I wouldn’t want to hear the Imperial March before its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Having it hinted at here is the right way to do it.
I suppose you’re right.
I just wish that Giacchino had come up with more original (and compelling) thematic material.
I’m sure he would have, had he been given more than four weeks to compose the score. I’d like to hear what he could come up with given a proper schedule.
I only watched the movie once, but there were about 4 times where I thought “I like this piece of music!”. So, all the hullabaloo over the quality of the soundtrack has me scratchin’ my head in confusion.
Still, four weeks to write the damn thing is crazy! Didn’t the same thing happen for the soundtrack to Aliens?
I wouldn’t want to hear the Imperial March before its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back.
It’s in Phantom Menace, so there’s another knock against the prequels.
(https://youtu.be/OLQ-rCSbFeQ)
I wouldn’t want to hear the Imperial March before its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Having it hinted at here is the right way to do it.
But why would you watch this movie, or any Star Wars prequel, before The Empire Strikes Back? Logistically speaking, this movie came out 36 years AFTER The Empire Strikes Back, so there’s no way anything in Rogue One happens before it.
All that nitpicking (admittedly) aside, I do agree with the sentiment. But since Rogue One is a sequel (prequels are sequels too), I don’t necessarily see a problem with using production elements such as music when appropriate. But I do like when they weave those things in narratively. As has been mentioned, Anakin’s theme in Phantom Menace is a variation on the Imperial March, and that makes perfect sense. It’s using the music as a kind of backwards foreshadowing. I’m a little bit more on the fence about its necessity in this case. Anakin’s Theme in TPM makes sense because he’s not Vader, so a gentler, happier version of the same motif makes sense but also ties him to the same musical theme. It helps illustrate the progression of his character. But here he’s full-on Vader. There’s nothing between here and Empire that significantly changes his character. It’s just that John Williams came up with a theme for him in between the first and second films. A hidden Imperial March would suggest that there’s some kind of Vader that’s still covered up and is trying to emerge. But here he’s force choking people and slicing and dicing by the truckload, so there’s really nothing to uncover. So narratively-speaking, there’s no real reason why it would be out of place for him to be accompanied by that theme.
There is no lingerie in space…
C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.
I wouldn’t want to hear the Imperial March before its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Having it hinted at here is the right way to do it.
But why would you watch this movie, or any Star Wars prequel, before The Empire Strikes Back? Logistically speaking, this movie came out 36 years AFTER The Empire Strikes Back, so there’s no way anything in Rogue One happens before it.
I do not understand this post. Since I already lived through the experience of watching these movies in the order they were made, and I understand the story from beginning to end, what’s wrong with watching chronologically?
These movies are not real life, they’re fiction. In this fictional world that has been created, everything that happens in Rogue One happens before Empire, not after.
I wouldn’t want to hear the Imperial March before its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Having it hinted at here is the right way to do it.
But why would you watch this movie, or any Star Wars prequel, before The Empire Strikes Back? Logistically speaking, this movie came out 36 years AFTER The Empire Strikes Back, so there’s no way anything in Rogue One happens before it.
I do not understand this post. Since I already lived through the experience of watching these movies in the order they were made, and I understand the story from beginning to end, what’s wrong with watching chronologically?
These movies are not real life, they’re fiction. In this fictional world that has been created, everything that happens in Rogue One happens before Empire, not after.
Exactly. This is fiction. Things aren’t revealed in chronological order like they are in real life. Prequels are designed and written under the assumption that you’ve already seen what comes “after.” Otherwise, there’d be absolutely no reason, for example, to include a scene at the end of Rogue One where Princess Leia receives the Death Star plans. That’s a scene that is written and shot specifically to say, “Hey, this is how this all ties in to what you’ve already seen.”
Music is one of those things that is so out-of-universe that it doesn’t even tie into a potential continuity issue. It’s not as if Vader came on to his bridge in Empire toting a boom box and saying, “Hey, guys. Check out my sick new theme. I just had it composed!” Then its appearance in Rogue One would be jarring. But that’s not the case. The Imperial March has no place in-universe.
It’s why I always rolled my eyes when the prequel trilogy was coming out and people were saying they should have filmed it in such a way as to avoid spoiling Luke’s parentage. Since the whole reason the prequels existed was to show how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, that just seemed to me to be a huge dose of missing the point. And despite Lucas’s cringeworthy assertions that the prequels should be watched first, he is also the guy who put Darth Vader’s breathing into Phantom Menace. He knew what kind of movie he was making even if his stubbornness wouldn’t let him admit it.
