Rogue One [Official Info] Princess Leia (Ingvild Deila and Carrie Fisher) in Rogue One

I felt she was essential to the connective tissue of the prequels and originals in this movie. Like a passing of the baton. Not only from Bail to Leia but wearing her hair the same way we see her mother when she first appears in 3. 3 and Rogue One would seem to end on a downer but Leia and the plans she has are the promise of hope that comes out of both of them united in that final scene. Everything comes together. When we see Leia we know the fightback is coming, if you are watching from 1 onwards its a hell of a moment. Last time we saw her she was a newborn.

 

Someone asked me a question last night and I didn't know the answer. We know that Leia was tasked with going to get Obi-Wan and bring him to Alderaan - but if that was the case why would she need to be at Scarif?
Was the mission always to have Leia be the courier of the Death Star plans to Alderaan as well, or did she just end up with the plans after the Darth Vader attack?

 

And also in ANH, the crawl still says that she's heading home [to Alderaan] so there's that head scratcher too now.

 

I have to say I was not expecting CGI Leia, but when I saw it I thought she looked incredible. Probably because it was so unexpected to me but also because the scene was brief. Had she been on screen as long as Tarkin was, I probably would've been less impressed.

 

So here's a question on a subject that really hasn't been touched on in this thread, or in others:

For those of you that had issues with Leia's appearance in the film, would you have preferred that Ingvild Deila alone actually portray the character in the brief scene, rather than her enhanced performance by ILM?

She does have a very striking resemblance to a young Carrie Fisher (she has plenty of headshots and images on her IMDb page):

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm6488665/

 

I think the first glimpse we got of Tarkin, his reflection in the glass, would have worked perfectly instead for the reveal of Leia (not both). Leia was in a brightly lit room on the Tantive (WHY?) Didn't need to be. Instead we should have just seen her from behind, she gets word of the plans, we see the white and the buns and then cut to her reflection staring out at the stars. Rack focus from her reflected face to the stars themselves as she says her line about hope. BAM roll credits.

 

CGI aside, the inclusion of Leia at the end is amazing for me in that it integrates Rogue One into the Saga, moreso even than Vader's appearances.

Think about it like this: imagine you watch Star Wars for the first time chronologically. By Episode III, you're in a pit of despair and hopelessness...and that pretty much only gets worse when you watch Rogue One. I mean, every character is dead at the end! Sure, you can imagine the Death Star is vulnerable because of Galen, but you also see Vader be an unstoppable machine. But for the very attentive viewer: Bail Organa mentions a woman he'd trust with his life. You know Bail took Vader's daughter...and who is this mysterious woman in white, appearing out of nowhere but with so much fanfare? It seems plausible she'd be the daughter of Skywalker, and you truly feel the hope Rogue One preaches throughout.

Of course, it'll be about 100 years before anybody experiences Star Wars this way, but hey, it's pretty cool to think about.

 

I know others were more critical of CGI Leia than Tarkin but I thought her scene worked better as it was so short.

 

Leia looked great. Not perfect, but as good as they could have done, I think.

I really hope this is the case. They could still use a bit of touching up. But even if they don't, I'm satisfied with the way they turned out. It would be very jarring for me to see other actors playing them when it takes places days and even minutes before ANH.

 

It's significantly less than 100 years. There are a lot of kids who at this time are too young, but will be watching their first Star Wars movie in couple of years time.

 

^100 years was obviously an exaggeration, but the point was more that Star Wars would have to fade out of the public consciousness for that viewing experience I described to actually happen.

 

One issue is that if you haven't seen ANH and watch Rogue One, you'll have no idea whatsoever who the girl in white is at the end who says "Hope." It'll seem random, especially to young kids who will say "WHO'S THAT?!" Think about it, all this build up, action and tension leads to a scene in which the McGuffin of the entire film is handed to someone we've never met and was only mentioned briefly almost in passing...​

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This could have been resolved if we see Leia briefly in a hologram earlier. A message from her to Bail on Yavin or something. 15 seconds is all it takes, a reference to her being his daughter and being on the Blockade Runner at his service, etc., would have set up the end of the film much much better. Mon Mothma walks in on Bail communicating with Leia, she asks about "the princess", Bail says he trusts her with his life, and then at the very end on the Tantive, before we see her face we hear someone refer to her as "princess."​

 

I watched it with some people who have little idea of who Leia is, and I think they were even more thrilled by it. Explanation? She was a rebel leader (addressed as "princess") who got the plans, and clearly represented (visually and tonally) the antithesis of what we just saw from Vader and Tarkin. The mysterious, angelic and very mythic image of Leia at the end really got their imaginations going. No matter who Leia is, the film makes a striking thematic point through the gleaming white, heavenly visual alone. And that's part of the genius of Rogue One. Like the best films, it says so, so much through visuals alone.

 

I would say all of the fleet was summoned to Scarif. I mean what good is the Tanitve IV in Alderaan, if the Scarif battle ends
up being a failure.

And the crawl still works. Leia was on her way back to Alderaan, she just had to pick up an extra 'passenger' first.

 

And it was.

 

It was a touching moment. One of the few in the film that managed to get to me.

I thought they did better work with Tarkin than Leia. Because Peter Cushing had such a distinctly shaped, and weathered, face you could tell that ILM pour a great deal of work into capturing his likeness. Save for a few scenes, it was obvious to me, but good CGI none the less. My wife, for example, had zero idea he wasn't real, which is huge.

Leia looked more like a Final Fantasy cut scene. Carrie was so young, and her face appeared so flawless, but regardless human skin has a million little textural points that CGI fails to capture. So CGI Leia still looked too smooth, cartoonish.

Unfortunately I can't post a still of Leia from RO, but if you find it and put it up next to the below photo, it's painfully obvious how off it is:

 

cgi Leia looked awesome.....

 

Tarkin and Leia were both played by actors with augmented features. Like digital prosthetics. They were real people in costumes interacting with the other actors on set. Their eyes and bodies were real. If you thought he moved funny then blame Guy Henry.

 

Best I can find. Actually quite a bit more off than I thought, looking at it side by side. And Tarkin looks much more real.

 

Tarkin looks better than Leia. It's obvious more work went into him, and putting him in half shadow hid a myriad of sins.

Leia was bright, upfront, full lit, and she suffered for it. She did not look that much different than:

 

Yep. Totally agree. It was so unexpected the first time I saw R1, that it's fair to say I was somewhat blown away.

 

Leia's face is on screen so briefly that I think it works. Gave me goosebumps both times I've seen the film.

 

Completely agree. Her scene was so brief you didn't have a chance to critique it as much as you could Tarkin. Audience gasps both times I saw it when she appeared.

 

Seeing the 1977 version of Princess Leia was a pleasant surprise for me, when watching Rogue One... And then brought me back to this line that Bail Organa mentioned - the one where he said he knows someone whom he can trust with his life or something like that, while leaving the Rebels' command center?

At first, I thought Bail was referring to one of his trusted lieutenants back in Alderaan, but turns out that he meant his own adopted daughter all aong... Which explains Leia's surprise appearance at the end of Rogue One, as a great way to end this movie and continue the events into the "sequel", AKA A New Hope!