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Rogue One * Spoilers * Thread — Page 63

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Alderaan said:

ZkinandBonez said:
I personally use the “fan film” argument as an excuse to see them. I’ll simply enjoy them for what they are, SW fan films made by directors that grew up with the OT. If the film ends up being bad or mediocre, then why should I care? It’s just a silly fan film. And if it’s good, well, the it’s an enjoyable fan film.

I’m just tired of crap. I’ve seen 4 god-awful Star Wars films in a row. I’m tired of paying these assholes any money when they have vandalized and failed to restore the only good films in the series for almost 20 years.

You’re awfully hateful. The Force Awakens wasn’t awful. It was great, just not excellent and I also wouldn’t call Rogue One a “fan film”. You want someone that hates Star Wars to make a Star Wars movie?

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I admit to being impressed with this Tarkin compared to the what the ever the hell they were trying to do in episode three. I can think of a british actor who could pull that off convincingly without doing any research on that. Imperial and rebel spacecraft design was uninspiring yet again from the OT’s final spacecraft models. Main culprit being a re-worked variant of every imperial shuttle outside of the OT has been attempted ever since. Instantly forgettable charter names again. Thought it wasn’t going to any lightsaber action at all, right until the end of the film. And as for Vader shown in a backta tank thing…Then suited up on screen with pro-dominant ‘man behind the masks’ red eyes that wasn’t used for comedy gold this time around, thought was happy with the welsh kick boxer that David Prowse that part of Vader, instead of another as hinted at Hayden cameo in the black suit again. Lack of an opening crawl cought me off guard. Didn’t the HS have a crawl even? And bits were drawn out then speeded upto fit into the original Star Wars. So not really a follow up for this going to be an episodic three films as usual that a friend needs me to explain what order to put the all of filums all of the time. But all in all I guess I kinda like it, I just am giving it the tale of time now…

Like I did with TFA, now it’s becoming a bargain basement offer at a lot of outlets,so soon as I picked up the ltd edition blu-DVDs…I’ve become devoid of appreciation for it somewhat…

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Bobo Jameson said:

Mithrandir said:

Just came out from a screening, and again, somethings are quite disturbing, but it is far far better than Disney Awakens the Force, and personally for me, up there with the OT.

The soundtrack feels somewhat odd, certainly not a JW OST, but the movie closes with classic star wars credit music. And I think that’s my feeling about the movie, it might be different but it indeed earns to be called a Star Wars film, probably the first since the 80s.

Things I liked:

Break out of War!!! One line -this is Admiral Raddus of the Rebel Alliance- made it for me. The previous debate (even if Felicity’s speech was a Disney® moment) was gold. Should the Rebellion risk an open War against the Empire? This was the first battle, the Rebels first open incursion against the mighty Empire, and it was on the verge of just not coming to be.
The high steaks, intelligence assasinations, etc. There is no Death Star says Vader. The Senate doesn’t know anything. There IS a lot of political tension amidst a war film.

Great, excellent prequel material. I liked seeing some Old Clone Wars vehicle at the beginning as well, and Coruscant was just criteriously used as a memory of a long forgotten past…

Tarkin. Great, great and promising technology. I agree the results are a little off, but I put it all on Guy Henry’s acting. You can Mocap his face and get it replace by Cushing, but he just isn’t Peter Cushing, nor has his gestures. This is what I think was the reason behind the uncanny valley feeling I got sometimes during the movie. For instance, they got the mouth part to be quite accurate. Eye movement is even correct, but eyebrows seldom get a vertical movement, which is a key feature when someone is surprised/tense. Now is that a fault on the thecnology or is it just an actor perhaps playing it light perhaps because he knows he is to be replaced?

In the end…OT era. Boy how I missed this. I can’t help not giving a damn about The First Order and Kiloren or Battledroids or Mace Windu. This IS the classic Star Wars Era. All the designs and schemes of the OT prove to be so timeless I wouldn’t mind if they just got stuck doing films set in this timeframe.

Things I didn’t like:

Well, the soundtrack: Both Imperial themes from the OT weren’t used enough. ANH’s wasn’t even used, and Rebel Fanfare was in a Yppieeee Disney version, not militaristic enough.

