Blu-ray Review Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Osato]

Regarding the special features on the disc, of course there's stuff that I wanted to see more of (deleted scenes) or know more about (although no current movie is going to talk about its reshoots) but I thought what was there was actually pretty good. The reality is that special features are basically dead and I can't think of the last modern movie that I bought that even had 80 minutes of special features. Given that, the special features aren't really that lacking in my opinion.

You might be right.

I'm disappointed to not have the audio commentaries for the force awakens and one for rogue one.

 

[TJPC]

How about being forced to redeem a downloaded version to get a commentary on the last Star Trek movie?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'm disappointed to not have the audio commentaries for the force awakens and one for rogue one.

There is a commentary for The Force Awakens on the collector's edition re-release at least. But then you're stuck buying TFA a second time. If you're 3D-capable, that was an essential purchase anyway, but to rebuy the movie for a 2D-only setup would be obnoxious.

How about being forced to redeem a downloaded version to get a commentary on the last Star Trek movie?

At least the code was included as part of your purchase so it didn't cost any extra to view that bonus feature. Considering they did the exact same thing with Star Trek Into Darkness, it's not that surprising that they did it again. It seems clear that while we, the HTF consumer, view Blu-ray as the most prestigious and deluxe format, the studios are starting to see them as also-rans.

 

[Edwin-S]

The 3D version was sold out at the local Best Buy as was the Steel Book version. A salesperson there told me the Steel Book sold out cross Canada in 5 hours if he can be believed.

 

[TJPC]

I will be returning the unopened copy to the Ancaster store today or tomorrow, so there should be one on the shelf there at least.

 

[Dave Moritz]

The one thing I want to do is once I get my hands on Rogue One is to watch that with Star Wars (1977) back to back.

 

[WillG]

I don't mean to argue, but I feel like we basically have. It starts with the studio deciding that there will be a release in December 2016 no matter what. It continues with the hiring of Gareth Edwards, a promising but unproven director, to film the script they haven't yet completed. He films that script and it doesn't work because the script wasn't any good, and Edwards doesn't have the clout or experience to realize what's going wrong and to throw the brakes on. He assembles his cut as best he can, but with an incomplete script and deadline, there's not much more he can do. The studio executives view the first cut and realize it doesn't work. They rush to hire Tony Gilroy, the man who quietly rewrote and redirected Edwards's last film, Godzilla, to do the same here. Gilroy fleshes out the plot and characters as much as possible within about a month, and works with Edwards to direct the reshoots. Gilroy manages to construct enough of a framework to make some of the Edwards footage salvageable, and the film just barely makes its release date. It's not acclaimed or beloved by anyone, but given the vast marketing push and wide opening, it does well enough and doesn't sink the ship.

The specifics are up for grab, but I'm willing to believe that's more or less the story.

Yes, but I want your above summation to get the "Rinzler treatment," so to speak. I want some quality journalism to flesh out the story. Too bad Lucasfilm didn't keep Rinzler and let him do his thing.

True, that's probably the basic framework of the story, but how much of that has Disney candidly admitted to?

When I say, you'll never know the story, I mean the nitty gritty that Disney will never cop to. Things like how much of a PR crisis it must have been for Disney, the limits people were pushed to make the release date, how stockholders were kept calm etc.

Disney's version of it still seems to be "We did some reshoots, but nothing out of the ordinary and also because we came up with an awesome last minute idea to add Vader at the end.....We're not having deleted scenes (despite having them for every other SW movie release) because it's just clips of unfinished stuff." etc.

At least they didn't withhold 3D this time.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

When I say, you'll never know the story, I mean the nitty gritty that Disney will never cop to. Things like how much of a PR crisis it must have been for Disney, the limits people were pushed to make the release date, how stockholders were kept calm etc.

