Star Wars Anthology shit talk (Rogue One, Young Solo, TBD)

hahaha

yeah, I told my coworker who was wondering if he should bring his six year old to maybe have him sit this one out

The mind-reading squid would probably have traumatised me at 6 (also 16, 36...)

so about that squid

wasn't it supposed to drive the pilot mad or something?

yeah that was the set up

ended up being a bit of a damp squid though

should have had the squid give Forest a hug to close out Act I

it was supposed to read his mind to determine if he was truthful

it only temporarily fucked up his mind, luckily

Got an Apocalypse Now/Heart Of Darkness vibe from the main arc of the first act.

The ending was def Godfather 2

http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-major-rogue-one-character-is-heading-to-star-wars-reb-1790229657

:D

stayed awake this time. loved it. it's what I wanted in the story, not major enough of an arc that it felt epic, but a solid inbetweenquel

the scene on the beach at the end was fantastic

brain squid too please

I need to go see it again and keep an eye out for the Ghost and Chopper cameos

I spent the whole movie thinking that Riz Ahmed (Bodhi) looked like a Pakistani Snoop Dogg

Shit, that's where I recognized him from: "Nightcrawler!"

Maybe it's because I had low expectations, due to some reviews but mostly due to seeing so many crap blockbusters later (Fantastic Beasts and Doctor Strange), but I liked this. Yeah, some tiny quibbles, but fewer than usual for me. Liked it better than "Force Awakens," which my kids apparently disliked so much I could only convince one to come with me this morning. She, astutely as ever, said that it started like A New Hope and ended like Return of the Jedi. She also liked the female lead in this one better, because "she actually did things." She was totally fooled by the fake people FX, incidentally. We left during the credits - did they credit the actual actors as their characters? How was that credited?

Speaking of credits, is Jimmie Smits the first explicit link to the prequels? And speaking of prequels, how is this a "stand alone" Star Wars film, and not a prequel? Because it's a prequel.

Thought midway through: no one in Star Wars world is afraid of heights.

I think Rey is more interesting and a more developed character than Jyn, but Jyn was exactly what this film needed.

not that there are set rules on it, but I don't see it as much as a prequel simply because they made three prequels, then went to episode 7, and then created a film that was sandwiched in between both trilogies.

err the prequel trilogy and the subsequent tetralogy is more accurate I guess.

If anything, it's the Death Star origin story: finally we learn how the Death Star became the Death Star.

Well, the people in the Star Wars Universe who do have acrophobia don't talk about it, and we certainly don't meet any severe cases. If you don't like flying and you don't do well with heights it's the farm for you. farming is good. lots of respectable people in the farm business. One of the Republic programs the Emperor never got rid of? Future Farmers Of The Galaxy.

I'd think given space travel, you'd have to get used to heights. Which is maybe why farmers take buggies or float around on ships that hover a foot off the ground. They're afraid of heights!

Anyway, all these movies feature lots of fights over or around or on long drops/cliffs/towers, and everyone is usually pretty chill. But gravity's a pretty powerful force, too!

I kinda am enjoying Ben Mendelssohn's recent blockbuster turn as the baddie who is in over his head, w/ this and his role in Dark Knight Rises. just love the dude continually getting screwed over every time he thinks he's made it.

xpost that is an action movie trope tho, how many times did John McClane hang on a ledge ffs

maybe the wilhelm scream helps you survive a fall? everybody does it whenever they get knocked off a precipice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBGJTiyvd90

the rebel alliance scene where they're debating is almost a callback to this deleted scene, from a truly cringeworthy movie

both bail organa/mon mothma appear in rogue one, played by the same actors

Is that Pharaoh Sanders?

I definitely spotted the Ghost in the fleet scene, and heard the page at the Rebel base for "Gen. Syndulla," but didn't see Chopper.

w/ this and his role in Dark Knight Rises.

Holy crap, didn't realize that was the same actor. He definitely gets a bad deal from dudes with breathing masks on.

Having that hammerhead Rebel ship ram the Star Destroyer and use it to take out the others was one of the most absolute badass things I have ever seen in any SW movie or cartoon. And the ship's commander never hesitates for even a second! He's like the Deltas in "Animal House" -- RAMMING SPEEEEEEED!

Yeah did enjoy that as the explanation for the General's "I've got a plan!" - "Will it involve heroic self-sacrifice?" "Well not my self, no, but these guys won't be seeing their families again"

Also liked that said General had Admiral Ackbar's command cockpit that gives you a 360-degree view of how fucked you are.

I am team "Holy shit they killed everyone!" - it wouldn't have been entirely unexpected if a Star Wars film featured lead characters making a daring escape at the end, I'd have rolled my eyes but still considered it a success,

I agree with mh about Cassian's first scene, I also loved the gathering of volunteers after the council scene, that these are the people with grey souls whose actions let Mon Mothra float about in brilliant white.

Also suspected along with Phil D that the recently-ended comic book influenced the Vader of his last few scenes.

There was a refreshing lack of slow motion or heroic berserking - once you took a couple of hits, down you went.

