"Spoiler: Rogue One" Topic

From the Washington Post

"NETWORK'S" Peter Finch and "The Dark Knight's" Heath Ledger famously won posthumous Oscars for emotionally riveting performances. Now, given a key digitally aided performance in "Rogue One," we're on the doorstep of an era when major awards could go to actors who died long before their scenes were even conceived, let alone shot.

That is because the face of Peter Cushing, the imposing British actor who died in 1994, lends an especially memorable presence to "Rogue One" by helping to "reprise" his Star Wars character, Grand Moff Tarkin, the Imperial governor who practically rules by force of glare, intonation and cheekbone.

…and he was a wargamer if you didn't know. He collected Napoleonics and played a version of H.G. Wells's Little Wars.

Darth Vader's handler too.

Tarkin is one of the best parts of R1, and was pulled off with skill. The other eps4 principle cast cameo not so much.

If that is an actual quote it is more than a little misleading. Not really the first time a dead actor appeared in a film long after they died. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in Terminator Salvation long after his film career died for example.

I certainly hope his Estate was compensated as if he were alive.
It would be sick and tawdry if he were not.

Id guess yes, he was resurrected in a major way.

You could still recognise his foul stench.

Yes, but was he wearing house slippers?

Thank you Bill, for changing the thread title. I read it sitting in a theater waiting to see Rogue One, and swore out loud when I did!

BTW, totally agree with McWong's comment.

What you think of it Tommy?

I liked it a lot. A few minor quibbles here and there, but it was a worthy addition to the line.

Top 3 in quality. My son and I loved it. The droid steals many of the scenes.

I must be an heretic, but I didn't like it at all. Not even a bit. Actually, I rather watch Phantom Menace or even Attack of the Clones than Rogue One. Not even the battle at the end, which is really spectacular, moved me. I almost walked away from the theatre. Well, actually I fall asleep through most of the middle act! And to think that I passed the opportunity to watch Hacksaw Ridge to go to watch Rogue One! I am being punished for my sins, I am sure.

The only thing I liked was Felicity Jones. And her character dies at the end! So, meh…

you might want to pass on hacksaw ridge for that was a sleeper. you will really get your nap in that movie basileus66.

I actually enjoyed Rogue One and feel it is better than the two you mentioned.

I enjoyed the film as well and the Battle at the end was very good makes me want to play Armada more.

I did like the new droid as well and all the other new characters.

The one bad thing for me was seeing that Gold Plated droid otherwise everything else was great.

I think R2 and C3PO are like Stan Lee, and are guaranteed at least a cameo in all SW flicks.

I really like hearing "Captain Sindoula" being paged in the Rebel base, as I rather enjoy the Star Wars Rebels cartoon.

And the reappearance of the "death mark on five planets" jerk from the cantina and his buddy, being as obnoxious as ever.

And hey, we have a vacancy for the Red 5 call sign!

Sadly, I am with you Basileus. If you're gonna do at the end what they did, all the cutey jokey bits ring hollow. I'm with the reviewer who said this was like a box of Legos. All the parts are there but a bunch of 10 year olds with a rainy Saturday could have come up with a better story.

PARENTAL ALERT. See this flick alone before taking the kiddies. Judge for yourselves if they are up to some seriously dark and morally fuzzy stuff.

Action sequences good, but the flick was just too D long.

Also, if you're hoping to see all the cool stuff from the trailer in the flick. ALOT of it got cut.

For myself I can do without reviewer's/film critics I go to a film because of the subject matter and to a lesser extent who's starring in it for me if I like it then that's good enough for me.

I also think the film wasn't too long in fact it could've been longer and I would've still liked it.

Thought it was WAY better then that other Disney Star Wars movie last summer. Loved ever part, except the death of the main characters at the end. They did say it was a stand alone movie.

I am glad that they DID kill off all 6 of the rebel crew. I was worried that they would pull a Disney and that "they all lived happily ever after"> I liked the fact that it was a war film with the 6 characters all sacrificing themselves for a greater cause.

Length of the film was fine, although the middle was a touch slow paced after the initial action on Jeddha and the closing scenes on and above Scarif.

There were a few things in trailers that were cut – none of it I would have described as cool and none of those cut scenes would have been essential to the plot.

It was General Syndulla that was paged. We still don't know if that means that Hera survives and was rapidly promoted from captain to general in 2 years. Or if it was her father Cham. It was a nice moment.

The film had it's flaws. I had read Catalyst so I knew exactly where the film sat and the relationship between Krennic and Tarkin. But I felt losing the opening crawl was a BIG mistake for more casual fans given comments I have heard. Did nt love the score but I gather he only had a few weeks to write it after switch in composer. Could have done with great character fleshing out for main characters even if it means dropping 1 or 2 to give time. Personally could have done with one less scene for Tarkin and one mre scene for Vader.

But overall it was a good fun movie that connected well with other movies/series/books. It was great to see an adult war movie rather than film aimed at selling toys to kids like the Prequels.

Liked it a lot and was blown away by the digital Tarkin, Leia, and some of the fighter pilots last seen in Episode IV.

Infinitely better than Ep. VII.

It really put me back in that old Star Wars groove.

And the ending, while sad had the same sort of OMG impact as we had in Empire Strikes Back.

Highly recommended.

I saw R1 today. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think this the first instance that I noticed an automatic blaster, while everyone else runs around with semi automatics. And another point where the Death Troopers use terrain and squad tactics.

Mike

Of course stormtrooper armor yet again proves to be totally useless. Even a guy with a stick can take them down :)

I liked it. I like the way it seamlessly lead right into ANH. And now we also know why Luke got the "Red 5" call sign. The small cameos were a cool touch and Leia at the end was great. My only gripe was the U-Wing. Not a bad ship but what happened to them all only a few days/weeks later from where ANH picks up?

