Rogue One How Will/Has "Rogue One" affect/affected your viewing of "A New Hope" when watched chronologically?

Tarkin's ANH "I think it is time we demonstrated the full power of this station" covers that.

 

I love that the beginning of ANH now feels like an extension of RO, especially Leia continuing the baton-passing that started with Galen. RO even resolves an issue I've had with ANH, which is that Luke's introduction is rather incidental for a character who then gains the narrative focus. Now I think it's more warranted because I'm more invested in the droids' journey than previously.

 

This is so true. Now when I see R2 squabbling with 3PO in the desert on Tatooine, I'm thinking "You do realize how many people died to get those plans you're holding, don't you? Get a ****ing move on and find Obi-Wan!"

 

RO absolutely enhances STAR WARS.


The film does even more than that, but that alone is really the ultimate compliment.


After repeated viewings, I think I might have ranked it too low in my initial personal rankings. As the years go by, I think SW fans will consider Rogue One one of the top films of the franchise. It's extremely good.

 

Rogue One drastically enhances A New Hope for me.

The beginning is a seamless transition and we know why Vader starts out angry. Leia giving R2 the plans feels emotional, especially with the music.

The entire effort and sacrifice of Rogue One for a long, long time rests entirely with R2. It feels very fragile, especially with the Empire hunting him and the trials he goes through. Makes R2 even more of a legend.

The final Death Star assault is the culmination of Galen Erso's sabotage, and now feels like the second story arc climax of Rogue One. And when the Death Star is destroyed, all you see is STARDUST.

A firework display in memory of Jyn.

 

Danmax wrote

Maybe it's just me, but I always had the impression that the Death Star primary weapon had never been used in combat prior to the test on Alderaan. A nitpick for sure, but it seems weird that everyone has already seen it in action in the events of Rogue One.

TAGGI
Until this battle station is fully operational we are vulnerable. [?] The Rebel Alliance is too well equipped. They're more dangerous than you realize.

IMPERIAL OFFICER (Motti)
The final check-out is complete. All systems are operational. What course shall we set?

You probably remembered those lines "too well"...

 

I actually love the Rogue One moment with the "you'll be dead!" guy bumping into Jyn and acting like a complete jerk. It makes the cantina scene in ANH feel less random. Before it was like, Obi Wan says something about scum and villainy and then the movie goes, "look! See, a scummy, villainous person!" And that worked, but it felt a little too convenient.

But with RO, we get some precedent. This deformed guy is not mentally well, as he tries to start a fight just because he bumps into someone. So when we see Luke displaying what he views as intentional disrespect, we already know something's going to happen. It just adds more depth.

 

After I saw Rogue One on opening night, I went right home and watched A New Hope. I can say RO definitely enhanced ANH for me. Those first two paragraphs of the crawler in ANH describe RO and they've got far greater meaning now than they ever could have before. And , at the end of ANH, as you're watching Luke and his cohorts try to hit a bullseye in that reactor, it's enhanced b/c we've now seen the efforts and sacrifice it took to even get those Death Star plans.


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I will know that when I see "Rebel spies" in the opening crawl of ANH, I will have a lump in my throat and think of the Rogue One team. And also know that Vader just ruthlessly slaughtered a bunch of rebels before his entrance in ANH.

 

I think it would have been better to leave him out. The thing is, the SW universe contains millions of planets and many of the planets have millions of inhabitants. The chances of two soon-to-be key figures in the rebellion running into the same rogue in a matter of days, on different planets, seem to me slim.

 

It's interesting that they chose to do this film instead of one about the Bothans & the second Death Star. ROTJ was made to order for a Bothan stand alone movie. There's dozens of references ("Many Bothans died..." "Now we find out if this code is worth the price we've paid". ) Even to the extent you could show Palpatine having the info leaked to bait his trap. (something that was actually feared in Rogue One) It would be arguably a better fit to set up Jedi, than RO was to ANH. But would they be willing to do such a similar story amid the criticizim they already received for "rehashing" plots thus far?

 

Evazan looks so different in RO than he did in ANH, that I just pretend it was a different guy who's also a dick, and also has an Aqualish best friend.

 

I'd say it all ties together on multiple levels. In terms of Star Wars there is the family saga of Anakin who has become Vader and his son Luke who is the new hope in terms of Obi-Wan and Yoda in defeating the Sith ie their hope is that he is the Chosen One that they think Anakin was not. On the other hand there is the overarching galactic events in the physical world that are underpinned by the Force. Obviously no one outside of a very few have any ideal that the Force is out of balance or even what that is supposed to mean.

Jyn does what she does for her father and to fulfill what he started while Luke also wants to save his father. So in both cases the children redeem the fathers.

As I said before the flow from ROTS to R1 to ANH is very well done. While ANH tonally does not match up the way the other two do the story tie-ins from them does enhance the overall. In those terms it can be looked at that while ROTS and R1 are very dark the tide does really start to turn in ANH so it's presentation and the way the story is told is part of that turn. Since the movie flows largely from Luke's perspective anyway the way he sees things in far simpler terms of good and evil works through him.

As he learns things are more complex in TESB then the movies reflect his experiences.

 

I have a new pet theory about the Stormtroopers' infamous aim...

Most of the time they're not actually trying to kill the hereos, they're under standing orders to ARREST THEM. We see this in ROTJ when two Stormtroopers shout "FREEZE" at Han and Leia instead of taking them out.

 

Personally I still think it's hours or days, depending how long it takes to get to Tatooine. They must've thought they'd shaken off the Empire otherwise they'd never have taken a detour to Tatooine instead of rendezvousing with another ship and passing the plans on.

Lightspeed is afterall defined as a fast as 'the speed of plot'!

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At the start of "A New Hope," there was some kind of confusion about Vader's boundaries, his position, and whether the Imperial Senate would approve of that kind of tactic. This seemed especially interesting when the Prequels were coming out and I was trying to speculate how things would go and connect. Now the interception of the Tantive IV doesn't seem like an action "so bold" that "only Vader" would execute. It simply seems like the ship was caught at a rebellious attack and followed. It can still fit though. I have yet to watch it since seeing "Rogue One."

 

Great post. I'm very much looking forward to having RO on blu-ray so I can watch it back to back with the 1977 Star Wars film. The 1977 film is already my favorite movie of all time, and I think RO as prologue will make it even better.

 

Gigoran Monk wrote

Evazan looks so different in RO than he did in ANH, that I just pretend it was a different guy who's also a dick, and also has an Aqualish best friend.

Perfect! According to George Lucas Canon the guy in ANH was the small time punk Roofoo and part of a trio, including the rat alien (ANH screenplay, Star Wars Radio Drama) so the characters in RO are apparently different (where's the rat?).

 

I don't watch chronologically anyway. I watch by release date.

 

That's a great way to look at it. I feel like I can watch ANH for the first time again. Woah.

 

For today, at the very least, you are my Yoda. I'm going to watch ANH again the first chance I get to fully absorb the transition you've described.

 

A taste

 

I think the grim finale greatly enhances the dramatic stakes of 'ANH' and the character of Luke. Luke is introduced in the film as being that very slim chance that bad things might be righted. Seeing the Empire as an almost indestructible force in 'Rogue One' just makes the odds that a simple farm kid could destroy the system that much more improbable.

Also, Galen's sabotage was brilliant and totally makes sense.