ROGUE ONE: A Star Wars Story - (15 Dec 2016) Spoiler Free Discussion Thread

Rate ROGUE ONE


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Second watch yesterday.

While it didn't (and couldn't) have quite the same impact as the first time with its many, many surprises; it absolutely holds up to repeat viewings. The visual wow factor of Gareth Edwards' star wars vision is undeniable and literally takes your breath away; whether it's a star destroyer's engines firing up over Jedha; scenes of vast destruction; lingering images of Imperial spaceship porn; or stunning orbital views and planetary vistas; it has more gawp-value than any star wars movie to date (possibly any movie period). And the battle scenes are pure star wars candyland; I can see them being re-watched at home as often as those in Return of the Jedi.

I also enjoyed the characters more this time, especially Cassian Andor and Jyn. I still think Krennic is a terrific character, as is Tarkin (still a superb achievement that works a lot of the time). K-2SO's scenes are also gold: he's earned his spot alongside Artoo, Threepio and BB-8. The score is growing on me too; I keep humming Krennic's theme, and the music near the climax where
the Death Star annihilates Scariff base
is quite beautiful. Pacing issues didn't bother me too much this time and the sombre tone didn't either. This isn't a swashbuckling teen adventure like New Hope or Force Awakens; its a grim tale of warfare and sacrifice in a galaxy far, far away. A triumph.
 
I forgot to ask, did anyone else find the opening half hour really really dark in places? I think it was just an incident at my cinema screen (screen 12 at Enfield cineworld), my mate said it also.
 
I forgot to ask, did anyone else find the opening half hour really really dark in places? I think it was just an incident at my cinema screen (screen 12 at Enfield cineworld), my mate said it also.
It was dark in the Cinema I watched it in but that's because they always turn the lights off;)
 
*Shakes fist!*

Why you pesky so and so!
 
Second watch yesterday.

While it didn't (and couldn't) have quite the same impact as the first time with its many, many surprises; it absolutely holds up to repeat viewings. The visual wow factor of Gareth Edwards' star wars vision is undeniable and literally takes your breath away; whether it's a star destroyer's engines firing up over Jedha; scenes of vast destruction; lingering images of Imperial spaceship porn; or stunning orbital views and planetary vistas; it has more gawp-value than any star wars movie to date (possibly any movie period). And the battle scenes are pure star wars candyland; I can see them being re-watched at home as often as those in Return of the Jedi.

I also enjoyed the characters more this time, especially Cassian Andor and Jyn. I still think Krennic is a terrific character, as is Tarkin (still a superb achievement that works a lot of the time). K-2SO's scenes are also gold: he's earned his spot alongside Artoo, Threepio and BB-8. The score is growing on me too; I keep humming Krennic's theme, and the music near the climax where
the Death Star annihilates Scariff base
is quite beautiful. Pacing issues didn't bother me too much this time and the sombre tone didn't either. This isn't a swashbuckling teen adventure like New Hope or Force Awakens; its a grim tale of warfare and sacrifice in a galaxy far, far away. A triumph.

Like yourself I've now watched it twice , first 3D IMAX and then on a 2d 4K screen for me. I did this with TFA and the 3D added some great depth and scale to some ( rusting Star Destroyer's ) scenes. This though I have to say was pretty piss poor on the 3D IMAX front especially as it goes balls out in the final act visually. On my second 2d 4K viewing the PQ is simply outstanding to anything I've watched lately at the cinema. Gonna be a great BD, or UHD BD , pretty please Disney.
 
Has anyone tried an this in 4DX? I'm tempted but also think I might be better off just watching it in 2D as sometimes I can find 3D a bit distracting. So the 4D stuff might just piss me off
 
Edwards;
"On day one, we were in Lucasfilm in San Francisco with Industrial Light and Magic and John Knowles, our supervisor, he said that they’ve got a brand new 4K restoration print of A New Hope it had literally just been finished. He suggested we sit and watch it."
 
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I do love this film but the end is a bit quick. It goes from
princess Leia turning around to the camera and saying "Hope"
to straight to the directed by end credit sequence. It just is a massive jump in my opinion and would have been better if the transition was less in your face. Also as much as the CGI work in this film is superb the
digital Peter Cushing & Carrie Fisher
look very unreal especially with
Carrie Fisher's face seeming to chubby compared to how she looked in
A New Hope. She just looks
weird full face, but her profile does look convincing.
Still it is a great SW film no doubt.
 