It was also cool seeing the much maligned Y-Wings take out a Star Destroyer! Sort of like seeing TBD Devastators sink the Akagi :)

Not a bad ship but what happened to them all only a few days/weeks later from where ANH picks up?

Did any of them get away from battle? I don't recall.

Another interesting facet for me was that it showed the Rebel Alliance as being just that, an alliance; not everyone agreed on a course of action and it seems like several of the factions didn't send their forces to participate in the attack on the Imperial base!

-Will

The suicide run by the "Hammerhead Corvette"…that got me in the feels…

Liked the opening.

The early and mid parts after that were a bit slow.

Loved the new bot, and his cynicism.

Happy to see C-3PO and R2, however briefly.

Loved the ending, and the major battle scenes near and at the end, as well as the uber weapon.

Glad to see a more gritty movie, as opposed to Ewoks defeat elite, imperial stormtroopers, for a change.

One of the top three best, out of the eight produced thus far.

On a par with ESB (Episode V), for me, and perhaps slightly ahead of it, given the Ewoks in that one.

I still rate Episode IV as the best movie of all, for originality, story line, and overall viewing pleasure, but think perhaps the ending of this one was even better than ANH, from a cinematography standpoint – simply stunning.

This one is far better than many others, and not just a rehash of the same plot with different characters, like Episode VII was – so disappointed in that one. Glad I didn't pay to see it in a theater, since I'd have had to ask for my money back on it.

I saw it yesterday, and liked it, its like a dark episode 4 in some ways.
I got a feeling they were giving a nod to several other sci fi movies, Guardians of the Galaxy, Deep Impact, amongst others, at least there was some humour, which was well done

I would say that its another film where its not worth going to the 3-D show, it will be fine in 2-D IMHO.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE, DO *NOT* READ THE FOLLOWING AND COMPLAIN TO ME AFTERWARDS.
I actually found the beginning to be long and disjointed, like too much backstory was trying to be crammed in at once. I'm not even sure why their was an establishing shot in the Imperial prison for the lead; the journey in the Imperial prison paddy wagon would have done just as well, especially since the message was "She's grown up now and in Imperial hands."
Also, the bizarre tongue-mind reader thingy that would make the victim insane was just a decent set up moment that then got dropped outright. All the victim needed was for somebody to assert who he was and "pop," he's okay. Pointless scene, among many early pointless scenes.
I did like the lead spy shooting his injured contact to prevent that character's certain capture and torture (which would have undoubtably resulted in exposure of the information and the spy net).

I too, noted that the tactics were much more believable and military, rather than the "run straight at 'em" approach that infects too many modern action films. On the other hand, the last stand was full of tropes, and while well done, was a bit of a retread of all such things in modern cinema.

I loved, loved, loved the space battle. Certainly one of the best, with a great feeling of desperation. (And I concur on the used of the hammerhead-- terrific). I did note that the planetary shield concept was much like in RotJ (reversed a bit), and the circular ring station around the entry gate was similar to the space station in Ep 1. But those similarities were superficial to the plot, and not egregious to me.

K-2 is a great character, and had most of the best lines.
The blind not-a-Jedi who could kinda-sorta use the Force was an interesting approach, while still respecting Obi Wan's status as the true last Jedi (well, not counting Yoda).

On the other hand, I do have some issues with the grittier feel of the movie. Star Wars, while not inherently a kid's franchise, has always been largely kid-friendly. And while, yes, those original kids have grown up, and the Ewoks were TOO kid-friendly, still, I think that kid audience should be respected. So to have a Star Wars movie end with *all* the main characters unquestionably (and violently) dead is problematic to me. Yes, I understand it, and thematically it fits, but, well, this isn't THE WILD BUNCH, it's Star Wars. Doesn't hurt the film as a film at all, but no, this is not one you take your younger Star Wars fans to and not expect to have some discussion to do. 12 and up, sure. 8-11, really depends on the maturity of the kid. Younger than that, no. (But then, I think Ep 1-3 are inappopriate for younger kids as well. Despite being utter carp, of course…)

Of course, with all of that, I did have a good time and would see it again.

My preference order remains:

Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
(Big gap)
Return of the Jedi/The Force Awakens. Both are flawed, but continue the fun Star Wars feel of the original.
Rogue One, Worth watching, better original plot, great action sequences, thematically effective, but lacks some of the Star Wars "fun" elements, although understandably so.

(Much bigger gap)
Revenge of the Sith: Action and intrigue of value, but not much else.
Attack of the Clones: Good final battle, Christopher Lee, and intrigue. Little else.

(Bomb descent noise)
The Phantom Menace: Just nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

Movie does give several good scenarios that could be used for Imperial Assault or to game other Star Wars type battles.

I thought the last one – The Force Awakens(?) was the worst of the bunch. Really, just Episode IV with new characters and slightly different scenics.

Pretty much a complete ripoff of the original movie, with a more PC, "inclusive" cast.

A real pity that the scenes from the trailer were dropped. I suspect that was on purpose, and they'll be added back in, to boost DVD sales of the movie.

I agree, some of the movie was forced, and there was poor character development. Had so much more potential in some sections, but they just dropped the ball on that.

The girl's adoptive father character was just a bit too over the top ridiculous – like a cartoon character, so glad he got little play.

There's supposed to be an extended cut in the pipeline – but it's not due until the end of NEXT year (just prior to epVIII) and it will have some restored footage as well as the usual "Deleted" bits.

JJ doesn't do "Director's cuts" – he lets the studio do what they will to it (He doesn't like giving Alan Smithee any more credit) so there won't ever be one of those (but deleted scenes were on a disc set)