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Post by garbulky on Jan 3, 2017 18:54:56 GMT -5
Just got done watching it in 3d. Surprisingly - and I'm a HUGE 3d proponent - this movie isn't really a 3d demo. Some of the space scenes and scenes in the air were nice in 3d due to their "bigness" but when they filmed it, they didn't really do it with 3d in mind. So if you watched it in 2d, you didn't miss a ton. Anyway, the movie. The first half was "okay". Still better than episodes 1, 2, and 3 put together. But still "okay." No glaring mis-steps, but it was simply building things up. The second half was tons of fun! And it just kept ramping up. And the very end bits was just pure fan boy gold. So it was a success imo and we were left grinning at the end. Special note: the special effects were really good. Especially the space fight scenes. Unlike episode 3 which had epic space battles which looked cgi, this one had epic space battles that looked like episode 4, 5, and 6. But of course more epic. As in they looked like real models rather than cgi models. Not sure how they pulled it off, but I think they outdid episode 7 in space special effects. The space ships, though simple looking had that memorable iconic look. Like the new tie fighter and the transport ships. Darth Vader: BOY I WISH WE HAD MORE OF HIM. But he was satisfying and delivered a choking good line.  I wasn't let down, if that's what you are thinking. But there wasn't much of him at all. Another note: the fate of the characters. This was surprisingly the darkest star wars I have seen....by a long long ways. I read a review that said they had to lighten the tone and I thought....this was the light version?! Lol. Story line: Props for being bold on the darkness and taking a different tone and pacing. But it's not really a memorable story - not that any of the movies were story telling masterpieces, really. Think of it as Star Wars Noir. The asian connection: Recently the blockbusters have been including asian storylines for help with the international market much to the amusement of the asian market who find it a little out of place or "shoved in there". Think Transformers 4 Age of Extinction here. Here "Ip man Jedi man" and his bro didn't feel out of place and fit in reasonably well with the storyline. It didn't feel shoved in is what I am trying to say. Anyway, it's definitely worth seeing in theaters. Not the pure fan boy delight of episode 7 but not far behind. 8 to 8.5 out of 10. Since you and I have had interesting discussions about this before, now that I've seen the movie and my holiday break is over, I thought I'd chime in. I'll start by staying my wife and I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. It was made well, shot well, had a good general story (that told a story and furthered our knowledge of the Star wars world), had good dialog, and we both really liked the fresh take on the music. I'll agree with your 8 - 8.5 score and say 8.25 for now. I'd like to see it again. I only have 2 real critiques about the movie. The first is very minor, but since Force Awakens was so crammed full of questionable story boards, and you make specific mention wanting more of Vader, this one bares mentioning. While we all like to see Darth Vader, his first appearance was totally useless to the plot of the movie. It was pure "insert Vader here just because." A total waste of time to this particular story. I would have instead rather seen the time spent with something else more relevant to the movie, like maybe more character development of her "2 fathers" so to speak. Both appeared to be awesome strong men, and both were played by good, if not great actors (Forrest Whittaker is a great actor). It's a shame we didn't get more of them rather than a totally pointless Vader scene. The second issue is, while about this movie, more a critique on many modern movies as well. The problem lies within the story itself, but being a movie (not a book), even more so with the directing. This movie had a lot of things going for it, but it lacked one huge thing; characters you actually gave a schiit about. Mainstream movie directors nowadays seem to have lost the ability to make their characters "come alive" with hearts and souls that make the viewer like, love, or hate the characters. I think there is a directing talent/art for making it happen on screen, and many modern movies just don't have it. It's like the art has been lost. Rogue One has the same issue. I can sum the problem up in this movie by referencing 2 things: the most heart felt moment of the entire movie is when a robot dies; and when the 2 main characters that you have followed the entire movie die, it was completely void of emotion. They died, yet nearly every audience viewer in the theater watching didn't give a schiit. I have asked everyone here at work about it, and while they all really liked the movie overall, they totally agree with me about the lack of character soul. Unfortunately, it just wasn't there. As for our old discussion about Force Awakens and now Rogue, nothing has changed about my feelings for FA, so we will still strongly disagree there (and 1, 2 & 3, which is another topic). FA was and still is the worst Star Wars movie made so far. Rogue blows it away. So much so, that to get more distance between them, I feel like I should alter my old score for FA from 6.5 down to