Is anyone else a bit confused about the tech looking closer to TFA-era than OT-era? Or did I just misread that on my one rushed viewing of the trailer?
That was one of the complaints about the prequels (especially ROTS) which was that it didn’t look similar enough to the OT. Obviously for this one we have the Death Star, Walkers, TIEs and X-wings, etc., but it seemed like it might be treading too close to “newer tech” and not the used tech of the OT.
I dunno if I’m explaining this very well.
Nah, I agree and it’s been bugging me for ages.
Ever since the PT a lot of the feel of the design has been off. You can see it especially in costumes and creatures and just the general aesthetic of the universe. When you look at the costumes, a lot of the beats say “OT” but the feel is more PT to me. The droid looks far more PT than any contemporary droid we saw in the OT. The new ships (the U-Wing and Krennic’s Shuttle) have the “we tried to make this look like an OT ship” feel to them without actually feeling like OT ships. The guns all look like generic sci-fi guns that have been “Star Wars-ized”. They’re using too many new and custom things rather than repurposing real-life things to fit the universe, and it shows.
To me it feels like there’s definitely been more prequel influence than there has OT influence ever since Episode I, even when they go on and on about how they’re “going back to the early concepts” and “the feel of the original trilogy”. They are definitely trying to recapture the OT feel, and I appreciate it, but it’s never felt as genuine and natural as it did in the OT.
Won’t stop me from enjoying the movie, but it’s definitely something I’ve noticed and has been under my skin for awhile now.
The new guy compares favorably to droids of the OT.
Interesting that the new droid’s chest piece looks like Dengar’s chest armor.
Eh, I just don’t agree. I’ve done a lot of comparisons, but the Rogue One droid just falls into the uncanny valley of the OT for me (where it’s similar but just off enough to make it weird).
It has some of the main beats of the droids that were in the OT, but it’s just missing something.
It’s probably because he’s CG. Other than that it’s a pretty OT-type design.
It could be, I’ve definitely considered that. He’s just a bit too slick, I think. Works too smoothly, moves a bit too lithely… again, it won’t stop me from enjoying the character or the movie, but it’s still missing some of that OT je ne sais quoi.
Threepio was pretty smooth in his movements. And keep in mind that most other human-shaped droids in the OT weren’t exactly top-of-the-line. K-2SO on the other hand is made by the Empire, and he’s designed for combat, so it makes sense that he’d move smoothly. It makes sense for the Rebels and Jabba having old rickety droids, but the Empire have the money and expertise to make something better.