Star Wars [2]

I'm going again first chance I get after I've hunted some xmas trolls

I'm going to see this with my son tomorrow I'm looking more forward to this than I ever did The Hobbit. Id look forward to having a full body wax rather than see the Hobbit,

Glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much, Ringo! Looking forward to seeing this a lot; probably on Saturday.

Hope you'll let us know what you make of it too, az!

last day before written exam me and a couple of friends from class, went to the premiere, and OMFG THIS MOVIE IS FREAKING AMAZING! the downside in my opinion was the theme-score thing when the title was "presented", that was a weak-theme, i forgot it the minute it was over, though i do understand they can't use the original score because 1. it isn't like "in the trilogy that isn't a trilogy"-in the series sort of businnes, and 2. John Williams didn't do the music. but i liked how they hinted at the music we all know and love throughout. but yeah, that little thing was the only thing. I FUCKING LOVED THIS MOVIE. PERECT SCORE 5/7. 10/10 WATCH AGAIN.

also had the good fortune of sitting next to an ubernerd, so i was fed little hints (all the good parts, and nods to the original) along the way, and not in a negative way, it only made me appreciate it more.

this movie. it is great. and omg... that sassy-ass robot! and the female lead is just great. like.. these last two star wars movies have sort of nailed the strong female character. (minus the little fact they do it because of their fathers/parents). they're self made and self suffient and need no man really.

great effing movie.

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Ringdrotten wrote:I hadn't read anything about it and only seen one trailer, so I had few to no expectations. Some scenes were better than others of course, but overall the film was a blast, and lots of references to Episode IV (both obvious ones and a few less so). What really did it for me, though, was the ending - that was really Star Wars - you'll just have to see it for yourself, don't want to spoil it. And this one is definitely worth the movie ticket, halfy

totally agree!! it was also very well-placed humour and again agree, the ending was great. i had ven less pre-knowledge of it, as i had seen NO trailers and didn't know a star wars movie was coming until i saw the poster on the buss stop two-three weeks ago..

side note: i was at the premier, and all premiers are like fancy and they give out gifts (posters mostly) to random seats in the theatre. So one would think employees would make a great deal of it? i remember at least they did it for the first hobbit movie, like a little drum roll and etc. but lol.. this premier! may have had something to do with the fact that it was 3 in the afternoon but like this guy came in, right before the movie started, no gear, just plane clothes, turned on the lights and was like "yeah, this is a premier, so i am handing out stuff, who's in seat bla bla" and litterally just couldn't be more bothered.. like he was handing someone a phone charger they'd forgotten in the lobby or something, and then he just left, no fuzz... it was so low-key like what the hell.. but reflecting on it, that is EXACTLY how you handle "giving out free posters before a movie premier because the film-company told me to" because everyone is there to watch the goddamn movie and it is pretty annoying when the movie is just about to start, you've sat through 15 min of bad commercials, better commercials and trailers.. haha lol -..

Good point about the music, Norc, I felt the same way (but was probably too mindblown to remember it when I posted )

I'm getting more excited about the prospect of seeing the movie from reading your guys' reactions. Clicked on the spoiler bar with some trepidation (part of me said "no, don't do it!") but having seen it now it's another encouraging sign.

PERFECT SCORE 5/7. 10/10

what's 5/7 got to do with a perfect score?

it's a meme halfy..

go see it eldo!!

the movie defo is mind-blowing!

also, i may get thrown out of the forum for this, but i keep forgettting what the enemy ships look like... so the end scene i was really confused when that big thing happened and like why are they not more concerned and then it dawned on me.

TIE fighter or imperial cruiser?

If you can't tell an X-wing from a TIE fighter or that ANY big ship is a baddie, you DO deserve to be thrown out of the forum.

What's a TIE fighter?

AARRGGHH!!!

I agree with one & all Brilliant film !! Totally loved it Eldo, you wont regret seeing this I'm tired out at mo but, IL give a write up tomoro, if ok ?

Oh geez, now I have to go see it before I give in and read spoilers on here.

I remember the 5/7 meme.

I have to be back at work in less than 12 hours but I'm gonna see the movie tomorrow afternoon, I think.

I saw it. Definitely doesn't feel like a re-tread the way Force Awakens did, so thumbs up for keeping the feeling yet breaking new ground.

Some nit-picking:

* John Williams is sorely missed. This guy (forget his name) sounds like he's trying desperately not to be drawn into repeating JW's melodies, but he's got nothing comparable to replace them with.

* I felt things were a bit too rushed in the first half. Both Lukas and even Abrams knew how to insert a couple beats in here and there to let a scene get established, build or relieve tension. This guy can't slow it down when appropriate. Even Mon Mothma talks too fast to really echo the original.

