Anchorhead

The lack of backstory and deep character development is, to me, one of the stronger points of the movie. That said: I understand how some fans, many perhaps, may be disappointed or find it lacking. For the younger fans who came into the franchise at the Prequels, they’ve always had a Lucas-controlled series where every bit of minutia is backstoried and tied into the main narrative and characters. It’s exactly how Lucas shrunk the universe and turned it into “a solar system far far away”.

This isn’t a Lucas film. We don’t get to know the characters’ histories or why they may or may not know each other. That’s perfectly ok with me. In fact, I prefer it. Star Wars77 had all sorts of hinted- at pasts, but it didn’t get bogged down in explaining them. As someone mentioned earlier, we don’t know thing one about Han & Chewie, how they met, or how long they’ve been together. Yet they are wildly popular.

Sometimes people are who they are and don’t need an arc. The Rogue One team accepted a mission and they worked together to see it through. They didn’t take the mission for personal growth or to become The A Team. They had a job to do. I don’t know the story behind every person I work with every day (nor do I care). We have a common goal and we put in the work to accomplish it. We’re not growing. We’re working.

Bobo Jameson said:
I’m not bringing in drama. I was just…

That’s not the right answer.

Bobo Jameson said:

Hal 9000 said:

This movie was fan service from beginning to end.

Once again I’ll state that I hate that term! I tend to think of them as fun little nods. If this movie isn’t for the fans then who is it meant for?

Well put, Jameson. I wanted to mention that a few pages back. All movies are fan service, beginning to end. They aren’t made so that groups of scientists can study the in hopes of solving our dependence on fossil fuels or as a way to cure diseases. They’re made for fans to sit in the theater and enjoy.

Along those same lines, I wanted to comment on something else Hal said. To clarify first; I agree with a lot of what Hal posted. What I also want to add is where he sees the film as safe because it isn’t important to the main story of the franchise, I see that as one of the reasons it works so well.

We just had decades of Lucas trying to make movies that were important to the main story. None of them were able to bear the weight of being important to the almighty Saga (genuflect). Force Awakens, while being a non-Lucas film, still suffers from having to be important. I liked a lot of it (Rey, Finn, Poe, Jakuu), but nearly half of it is bogged down answering questions I’ve never asked.

Rogue One works for the same reason Star Wars77 works. It’s an adventure with a beginning, middle, and end. It’s darker, but it works just as well.

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.

Welcome aboard Dan. Your thoughts, as well as your frustrations, are why a great many of us are here.

I understand but strongly dislike a number of the confirmed and rumored cameos. However, I can certainly see the business side of not wanting to alienate a huge portion of your potential revenue stream. Throwing a bone to the prequel fans is a smart business move. They, along with us, spend billions on the franchise every year. I can’t complain because Rogue One is clearly a giant soup bone for OT fans. Maybe even more so than The Force Awakens.

What I do find risky, if it’s true, is a cameo of Jar Jar. That may be the single most polarizing character in the history of any franchise. To put him back in a film where he clearly doesn’t belong seems like Messin’ With Sasquatch®.

Abrams decided against doing it in The Force Awakens, even in a way that was a wink to OT fans and a dig at prequel fans. Here’s hoping Edwards follows his lead and leaves him out entirely.

I’d love it if they didn’t draw over them. To me, the CGI animals in the franchise are usually so over the top that they become a distraction. Not every animal has to be a statement. It’s ok to just have an animal. The way a lot of people feel like an actual camel would distract from the moment, I feel the same way about some goof animal with six legs and each of its eyes on a stalk.

The CGI animals in the past never looked like they were part of the in-universe reality. The shadows were wrong, their weight, their mass, and their movements were off. They looked like what they were; cartoons. And what’s with that Jawa trying to stretch a double into a triple? More poorly-rendered cartoon work.

joefavs said:
I just want to engender good Star Wars vibes and get the mood up for next weekend, because this one kind of snuck up on us and it hasn’t really registered yet that there’s a Star Wars movie coming out in nine days.

That’s how it’s been for me also. Last year it seemed a long way off, then all we had was that one photo for months to fuel our speculation, a mention or two at conventions, then silence for a while. Then, like you said, it snuck up on us.

I also agree with Dahmage on December being stressful enough to provide a distraction.

No pre-listen, read, or watch for me.

ZkinandBonez said:
… Which btw was far more complicated to make than you’d imagine.)

I don’t know, I can imagine quite a bit

Oh shut up. You were all thinking it.
😉

Truth be told, it never occurred to me that they wouldn’t have had an affair. Always seemed like a given. She was known for being a handful back then and there was no shortage of stories about her during her time with Paul Simon, Belushi, et al.

I will say this though, there was a period 40 years ago where she was breathtaking. In this photo, everything about her is perfect.

Bingowings said:

Is Prime a 1990s sports car?

Is it wrong that I laughed out loud at that? 😉

darthrush said:
Sometimes it’s ok for a female to be a badass. Some people obviously can’t get this through their heads. I don’t hear anyone complaining about what seems to be a scene of Donny Yen kicking serious ass with a stick.

They don’t feel their masculinity is threatened when it’s another man showing strength. The fans who are so bothered by Rey and Jyn have issues that exist outside of whenever they’re sitting in a movie theater.

