Well, I saw it yesterday and well, um, it was... ok. I'd been hearing about 90% 'it was great' and 10% 'it was awful' but to me it was decent but it should have been so much better. 

Just seems so odd to me Hollywood has thrown billions of dollars and top-notch talent at all the newer films both the pre-sequels and the Disney films and they can't come close to the imagination, excitment, charm, and just plain fun of a movie made back in '77 on a shoestring budget by a director no one had ever heard of. 

Just for one thing, the characters in the original movies were timeless, Luke the farm boy with a far-away look in his eyes, Han the rogue with a heart of gold but a little rough around the edges, Obi-wan the wise mentor with a troubled past and quite a few secrets. Even characters like Lando who was sorta a knock-off of Han were memorable. Here, I can't even remember most of the characters names.

I liked the blind swordsman monk at first, he seemed an interesting change in the 'burnt-out' Jedi archtype. He had some amusing quips and some interplay with heavy weapons monk, but as the movie went on the writers seemed to lose interest in the character. And eventually I'm not even that sure why they chose to tap along to the Imperial records planet.

And Craddock or what ever his name was- white tunic bad guy as just dull. I did like the interplay of setting him and Tarkin up as rivals but as compared to Tarkin, Vader and the other original villians he just seemed flat and dull. 

I did enjoy the big ground and space battle at the end but the rest of the movie just seemed a bit of a slog to get up to it as opposed to the original films that seemed zip along from one exciting scene to the next. Frankly I'm glad I went to see it but won't see it again nor do I have any desire to pick it up on DVD. 

And if you guys will indulge me here, can someone please explain computers to Hollywood!?!! The Death Star plans were a friggin' computer file for crying out loud, YOU CAN MAKE AS MANY COPIES OF IT AS YOU WANT!!! There' no reason after the Mon Calamori got the plans they couldn't have sent out copies to every Rebel ship in the fleet, the Rebel base, copied it to a zillion storage devices etc! Maybe I missed it but throw in something about how the Star Destroyers were jamming them from sending the files out by transmission or how the files had some sort of copy protection to keep you from endlessly duplicating them- just a simple fig leaf would have worked... 

And as to the CGI characters, I thought Tarkin looked pretty good in some scenes and fell in a horrible 'uncanny valley' in others. And one little nagging thing, Cushing wasn't a very tall guy, but here they have him looming over white tunic baddie. He did this to Leia in the original yeah but I'm assuming Fisher isn't that tall either. Just seemed to make the character seem even more off. 

Both Leia and Tarkin had body doubles with CGI done to the face. It reminded me of the people in Polar Express, too cartoon-y.

There were two new ships of note, the U-Wing which looked like a snow speeder, but designed to be used like an aerial assault vehicle. The ship makes more sense than many other Star Wars designs.

Then there looked like a new type of TIE fighter. Then the traditional shuttle styles used by the director and the stolen supply shuttle. Similar in concept, but each different from previous versions.

As far as his mantra, yes speaking it so loudly that he probably couldn't even hear (what apparently was his main defensive ability) what was going on around him.

Rob Gronovius

 

Big Jake

I have no complaints about the series, I've made decent money over the years building the models for clients. BUT one must ask - as to a franchise, How many PRE-Quils do you need.  IMHO

 

 

 

 Some parts could have been done better. For instance, the chanting, "I am one with the Force. The Force is with me" seems forced (no pun intended) like the character is trying to convince himself, but he's already demonstrated a certain oneness with the Force.

Yes, if he had just murmured it under his breath it would have seemed genuine and not annoying.  It's like some guy in prison shouting "Namu Amida Butsu" over and over again, drowning out all the other guys' conversations.  NOT the way of the Force.

To me there were a number of WTH things in the movie, like the air shield from Space Balls protecting Scarif.  The Rebels should have tried entering "1-2-3-4-5" into the Imperial security system to see if it opened the door.  And did anyone else notice the Star Destroyers looked really fake, like poster board models that were washed out with lighting?  There was no sense of massivity, something that all ISDs in the past captured so well.  The 1977 opening shot got it right the first time.  And if someome tries to smarty-pants me by saying the director wanted to hark back back to the old, less detailed 1977 ISD model, please insert light saber into body orifice and switch on.  The new ship designs seemed lazy to me, so no model kit purchases will be forthcoming.  Tarkin looked like a video game villain, with stiff, rubber-like facial expressions that didn't do a good job of imitating Peter Cushing.  I wonder if they could not have gotten a live actor to portray him.  I was also annoyed by the incessant barrage of Easter eggs, which felt like pandering to me.  Blue milk.  Dr. Evazan and his walrus pal.  C3PO and R2.  Star Wars Rebels cartoon tie-ins...