As for what’s wrong with watching it that way, I’m certainly not advocating coming into your home and forcing what goes into your Blu-ray player. Watch them however you like. View them with a new perspective. That’s great. However, I would (and do) vehemently argue against intaking any piece of fiction for the first time out of release order, but that certainly doesn’t apply to anybody here. And by extension, neither does any worrying about spoilers in that regard. But I do feel that worrying about a sequel or prequel spoiling something from a previous movie is like watching Return of the Jedi before The Empire Strikes Back and then complaining that all of Empire’s surprises were spoiled for you.
There is no lingerie in space…
C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.
I’m sure he would have, had he been given more than four weeks to compose the score. I’d like to hear what he could come up with given a proper schedule.
Definitely agree. I was listening to the Rouge One soundtrack in the car the other day and it feels to me just like the movie does: a lead-in to A New Hope. Giacchino I think did a fantastic job producing a Williams-esque score that transitions into A New Hope in the time he had.
As for the Imperial March, I’m glad that he gave us the reference without outright stating it. In A New Hope, we had a very different Imperial/Darth Vader Theme and the Death Star’s motif and I was thrilled to hear Giacchino reference these throughout the film because to me, these themes represent a more consolidated and confident Empire that is in control (still evil but more low-key, refined, and bureaucratic. If you listen closely, you can hear some of the DNA of the Imperial March within the original Imperial/Vader theme, too), and the power and menace of the Death Star. For me, the Imperial March has always been the theme of a driven Empire, an angry Empire, which is what we see in Empire and Jedi. They’ve been knocked for a loop by the end of A New Hope and it’s time to take off the gloves of refinement and go to war, which is why I was very happy that Giacchino went back and pulled more from A New Hope when scoring the Empire as it’s a time before Skywalker and the loss of their superweapon; the drive we see in Empire and Jedi isn’t there yet, and so there shouldn’t be an Imperial March yet either.
Its reference during the hallway scene is perfect to me because it’s our first real glimpse at a driven Vader with the Empire behind him, so it makes sense to give us a hint of a taste of what’s possible and what’s to come.
Keep Circulating the Tapes.
END OF LINE
(It hasn’t happened yet)
I wouldn’t want to hear the Imperial March before its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Having it hinted at here is the right way to do it.
But why would you watch this movie, or any Star Wars prequel, before The Empire Strikes Back? Logistically speaking, this movie came out 36 years AFTER The Empire Strikes Back, so there’s no way anything in Rogue One happens before it.
I do not understand this post. Since I already lived through the experience of watching these movies in the order they were made, and I understand the story from beginning to end, what’s wrong with watching chronologically?
These movies are not real life, they’re fiction. In this fictional world that has been created, everything that happens in Rogue One happens before Empire, not after.
Exactly. This is fiction. Things aren’t revealed in chronological order like they are in real life. Prequels are designed and written under the assumption that you’ve already seen what comes “after.” Otherwise, there’d be absolutely no reason, for example, to include a scene at the end of Rogue One where Princess Leia receives the Death Star plans. That’s a scene that is written and shot specifically to say, “Hey, this is how this all ties in to what you’ve already seen.”
Music is one of those things that is so out-of-universe that it doesn’t even tie into a potential continuity issue. It’s not as if Vader came on to his bridge in Empire toting a boom box and saying, “Hey, guys. Check out my sick new theme. I just had it composed!” Then its appearance in Rogue One would be jarring. But that’s not the case. The Imperial March has no place in-universe.
It’s why I always rolled my eyes when the prequel trilogy was coming out and people were saying they should have filmed it in such a way as to avoid spoiling Luke’s parentage. Since the whole reason the prequels existed was to show how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, that just seemed to me to be a huge dose of missing the point. And despite Lucas’s cringeworthy assertions that the prequels should be watched first, he is also the guy who put Darth Vader’s breathing into Phantom Menace. He knew what kind of movie he was making even if his stubbornness wouldn’t let him admit it.
As for what’s wrong with watching it that way, I’m certainly not advocating coming into your home and forcing what goes into your Blu-ray player. Watch them however you like. View them with a new perspective. That’s great. However, I would (and do) vehemently argue against intaking any piece of fiction for the first time out of release order, but that certainly doesn’t apply to anybody here. And by extension, neither does any worrying about spoilers in that regard. But I do feel that worrying about a sequel or prequel spoiling something from a previous movie is like watching Return of the Jedi before The Empire Strikes Back and then complaining that all of Empire’s surprises were spoiled for you.