like a 2.5. But, since it did have some worth while visual moments, I won't go that far. But Rogue is better than just 1.5 points above FA, so I really need to lower my FA score to at most a 5.5. I can't give Rogue a better score due to the character issue, so FA has to move. There are many good moments to talk about from Rogue, so for now I'll only bring up one, a space scene. I loved the Star Cruiser "collision"! Two of my favorite scenes from the modern Battlestar Galactica are when Adama "jumps" the Galactica to about 50 feet from the planet surface, and when the Galactica rams into the Cylon base later in the series. This Star Cruiser collision is right up there with those great "holy schiit ramming speed" moments. I loved it. Oh yeah the Star destroyer ram was all kinds of fun! Though in the back of my mind, I was like...it's a space ship that can go at the speed of light....just move! lol! But of course I stopped thinking of it at the sheer spectacle of the thing. Also I don't know how but I feel like a lot of those star destroyer scenes was practical effects. |
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Post by Percussionista on Jan 3, 2017 20:36:12 GMT -5
Just came back from seeing Rogue 1. One simple way to explain how I felt about Rogue 1, vs. Force Awakens, is that by the end of FA I was sitting there in the movie theater with a feeling of embarrassed disappointment after experiencing the same song played (over and over) with different orchestration but I really preferred the original orchestration better, whereas I was actually elated at the end of R1 in spite of the fact that all the main heroes and heroins died by the end.
I felt that they came up with a good story to show how the plans of the DeathStar were snagged, and they played it out better, longer scenes, plenty of action, not making it too easy to accomplish each step along the way, and just enough humor to break the darker aspects. FA seemed choppy to me, a little bit of this (again) here, that (again) there.
Yes, the character development in R1 could have been a bit longer, more and integrated backstory, but it was enough. At first I thought maybe they could have done more development with Jyn and Cassian together but then that would be more Han and Leah, so it was fine that there was instead more tension/lact of trust instead for this point. This is a different story, they made it different; no cookie-cutter repeats like FA. Mind you I still like FA (just have to like it ;-)) but was just uncomfortable with it, expecting it to go somewhere new.
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Jan 3, 2017 21:52:34 GMT -5
We tried to see it this weeknd, but it was sold out when we wanted to go. So, later for us. Looking forward to it, for sure! (Keep in mind we are big enough Star Wars fans that we went on a Star Wars themed Disney Cruise this year, and habe lots of Star Wars gear...shirts, Christmas ornaments, every movie, misc. trinkets including my wife having Star Wars Pandora bracelet charms...yeah, we like the series...)
Mark
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Post by vneal on Jan 3, 2017 22:01:49 GMT -5
It could be the best ever but it is not. I would take Empire Strikes Back---anyday
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Post by Bonzo on Jan 4, 2017 9:18:38 GMT -5
Star destroyer ram was all kinds of fun! I need to apologize to the Star Wars fans for me saying Star Cruiser. I should have said Star Destroyer. I'm going to edit my post so it's more accurate. And of special note, the name of the ship that does the "pushing" is called a Hammerhead Corvette. Nice name! |
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Post by GreenKiwi on Jan 5, 2017 2:09:09 GMT -5
I really enjoyed watching it, but I do wish there had been a bit more character development. I mean, why does Saw Gerrera actually care about Jyn? Why not actually show some of their personal connection, rather than have it just mentioned in passing. I want there to be an "extended edition", like the Lord of the Rings, where extra 10-30s here and there make you actually care about the actors.
The funniest part for me was walking out and overhearing someone say: "Wow, I was really expecting there to be more action." WTF? I didn't think that they made it more than 15s without some action taking over.
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Post by gus4emo on Jan 5, 2017 20:00:48 GMT -5
It could be the best ever but it is not. I would take Empire Strikes Back---anyday To me all of them are good, it's a hell of a story, ESB is my favorite too, hey, Rogue One is pretty darn good!!!!..... OH WAIT, THIS YEAR EPISODE VIII might just TROUNCE THEM ALL!!!!! |
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Post by garbulky on Jan 6, 2017 15:29:10 GMT -5
It could be the best ever but it is not. I would take Empire Strikes Back---anyday To me all of them are good, it's a hell of a story, ESB is my favorite too, hey, Rogue One is pretty darn good!!!!..... OH WAIT, THIS YEAR EPISODE VIII might just TROUNCE THEM ALL!!!!! Take my money! I am ready!! I never thought I'd say this but Disney has not messed around! |
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bootman
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Post by bootman on Jan 6, 2017 16:12:16 GMT -5
The "Magnificent Seven" of the Star wars universe.