Holy shit this was awesome. The final act of the film is brilliant and the ending of the film is one of the best I've seen. Might be a bit OTT that statement but it I don't care. Lol
 
Holy sh*t this was awesome. The final act of the film is brilliant and the ending of the film is one of the best I've seen. Might be a bit OTT that statement but it I don't care. Lol

You're allowed to gush. It's a great time to be a star wars fan :smashin:.
 
It is indeed. I just hope they manage to keep the form going with 8 and Han Solo
 
I hope they're not going to
CGI Ford's face onto another
actor? ;)
 
They've done such a good job with Rogue One, do we think there is any chance they may re make the prequels??
 
They've done such a good job with Rogue One, do we think there is any chance they may re make the prequels??

I flipping hope not but I suppose eventually everything gets a remake.
 
It is indeed. I just hope they manage to keep the form going with 8 and Han Solo

There was some news way back from JJ who said we will be in for a treat with ep8 having seen the script they'd put together for it, so hopefully RIan Johnson has put some greater depth to the story and charectors created in TFA :smashin:.

The Han Solo standalone is going to be the hard one to get right with such an iconic and beloved charector. If they pull it of and get the chemistry between Han and Lando right I could see a trilogy come from it.

Ain't it bloody great though to be discussing future SW films again, rather than the delights or failings of the six Lucasfilm offerings.
 
Like yourself I've now watched it twice , first 3D IMAX and then on a 2d 4K screen for me. I did this with TFA and the 3D added some great depth and scale to some ( rusting Star Destroyer's ) scenes. This though I have to say was pretty piss poor on the 3D IMAX front especially as it goes balls out in the final act visually. On my second 2d 4K viewing the PQ is simply outstanding to anything I've watched lately at the cinema. Gonna be a great BD, or UHD BD , pretty please Disney.

I agree, I have seen it 4 times now, twice in laser IMAX 3D, once in normal 2D and once in IMAX 2D. Laser IMAX 3D (Empire) has a strange cloud like perimeter which can be irritating, a shame as the main viewing area is quite stunning in definition and with reasonably better dynamic range and brightness levels compared to RealD 3D at normal cinemas. The space battle in 3D is incredibly immersive, though and worth seeing in this format just for that.

But its in 2D that the whole film absolutely sweeps me away in its full dynamic range of colours and the space battle scenes becomes thunderously epic in scope (as opposed to being immersive in 3D). So one might have a personal preference to enjoy 3D for the immersion or in 2D for the epic scope. Me, I prefer the benefits of 2D. The worst experience by far would be Normal RealD 3d cinemas and also non-laser IMAX 3D.




I posted enough about my thoughts on the film itself but as I have seen it 4 times now, I love the movie more and more with every viewing because I am so attached to the characters and the super cool moments continue to enthrall me.

I want to talk space and ground battle scenes in all the Star Wars films.

Opening of Revenge of the Sith wins out in scale, artistry, ambition and execution but the battle scenes in Rogue One and A New Hope are the more emotionally driven which for me, is the most important factor in a great battle scene. Revenge of the Sith wowed me and had my adrenaline pumping from the get go, as we join the two greatest Jedi Knights in the SW Universe on a daring mission described by the opening crawl. Brilliant setup and frankly, still has to be beaten for its slickness in execution which Lucas is a master of, regardless of how he is perceived as a director, overall. I cant think of many films pumping me blood at a start of a movie like that.

A New Hope however, is and I think may always be the greatest space battle for several reasons. It was ahead of its time, and given the limitations of special effects in those days, it was amazingly fluid, pacy and adrenaline fuelled but most of all, it was dramatic and emotional as we absolutely wanted our favourite farmboy to succeed. The impact of that battle, no matter how much technology has advanced and how much more slick, battle scenes are executed today, might never match the impact of that final space battle in A New Hope (for me).