ILM/Technology: Yes, used universe and whatever they want to sell to E-Entertainment and SDCC, but there’s no point in putting half the budget in 3D modelling entire catalogues of model pieces only to use them in OT ships. What I mean is, they got Star Destroyers and the Death Star quite right [just speaking of the models, the lighting felt off, and very Star-Trek to me] but the new designs weren’t digitally built with such model pieces, so the movie ends up having on purpose low-detailed model-like Star Destroyers but classic CGI full detailed U Wings, Rebel Cruisers, Scarif Building or Krennic’s Shuttle. Perhaps I’m asking too much, but it should have all looked as those old and loved 80s models.

About the lighting of the space scenes, well I might be a nitpicker, but it’s just that it didn’t match OT’s more uniform and plain light, instead there’s a super-accurate Gravity-like approach of lighting.

And, the last thing I didn’t like is…Vader. I think Edwards cinematography didn’t help him at all. Vader is there to be filmed from below, and he just keeps putting the camera at the height of his eyes, which renders an angle not so familiar of his mask, and certainly not imposing at all. Combine it with the fact that JEJ didn’t get the tone quite right, and also the fact that well, he doesn’t quite have anything to do in the movie other than fan service and you’ll have a strange presence in the film. (which on the other hand, I welcome because what is Star Wars without Darth Vader?)

The last shot of Vader standing there in open space even looked fan-film like.

When did fun little nods become “fan service”? I friggin’ hate that new term! I’m a lover of nostalgia, it’s excellent and charming. People out there quit giving dorky ass names to things whilst trying to harpoon the fanbase!

I’m not even complaining of it, rather just about how Vader was handled with the camera…

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I agree, Princess Leia looked REALLY good on camera. I think they must have used some old footage of her in the 70’s, but they did a great job restoring it. Tarkin on the other hand, looked kind of off. I think they could have done a better job if they didn’t use as many closeups.

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Saw it, really liked it. Truly thoroughly entertaining throughout.

Not a lot of complaints. The beginning jumps around way too much (I’m sure most will agree), they easily could have cut Cassian and Bodhi’s first scenes which would have really simplified it. CG Tarkin (and Leia) weren’t as bad as I expected but also weren’t perfect. Pretty close though honestly (especially when they’re not talking). Red and Gold leader were really fun too and the only cameos I wasn’t expecting (well besides Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba but I wasn’t too crazy about that one). The bits with Vader were kinda fan servicey. I’ll say I’m okay with the second because it was pretty cool but the first was sort of pointless (and shot poorly as well). The fact that everyone died was kind of nice, a luxury that the other films don’t have. Made for some powerful moments. Still, it kind of teetered on feeling contrived with each character being ticked off one by one (with some of the deaths less graceful than others). Finally, and those were mainly nitpicks, my main beef with the film is how close it comes to greatness but doesn’t quite reach it. It was all set up perfectly - the first real war movie in the franchise, gritty, etc., all about the Rebel alliance and the different methods of the different factions within it. They just about scratch the surface, but don’t quite get to saying much interesting on the nature of morality in war/revolution. And the new characters, I do like them all, but I don’t care as much about their suffering as I think I should. I wanted more from them. I didn’t feel nearly sad enough when Galen died, and I read Catalyst (I can only imagine how I’d have felt if I hadn’t). Honestly at the very least I’d have loved to see that father/daughter dynamic expanded upon. And Krennic? What happened there? A true standout in Catalyst and really not much more than another Imperial here, honestly. Too bad.

Ultimately it’s just sort of a blockbuster, which is okay, that is exactly what it is, but I do believe it could have been a bit more. I hate to say that the stylistic change it made from the saga films was to just become a bit more generic sic-fi action movie, but, I think that might be sort of true. Still, it was really fun to see a movie in my the universe without the usual feel. And damn, my review is starting to sound pretty negative but I pretty much had a grin on my face the full runtime. This is one fun movie, with some fantastic visuals and action sequences. Pretty excited to see it again tomorrow night.

Not as good as TFA, though.