* the CGI Moff Tarkin was amazing. The final CGI...was a mistake.

All in all a good effort, no feelings of letdown except that we've got no new melodies to stick in our heads. And the decision to sacrifice the characters at the end was the right one.

Watched Rogue One (in Imax 3d) last night, random thoughts:

The Bad:

- Forest Whitaker gave a terrible performance to the point of being distracting (despite his limited screentime), completely miscast, he was built up to be a menacing character but fell completely flat.

- I've read that due to extensive reshoots the original composer had to back out, Michael Giacchino tried his best with the rumoured 4 weeks his was given, but unfortunately the music is very forgettable, not bad just sub par John Williams.

- The Dialogue was very faithful to the New Hope era...in the sense that it was quite hokey, and seemed to mainly consist of characters spouting plot points to drive the story along or explaining things to the audience, little of it felt really natural and you could tell they re-shot large proportions of the film, as I understand the story passed through four of five writers to the final film, and it does show, it's a solidly constructed script...but it's this very structure that limits the characters.

- Relating to the above point, the acting by the Rebel group was pretty solid throughout (Donnie Yen and Alan Tudyk stole the show i.m.o), but the actual characters were quite thinly written archetypes (which isn't necessarily an issue in War films, and this is very much a Where Eagles Dare esque action epic, albeit in the Star Wars Universe)  their character motivations and backstories were quite oblique, as we see the film largely though Jyn's point of view we skip all bu the basics of their backstory, the actors do a lot with not that much, and are likeable enough but when

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it feels like we barely know them, most of them still feel like faceless cogs in a greater whole at the end...but thinking about it that may have been the point-that ordinary people with no great history or destiny managed such a huge mission.

- The first 20 minutes was quite slow, and it took a while to get the team assembled, but once they leave

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the film really kicks into gear, it's isn't a perfect ride from then on, but it's a hugely enjoyable one.

- It felt very odd without an opening scrawl, and having included one may have allowed them to cut back on so much expository dialogue or scene setting.

- Despite my complaints about the pacing issues, I could have done with more worldbuilding and backstory (i.e perhaps see more of the Empire's atrocities first hand, or get a better glimpse at the various new aliens),  though the glimpses we do get are fantastic.

The Good:

- Really enjoyed it!

- Sorry Antony Daniels

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but I much prefer Alan Tudyk's K-2S0.

- Despite tying in directly to ANH and featuring several cameos and nods to wider S.W continuity it didn't feel as reliant on Nostalgia or as beholden to a formular as The Force Awakens, this very much had a tone and look all of its own, but the design and artwork definitely felt authentic to 1977.

- The

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was indeed fantastic-in some scenes it was lifelike, in others it wasn't but it's a huge leap forward for the possibilities of cinema, I haven't seen A.N.H in years so I'm not sure how authentic the new voice actor for him was, but it was a great idea nonetheless.

-Although I personally think the complaints about Rey being a 'Mary Sue' were exaggerated, thankfully the issue doesn't really apply to Jyn hear, she's tough, but quite battered and flawed as a character.

- This may well beat Empire Strikes Back in the gorgeous cinematography league, some of the action scenes (hell, most of the establishing shots) were beautiful, Gareth Edwards has a fantastic visual eye, and despite the problems with the script and inconsistent performances (the latter of which probably ties in with the script) I'd be very happy to see him return to the Star Wars universe at some point.

- If you are a war/action junkie the third act is...awesome, some of the action scenes were jaw dropping and

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- Despite being a much tighter and smaller film in scope, in many ways this felt much bigger than TFA, the pacing was slower, the establishing shots longer, the scale of the cities and worlds larger, and the new worlds more visually interesting or Star Wars esque, it really expands on the Star Wars universe in interesting ways...it's just a shame we don't see that much of most of them!

- Ben Mendelsohn is a fantastic villain, his character borders on the cliche, but he's so icily cold it works.

- The final  30 seconds were pure fanwank...and I loved it!

- The way they fixed one of the plot contrivances in a A New Hope

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was ingenious.

- Very glad Disney actually had the balls to

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, it leaves no room for a sequel (other than A New Hope obviously...and

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and is all the better for it.

Rogue One was not a perfect film, the script could use some work (mainly the dialogue, I don't notice any glaring plot holes), the pacing and acting is a little hit and miss, and the balance between fan service and new is rather uneven at times. (if I were being totally honest, I think TFA will be more popular with casual fans, this very much felt like a love letter to hardcore Original Trilogy fans).

Despite these issues I enjoyed it immensely, at it's best it rivals Empire (whilst at its worst some of the clunky scripting and pacing reminds you of the prequels) and could easily fit alongside the original three. Very very good, and very nearly excellent, I'll definitely be watching it again soon.