Return of the Jedi was technically superior and while it was dramatic, exciting, and so well spliced with the sabre duel and Endor mission, it doesnt quite reach the emotional impact of A New Hope (though Jedi's last act was a triumpant and very satisfying conclusion)

Phantom Menace was fun and very ambitious for its time (I actually like Jar Jar's and the droids comedy) but the battles were not spliced well especially having Jar Jar being comically stupid straight after a tragic moment. No wonder so many people hated Jar Jar! Also, on repeat viewings the gunguns are too cartoony now. At the time, I loved the whole spectacle and didnt think how cartoony they looked but very the years, it now shows too much for me but I still love watching it but the battle doesnt cut it, anywhere as emotionally and as thrilling the rest of the saga's battles.

Empire Strikes back has no space battle but the one on Hoth was outstanding and unique. But again, it does not carry the emotional heft of A New Hope, Return of the Jedi or ROgue One. Same goes for Attack of the Clones. The clone wars had a nice shakey cam urgency touch but doesnt have the adrenaline and awe of the originals.

Then wham, along comes Rogue One, whose final act comes so damn close to being the greatest! It delivered a thrilling final act in the vein of Return of the Jedi and Phantom Menace, in which it splices the action in 3 or more different locations (all equally dramatic and enthralling). But Rogue One advances that structure by having all the separate action scenes interact to drive further compelling sub missions, as each party updates each other in a dynamic progression from one party to another. I found that stupendous. If this was a non-star wars movie, this would have been an all time greatest action war film in its own right. The feel and ambience of the last act felt like a combination of the good ol' 60s/70s war movies such as A Bridge too Far, Where Eagles Dare, Dirty Dozen and most of all vintage Star Wars! The execution of space and ground battles were simply electrifying and beautifully executed with obvious passion and skill.

The main characters were well defined and deserving of our emotional attachment. We dont get backgrounds to all of them, why the hell should we? We know who they are, what they stand for and their personality. Name a movie that fleshes out origins and backgrounds to all main characters. All those great war movies, none of them do that. Dont drag a film with such unnecessary expositions. The focus in this film is about the Death star plans, so naturally Jyn Erso gets that more detailed background focus. Its nonsense to clutter a narrative with anyone else's unless the film's focus is on character journeys which it is not. This was highly efficient wartime storytelling and the film was clearly streamlined to stay on target!

I find nothing "choppy" (a word I see used many times here) about the first half of the movie. It all felt well connected to me with some great intros to some of the main support players. There could have been more on the upbringing of Jyn Erso but at what cost in terms of pacing and focus? I'd love to see a separate story of Jyn's upbringing and no doubt several adventures to fit in that time frame. But otherwise, the existing structure served an enjoyable and very clear cut narrative.
I also loved the nice touches of humour from K2SO and Chirrut/Baze friendship. Always need some humour sprinkled and they did just that.

Talking of Chirrut, being a huge Donnie Yen fan, I do enjoy his small contribution probably more than those who dont know of him. I've since bought Elite series action toys of Chirrut Imwe and Jyn Erso to add to my "very played with" star wars toys (I never call them collection) :)
doesnt matter they dont last more than one movie but they can always appear in the excellent Rebels animated series, at least Chirrut, Baze, and Erso


I really love the main characters. K2SO certainly steals the show with his candid and sarcastic humour. Jyn Erso is actually the coolest female action heroine of the saga for me. Chirrut is just a pure geeky delight for me and I absolultely love his stubbornly over-reliance on the force much to the annoyance of equally enjoyable Baze who's disapproval of Chirrut's force reliance cues nice moments of banter. Cassian serves his purpose but he was the only one (out of the main characters) I didnt care for his fate much but I enjoyed his part nevertheless.

Every moment of Darth Vader's presence just makes me giddy. He was used seldom but boy was he used at the right moments. He adds a wonderful heft and quality to the film. Having James Earl Jones still voicing him, despite the fact he does sound older and slightly slower in his vocal delivery, he still has the power to make me tremor in awe. My only negative is I wished he didnt make his aspirations line a corny pun. Vader never makes puns. But I still love his dramatic delivery despite that.

Moff Tarkin rocked, and yes, he was a distraction on my first viewing only because I was wowing at the fact I am watching Moff Tarkin as played by Peter Cusion, and not paying attention to the dialogue! Yes, I looked for imperfections but bloody hell, I'll take those imperfections any day, to have Moff Tarking fully immersed in the story. I enjoy his character in Clones Wars and Rebels animated series so why not here?! What was important, was that they were faithful to his character, nuances and expressions. Man, I love that he played a big part. I'm so shocked. Awesome.

