wangus12 said:

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One side note:

What is up with the tentacled beasts in the new films. Some kinky mofos working in CGI or what?

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I thought the tentacle beast in this was a little weird too. I'm not sure about the other films but this one may have just been a Gareth Edwards thing b/c it reminded me a lot of the creatures in his movie "Monsters"

WestTexasAg14 said:

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Worth it to see it in IMAX 3D?

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3d added absolutely nothing, IMO. Great visuals, but nothing worth seeing in 3d.

Just to list my thoughts during the end of the third act:

-I can't believe they had the stones to kill ALL of the characters. Jyn, Cassian, Baze, Chirrut, K-2SO, and Bodhi. Hats off Disney and Lucasfilm, you crossed a bridge I didn't think you could.
-Wait a second.... *Star Destroyer comes in* HOLY **** well that light cruiser that just crashed into that Star Destroyer is doneskis. Wait, Vader? Boarding party? I have a GREAT feeling about this.

Praise be The Force, this is the Star Wars film I have been waiting for. It's a complete war film, with loss and sacrifice, desperation, and coming to terms with the finality of one's death.

Again, I have to applaud Lucasfilm/Disney for having the stones to kill off all of the characters. Donnie Yen was decent. Wen Jiang was pretty meh IMO until his final sequence. Ben Mendholson was pretty great, though I missed his dialogue from the trailer which was not in the movie. Diego Luna's speech before they leave Yavin IV felt like it came from someone who had tried to rationalize his actions but came to despise himself and just couldn't live with himself anymore, well done. Felicity Jones was fantastic as well. The stand out of the entire film though was K-2SO, Alan Tudyk. It was like he channeled his inner Wash from Firefly.

CGI Tarkin was pretty great, though it did appear at times that it wasn't quite real but that passed quickly. Gold Leader was pretty great as well, and it felt like he was touched up with his scenes from A New Hope. Vader's line of not choking on your aspirations was cheesy as hell, and I don't think they hit the voice just right as it definitely sounds like an older James Earl Jones which was different from the Vader voice we had on Rebels last season.

The third act is probably the best of any Star Wars movie. The ground fight felt real and frantic. The space battle was excellent. The hammerhead ramming the disabled Star Destroyer and ramming it into the gate was genius.

Things I didn't like immediately after seeing it were few. Older Saw (Forest Whitaker) was just paranoid to borderline nuts. Yes, it was stated on Rebels that Saw is more militant and violent but nuts... Not so much. Until they went to Eadu, something felt off and I can't put my finger on it to describe why. I didn't care about Bodhi, so when he died I was like meh, and the same with Baze. I actually liked Chirrut more than either of them.

Edit: Also minor gripe about the score. At times it felt good, and hit the right nostalgia for a Star Wars film. At other times, the music really stuck out and didn't seem like it belonged. Overall, I think it was a good score but other than the theme that I don't know the name of that played numerous times in the film, nothing is particularly memorable.

I had a lump in my throat when K2 was terminated... ugh. I enjoyed it, but I'm going to give it time before assessing.

The most impressive parts of the film were the CGI, especially the Tarkin/Leah scenes, and of course the last 5 minutes with Vader's fight scene. And I thought Felicity Jones did a nice job since the weight of the film was on her shoulders. I don't think the film was quite at the level of Force Awakens, but it's still very good, especially the 3rd Act.

It was so good, but something was just a touch off. I'm having trouble playing it. Still awesome. Up in the 2nd tier of SW movies. Empire is alone in the top tier.

Most people have already hit the high points. So I won't repeat them.

Throw me in as one who loved the CGI Tarkin & Leia. Both were most impressive.

I thought Vaders voice sounded normal. James still has it.

I didn't like Saw at all. I need to rewatch the Clone Wars but I don't remember him being such a weird dude. He was fine in Catalyst.

Also wished they made Cranick less incompetent. He was quite savvy is the novel. It helped knowing / caring about the Ersos beforehand to really feel the impact of their death / capture.

I did see Ghost briefly in the space battle. I was hoping we'd get Heras voice.

Oh yeah, for people that have been watching Rebels the VCX-100 could be seen when they first arrived to Yavin IV base. Then after they came back from Eadu there was a call over the PA for General Syndulla, and of course we saw the VCX-100 over Scarif in the trailer and in the film.

The overhead shot when they arrived at Yavin IV looked a hell of a lot like the Ghost paint scheme.

Loved it

CGI Tarkin bugged me (his eyes were huge) but I don't think it was the moral outrage people made it out to be. They freaking credited his Trust at the end so they definitely bought off on it.

Leia's was astounding though. Great job on the work there.

Alan Tudyk has been the best part of 2 movies in the past 3 weeks (Hei Hei in Moana and now KS20). So so so many great lines and the delivery was great.

Loved seeing Mon Mothma and Organa from the prequels

They nailed the graphical look in nearly every seen, downplaying to 70s technology.

The third act just had me fist bumping all throughout.

Just great great fun

Solid film. I'd recommend 2D. My IMAX 3D version was frustrating.

Who's ready for TCTTS to come in and throw water all over our exuberance when his "expert eye" sees it?

AgMarauder04 said:

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Who's ready for TCTTS to come in and throw water all over our exuberance when his "expert eye" sees it?

