie, though I reckon the Force Awakens did Star Wars better, even if it isn’t as good as a movie on its own merits.

Just watched it yesterday. To me, its just Star Wars and does what its meant to do – lots of stuff to pick at but heh, its a good fun movie at the end of the day. My level of geekery doesn’t extend to picking holes in timelines and plots.

I did think this:

Did anyone else not find it a bit… middle eastern/terroristy?..

at one point – sandy-world based rebels being blown up by superior military powers? Hmmmm

And also

the way that the fighter battles actually felt like fighter battles – heavy pieces of metal zipping around the sky

I can’t help wondering when the rebels sleep, eat, poop etc but that’s irrelevant in the movies right?