On another note, super fascinating to watch the trailers after the fact. Seriously wow. Watching the movie I occasionally wonder what might’ve been reshoots but it was all pretty seamless. But having seen the trailers, there were definitely some big changes made, especially in regards in Jyn and Cassian’s characterizations. You can sort of get a sense of how things might have played out from them but I’d love a full explanation as to what got changed during the reshoots.

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Dirty Dozen, in the Star Wars universe.

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Just got back. Really liked it. It’s much more of an adult film than any of the others. To me, it was much better than TFA. I particularly like its disconnect from the main franchise story. A true stand-alone if someone so chooses. The lack of crawl and the planet names on establishing shots worked just fine for me. Dug the score also.

I get up every day at 4:00 AM so I can spend an hour in the gym before work. My review will have to wait until later tomorrow. That will give me time to let it settle a bit anyway. It’s a lot to take in.

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I actually think this should have been two films. I think all the exposition they tried to cram in to get you backstory in the first 45 minutes should have been in a separate film, allowing us to jump off with the rescue mission of Erso and the trip to Jedha. Jyn’s childhood just didn’t fit in the film and I think it made it seem like they couldn’t find a better way to tell you how the Erso’s got to this point.

I liked how they intercut Rebel pilots from ANH into this film, with the nod to needing a new Red 5.

I wonder if Vader’s final scene will play out for us like Yoda’s scene in ATC did, it was kinda cool to see the old Jedi in a saber battle but in subsequent viewings that appeal wore off.

The Jedi are all but extinct.......
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Hardcore Legend said:

I actually think this should have been two films. I think all the exposition they tried to cram in to get you backstory in the first 45 minutes should have been in a separate film, allowing us to jump off with the rescue mission of Erso and the trip to Jedha. Jyn’s childhood just didn’t fit in the film and I think it made it seem like they couldn’t find a better way to tell you how the Erso’s got to this point.

Gee…I wonder how they could have gotten that exposition done. What would have been a better way to tell you the backstory you needed to know before a Star Wars movie started? 😃

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Hardcore Legend said:

I actually think this should have been two films. I think all the exposition they tried to cram in to get you backstory in the first 45 minutes should have been in a separate film, allowing us to jump off with the rescue mission of Erso and the trip to Jedha. Jyn’s childhood just didn’t fit in the film and I think it made it seem like they couldn’t find a better way to tell you how the Erso’s got to this point.

God two films… and here I am just starting to wonder if they ever really gave much of a reason for even the one existing (beyond it being really cool and fun to watch).

I liked how they intercut Rebel pilots from ANH into this film, with the nod to needing a new Red 5.

Haha yeah I loved that bit.

digitalfreaknyc said:

Hardcore Legend said:

I actually think this should have been two films. I think all the exposition they tried to cram in to get you backstory in the first 45 minutes should have been in a separate film, allowing us to jump off with the rescue mission of Erso and the trip to Jedha. Jyn’s childhood just didn’t fit in the film and I think it made it seem like they couldn’t find a better way to tell you how the Erso’s got to this point.

Gee…I wonder how they could have gotten that exposition done. What would have been a better way to tell you the backstory you needed to know before a Star Wars movie started? 😃

Eh, I don’t think so. The exposition wasn’t what was important there. They easily could have explained all the relevant info through dialogue. What was important was the emotional content, to which I think they could have (and should have) done more.

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digitalfreaknyc said:

Hardcore Legend said:

I actually think this should have been two films. I think all the exposition they tried to cram in to get you backstory in the first 45 minutes should have been in a separate film, allowing us to jump off with the rescue mission of Erso and the trip to Jedha. Jyn’s childhood just didn’t fit in the film and I think it made it seem like they couldn’t find a better way to tell you how the Erso’s got to this point.

Gee…I wonder how they could have gotten that exposition done. What would have been a better way to tell you the backstory you needed to know before a Star Wars movie started? 😃

Yeah, something along the lines of:

A galaxy in terror! The Empire’s grip on the galaxy has never been tighter. Those who stand opposed to their tyranny, the Rebel Alliance, have learned the Empire has developed a new super weapon under the guidance of scientist GALEN ERSO.
.In a race against time, the Rebellion must find Erso’s lost daughter in hopes she has information on his work. Following the murder of her mother by DIRECTOR KRENNIC, the young ERSO was raised by the extremist SAW GUERRERA.
.The Rebellion have sent their best spy to track her down to rejoin her with GUERRERA and her father as she may be their LAST HOPE…

would have allowed them to cut out those earlier scenes. They weren’t bad but like people have said, it felt like they knew they had to tell that part of the story but didn’t have a clean way of doing it. So, we get a bunch of quick cuts to other worlds that felt out of place.