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I know you're joking, but most of us really liked and enjoyed TFA despite the flaws, and while he also enjoyed it from what I remember, he did have some issues that kind of threw a wet blanket on having a new Star Wars film in about a decade.

To be honest, I kind of expect his reaction to be fairly critical.

After sleeping on it I give it a big thumbs up and my only true beef was the bad CG on Tarkin. I just thought they could have shot the scenes better to not have to show him so much. It just distracted me from scenes. I thought they could have also shot the last scene without needing to show Leia's face. I felt like it was Polar Expressy just like Tarkin.

Really wish I hadn't seen it in 3D, as I think 3D tends to make most stuff look faker so I might not have been affected so much in 2D. Also the glasses annoyed me.

Looking forward to seeing it in 2D. Although we'll probably be going to Studio Movie Grill because we have a gift card and I hate those dinner theatres.

It won't be just TCTTS. The film was obviously geared toward fans with unnecessary cameos and Vader. It could have been far better with better character development in the first half. If folks would have actually cared for all that perished, it could have been a great one.

I think you're right. Everyone just came together too easily. We needed to like these characters more so it'd hurt at the end.

Just re-watched that teaser and it's really amazing how little of that teaser is actually in the movie.

1. "I rebel" line - Nope
2. Whitaker with short hair/young look and his lines "What if they break you... what will you become." - Nope
3. The final frames of Jyn turning around in the tunnel - Nope
4. Mendelson on the beach - Nope
5. Jyn running around in the sand with the giant walkers - Nope
6. The cool blaring siren sound - Nope

I mean literally over half of that teaser isn't actually in the movie.

I heard the siren in the movie...either that or it is in TFA

spanky said:

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I heard the siren in the movie...either that or it is in TFA

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No, it was definitely there

CJS4715 said:

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The title screen also made me lol a bit... Looked like something I created on MS Publisher in 1997.

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Agree with that. The title font seemed different from all the trailers and posters and not in a good way. It stuck out as very weak to me as well.

Saw Gerrera was great in Mad Max Fury Road btw

Jim01 said:

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Just re-watched that teaser and it's really amazing how little of that teaser is actually in the movie.

1. "I rebel" line - Nope
2. Whitaker with short hair/young look and his lines "What if they break you... what will you become." - Nope
3. The final frames of Jyn turning around in the tunnel - Nope
4. Mendelson on the beach - Nope
5. Jyn running around in the sand with the giant walkers - Nope
6. The cool blaring siren sound - Nope

I mean literally over half of that teaser isn't actually in the movie.

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I think it is safe to say that the re-shoots were in fact significant.

I loved it but I don't think for a moment that the execs didn't screen it and declared it was too dark in tone.

I didn't follow the buildup to this movie much, and had low expectations. Got a free ticket so I went last night. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Vader ending seen had me on the end of my seat!

Jim01 said:

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CJS4715 said:

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The title screen also made me lol a bit... Looked like something I created on MS Publisher in 1997.

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Agree with that. The title font seemed different from all the trailers and posters and not in a good way. It stuck out as very weak to me as well.

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I thought that the title screen was especially week. That was one of Collider's gripes and I thought it had to be better than they were saying and they were being hard on it, but after seeing it, I agree.

It would be interesting to see an honest description of the evolution of the cut of the film one day, and the reason behind the changes. It would make for an interesting "making of" documentary. No way it happens though.

Full credit to Edwards and Gilroy for pulling together the final product, no matter which one of them is really more responsible.

Jim01 said:

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6. The cool blaring siren sound - Nope

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You're right, I noticed a lot of things from the trailer that I didn't see in the movie. Although, the blaring siren sound was in the movie.

Also from the trailer:



I was really hoping we got to see this, but I don't recall this in the movie. I may have missed it...

Yea, how would the story have changed where Jyn needed to be running around with the data tapes on the beach?

The TIE coming up in front of Jyn was definitely not in the movie. What we had was a TIE striker shooting at the catwalk Jyn was on.

Probably had them sending the plans from the ship. I bet they changed it to give everyone in the crew a more personalized final scene, which I think was great.

Also once K2 bought I knew they where all done for...for a spot second when Jyn and Cassian made it to the beach I thought maybe they'll make it...

jabberwalkie09 said:

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The TIE coming up in front of Jyn was definitely not in the movie. What we had was a TIE striker shooting at the catwalk Jyn was on.

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Yea, you're right. Real bummer that didn't make it in the movie. It was one of the more memorable shots from the trailer, for me at least. Would have been cool to see a scene play out with a TIE up close and in daylight.

I'll keep it short and sweet. Felt like I was watching the first part of Episode IV (AWESOME). First 45 minutes of the movies was disjointed garbage. Last 45 minutes was holy crap awesome. I thought the weakest was the two main protagonists. Strongest was Alan Tudyk.

Jim01 said:

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One thing I haven't seen mentioned... Did anyone else notice how much the helmets of the volunteer rebel crew that went on the last mission looked like WW2 helmets? Thought that was interesting as they were also storming a beach.

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Honestly, by the time we got to Jedha I was expecting more of a Saving Private Ryan beach landing scene. I was tense throughout the entire setup to when they started the battle so that Jyn, Cassian, and K2 could retrieve the plans and pleasantly surprised by it.