It’s clear they’re feeling threatened at this point because they haven’t seen the film. They’re already trying to diminish her importance by using a derogatory term to describe her. It’s not just her specifically, it’s the idea of her.

SilverWook said:

That looks more like a beer glass to me. 😉

In fact, Alamo has a nice wine & beer selection, plus a full bar. For The Force Awakens they had some specialty cocktails. I had a Tatooine Sunset each time I went. I suspect they’ll do something similar this time.

Got my ticket for Thursday night, the 15th.

I’m not typically a collector of things. I have a few baseball things from the 70s and a Star Wars lunch box, but that’s about it. Looks like I’ll get one of these though.

imperialscum said:
Moderator’s opinion was related to forum rules, not to the value of the thread (like 005’s opinion), therefore has no bearing on this subject. I addressed the forums rules aspect too in my first post here.

The moderator’s opinion was also a hint. Unfortunately, it was ignored.

Correct, both of you. I just counted though and I was off a bit.

Ten novels from Zahn
Three novels from Daley - Han Solo stories
Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye
Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina - I only reread a few of the stories.

So it’s fifteen so far. Zahn is finishing a new Thrawn novel that will be released in April. I’ll get that for sure. There are probably other novels I would enjoy but I just haven’t put in the time to research the hundreds that are out there. Truthfully, I stay pretty busy with Batman comic books and graphic novels.

With Zahn having a new Thrawn novel on the way, I’ll probably revisit the original Thrawn trilogy soon. I could really go for some Mara Jade right about now, so that series will get a reread this winter. It’s been a few years since I read them. I think Mara Jade and Hand Of Judgement are when Zahn is at his best. I assume Disney and their Legends BS put a stop on any more of those. I still think the original Hand Of Judgement novel Allegiance heavily influenced the Finn arc in Force Awakens.

GlastoEls said:

For some of us, Return Of The Jedi is ‘our’ film just as Star Wars is Anchorhead’s; I was taken to see it upon its original run as a five year old, so its childishness was a positive.

Even thirty years later, I can’t quite let it go.

That was my point about saying you get here when you get here. What you saw at five had the same effect that a related film had on me at fifteen (or at least a similar emotional connection).

We’re fans of a forty year old franchise consisting of seven films (soon to be nine), hundreds of novels, radio shows, TV shows, comic strips, comic books, and games. The diversity of characters, storylines, and tone is such that there is something for everyone.

What may seem like my narrow focus to some, is actually a deep world to me. Two films, a radio version, about ten novels, and the newspaper comic strips provide me with enough of the Star Wars universe to last a year or more at a time.

Same with Batman, which is my other (and much bigger) love. I can hardly quantify how big my Batman universe is (or even keep up with it). Also like Star Wars, I only have two of the nine films.

Plenty for everyone. If you dig Return, put it on and escape into it.

joefavs said:

I get it when it’s folks who were around for the original releases. You (I’m assuming) and I grew up with an OT box set. We first saw them in rapid succession and they’ve always seemed like parts of a whole. I imagine living through a three-year gap between installments gives you a much different perspective. I can definitely see how people might only dig the original, especially since it functions so well as a standalone story.

I had that same conversation with someone years ago about Indiana Jones. They grew up with a six hour film, just as you’re pointing out with Star Wars. It is indeed a very different deal when several years pass between films. Plus, those were formative years. You can change quite a bit from 15 to 18.

I didn’t care for Empire because I’d changed in those three years. Alien had become my go-to outer space film. It was much deeper and I connected with it much more.

The difference was much more pronounced with Return. By then it had been six years, I was in my twenties, working, paying rent, had bought a car, had a long term relationship, etc. I had no interest in a kid’s version of my beloved Star Wars from several years earlier.

Star Wars became the franchise to me. A great film that moved me all those years earlier and couldn’t be topped. Life had taken place between the films. Entirely different than a bathroom break between for the box setters of the 1990s.

To be clear; There is absolutely nothing wrong with discovering the OT as a finished entity box set. You get here when you get here.

No.

Star Wars was for a while but by the time Alien and Blade Runner came out I was already disappointed with the franchise. Those two films spoke more to me as I was becoming older and more introspective.

I had a laserdisc of Star Wars for a long time and watched it with some regularity throughout the 80s. I lost everything in a flood in 1992 and never replaced it.

The 1977 theatrical version holds a special place in my world, but the contamination of the franchise has ruined my enjoyment of it. I last watched it ten years ago.

SilverWook said:

Perhaps, but that’s like saying the Pillsbury Doughboy is too 60’s. You mess with something iconic, and risk ruining what made it popular in the first place.

But the Doughboy is a classic - a classic I tell ya.
😉

Ruxpin’s always been a little creepy.

SilverWook said:

And Energizer gets away with ripping off the idea because the Duracell copyright expired? Wow.

The Duracell bunny is more cute.

I agree. The Energizer Bunny is too '80s. Has a sort of California Raisins, Max Headroom vibe.

Lord Haseo said:

New Rogue One poster:

More Vader. Very disappointing.

The VP of my dept just came in to show me his latest purchase (he’s a huge Star Wars nerd). He’d just gone down to Mondo to pick up the Jock Mitchell piece I posted above;

https://mondotees.com/products/garbage-chute?variant=23718365123

It is fantastic up close. Really beautiful artwork.

The Tantive IV goes to Toprawa to get the plans.