Maybe I'm just incredibly naive, but I don't think it was an end-of-the-world problem. I don't think the shareholders are as concerned with individual titles; if anything, I think I recall hearing from a shareholder call that Iger had to remind people that the grosses for The Force Awakens were a once in a lifetime phenomenon that couldn't be repeated and to not expect that. If they hadn't finished the reshoots in time and had to postpone, it wouldn't have been like a week away, it would have been months away, and they could have survived it. I think I read that Gilroy got paid $1 million a week for his work, which suggests that he was probably eating and sleeping on set and in the edit room.

I agree it's an interesting story and I'd also enjoy a formal retelling of it, but if that never comes, I think the journalism that did come out tells a pretty complete picture. It might be worthwhile for someone someday to write a book about it - if it doesn't use pictures, it can be written as a scholarly document which would allow it to be fair use and not require licensing to publish, that would be a cool project.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

The one thing I want to do is once I get my hands on Rogue One is to watch that with Star Wars (1977) back to back.

That's a fun idea - I wonder how they'll play when viewed like that!

 

[WillG]

I don't think the shareholders are as concerned with individual titles; if anything, I think I recall hearing from a shareholder call that Iger had to remind people that the grosses for The Force Awakens were a once in a lifetime phenomenon that couldn't be repeated and to not expect that.

I do think though that if R1 failed, it would have shaken confidence.

That's a fun idea - I wonder how they'll play when viewed like that!

I have a bad feeling about this. I shared my opinion on it in either this thread or one of the others, but I see some logical problems with having ANH take place immediately after R1. I think it would have made more sense if ANH starts a few weeks or so after R1 and that Tantive IV wasn't the ship that escaped from Scarif.

Basically it boils down to: How did Vader know that Tantive IV was headed to Tattoine? And how did Vader essentially beat them there?

Vader says the plans were "beamed" to Tantive IV

Why does Antilles and Leia claim to be on a diplomatic mission when they had just escaped from Scarif, which gives them not even an illusion of deniability.

 

[TravisR]

Basically it boils down to: How did Vader know that Tantive IV was headed to Tattoine?

Vader tortured or threatened the captives on the Rebel flagship until they gave up the information. I'm sure it wouldn't take long for him to get people to talk.

And how did Vader essentially beat them there?

A Star Destroyer is faster than a Blockade Runner.

Vader says the plans were "beamed" to Tantive IV

I think it's fair to say that Vader didn't feel a need to be specific and say "Several transmissions were beamed to the Rebel flagship. I want to know what happened to the plans that were then copied and given to you." It's not as if she would be confused as to what he's talking about if he uses a shorthand. It's worth noting that in ANH, they also refer to the "stolen data tapes" and that doesn't correspond with the "transmissions" talked about earlier in the same movie either.

Why does Antilles and Leia claim to be on a diplomatic mission when they had just escaped from Scarif, which gives them not even an illusion of deniability.

In ANH, they just shot it out with the Star Destroyer and the boarding Stormtoopers. Forget Scarif, they don't have deniability with the events in the same movie.


I don't think any of those answers are unreasonable stretches.

 

[WillG]

Vader tortured or threatened the captives on the Rebel flagship until they gave up the information. I'm sure it wouldn't take long for him to get people to talk.


A Star Destroyer is faster than a Blockade Runner.


I think it's fair to say that Vader didn't feel a need to be specific and say "Several transmissions were beamed to the Rebel flagship. I want to know what happened to the plans that were then copied and given to you." It's not as if she would be confused as to what he's talking about if he uses a shorthand. It's worth noting that in ANH, they also refer to the "stolen data tapes" and that doesn't correspond with the "transmissions" talked about earlier in the same movie either.


In ANH, they just shot it out with the Star Destroyer and the boarding Stormtoopers. Forget Scarif, they don't have deniability with the events in the same movie.


I don't think any of those answers are unreasonable stretches.

I know we've been back and forth over this a few times, nothing you are saying is unreasonable, but it does require some assumptions.