Liked it so much I saw it twice.
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Post by hosko on Jan 6, 2017 17:51:09 GMT -5
I have one complaint and its a spoiler so all I can say is the ending makes no sense when you listen to things that are said in the New Hope.
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Post by garbulky on Jan 6, 2017 18:57:22 GMT -5
I have one complaint and its a spoiler so all I can say is the ending makes no sense when you listen to things that are said in the New Hope. **** SPOILERS *** I was confused too. Turns out the ending and new hope were some ways apart. Not immediately after as I originally thought it was. The New Hope happens over a different planet. |
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LCSeminole
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Post by LCSeminole on Apr 9, 2017 9:54:53 GMT -5
I just watched Rogue One on blu-ray through my new 4K setup, and while not UHD media, the upconversion was quite good for the HD blu-ray. Disney needs to get on-board the UHD blu-ray release train, period. Anyhow, while the first of the upcoming Star Wars Anthology films, this most definitely lives up to the Star Wars universe story line and makes, "The Force Awakens" look ridiculously average at best.
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Post by novisnick on Apr 9, 2017 10:11:49 GMT -5
I just watched Rogue One on blu-ray through my new 4K setup, and while not UHD media, the upconversion was quite good for the HD blu-ray. Disney needs to get on-board the UHD blu-ray release train, period. Anyhow, while the first of the upcoming Star Wars Anthology films, this most definitely lives up to the Star Wars universe story line and makes, "The Force Awakens" look ridiculously average at best. Thanks for this review! I have yet to view Rogue One, yes Im late to the party again. I have it in 3D and am now even more anxious to see it. But it still may have to wait as Ihave so much to do and so little time. Wheres my popcorn machine?  |
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LCSeminole
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Post by LCSeminole on Apr 9, 2017 10:16:49 GMT -5
I just watched Rogue One on blu-ray through my new 4K setup, and while not UHD media, the upconversion was quite good for the HD blu-ray. Disney needs to get on-board the UHD blu-ray release train, period. Anyhow, while the first of the upcoming Star Wars Anthology films, this most definitely lives up to the Star Wars universe story line and makes, "The Force Awakens" look ridiculously average at best. Thanks for this review! I have yet to view Rogue One, yes Im late to the party again. I have it in 3D and am now even more anxious to see it. But it still may have to wait as Ihave so much to do and so little time. Wheres my popcorn machine? Know that you have a very worthy blu-ray movie in waiting. |
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Post by dust770 on Apr 9, 2017 14:30:07 GMT -5
I was actually very disappointed in this one, it just drug on for me. I felt like there was no action at all. The last 20 minutes has some but it was so so, nothing new. The blu Ray sound was horrible, it was absolutely drowned out by the score. I could hardly tell my surround was on and even checked several times and reset my XMC-1 to make sure nothing was awry. A couple of loud explosions but otherwise not much sub use either. I was bummed, will most likely sell the Blu Ray. Just my .02
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Post by garbulky on Apr 9, 2017 14:45:44 GMT -5
I enjoyed the Force Awakens more but I thought Rogue One was worth it. The biggest complaint like GreenKiwi mentioned is why should we care about the characters? It felt a bit too distant. A bit more personal connection would be helpful. |
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Post by creimes on Apr 9, 2017 14:50:30 GMT -5
So yesterday for 4 hours the wife and kids were out of the house so I invited a buddy over and I cranked up the system and was in pure joy watching Rouge One, compared to Force Awakens there was a lot of action, really enjoyed it and can't wait to watch it again, and to those with wives that are into Star Wars you are some of the lucky ones, mine has yet to see any of them as she is not a fan of sci-fi movies |
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Post by monkumonku on Apr 9, 2017 15:07:56 GMT -5
Watched the Blu-Ray yesterday and was very pleased. The movie itself was entertaining and I like both it and Force Awakens more than any of the three prequel movies. The original is still my favorite, though, perhaps for sentimental reasons but it also plays out as a classic good versus evil story with lots of action.
As someone else mentioned, there's not a whole lot of LFE which didn't bother me. I did turn the center channel up +5 to hear the dialog better; surrounds don't get used that much. But the movie stands on its own as a good segue into explaining the original movie and I thought it was well worth watching.
Wife didn't watch it, though. She falls asleep during the Star Wars series!
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