Okay switching off "Rage-I:  A Star Wars Sorry" mode.  To be honest I graded this movie a lot harsher than "The Fakewakens", aka TFA.  I guess I was expecting this one to move beyond the recycled junk of TFA and the stupidity of the prequels. But overall, I did enjoy the movie.  K-2SO was a hit with me.  Before seeing the movie, I wasn't sure if I would like the character, but he was great from the first scene.  The space dogfights were spectacular, and the "feel" of the environments were definitely Star Wars.  The ending was certainly brave of Disney, which surprised me (and that does not happen often with movies).  And that's a good thing.

OK back to modeling.  Just not Rogue-I models.

Big Jake

I have no complaints about the series, I've made decent money over the years building the models for clients. BUT one must ask - as to a franchise, How many PRE-Quils do you need.  IMHO

 

This prequel answers a nearly 40 year old nitpick that was asked after the first movie. It was a very good movie that is fun to watch right before watching the original movie (aka A New Hope, but will always be known as "Star Wars" to me).

Some parts could have been done better. For instance, the chanting, "I am one with the Force. The Force is with me" seems forced (no pun intended) like the character is trying to convince himself, but he's already demonstrated a certain oneness with the Force.

lewbud

Saw it yesterday.  It's a good movie. Probably not needed as Stik said, but it will make the Mouse a ton of money.  As I told a friend, it's hard to make a movie where the general details are known.  They did a good job with the story.  If the special effects guys don't get an Oscar nod, I'll eat my Xacto.  I now want a U-Wing and the Imperial cargo ship they used.

 

Revell issued two new kits, the U-Wing and the Cargo AT-AT (with the orange side door) that do the lights and sounds like the kits from The Force Awakens. They even put the Millenium Falcon from that series into the new boxes. I saw them for $19.99 to $24.99 depending on the store.

They also did a new lights and sound Star Destroyer.

Saw it tonight, and loved it. More that like please.

lewbud

 

 

stikpusher

This prequel was better than the other three. Needed? not really, but it gave a great story to the original movie's opening prologue first paragraph.

 

 

 

 

As many that will make the Mouse money. But, I think they're done. 

 

As new as the film is, I'll hold off on giving a definitive reply to your second point. But we do know that the sequel was released in 1977

lewbud

 

stikpusher

This prequel was better than the other three. Needed? not really, but it gave a great story to the original movie's opening prologue first paragraph.

 

 

 

 

As many that will make the Mouse money. But, I think they're done. 

 

There aree suppossed to be 3 stand alones, so don't count on it. But as long as they are good movies, keep em coming.

Would be nice to see the Empire win at least once though.

Big Jake

I have no complaints about the series, I've made decent money over the years building the models for clients. BUT one must ask - as to a franchise, How many PRE-Quils do you need.  IMHO

 

I meant to reply to this.  As many that will make the Mouse money.

stikpusher

This prequel was better than the other three. Needed? not really, but it gave a great story to the original movie's opening prologue first paragraph.

 

As many that will make the Mouse money. But, I think they're done. 

Saw it yesterday.  It's a good movie. Probably not needed as Stik said, but it will make the Mouse a ton of money.  As I told a friend, it's hard to make a movie where the general details are known.  They did a good job with the story.  If the special effects guys don't get an Oscar nod, I'll eat my Xacto.  I now want a U-Wing and the Imperial cargo ship they used.

This prequel was better than the other three. Needed? not really, but it gave a great story to the original movie's opening prologue first paragraph.

I have no complaints about the series, I've made decent money over the years building the models for clients. BUT one must ask - as to a franchise, How many PRE-Quils do you need.  IMHO

Saw it... Loved it.... wont say anything more in order not to give away any plot stuff...

Better than the last four... maybe five movies...