I'd give it 7.5/10 (though parts are a 11/10!), though if they release a longer directors cut that could rise to a 9/10...

Is it better than Force Awakens...I'm not sure, but it does perhaps have more spirit to it.

Either way, as far as I'm concerned selling Star Wars to Disney has been a very good move by Lucas so far, let's hope they iron out the issues in the next few years and make a move to strike further away from the format.



Let's hope there's a directors cut!

Was it just me, or was there a lot of footage seen in the trails that wasn't in the film? I know there were extensive reshoots, but the trailers seemed to imply a slighty different film tonally...makes me wonder just how much they mucked around with the first edit in the reshoots

*Edit...is this a plot hole?:

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And Eldo, I've finally got round to reading Lost Stars I'm maybe 3/4 of the way though and it's fantastic so far, it definitely reads like a young adult read and some of the tie ins and continuity references are gratuitous but it's a really enjoyable story.

Interesting, you say the first half moves a bit slow, but you wish there had been more world building. I said it moved too fast because it skipped over some of the world building.

I think we get reconciliation if we say the plot felt a bit disjointed at first, not really coming together; but we wouldn't have minded so much if we had some world building to flesh things out. We had the pieces and players coming together all packed in a mishmash. If there was more time taken to build context then it would have been intriguing rather than off-putting.

I thought Forest Whitaker was quite good in his part, have to disagree with you there. But we needed some background to understand how he ended up being the mysterious leader of a band of dangerous outcasts. We got a little in the exchange between him and Jynn, but a bit more was needed - just a few lines perhaps from one of his merry band.

halfwise wrote:Interesting, you say the first half moves a bit slow, but you wish there had been more world building.  I said it moved too fast because it skipped over some of the world building.

I think we get reconciliation if we say the plot felt a bit disjointed at first, not really coming together; but we wouldn't have minded so much if we had some world building to flesh things out.  We had the pieces and players coming together all packed in a mishmash.  If there was more time taken to build context then it would have been intriguing rather than off-putting.

I thought Forest Whitaker was quite good in his part, have to disagree with you there.  But we needed some background to understand how he ended up being the mysterious leader of a band of dangerous outcasts.  We got a little in the exchange between him and Jynn, but a bit more was needed - just a few lines perhaps from one of his merry band.

Yeah disjointed might have been a better way to say things, most of the pieces are there, they just don't completely fit together...as I said in my earlier post it feels like we were told not shown the characters backstory, but I suppose there's only so much you can fit into a 130 minute film.

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/star-wars/feature/a817007/rogue-one-star-wars-trailer-moments-not-in-the-film/

http://www.slashfilm.com/rogue-one-missing-trailer-footage/

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-12-15/the-unseen-star-wars-archive-footage-used-in-rogue-one

Apparently a Actor from Doctor Who made a cameo:

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Yeah, I think an extended cut is warranted. I like the "I rebel" line, not sure why the first author above thought it rubbish. It seems like originally they had a very different take on Jynn's character - I think I prefer the trailer version.

Actually, trailers are usually better than the movies because they get to pick the best parts and rearrange them more dramatically without worrying about plot. For instance, one of the trailers has the shot where they hit an imperial walker on the side of the head, it looks like it's all finished; then the head turns forward again. Jynn quips "I hope you have a backup plan". Cut and rearrange.

now I have to see it. Is it worth 7 Euros? that last film I saw bit bad FantasticBeastsAWTFT and was a waste of cash and effort.

Figgly Wiggly it is NOT a waste of Euros I love the SWs films, I'm not a massive fan but, I love sci-fi & I am in awe of the work that's gone into these films. I feel "Rogue" is the best Ive seen so far. I enjoyed "Force Awakens" but that felt like I'm back where I left off. With "Rogue" it was new & fresh in many respects. I loved the heroine. She had just the right amount of believability for me. I am SOOO glad we didn't get a "wham Bam" scene. It would have cheapened it for me. I met Jin Erso, joined in with her & ran along with to the very end. I think because she was....normal. She didn't give any sexy pouts, she didn't entice any of the men to help her, she wasn't an Angelina Jolie clone. I think they fitted her in quite nicely. I liked her ally Cassion, I saw him change towards her several times. First as a target, for ransom or to be killed, then trust, slowly bit by bit he noticed her & listened. Respect, gratitude & finally love came at the end. As for K2 ! He was great ! Id like to see more of him So funny. There were little hints to what was to come later, like R2D2 & C3PO but it blended in well. I thought what they did for Peter Cushing was as best as they could. I think I noticed only twice that he was CGI, the voice didn't quite gel for me, his tone was softer but he was needed, to move the tale along. And of course we get the ending which is the beginning . A circle is complete.