Rogue One

[dlbpharmd]

Surprised that I couldn't find a thread on this.

Really loved this movie! It definitely added to the legend and told a story worth telling. The acting could be better, but I can overlook that minor complaint. I really don't have much of a fanboy complaint to make either. I'll probably go see this again while it's still in theaters.

[I'm Murrin]

I liked it. It's a well made film that managed to recreate the aesthetic of the original Star Wars while bringing something new to the table, and approaching it with a different tone.

The characters were a little thin - we could have used more on Jyn's life up to the rebels finding her, for one thing. It seems like the reshoots did two things: reworked Jyn Erso's character (by removing early scenes with Saw Gerrera and completely changing the "I rebel" scene, for example) and completely changed the ending (there is a hell of a lot of footage from the trailers not used).

Grand Moff Tarkin was very distracting, as it was impossible not to notice the CGI when he was next to real actors.

[Fist and Faith]

I think it is a cinematic horror to start a Star Wars movie without the theme music. A big let down right out of the starting gate. Save the justifications. I literally won't read them. It's unforgivable.

Fortunately, the movie was good. It was great fun watching the pieces fall together. Realizing wi Jimmy Smits was. Seeing the door open, knowing it was going to be Leia. Seeing her ship's engines, which we first saw in the opening seconds back in 1977. It made me feel young and happy!

[dlbpharmd]

I think it is a cinematic horror to start a Star Wars movie without the theme music. A big let down right out of the starting gate. Save the justifications. I literally won't read them. It's unforgivable.

Right, I missed the crawl too.

[dANdeLION]

I noticed that too, and understood why they did it. I'll definitely see it again. Way better than Episode 7.

PS: The Spider-man trailer gives me hope for that franchize too, thank God.

[Fist and Faith]

Yeah, Spiderman looked good. And that was my first Guardians trailer. Very excited for that!

[Cagliostro]

I liked it ok. It seemed the most human character was the frickin' droid though. And I was let down that it was pretty predictable after reading such glowing reviews. It felt like Saving Private Death Star Plans.
I did like that it never took me out of the Star Wars universe though, which was some of my complaints with several of the prequels. But overall, if I never see it again, it won't really matter to me, which after viewing Episode 7 I felt like I wanted to go back into the theater and watch it a few more times.

[aTOMiC]

My tickets are for Saturday. I can't wait. I know I'm going to love it at first and probably at second. I say that because I had a terrific time watching the Phantom Menace the first time so we'll see.

[I'm Murrin]

But overall, if I never see it again, it won't really matter to me, which after viewing Episode 7 I felt like I wanted to go back into the theater and watch it a few more times.

That's kind of where I was with it. I saw The Force Awakens 3 times in a week; this one I left feeling fine with just the once.

[aTOMiC]

Just got back from seeing the film. Loved it. Keep em coming Disney.

[Akasri]

I finally got to see this on New Years Eve. Loved it!

I admit, I got a little misty-eyed seeing Leia at the end - with the world having just lost Carrie Fisher a few days ago. It was very sad.

[aTOMiC]

But overall, if I never see it again, it won't really matter to me, which after viewing Episode 7 I felt like I wanted to go back into the theater and watch it a few more times.

That's kind of where I was with it. I saw The Force Awakens 3 times in a week; this one I left feeling fine with just the once.

I think at least part of the reason for Rogue 1 being kind of a one off viewing compared to Episode 7 is that The Force Awakens is filled with the sense of a new beginning. There are multiple plot threads that lead to an unknown future which are worth examining over and over again for clues etc. Rogue 1 is a direct prequel to A New Hope and just about everything about it leads to a heavily tread destination.

Spoiler

Of course when you discover that pretty much every one of the principal characters die at some point during the film it does sap some of the positive emotion out of the experience where TFA is filled with forward momentum in spite of the loss of Han. Heck imagine what Star Wars would have been like if Leia, Luke, Han, Chewbacca, Lando, C-3PO, R2 died or were destroyed before the end of the story. Rogue 1 is just a different kind of film.

[rdhopeca]

I really liked this movie, I saw it twice. My 9 year old was edge of his seat into it when I took him. I felt like it was realistic, not as condescending as other movies have been (prequels), and did a great job lining right up with the start of IV. Well done IMO.

[Cail]

I finally saw this, keeping my "seen all Star Wars films in the first-run theater" streak alive.

This was great. It was a by-God war movie that was gritty as hell and had a real ending. I loved the nods to the universe - especially the tenuous connection to Splinter of the Mind's Eye. The CGI Tarkin was a little jarring, but the uncanny valley is the uncanny valley and there's just no getting around that.

I thought this was much, much better than TFA.

[Zarathustra]

I finally saw this on Netflix. I agree with Cail's points. Great war movie. I thought it had some of the best action sequences of all the SW movies.

Maybe it looks better on TV than on the big screen, but I didn't think Tarkin was distracting at all. Sure, we could tell he was CGI, but it wasn't obvious. Though he was still close to uncanny valley, I think he actually crossed to the other side of it. At least streaming on Netflix.

But apparently I'm in the minority. And that's really strange, considering that we're about 25 years after Jurassic Park, 16 years after Final Fantasy, not to mention LOTR. Given Moore's Law and the doubling of computer power every few years, why can we not yet present a convincing simulation of a human in 2017? This wasn't even built from the ground up, it was motion capture.

I think this speaks to our expectations about technology in general, and its ability to replace humans. People were predicting the end of human actors after Final Fantasy (despite that movie's dependency on motion capture, which requires real actors). But 16 years later, we really aren't any closer to making it happen. Photo realistic CGI characters are mostly animals and aliens.

If we can't even replace the appearance of humans after decades of trying, imagine how much harder it will be to replace humans functionally. No one predicted uncanny valley. I think we're in store for lots more uncanniness as we explore the territory of the future.

Things like Data and the Holodeck may be centuries in the future, if ever. Reality may be too *real* to simulate, ever. Maybe there is something about consciousness and our phenomenological experience of reality that are inherently irreplaceable, from either the inside or the outside. I don't think computing power is the problem. Surely we have enough pixels and processors. There's something else we're missing ...

I don't think we'll ever be lost in the Matrix or interact with robots that can pass as humans. I think VR and robots will always be most useful as tools to help us do what we already do, rather than something entirely new. Augmented reality, not virtual reality will be the Next Big Thing. And robots will be our helpers, not our replacements.

[Skyweir]

I loved Rogue One - and I thought the "cameos" were really well done ... best to date, Leiah looked convincing to me etc..

Then since I've retired I've stopped wearing glasses all the time, may have added to my appreciation *shrug* lol

I saw it twice and was glad I did - cos I better followed the timeline the second time. Frigg'n tragic stand alone story... I thought someone would survive .. but nope .. nobody

It fit into the whole SW universe really well .. my 2 cents

[Avatar]

Well, finally got around to watching this last night, and to my great surprise, it was a lot better than I expected, and I didn't hate it at all.

Ok, Tarkin looked a bit too much like Gollum, and I didn't think Leia looked great, but other than that, better than TFA by far.

I was also impressed that

Spoiler

they all died.

Didn't think Disney had it in them.

--A

[Skyweir]

Yeah ... right?