It's just my opinion that there should have been more of a bridge between the end of R1 and the beginning of ANH so that the two would lock together more smoothly (and if it were up to me, I would not have had Tantive IV at Scarif.)

 

[Osato]

I agree with bill hunt!

From the digital bits:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/040717-1900

Now then… back on the subject of Disney and Lucasfilm’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Blu-ray release. The upshot of my review is that it’s a reference quality A/V experience, with HD video and 7.1 surround that’s nearly everything you hope it will be.But the extras are… well, they’re really not good. At all. And I say that as someone who’s covered this industry for more than two decades now, going back to before the dawn of DVD. I know what great special features look like. These aren’t it.

The problem isn’t that the Rogue One extras are bad exactly; it’s actually worse than that. They’re boring… run of the mill, glossy, milled in-house by the studio promotional squeeg, with no substance and little entertainment value. 5 minutes on this, 5 minutes on that, all of it an inch deep and adding up to Zzzzzzzzzz…. This is not at all what dedicated fans have come to expect from the extras on Lucasfilm Blu-ray and DVD releases. It’s frustrating for a couple of reasons. First, this is Star Wars. This beloved franchise should be getting only the very best treatment in terms of its bonus content. But it’s even more frustrating because Lucasfilm used to know how to create great special editions! Go back and look at the extras on The Phantom Menaceon DVD. Check out that first Star Wars Original Trilogy DVD box set. Hell, look even more recently at the Star Wars Saga Blu-ray set.

Let me speak frankly to any Lucasfilm and Disney executive who might be reading this. In fact, let me speak directly to Kathleen Kennedy: I’m sorry to have to say this, but you guys are really dropping the ball on the special features on your Star WarsBlu-ray product. It happened on The Force Awakens, it’s happened again on Rogue One, and it’s probably already happening on The Last Jediand Han Solo too. You’re frustrating your best customers – by which I mean NOT your retail partners clamoring for exclusives, but the actual diehard Star Wars and Blu-ray fans who buy this content. You’re letting them all down. It’s a real problem. Please take it seriously.

 

[WillG]

I think it's fair to say that Vader didn't feel a need to be specific and say "Several transmissions were beamed to the Rebel flagship. I want to know what happened to the plans that were then copied and given to you." It's not as if she would be confused as to what he's talking about if he uses a shorthand. It's worth noting that in ANH, they also refer to the "stolen data tapes" and that doesn't correspond with the "transmissions" talked about earlier in the same movie either.

One thing I can argue about this is that the wording Vader uses "Several transmissions were beamed to this ship. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you" is pretty specific and pretty contradictory to the end of R1. If we were going by that continuity, he would have said "Rebel spies handed off a disk to this ship right before it escaped from Scarif"

The stolen data tapes that Motti refers to makes sense because a physical cartridge was indeed stolen, so that indeed is more or less just a matter of semantics.

Bottom line though, nitpicking aside, is that I thought the very end of R1 was sloppy in the context of continuity with the beginning of ANH. And while I generally disagree with the "R1 was nothing but fan service" attitude of the detractors, I do admit that this is where, IMO, fan service did get the better of them.

I picture a better ending somewhat like this:

You have everything with Vader and handing off the plans except the ship that escapes is NOT Tantive IV.

On the ship there's a brief discussion "What do we do now?" "It's too dangerous to try to deliver these plans to anyone now, We'll wait a little bit, also I have a high ranking contact within the alliance who might help"(this is where the Jimmy Smits cameo could come into play).

Vader and Tarkin: "We're monitoring all transmissions throughout the galaxy. We'll find out wherever those plans are sent"

Then you could have the final "hope" scene with Leia

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I watched the 2D Blu-Ray tonight. Absolutely stunning experience. Revenge of the Sith looks pretty great in HD, but the difference between a 1080p source in the early, early days of digital cinematography and the 6.5k source from the latest and greatest of digital cameras today is staggering. The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith rank among the most visually beautiful mainstream films I've ever seen. And they still hold sizable advantages in production design, art direction and costume design. Because of the nature of the story and the nature of the time period this is set, it's a starker and less beautiful universe. But in spite of those disadvantages, the cinematography makes it all look beautiful. There's a reason we revere those old 70mm productions; it's just a different experience than capturing on 35mm lenses.