The Jedi are all but extinct.......
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DominicCobb said:

Hardcore Legend said:

I actually think this should have been two films. I think all the exposition they tried to cram in to get you backstory in the first 45 minutes should have been in a separate film, allowing us to jump off with the rescue mission of Erso and the trip to Jedha. Jyn’s childhood just didn’t fit in the film and I think it made it seem like they couldn’t find a better way to tell you how the Erso’s got to this point.

God two films… and here I am just starting to wonder if they ever really gave much of a reason for even the one existing (beyond it being really cool and fun to watch).

See, I agree with this also. I told a friend immediately after seeing it that I loved it but it was also completely pointless. It was so self-contained that it created these new characters and then wiped them away. What it left were people we already had that didn’t need this fleshing out. Yes, it was great to see Tarkin be brilliant but we already knew he was from Cushing’s performance. Yes, it was great to see Vader in his temple and in attacking people but we already knew Vader was badass. It didn’t grow the universe any more than those two hours we saw. It cut off any potential branches it could have.

Although, it did give us a family that now rivals the Skywalker’s as the worst for the galaxy.

But I really did love this film, much more than TFA.

The Jedi are all but extinct.......
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Just got back from seeing it. I definitely liked it, but I didn’t instantly adore it like I did TFA. I think most of the characters were a good bit weaker (the exception being Chirrut, who is seriously in my top five favorite characters in the entire saga now [I liked Bodhi as well, but it had more to do with the performance than the writing]). This is probably a symptom of the size of the cast coupled with the pacing. We never get more than vague allusions to troubled pasts from Jyn and Cassian; other than that, everything they say and do is strictly to move the plot along. Likewise, I think Krennic and Galen were underwritten, especially given how insanely charismatic the actors playing them are (I didn’t have as much trouble getting invested in them, though, because I got hip to their dynamic through Catalyst). This is kind of par for the course with Gareth Edwards, though, so it didn’t shatter any expectations.

CGI Tarkin was exactly as bad as I feared he would be when that rumor first hit, but it wasn’t nearly a big enough deal to break the movie. I thought Leia looked just fine.

Now that we’ve finally seen Vader full on wreck some shit, I hope they leave him well alone going forward. I thought he was fine in this, but James Earl Jones just sounds tired these days. I really appreciate how plodding and un-acrobatic he was in his slaughter scene at the end. The tank scene was absolutely chilling, too.

I thought the score didn’t use nearly as much Williams as it should have. Liberal use of the rebel fanfare and a few more Force themes could have anchored this to the saga more firmly.

I agree that the first twenty minutes or so after the flashback were all over the place and I had real trouble finding the film’s rhythm, but once it calmed down I thought it moved at a really good clip. The whole final act was absolutely stunning, and I was 200% all-in.

Retconning the exhaust port into an intentional sabotage was kind of brilliant. I’m glad they found a way to put that to bed once and for all.

Anyway, I need to go to bed. Final verdict is that Rogue One is flawed but supremely entertaining. I can’t fault it for being more ambitious than TFA, but I think its reach exceeds its grasp. I give it a low B. Subject to change on repeat viewing, but right now I’d rank it at number 5, between Return of the Jedi and the ouroboros that is my ever-shifting opinions on which prequel sucks the least.

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joefavs said:

Now that we’ve finally seen Vader full on wreck some shit, I hope they leave him well alone going forward. I thought he was fine in this, but James Earl Jones just sounds tired these days. I really appreciate how plodding and un-acrobatic he was in his slaughter scene at the end.

Yeah, I agree. I think most of us deep down kind of always wanted to see him just go fucking nuts so it was good to to finally satiate that, and in such a way that doesn’t totally embarrass him. But yes, I think it might be time to put the character to rest (especially now that we finally have that one last piece, I mean, what more do we really need? We saw his house too for chrissakes).