And Princess Leia was awesome to see too. On fourth viewing still a tingling sensation on seeing her...I wish they actually gave here the line "a new hope", I'm sure they thought that but perhaps felt too corny...fair enough, they are film makers, they know best and when she says "hope", its still a wonderful finish


BTW I totally respect and understand those that were underwhelmed by the movie. we each have different receptiveness to elements in the film. Its all down to how much one enjoys the positives over the negatives and how much any negatives may affect their enjoyment. So guys, dont go bashing Bash for instance! I agree with one of his negative points, its just to me, its a tiny negative.

Another negative I hear of is the specific use of CGI. I personally think its brilliant and the use of it for certain characters was stunning and made the film even more special for it. It does not matter if its not pitch perfect, just imagine certain characters has a cold or something ;) The CGI is simply stunning and I hope they can continue to be as risk taking and daring with it in future because what they did here totally rocked for me. What mattered to me was that it was all faithful in character and nuance.

I think I have by now completely exhaled my thoughts over the past week for this movie!

I rated it 8.5/10 on first viewing then 9/10 on third viewing...I'll stick to that rating, as I reserve 10 and 9.5 for Empire and A New Hope ;)

9/10
 
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I agree, I have seen it 4 times now, twice in laser IMAX 3D, once in normal 2D and once in IMAX 2D. Laser IMAX 3D (Empire) has a strange cloud like perimeter which can be irritating, a shame as the main viewing area is quite stunning in definition and with reasonably better dynamic range and brightness levels compared to RealD 3D at normal cinemas. The space battle in 3D is incredibly immersive, though and worth seeing in this format just for that.

But its in 2D that the whole film absolutely sweeps me away in its full dynamic range of colours and the space battle scenes becomes thunderously epic in scope (as opposed to being immersive in 3D). So one might have a personal preference to enjoy 3D for the immersion or in 2D for the epic scope. Me, I prefer the benefits of 2D. The worst experience by far would be Normal RealD 3d cinemas and also non-laser IMAX 3D.




I posted enough about my thoughts on the film itself but as I have seen it 4 times now, I love the movie more and more with every viewing because I am so attached to the characters and the super cool moments continue to enthrall me.

I want to talk space and ground battle scenes in all the Star Wars films.

Opening of Revenge of the Sith wins out in scale, artistry, ambition and execution but the battle scenes in Rogue One and A New Hope are the more emotionally driven which for me, is the most important factor in a great battle scene. Revenge of the Sith wowed me and had my adrenaline pumping from the get go, as we join the two greatest Jedi Knights in the SW Universe on a daring mission described by the opening crawl. Brilliant setup and frankly, still has to be beaten for its slickness in execution which Lucas is a master of, regardless of how he is perceived as a director, overall. I cant think of many films pumping me blood at a start of a movie like that.

A New Hope however, is and I think may always be the greatest space battle for several reasons. It was ahead of its time, and given the limitations of special effects in those days, it was amazingly fluid, pacy and adrenaline fuelled but most of all, it was dramatic and emotional as we absolutely wanted our favourite farmboy to succeed. The impact of that battle, no matter how much technology has advanced and how much more slick, battle scenes are executed today, might never match the impact of that final space battle in A New Hope (for me).

Return of the Jedi was technically superior and while it was dramatic, exciting, and so well spliced with the sabre duel and Endor mission, it doesnt quite reach the emotional impact of A New Hope (though Jedi's last act was a triumpant and very satisfying conclusion)

Phantom Menace was fun and very ambitious for its time (I actually like Jar Jar's and the droids comedy) but the battles were not spliced well especially having Jar Jar being comically stupid straight after a tragic moment. No wonder so many people hated Jar Jar! Also, on repeat viewings the gunguns are too cartoony now. At the time, I loved the whole spectacle and didnt think how cartoony they looked but very the years, it now shows too much for me but I still love watching it but the battle doesnt cut it, anywhere as emotionally and as thrilling the rest of the saga's battles.