This time around, the first half worked better for me (since I already had an investment in these characters) but the flaws in the back half stood out a little more. I still wish that Andor had died defending Jyn from Krennic and his death troopers in the data core, so that Jyn faced Krennic alone by the satellite dish. Given that Krennic derailed her life by kidnapping her father, it felt personal in a way that should have been settled one on one.

I'm watching it now and one thing that immediately jumped out at me was the first Cushing scene. When I saw it in theaters, I was almost convinced by the illusion. On the disc, it just looks animated to me.

Like Robert and Joseph, I found the illusion a lot more believable at home than I did on the big screen. It still wasn't quite there, but it was on the uphill climb of the other side of the uncanny valley, not swimming in its depths.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Like Robert and Joseph, I found the illusion a lot more believable at home than I did on the big screen. It still wasn't quite there, but it was on the uphill climb of the other side of the uncanny valley, not swimming in its depths.

I wrote that comment after seeing the first Tarkin scene at home. He appeared fake to me throughout the movie at home. When I saw it in theaters, I didn't know in advance that the character was going to be in the film, and I actually was fooled into thinking it was an actor until halfway through the movie. At home, it just didn't look right to me - the size of his head seemed off compared to the body, and the movement didn't seem right. Even the body double's physical movements seemed somehow off to me. This was almost completely the opposite of my theatrical experience.

But on the other hand, when I saw the movie in theaters, the Leia bit at the end looked absolutely horrendous to me, and at home, it looked so much better. I almost bought it. If she didn't have to move her lips, I would have totally bought it. Go figure.

For what it's worth, my two theatrical viewings were in a brand new IMAX Laser 3D installation, and my home viewing was on the BD3D.

 

[TravisR]

One thing I can argue about this is that the wording Vader uses "Several transmissions were beamed to this ship. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you" is pretty specific and pretty contradictory to the end of R1. If we were going by that continuity, he would have said "Rebel spies handed off a disk to this ship right before it escaped from Scarif"

I understand your point but I still wouldn't classify it as a continuity error because there is a logical explanation (Vader uses a shorthand and everyone knows what he's talking about). Plus, the plans were beamed to the Profundity (the Rebel flagship) and the Tantive IV was docked on the Profundity when it received the plans. Given that the Tantive IV basically became an escape pod for the Profundity, I can see Vader not worrying about splitting hairs about which precise ship received the plans.

The stolen data tapes that Motti refers to makes sense because a physical cartridge was indeed stolen, so that indeed is more or less just a matter of semantics.

That kind of makes me wonder if anyone would even know that the data tapes were stolen since any record must have been wiped out and anyone who knew was dead. I guess it could be assumed that for them to have been beamed off planet, the data tapes had to have been stolen from the vault.

 

[WillG]

I understand your point but I still wouldn't classify it as a continuity error because there is a logical explanation (Vader uses a shorthand and everyone knows what he's talking about). Plus, the plans were beamed to the Profundity (the Rebel flagship) and the Tantive IV was docked on the Profundity when it received the plans. Given that the Tantive IV basically became an escape pod for the Profundity, I can see Vader not worrying about splitting hairs about which precise ship received the plans.

Well, we may have to agree to disagree here. But I still do believe that Vader using the term "beamed" suggests that the plans were transmitted to Tantive IV sometime later.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

"From a certain point of view, what I said was true..."

 

[cb1]

well, I watched the 3D version last night. PQ was great but 3D was kind of lacking. I rate it 7/10. More of a 2D movie for me.