I'm seeing it tomorrow and I can't wait. So excited.

Starship Communicator

I expect Revell USA will be coming out with the U-Wing fighter and the TIE Striker. What other kits they are going to come out with I don't know. You can check with me at https://www.facebook.com/StarWarsSagaComlink/ I run a pade dedicated to Star Wars model kits.

 

I really hope Bandai issue model figure kits of the new Shoretrooper and Tank Commander variants of the classic Stormtrooper - I love the look of those guys!

I'm in the same boat as Cliff, going to give it a few days to let the rush die down a bit. Then go see it and maybe see it twice just for kicks! 

Lucky guys! I'll be seeing it after a week or two when the rush dies down. 

Love that you're seeing it in the same theater you saw SW in SP! I first watched all the original movies on TV since I didn't get to go see movies unless my sister wanted to see them too and she didn't want to see 'a bunch of space stuff'.  

I too have been to every openning showing since the beginning,  can't wait for this one

John

Got our tickets booked for Sat night. I am dragging the Mrs along but only because she doesn'twant me to look like a saddo all on my own (like that worries me). Really looking forward to this and the critics here are saying thgis is the best SW movie in years.

And don't forget, if you have not already signed up, we have our own Star Wars hype kicking off tomorrow.

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/173109.aspx

Didn't get tickets in time to go opening night, but I'm surprising my daughter (who is a huge SW fan) and taking Friday off to go see the early showing.  Can't wait to see her reaction we she sees me home waving two tickets to Rogue One!!!!

Lucky you Stik!  The theater I first saw Star Wars (the real Episode I) back in 1977 is now a Papa John's.  The Cinerama on South King Street screened it for around two years if I remember correctly.  I saw Empire and Jedi there in 1980 and 1983.  Jedi was the only movie I ever camped out in front of the theater all night long to catch the very first 9:00 am screening.  I was so tired that if someone had jumped up and shone a flashlight in my eyes, I would have gasped "Oh wow, that's GREAT!!!"  Ha ha, stupid kids.  Sadly the Cinerama is gone as well.

I think the one good thing about multi-plex theaters is that you no longer have to go to one specific theater to see a particular movie.  And yeah, that shows my age.  I also remember those big clunky speakers you hung on your car door while at a drive in theater.  It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Fingers crossed that R1 will deliver and not have WTF moments.    At least the previews have the "feel" of authentic Star Wars.  Too bad the ship designs were so lazy, because that's what hooked me the first time.  The Y-Wing was the catalyst that got me thinking about scratchbuilding.

Well the hype has arrived... my family and i are going to a late nite showing on the 15th... I am really looking forward to this one now... at the same place where I saw the original back in 1977...

i can't wait...

Great skit. Thanks for shareing.

stikpusher

 

GAF

 

 

Gamera

A movie or three or even a TV series as you said about this does sound pretty cool.

 

 

 

Ewoks... need I say more? 

 

 

 

 

Live action episodes TV?

Give it to these guys...

 

I remember watching that a while back, brilliant. All suspects are guilty, period. Love it.

GAF

 

 

Gamera

A movie or three or even a TV series as you said about this does sound pretty cool.

 

 

 

Ewoks... need I say more? 

 

Live action episodes TV?

Give it to these guys...

I expect Revell USA will be coming out with the U-Wing fighter and the TIE Striker. What other kits they are going to come out with I don't know. You can check with me at https://www.facebook.com/StarWarsSagaComlink/ I run a pade dedicated to Star Wars model kits.

BashMonkey

 

 

Gamera

 

 

GAF

 

 

Gamera

A movie or three or even a TV series as you said about this does sound pretty cool.

 

 

 

Ewoks... need I say more? 

 

 

 

 

Oh merciful God... now I'm thinking about the Star Wars Christmas Special... 

 

 

 

 

Stir stir stir whip whip stir 

 

 

Ok, I think they should do a remake with CGI Itchy, Lumpy, and Malla... 

Gamera

 

 

GAF

 

 

Gamera

A movie or three or even a TV series as you said about this does sound pretty cool.

 

 

 

Ewoks... need I say more? 

 

 

 

 

Oh merciful God... now I'm thinking about the Star Wars Christmas Special... 

 

Stir stir stir whip whip stir