Empire Strikes back has no space battle but the one on Hoth was outstanding and unique. But again, it does not carry the emotional heft of A New Hope, Return of the Jedi or ROgue One. Same goes for Attack of the Clones. The clone wars had a nice shakey cam urgency touch but doesnt have the adrenaline and awe of the originals.

Then wham, along comes Rogue One, whose final act comes so damn close to being the greatest! It delivered a thrilling final act in the vein of Return of the Jedi and Phantom Menace, in which it splices the action in 3 or more different locations (all equally dramatic and enthralling). But Rogue One advances that structure by having all the separate action scenes interact to drive further compelling sub missions, as each party updates each other in a dynamic progression from one party to another. I found that stupendous. If this was a non-star wars movie, this would have been an all time greatest action war film in its own right. The feel and ambience of the last act felt like a combination of the good ol' 60s/70s war movies such as A Bridge too Far, Where Eagles Dare, Dirty Dozen and most of all vintage Star Wars! The execution of space and ground battles were simply electrifying and beautifully executed with obvious passion and skill.

The main characters were well defined and deserving of our emotional attachment. We dont get backgrounds to all of them, why the hell should we? We know who they are, what they stand for and their personality. Name a movie that fleshes out origins and backgrounds to all main characters. All those great war movies, none of them do that. Dont drag a film with such unnecessary expositions. The focus in this film is about the Death star plans, so naturally Jyn Erso gets that more detailed background focus. Its nonsense to clutter a narrative with anyone else's unless the film's focus is on character journeys which it is not. This was highly efficient wartime storytelling and the film was clearly streamlined to stay on target!

I find nothing "choppy" (a word I see used many times here) about the first half of the movie. It all felt well connected to me with some great intros to some of the main support players. There could have been more on the upbringing of Jyn Erso but at what cost in terms of pacing and focus? I'd love to see a separate story of Jyn's upbringing and no doubt several adventures to fit in that time frame. But otherwise, the existing structure served an enjoyable and very clear cut narrative.
I also loved the nice touches of humour from K2SO and Chirrut/Baze friendship. Always need some humour sprinkled and they did just that.

Talking of Chirrut, being a huge Donnie Yen fan, I do enjoy his small contribution probably more than those who dont know of him. I've since bought Elite series action toys of Chirrut Imwe and Jyn Erso to add to my "very played with" star wars toys (I never call them collection) :)
doesnt matter they dont last more than one movie but they can always appear in the excellent Rebels animated series, at least Chirrut, Baze, and Erso


I really love the main characters. K2SO certainly steals the show with his candid and sarcastic humour. Jyn Erso is actually the coolest female action heroine of the saga for me. Chirrut is just a pure geeky delight for me and I absolultely love his stubbornly over-reliance on the force much to the annoyance of equally enjoyable Baze who's disapproval of Chirrut's force reliance cues nice moments of banter. Cassian serves his purpose but he was the only one (out of the main characters) I didnt care for his fate much but I enjoyed his part nevertheless.

Every moment of Darth Vader's presence just makes me giddy. He was used seldom but boy was he used at the right moments. He adds a wonderful heft and quality to the film. Having James Earl Jones still voicing him, despite the fact he does sound older and slightly slower in his vocal delivery, he still has the power to make me tremor in awe. My only negative is I wished he didnt make his aspirations line a corny pun. Vader never makes puns. But I still love his dramatic delivery despite that.

Moff Tarkin rocked, and yes, he was a distraction on my first viewing only because I was wowing at the fact I am watching Moff Tarkin as played by Peter Cusion, and not paying attention to the dialogue! Yes, I looked for imperfections but bloody hell, I'll take those imperfections any day, to have Moff Tarking fully immersed in the story. I enjoy his character in Clones Wars and Rebels animated series so why not here?! What was important, was that they were faithful to his character, nuances and expressions. Man, I love that he played a big part. I'm so shocked. Awesome.

And Princess Leia was awesome to see too. On fourth viewing still a tingling sensation on seeing her...I wish they actually gave here the line "a new hope", I'm sure they thought that but perhaps felt too corny...fair enough, they are film makers, they know best and when she says "hope", its still a wonderful finish


BTW I totally respect and understand those that were underwhelmed by the movie. we each have different receptiveness to elements in the film. Its all down to how much one enjoys the positives over the negatives and how much any negatives may affect their enjoyment. So guys, dont go bashing Bash for instance! I agree with one of his negative points, its just to me, its a tiny negative.