Basically this was a very well done, grown-up Star Wars film.

I'm just not entirely certain how I feel about a grown-up Star Wars film.

I don't think the film ever touched on the thorny question of what the fuck a Bothan is though?

Those poor Bothans died for ROTJ Death Star plans

My 7 y.o. nephew is excited to go see this with me - his Dad is lame and doesn't "do Star Wars". I dunno if this one may be a little too heavy for him -- though he did watch Han die last year and my sis hasn't reported any crazy behavior since lol.

"Him" = my nephew. Not the Dad.

re: bothans, sort your Death Stars, ppl

also don't read the old extended universe because I know the bothans, hate their politics, and know whether human types can fuck them

I hate star wars

back on topic, apparently the mon cal caommander dude was supposed to be their version of Churchill. at least they got the neck right

refreshing lack of slow motion

yes. this was extremely important. everything just kept chugging along.

I do actually want to see this again, possibly in imax if it's convenient.

This was fun but MAN was there some bigtime video game plotting and filler bits on the beachhead. So many switches!

That shot in the trailer where Jyn in running on the beach with a blaster in her hand? She has to be carrying the Maltese Falcon in her other.

Wow was I completely wrong about this, thanks to early trailers and re-shot scenes.

Also, did anyone else think the "manually grab a data tape then click around" was some straight-up filler to give the leads something to do while the battle raged all round?

Anybody else get "Xwing"/"Tie fighter" flashbacks in this? They mention Admiral Thrawn by name, and several Y-Wings use ion torpodes to deactivate a star destroyer

Wasn't until the ships scene at the end(with re-used Gold Leader/Red Leader footage) that I realized what they were going for. Like, holy shit, they really _were_ going to do the Death Star attack using modern tech. Cute that the pilot with the callsign Red-5 got taken out, leaving his spot in the squadron open.

Much like Star Wars originally was pastiche, this totally felt like pastiche but of war films. You had everything from WWII/Vietnam/Battle of Algiers stuff.

There's a shot looking out on the beach showing the containers arrays just perfectly so to allow for some 3rd-person cover shooter game action to happen.

Totally expected Donnie Yen to ignite a partial light saber from the end of his staff for his last scene.

The amount of unused stuff from old Star Wars drafts was amusing; kyber crystals, Temple of the Whills, Black Saber(or Dark Saber?). Completely forgot about the idea of Vader's castle. Thought it was odd that every new planet got a little title card when first shown except for his.

Much like with Force Awakens, anybody notice the mirroring of shots from Star Wars? Stuff like the rebel dude in his crows nest at Yavin 4, who was shown twice, once to match the earlier movie, the second for a much different moment where they jack the impounded imperial ship.

One of the many, many callbacks: when Jyn is hiding in her bunker, she fiddled around trying to light what looks like the same type of lamp Luke uses on Dagobah.

A cute bit from the IMDB trivia:

Shipped to theaters under the name "Los Alamos".

Seriously. We have a SW film that ends with the leads embracing as they are enveloped in a mushroom cloud.

Anybody else get "Xwing"/"Tie fighter" flashbacks in this? They mention Admiral Thrawn by name, and several Y-Wings use ion torpodes to deactivate a star destroyer

ended up being a bit of a damp squid though

Disappointed there wasn't more of a reaction to this

Other bit of rhyming poetry connection: an Xwing with a black male pilot blows up the shield generator on a star destroyer(the big geodesic spheres on its bridge), which I remember because the same exact thing happens in Jedi and featured the only black Rebel pilot I remember.

Also, is this the first SW with progress bars on a screen?

There's a shot looking out on the beach showing the containers arrays just perfectly so to allow for some 3rd-person cover shooter game action to happen.

The Star Wars: Battlefront game just added Scarif as DLC at the beginning of the month, and the load screens look pretty much exactly like this shot in the movie. And everything functions exactly as you describe.

Also, is this the first SW with progress bars on a screen?

There's this little one when Obi-Wan shuts off the tractor beam in the OG Star Wars:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bY2cFf70O-E/Ts6n4SzFq7I/AAAAAAAABEo/lmivGCZ3vPo/s1600/tractorbeam1997.jpg

This was very disjointed and overly gloomy, and I was zoning out occasionally during the heavy-going mid-section, but the final third was exhilarating enough that I came away feeling more positive about the film than I would have done. Comfortably below Force Awakens, for me, but I look forward to seeing it again.

lol i made a casual Grand Moff Tarkin joke on FB before i even knew about the bullshit in this movie

Looks like the story overhaul was pretty big: http://www.slashfilm.com/rogue-one-missing-trailer-footage/#disqus_thread

overly gloomy

I feel you may have different expectations of this film than many of us.

the Cushing puppetry ensures I never see this, what a ghoulish, horrible idea

he's in a whopping ten minutes of the film

p whopping for a dead guy.

i assume his children signed off on that, so i'd like to pitch a movie where he haunts them to death.

if it was really so minor they should have just recast like they apparently did with a buncha other characters