I thought the score didn’t use nearly as much Williams as it should have. Liberal use of the rebel fanfare and a few more Force themes could have anchored this to the saga more firmly.

I thought the amount of Force theme was just about right but I think the Rebel fanfare really should have been felt all over. And while I’m glad the Imperial march was kept to a minimum, am I wrong in saying we heard it only once? Surely that can’t be right, but either way for a theme that I had hoped would be underutilized it was so probably more than it should have. And I was SO happy to hear the original Imperial theme from SW, but, again, just once? If you remembered it, why not a bit more? And where’s that four note Death Star motif? Surely this was the exact time and place to bring it back. I liked the score in general (will need to listen to it to form a better opinion) and while I’m glad Williams wasn’t relied upon, this seems a bit too far?

Retconning the exhaust port into an intentional sabotage was kind of brilliant. I’m glad they found a way to put that to bed once and for all.

Yes! It’s rare that I not only welcome a retcon, but greet it with a “wow, that’s so perfect!”

Also, hilarious that they kept in the same faulty schematic from the original with the misplaced dish. That gave me a good laugh.

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On a separate note, I loved the Rebels reference that I caught (and am hopeful to find that other two that I’ve heard of on my next viewing). I really want the show to do some sort of crossover. There could easily be a way to work in an episode with Saw and his band on Jedha, or something with Cassian, Blue Leader, Raddus, or any of the other Rebels featured in the film. I’m also think it’d be really cool if the show lead right into Rogue One, and maybe even showed the Ghost’s perspective during the final battle (although I guess that might sort of depend on the fates of the crew up to that point).

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First viewing done! I am certainly giving it two big ole thumbs up right now. Lost of greatness. I will have some more clear thoughts after I see it again.

But now that I have ventured back into this thread, I am saddened to see the same unhappy posters poo-pooing everything new. Whatever. It was a good film.

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DominicCobb said:

On a separate note, I loved the Rebels reference that I caught (and am hopeful to find that other two that I’ve heard of on my next viewing). I really want the show to do some sort of crossover. There could easily be a way to work in an episode with Saw and his band on Jedha, or something with Cassian, Blue Leader, Raddus, or any of the other Rebels featured in the film. I’m also think it’d be really cool if the show lead right into Rogue One, and maybe even showed the Ghost’s perspective during the final battle (although I guess that might sort of depend on the fates of the crew up to that point).

The only one I noticed was the Ghost appearing among the rebel fleet. What were the others?

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Jeebus said:

DominicCobb said:

On a separate note, I loved the Rebels reference that I caught (and am hopeful to find that other two that I’ve heard of on my next viewing). I really want the show to do some sort of crossover. There could easily be a way to work in an episode with Saw and his band on Jedha, or something with Cassian, Blue Leader, Raddus, or any of the other Rebels featured in the film. I’m also think it’d be really cool if the show lead right into Rogue One, and maybe even showed the Ghost’s perspective during the final battle (although I guess that might sort of depend on the fates of the crew up to that point).

The only one I noticed was the Ghost appearing among the rebel fleet. What were the others?

I didn’t notice that one but heard about it. While on Yavin over the intercom there’s a reference to a General Syndulla (which I caught). Apparently during the same scene Chopper makes an appearance.

Also, not a reference but I noticed Steve Blum (who voices Zeb and a number of stormtroopers and Rebels on the show) voiced a shore trooper, or at least it sounded like him. Will be interesting to learn who else provided additional voices (for TFA at least they seemed to bring in most of the TCW and Rebels regulars).

Speaking of stormtrooper dialogue, got a kick out of the BT-16 reference.

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Been reading everyone’s thoughts since getting back from a 7pm screening (east coast of U.S.) more than four hours ago.