Ok I clearly misunderstood because I thought you were talking about anyone watching it chronologically, rather than just a first-time viewer. For first-time viewers I agree 100%.
I’d post a Ric Olie image in response to that if this weren’t a Rogue One thread.
I think you found a new use for the term “Ric Rolled”
Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.
I wouldn’t want to hear the Imperial March before its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Having it hinted at here is the right way to do it.
I concur
I’m not going to watch it more than once if it sucks.
TFA sucks and apparently you watched it more than once.
This.
I wouldn’t want to hear the Imperial March before its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back.
It’s in Phantom Menace, so there’s another knock against the prequels.
(https://youtu.be/OLQ-rCSbFeQ)
No, it’s not “another knock against”. And R1 is part of the prequels by the way… (and it’s the fourth best prequel).
I’m not going to watch it more than once if it sucks.
TFA sucks and apparently you watched it more than once.
This.
Childish behavior if you ask me.
I’m sorry if you used to think the PT was good. That’s hard to understand too.
Not at all. I was a teenager when TPM came out
I wouldn’t want to hear the Imperial March before its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back.
It’s in Phantom Menace, so there’s another knock against the prequels.
(https://youtu.be/OLQ-rCSbFeQ)No, it’s not “another knock against”. And R1 is part of the prequels by the way… (and it’s the fourth best prequel).
Clearly a massive troll, if that’s what you actually think I feel sorry for you!
I saw RO in glorious 70mm IMAX last weekend, (twice!) and was definitely worth the plague I caught on my trip. (Still the best sound presentation hands down.) I thought film grain helped the Tarkin scenes a lot. The movie as a whole is growing on me.
There was also a six minute preview of Dunkirk, and the aerial combat scenes were stunning.
Was also tempted to get popcorn just for the sweet Death Star shaped bucket. Did any non IMAX theaters get those?
And still not enough Moroff.
Where were you in '77?
Oh man, that Dunkirk trailer in Imax was amazing.
Keep Circulating the Tapes.
END OF LINE
(It hasn’t happened yet)
MalàStrana said:
And R1 is part of the prequels by the way… (and it’s the fourth best prequel).
It could have used some Jar Jar
Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.
MalàStrana said:
And R1 is part of the prequels by the way… (and it’s the fourth best prequel).It could have used some Jar Jar
This
I’m sure he would have, had he been given more than four weeks to compose the score. I’d like to hear what he could come up with given a proper schedule.
Definitely agree. I was listening to the Rouge One soundtrack in the car the other day and it feels to me just like the movie does: a lead-in to A New Hope. Giacchino I think did a fantastic job producing a Williams-esque score that transitions into A New Hope in the time he had.
As for the Imperial March, I’m glad that he gave us the reference without outright stating it. In A New Hope, we had a very different Imperial/Darth Vader Theme and the Death Star’s motif and I was thrilled to hear Giacchino reference these throughout the film because to me, these themes represent a more consolidated and confident Empire that is in control (still evil but more low-key, refined, and bureaucratic. If you listen closely, you can hear some of the DNA of the Imperial March within the original Imperial/Vader theme, too), and the power and menace of the Death Star. For me, the Imperial March has always been the theme of a driven Empire, an angry Empire, which is what we see in Empire and Jedi. They’ve been knocked for a loop by the end of A New Hope and it’s time to take off the gloves of refinement and go to war, which is why I was very happy that Giacchino went back and pulled more from A New Hope when scoring the Empire as it’s a time before Skywalker and the loss of their superweapon; the drive we see in Empire and Jedi isn’t there yet, and so there shouldn’t be an Imperial March yet either.
Its reference during the hallway scene is perfect to me because it’s our first real glimpse at a driven Vader with the Empire behind him, so it makes sense to give us a hint of a taste of what’s possible and what’s to come.
+1
The Star Wars show takes a look at various Easter eggs from Rogue One, and an FAQ staring about 19 minutes in. Tidbits include:
^Saw that the other day and was shocked to learn of my apparent mispronunciation of Tantive after all these years.
.
^Saw that the other day and was shocked to learn of my apparent mispronunciation of Tantive after all these years.
To be fair, I don’t actually know what sources audibly (rather than visually) referred to the ship by name aside from the Radio Drama, so it can be easy to think that it’s pronounced like it’s spelled.
Great Video. True, had no idea the ship was pronounced like that.