Another negative I hear of is the specific use of CGI. I personally think its brilliant and the use of it for certain characters was stunning and made the film even more special for it. It does not matter if its not pitch perfect, just imagine certain characters has a cold or something ;) The CGI is simply stunning and I hope they can continue to be as risk taking and daring with it in future because what they did here totally rocked for me. What mattered to me was that it was all faithful in character and nuance.

I think I have by now completely exhaled my thoughts over the past week for this movie!

I rated it 8.5/10 on first viewing then 9/10 on third viewing...I'll stick to that rating, as I reserve 10 and 9.5 for Empire and A New Hope ;)

9/10

I believe we are using choppy ( used it myself ) as a general term as ( for me personally ) that part of the film could of easily have an extra half hour to flesh out the charectors. There were moments where i almost expected a SCENE MISSING banner :). As it's a Magnificent Seven, Dirty Dozen storyline for me it needed a little more time to flesh out the charectors.

Saying that though this part of the film more than any SW film truly established the length the alliance would go in its fight against the Empire. It shows just how desperate they are and the ruthless tactics they will employ. For that I believe Gareth Edwards got it spot on as there is no Jedi white knight hero to save the day with a single shot from a blaster.
 
I believe we are using choppy ( used it myself ) as a general term as ( for me personally ) that part of the film could of easily have an extra half hour to flesh out the charectors. There were moments where i almost expected a SCENE MISSING banner :). As it's a Magnificent Seven, Dirty Dozen storyline for me it needed a little more time to flesh out the charectors.

I'm Saying that though this part of the film more than any SW film truly established the length the alliance would go in its fight against the Empire. It shows just how desperate they are and the ruthless tactics they will employ. For that I believe Gareth Edwards got it spot on as there is no Jedi white knight hero to save the day with a single shot from a blaster.

Ha, insert (Cassian's flashback to when he was six years old here), insert (how Chirrut goes blind here) (insert longass scene of Erso and Cassian getting to the beach here whilst showing more eye gazing at each longing for more) ;)

Ok, for me, here's the thing about what I believe is the proper formula for character development and storytelling in movies

Every single scene must serve the progression of story and character motive.
All character development must be integrated within the above story scenes.

This is where directors like Spielberg and JJ Abrams show their mastery. Watch deleted scenes on most blu rays, and most often we think, hey nice scene with those characters....but adds nothing new to the story and therefore, a burden to the pacing of the film. We must never have extra scenes solely for character development (in an action/fantasy movie genre). Most extended editions of movies we love, almost always suffer from pacing issues with few exceptions (eg Kingdom of Heaven and The Wolverine). It is down to the capabilities of a director to establish the character development within the context of the story. So if you feel there was not enough character fleshing (which I can fully understand), then that is Edwards failure to do so within the existing scenes but adding extra scenes would not help the film as the film is near perfectly paced imho and the story feels whole. Films are like songs, its all about rhythm and beat whilst being expressive and telling a whole story. Takes skill and artistry to achieve that in whole.

Edwards has much to learn in the area of giving more spark to character developments but this was certainly a stark improvement over his Godzilla film! Btw Magnificent Seven was a severely meandering movie imho, one of the few classics that bewilder me in its status. Dirty Dozen is one of my favoruite war films but if you watch it today, it too meanders too much in its first half. Rogue one streamlined all that but was still clear cut in the nature of the characters whilst giving us character moments to enjoy. JJ Abrams would have definitely delivered more to your desires in character development as he is by far the greater director in that arena. Gareth Edwards is not and I actually had the lowest of expectations for this movie because of Edwards inability to inject spark and character development in his actors.

But Edwards (and I suspect largely the production team) more than made up for that in their passion to deliver a rollicking paced action war movie but gave enough character and realtionship to make me care about them. Was there any missing story or character drive/motive? I didnt think so but if there is, then that's where we can do with extra scenes.

Batman vs Superman failed to justify the motives of the 3 main protagonists but the extended edition remeied this...but then by doing so failed to maintain proper pacing but in this case the extended edition was preferable for that clarity in motives.