Did anyone who saw it in regular 'ol 2D think the movie looked kinda dim or did my theater just drop the ball on the projection? I’m like 99% sure they left the 3D filter on. This has happened multiple times in the past. I probably should’ve said something during the trailers but then the movie started and I just thought “well, I either miss some of the movie and disrupt the enjoyment of the people in my row I’ll need to walk past just so I can tell a theater employee, or I wait until it’s over and try to get a free ticket voucher out of this.” Once the movie was over, I made the mistake of telling it to a group of four of the theater employees instead of simply asking for the manager. One of them quickly responded “it (the 3D filter) switches on and off automatically.” It only just occured to me now that he might not have understood why having it on the projector at all during a 2D movie was a problem, but at that moment my desire to take a much-needed post-movie piss and also go warm up my car outweighed my presentation complaints. Like, the bins to collect the 3D glasses were still sitting there inside the theater … If they cared as much about a quality experience as they did about making money, maybe my screening wouldn’t have had as many empty seats. Oh, well. That’s the first and likely last time I’ll ever visit that theater anyway.

Aaaaanyway, sub-par presentation aside, the movie was still very enjoyable. The first act jumped around a little too much for me to get a clear picture (ha!) of what was going on, but I loved watching Mikkelsen and Mendelsohn play off each other in that opening scene. I’d settled into the movie by the time our heroes got to Eadu.

The dim presentation might’ve actually helped cg Tarkin blend in better. The farscape fan in me is disappointed they didn’t get Wayne Pygram back. I’d like to take this moment to remind everyone that RotS’ makeup work earned the movie its sole oscar nomination. As for Leia, she looked fine in her one single shot, but again, why not get Billie Lourd? As it stands, these cg recreations are an interesting part of our continually evolving philosophy of vfx.

Artoo and Threepio’s cameo was kinda jarring until I reminded myself “oh right, this is the new canon and we officially had no idea where they were at this point in time.”

On the other hand, my brain lit up with excitement during the totally unexpected cameos of the other pilots from ANH. I turned to my friend right after they showed up and I said “THAT was awesome” and with a grin on his face he simply replied “yup.” Maybe it’s because it’s so quick, but I thought they were copy-pasted rather seamlessly.

Fighters crashing into the shield = RotJ homage?

What’s the name of the planet where Krennic visits Vader? Was that supposed to be Mustafar or somewhere else?

Loved Giacchino’s little nods to Williams in the score, like the shield passage and the hallways of the Tantive IV at the very end. He also brought the proper gravitas to moments like Chirrut’s final scene.

Riz Ahmed was great.

Sometimes the simplest filmmaking techniques can do a lot with a little, like when Cassian talks to Jyn in the Yavin hangar bay and we pull focus on his men standing behind him.

K-2SO’s demise was surprisingly emotional. Alan Tudyk did a great job in the role, his second time playing a robot.

Oh, and I only just now put this together from Godzilla, but Gareth Edwards sure likes his insanely huge explosions doesn’t he?

I’d love to see the earlier cut of the movie but knowing Disney it will probably never surface. Hopefully we get some interesting deleted scenes. At any rate, the final product makes a convincing case for having multiple cooks in the kitchen.

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DominicCobb said:

joefavs said:

Also, hilarious that they kept in the same faulty schematic from the original with the misplaced dish. That gave me a good laugh.

Yeah, I could hear the fan-film members scrubbing their hands together a lot whilst viewing it.

The hyperspace jumps were abit jarring, so I can see why there isnt one being done with something else perhaps.

The Death Star was upside down at one point. That’s believable now I’ve just thought about it.

More gripes bout the shadow troopers or what ever Disney has re-branded them to now, to theyre dialogue. Again, okay it’s something I can relate to.

The lanky droid thing was laughable in a good way throughout, as I had him with NSOH initially just like(EDIT:insert random member here).

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Just got back and… VADER!!!

I could have so many more thoughts to give when I’m calmer but right now I just gotta say that the last scene with Vader had me in pure ecstasy. It was just incredible. I don’t give a shit that it was fan service. What’s wrong with Lucasfilm serving me up a scene of Vader in his prime whooping Rebel ass?

More thoughts will come later, but that was hands down one of the best Star Wars scenes for me of all time.

Return of the Jedi: Remastered

Lord of the Rings: The Darth Rush Definitives

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Just thinking, this is the fourth Star Wars prequel and the first that doesn’t manage to totally fuck up any aspect of the continuity.

Only thing I can think of is Vader saying “beamed” though I’m sure there’s an explanation.

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This thread is depressing.

I absolutely LOVED this film. It had EVERYTHING I wanted from it. Just spectacular. Puts Abrams to absolute shame.

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