Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

Have fun, but this kind of thing is why I love me some IMAX 3D showings with reserved seating!

Yup!

I did non-reserved for "Force Awakens" last year just because the local Regal that has reserved wasn't showing it. It wasn't bad - the non-reserved Regal let people in early, so we didn't have to wait in line forever and ever. I got there maybe an hour before showtime and was happy I got to SIT the whole time!

That said, when I saw the local reserved Regal had "R1", I went that way - I was glad to know I could show up at 6;55 and not worry about where I'd sit. Add to that comfy recliners and zing!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I am curious about something. All my life, from the time I first read about it in Alan Dean Foster's wonderful novel SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE, the crystal has always been spelled "Kaiburr" in everything I have seen. But in ROGUE ONE it is spelled Kyber. Are they the same crystal or are they different crystals?

It's "Kyber" in the recent "Lego Star Wars: Freemaker Adventures" as well...

 

[marjen]

I saw it last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. The ending as others have said is fantastic. It took a little bit to get going but still enjoyed the lead up and felt more than some of the other star wars movies really presented a better picture of the impact the empire had on some of the characters lives.

I will say I am still confused as to why this is continually called a "spin off", especially having now seen this. It is really Star Wars 3.5 And if I were to rematch the entire saga I would watch it after Sith and before a New Hope. It ties in beautifully to the entire saga. I can see the Han Solo story as a spin off as that will examine one characters pars that really has no bearing on the overall main story, but this movie really is part of the overall story have been told.

Definitely worth seeing in the theater if you are a star wars fan.

 

[TravisR]

I am curious about something. All my life, from the time I first read about it in Alan Dean Foster's wonderful novel SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE, the crystal has always been spelled "Kaiburr" in everything I have seen. But in ROGUE ONE it is spelled Kyber. Are they the same crystal or are they different crystals?

For in-universe purposes, I think they're similar but not the same. It's been a long time since I read Splinter (and it's no longer in the main canon) but if I remember correctly, the Kaiburr crystal bolsters a person's 'Force power' and the Kyber crystals of Rogue One (and The Clone Wars show and the novel Catalyst) are a source of power for lightsabers and Death Star superlasers.

It is really Star Wars 3.5

I think I'd call it Star Wars 3.9.

 

[Tino]

Seeing it again in an hour. Hope I like it better.

 

[Todd H]

Still thinking about the new Star Wars from my viewing last night. Gonna definitely see it again this weekend. Probably the best depiction of Vader's badassery ever.

 

[Robert Crawford]

On my way to my first of two viewings today. My rule of thumb is to judge blockbuster films for myself without letting reviews from other people influence my film appreciation.

 

[Bryan^H]

We need a dedicated discussion thread with (SPOILERS!)

 

[Alf S]

Hearing it pulled in $29 million Thursday.

 

[Steve Christou]

Okay let's see... Rogue One was good, not great, none of the actors engaged me, I didn't really care if they lived or died [you cold-hearted bastard Steve!] the dialogue was simplistic beyond belief and the best actor in the movie has been dead for 22 years.

On the plus side the last half hour was worth waiting for and the last few minutes before the end credits were fantastic, if only the rest of the film was that good. Wait! Don't go! The new film has what might just be the most thrilling Darth Vader scene in any of the movies so far, you will know it when you see it.

I also liked Michael Giacchino's John Williams flavored music score.

Worth watching but the Force was barely with it. 3.5 out of 5.

 

[Robert Crawford]

My thoughts after my first viewing, I thought it was awesome and the actors in character did engage me in a way that I cared about what happened to them. Sure, it was disjointed a bit in the first act or so, but overall, I thought the film was on par with the rest of the franchise. My grade is 4.5 out of 5.0

 

[TravisR]

I also liked Michael Giacchino's John Williams flavored music score.

At the risk of being branded a heretic, I vastly prefer Giacchino's score for this to Williams' The Force Awakens score.

 

[steve jaros]

Disagree with those who say the first two acts were slow. Not IMO, the whole movie was nicely paced. Sure, the 3rd act had a crescendo but don't mistake that for the first part dragging, it didn't.

Good to very good film, say 8/10 stars. Had the look and feel of classic SW, like TFA did.

 

[Gary Seven]

Anyone see this in 3D? Thoughts on that presentation?

 

[Sam Favate]

I am also calling nonsense on those who say the first two acts were a disappointment compared to the third. I thought it was absolutely compelling from beginning to end. It was really excellent - consistent in tone, beautiful visually, with diverse, interesting characters, and an engaging storyline.

Many of the visuals deserve to be seen on the big screen. Indeed, the battle at the end in many ways eclipsed the end of A New Hope. Fun to see so many connections to the first film. I found many of them - even a random sound here and there - made me connect to that film in ways that made this one more fun.

To get into a tiny bit of spoiler territory:

Spoiler

I was not bothered by the CGI images. We've all known for years that the day was coming when deceased actors would be able to be recreated on screen, and it's here now. Some moments were better than others, but the film makers get much credit for doing this -- it's what this particular story needed.

Loved seeing Darth Vader again, in his prime, and I thought the use of the character was just right for this film, and it sets up his involvement in the first film nicely.

I also really appreciated that the stormtroopers were not bowling pins to simply be knocked down, as they have been in so many other Star Wars stories.

My initial reaction: This was better than The Force Awakens (a film I liked but thought needed help in the story), and this sets up Lucasfilm's stand-alone Star Wars films perfectly.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Anyone see this in 3D? Thoughts on that presentation?

I saw it in IMAX 3D. I was underwhelmed by the 3D conversion. The 3D in The Force Awakens was pretty good - some excellent depth (particularly in the desert scenes introducing Rey), and a couple very cool popouts. There was nothing in Rogue One that stood out to me the same way. However, I do want to note that there was an issue at my theater where a lot of light from the hallway was flooding onto the bottom corners of the screen, which in turn washed out the bottom of the image. It's entirely possible that that negatively effected the overall 3D quality, so the 3D in the movie may be better than my experience of it.

Will try to write more later about the movie in general.

 

[TravisR]

I am also calling nonsense on those who say the first two acts were a disappointment compared to the third.

My problem with the first two acts is that they felt a little disjointed because it was like they were hopping from action sequence to action sequence. I'm the first person to cry about movies being too long but this is a rare time when I felt like they should have slowed down a little bit and had some more scenes between the action so the movie could breath a little. Overall, that's a fairly minor critique because the last section was awesome and it more than made up for any small problem I had with the top of the movie.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Anyone see this in 3D? Thoughts on that presentation?

I'll let you know after my second viewing in about an hour.

 

[Tony J Case]

At the risk of being branded a heretic, I vastly prefer Giacchino's score for this to Williams' The Force Awakens score.

John Williams is the soundtrack of my youth. Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, CE3K, Indy - his music is woven into my formative years like you would believe. So it really, really hurts when I say: yeah, the score to E7 was terrible. Even after a year of trying to make myself like it, the score does nothing for me.

Anyone see this in 3D? Thoughts on that presentation?

Last night was 2D and I think I'm seeing it in 3D here in a couple of hours, so I'll report back in with a compare and contrast.

 

[SamT]

The Force Awakens score sounds like a Spielberg movie but I kind of got used to it and enjoy it now.