Also, do we want to split a thread out and do the Star Wars episodic films (VII, VIII, IX) in one, and the Anthology films (Rogue One, Han Solo, etc) in the other or keep them all here? If we split them, I'll just split out this post as a starting point for them. If not, it'll just stay right here.
EDIT: This is now split out from the "Episode 7... AND BEYOND" which will handle the Episodic Star Wars films (starting with VII and going BEYOND them to Episodes VIII & IX), and all the Star Wars films not a part of the Episodes will end up here.
THAT LOOKS FUCKING AMAZING!!!!! I can't wait for this! I'm very much looking forward to seeing Darth Vader in this as well. That little snippet of the Death Star being constructed was very cool! This film is going to be so good!
Just woke up. HOOOOOOLY SHIT. I am so very excited. I also love how it feels distinct from a Star Wars episodic film. I cannot wait to see thisssssssssss!!!
That scene at 1:10...it kinda seems familiar. It looks like a London Tube station? Did they shoot this in London? I could swear I've actually been there. I think it's the Jubilee Line, it has those platform screen doors.
Ho-lee... shit. For those two minutes I felt like a child again. Definitely not passing this up... Although, should we maybe merge this thread with the 'Star Wars: Episode 7... AND BEYOND!' Thread? Not sure if having two SW threads is really needed, no?
Although, should we maybe merge this thread with the 'Star Wars: Episode 7... AND BEYOND!' Thread? Not sure if having two SW threads is really needed, no?
We actually split this thread out from the main one, because the Anthology films will be... essentially a bunch of Star Wars Vignettes, whereas the Episodic films are all a part of a single connected storyline, so the "Episode 7... AND BEYOND" thread will get to stick with all the characters for that trilogy, and the miscellaneous Star Wars films can live here.
(Also, it'll keep the one thread from getting TOO big, since these are gonna be a regular thing)
Insofar as the film is concerned though, I think that (because it's Gareth Edwards) we'll get hints of Vader but nothing specific until he just gets unleashed on the Rebels at the end. Also, I think that releasing this between VII & VIII is gonna help sell the sort of sense of what war is like, since I feel like VIII will be focusing on that.
So I keep thinking about how excited I am to see the new Imperial officer and see if he's a member of the ISB or maybe a Grand Moff. It'll also be interesting to see how much of these characters or the situations get seeded in Season 3 of Rebels – especially since we know that we'll be getting some focus on it during Celebration.
I'm also really curious about our cloaked figure with the Imperial guards kneeling to the column of light. Vader isn't known for wearing a hood after he got burned, but it doesn't really seem like Palpatine to kneel before... ANYthing. I'm hoping that it isn't any forced connection to Snoke, since I want that story to remain what it is and locked within the Episodic tales.
Most of all what I am looking forward to with Rogue One, is that I want it to really deliver the fact that Force Users are terrifyingly powerful in a way that Star Wars films haven't done before. I want to spend the whole time with a group where they're all basically humanly or alien-ly capable, but no one's supernatural. When Vader shows up, I want it to have a sense of just how terrifying he is, to really deliver on the emotion behind the reason that Leia sent Obi-Wan the message about him being their only hope.
Basically give the opening of A New Hope a renewed sense of danger from what's just transpired immediately before.
You know something, you're right about Vader. We haven't really seen him at his most fearsome. The Vader we saw in the OG prequels was just sort of swinging a stick around because there were no CGI-superhuman-effects, nor was the actor a martial artist (<3 Maul/Ray Park for that).
At this point, Maul is the best villain in the entire Star Wars universe even though it's supposed to be Vader. TCW redeemed his character (as Anakin) somewhat, but Vader needs a little bit more umph. We've seen a lot more force use in the years since the Prequel Trilogy came out but it was severely lacking in the OT. Less force choking, more making people explode from the inside.
I'm thinking the opening sequence of The Force Unleashed as a sense of power even if not executed in that exceptionally over-the-top way. I want the sense that Vader could stand up against an army of regular folk even if they didn't use him like a tank. The Vader comics have done a spectacular job of portraying Vader as he unquestionably was always meant to be, but we've yet to get a version of that on film.
I also think that it'll help to establish the other Imperial officers' views of him in A New Hope, and also give Leia a bigger sense of just how badass she is standing up to all of these people. Hell, I half expect this film to end with her aboard the Tantive IV contacting her father Bail Organa looking for help after the transmissions get sent to her by Rogue One and him finally deciding that they need Obi-Wan and letting her know where to find him (explaining why they're above Tatooine just before the Star Destroyer closes in on them in the opening shot of Episode IV).
EDIT: Here's the rest of the Rogue One contextual dialogue not in the clips.
Commander: "Holding her is dangerous. If word of this gets out, it could generate sympathy for the rebellion in the senate."
Darth Vader: "I've traced the rebel spies to her. Now she is my only link to finding their secret base."
Commander: "She'll die before she'll tell you anything."
Darth Vader: "Leave that to me. Send a distress signal, and then inform the senate that all aboard were killed."
Commander: "Lord Vader, the battle station plans are not aboard this ship, and no transmissions were made. An escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting, but no life-forms were aboard."
Darth Vader: "She must have hidden the plans in the escape pod. Send a detachment down to retrieve them- See to it personally, Commander. There'll be no one to stop us this time."
Oh pish posh. Kylo Ren isn't what Anakin should have been becase
Anakin has lots of Medieval Chlorines
.
On the contrary, I also happen to like Hayden Christensen. I mean, that scene on Mustafar when he had his legs lopped off - he had spit flying out of his mouth and his nostrils were flaring - he's great! If he was a really bad actor, he would've been replaced. Same can be said for Natalie Portman. They're not bad at what they do, they were just being directed to act like doornails. Speaking of Hayden/Anakin, I am really sad that the Anakin/Vader force ghost didn't make it into episode VII...even though I have no idea how he learned to force-ghost in the first place. Loopholes, I tell ya.
I think the way most Star Wars films so far have handled death/murder is sort of "huh, oh well...okay" and it is (or has been up to this point) sort of PG.
Going back to Anakin...the guy needed more slaps on the wrist if you ask me. He murdered an entire camp of Tusken raiders and that plank of particle board Padme was like "let me console you". He murdered a bunch of children and Padme was like "let's run away together", meanwhile Obi-Wan was like "I came here to kill you, but nah, nvm, you keep doing what you do".
When Obi-Wan died, the entire scene was just not very tumultuous at all...I'm more aggressive with a fly-swatter. Hearsay is that Rogue One will be a lot more naughty and I'm ready for it.
In rewatching all the whatnot that I added from Episode IV into my previous post, I noticed that the events of Rogue One are going to represent the Rebel Alliance’s VERY FIRST victory against the Empire. Not only that, at this time the Empire is still beholden to the views of the Senate, and it would be interesting to see that side of things ever-so-briefly as a marker for the change that's taken place since the Prequel days.
This would all be an interesting to see, since that relationship may have to do with Vader’s line about someone stopping them last time (since I can’t imagine that they were stopped properly by a significant military threat, although that may also be the case) could explain how he deals with the situation aboard the Tantive IV, and what he reports to the senate – since they're still required to do that, but the Death Star was built in secret, so the specifics of what they can bring before the senate officially are limited.
Likely because of all of this, Palpatine dissolves the senate during A New Hope shortly after this all happens – likely in reaction to the victory in Rogue One and the potential issues it could cause in the senate's view of them building the Death Star at all.
