Rogue One

[Dino]

It hasn't got a thread of it's own and needs one.
The Rogue One thread.
I saw it and liked it and if you did and didn't like it, still post in this thread.

I will be more detailed when more see it.

[Andrew Curnow]

Wasn't expecting to, but ended up seeing this tonight. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much as The Force Awakens, it seemed to drag just a little, but pretty good nonetheless.

I thought the CGI/effect work to recreate Peter Cushing's Tarkin was very well done, although the teeth didn't look quite right and the voice wasn't a good match at all (surely there must be a better Cushing impersonator out there?). Unfortunately, the CGI used to recreate the young Princess Leia right at the end wasn't so good - a shame, since that's the climax of the film and of course even more so now because it's a very poignant final moment given the tragic news last week.

I also thought Forest Whitaker was awful in it, and was very pleased when his part of the planet was blown up!

There's something very very exciting about seeing the Death Star and Darth Vader back in action again, likewise seeing AT-AT walkers in the final battle scene, and the loving recreation of the Yavin control room. So there's a great deal to be said in favour of the 'playing with the toybox' approach to this first 'spin-off' film.... On the other hand, there were moments when they went too far with it for no good reason - walrus man & bent face guy turning up on Jedha, for example, or references to Kyber crystals (presumably the same sort of things as mentioned in Splinter of the Mind's Eye, but there spelt Kaiburr - I'm sure the diehard fans are going mad over it!!) or a Probot drifting by...

But don't let my moans put you off. It's an enjoyable film, maybe a bit long (our heroes seem to go on three consecutive missions, and since the X-Wings turn up to blow things up twice, I just have a feeling they would have been better streamlining the plot into two) but well worth a watch. It's a little more edgy, I guess, than most of the 'real' Star Wars films, and of course we sort of know that none of our heroes are going to make it out alive...

So I guess it's now the long twelve month wait for chapter 8

[MacNimon]

I saw it last night and pretty much agree with Andrew. Cushing looked pretty good, just a little bit 'plasticky' at times but better than the Leia CGI at the end. And his voice, while perfect for the part he played, certainly wasn't Cushings! An interesting experiment, though...

I felt the first half of the film dragged quite a bit, it was the Death Star stuff (the sets, lighting, etc) and the battles which made this so enjoyable in the end. That was the stuff which made it feel like Star Wars...

[duncan]

The physical and vocal presence of Grand Moff Tarkin was provided by Guy Henry, who plays Henrik Hanssen in Holby City. I had no issue with the voice but didn't think the CGI was very good.

Also, I think they missed a good opportunity by not featuring Vader very much. Such an iconic villain from the 70's & 80's yet he was in my opinion, under used.

[Dino]

But then the sequence at the end of the film with Vader and the Rebels was damn near the greatest scene ever with Darth Vader.
I was more sucked in by the fighting in the last half hour than any action scenes in the prequels and even Return of the Jedi!
Maybe we'll never see how it looked in the original edit, but I was more interested in Rogue One than the ideas for the other spin offs. New film about young Han Solo? Young Boba Fett?
Eh... See how it goes.

[MacNimon]

It was an interesting concept, but unfortunately suffered from the same problem which ails all prequels...the fact that you know where the story is going, what happens afterwards and how to introduce numerous new characters who, barring a bit of retroactive continuity in the future, have never even been mentioned in the series and so are unlikely to survive past the end of the film. I think the first half of the film may improve with any future viewings, but it's really the spectacle of the second half which made this so much fun

And as for Cushing, opinions are certainly varied aren't they? Not just here but anywhere else you look! I think that half the problem here is that many of us knew beforehand about the CGI Cushing and were looking out for it specifically. I went to see the film with a friend and my daughter, and my friend was going in blind as he put it...all he knew was that it was set between the two trilogies. He was certainly taken in by the Cushing character to start with...it was only after a few scenes it dawned on him..." Is that Peter Cushing?" he asked "I thought he was dead!" His next question:" Are these out-takes from the original film?" It was only after I pointed out that it was CGI and he started to look closely he could see it himself..."I see it now...a CGI-ed Peter Cushing!!!" So it was certainly good enough to deceive the casual the casual viewer...