There is a lot of traversing locations scenes, perhaps that might have seemed "choppy"? I can understand that. But star wars movies always had that "choppy" feel, which actually was part of its character stylised by that swipe effect. So for me, it didnt have a negative on me but again, we all might react differently to it.

Having said all that, I'd love to see an extended edition of Rogue One if there will be one but only for the sake of seeing more moments of our favourite characters after having my full dose of watching the original editions but I am willing to bet that pacing would severely suffer. I love watching extended editions of all my favourite movies just to get more of my favourite characters or enjoy new action scenes but almost always, the originals are the better balanced movies.

I totally get your choppy criticism though! Perhaps, there should be more character motive for Cassian, Jyn and Chirrut? I felt it was enough but fair enough if many of you feel there should be more.
 
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Ha, insert (Cassian's flashback to when he was six years old here), insert (how Chirrut goes blind here) (insert longass scene of Erso and Cassian getting to the beach here whilst showing more eye gazing at each longing for more) ;)

Ok, for me, here's the thing about what I believe is the proper formula for character development and storytelling in movies

Every single scene must serve the progression of story and character motive.
All character development must be integrated within the above story scenes.

This is where directors like Spielberg and JJ Abrams show their mastery. Watch deleted scenes on most blu rays, and most often we think, hey nice scene with those characters....but adds nothing new to the story and therefore, a burden to the pacing of the film. We must never have extra scenes solely for character development (in an action/fantasy movie genre). Most extended editions of movies we love, almost always suffer from pacing issues with few exceptions (eg Kingdom of Heaven and The Wolverine). It is down to the capabilities of a director to establish the character development within the context of the story. So if you feel there was not enough character fleshing (which I can fully understand), then that is Edwards failure to do so within the existing scenes but adding extra scenes would not help the film as the film is near perfectly paced imho and the story feels whole. Films are like songs, its all about rhythm and beat whilst being expressive and telling a whole story. Takes skill and artistry to achieve that in whole.

Edwards has much to learn in the area of giving more spark to character developments but this was certainly a stark improvement over his Godzilla film! Btw Magnificent Seven was a severely meandering movie imho, one of the few classics that bewilder me in its status. Dirty Dozen is one of my favoruite war films but if you watch it today, it too meanders too much in its first half. Rogue one streamlined all that but was still clear cut in the nature of the characters whilst giving us character moments to enjoy. JJ Abrams would have definitely delivered more to your desires in character development as he is by far the greater director in that arena. Gareth Edwards is not and I actually had the lowest of expectations for this movie because of Edwards inability to inject spark and character development in his actors.

But Edwards (and I suspect largely the production team) more than made up for that in their passion to deliver a rollicking paced action war movie but gave enough character and realtionship to make me care about them. Was there any missing story or character drive/motive? I didnt think so but if there is, then that's where we can do with extra scenes.

Batman vs Superman failed to justify the motives of the 3 main protagonists but the extended edition remeied this...but then by doing so failed to maintain proper pacing but in this case the extended edition was preferable for that clarity in motives.

There is a lot of traversing locations scenes, perhaps that might have seemed "choppy"? I can understand that. But star wars movies always had that "choppy" feel, which actually was part of its character stylised by that swipe effect. So for me, it didnt have a negative on me but again, we all might react differently to it.

Having said all that, I'd love to see an extended edition of Rogue One if there will be one but only for the sake of seeing more moments of our favourite characters after having my full dose of watching the original editions but I am willing to bet that pacing would severely suffer. I love watching extended editions of all my favourite movies just to get more of my favourite characters or enjoy new action scenes but almost always, the originals are the better balanced movies.

I totally get your choppy criticism though! Perhaps, there should be more character motive for Cassian, Jyn and Chirrut? I felt it was enough but fair enough if many of you feel there should be more.

I really don't want to disagree with you as your points are valid . However I do appreciate the discussion. For me I need a little fleshing out on charectors motives and prime example would be the Empire pilot in this piece , a major player of when and why that is lightly dusted over for a major shift and He becomes a main centrepiece to the main storyline. It doesnt spoil the experience but a few little touches could of been perfect , almost :).
 
now stands at over $400 million box office

seems i was the only one disappointed with Orson Krennic , thought he was going to be a bad ass, but no.
 

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