Rogue One Rogue One planets

Every time I see this film I am amazed at how diverse and otherworldly each of the planets are. Jehda, Eadu, and Scarif are all so Star Wars-y.

 

Don't forget Lah'mu, it's quite luscious.

 

The Ring of Kafrene was the most interesting place I thought! Wish we got more...

 

I understand what the production of "The Force Awakens" was trying to do but it overemphasized practical effects and location shooting, so this variety with obvious CGI enhancements to show diverse environments was very welcome. I liked seeing different types of Imperial facilities as well.

 

The big issue for me is that Edwards like OT era Lucas, Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott, etc is a master at both building atmosphere and in making sure it feeds into his drama. Abrams for me isn't nearly as skilled here and when he does try to build atmosphere its IMHO often lacking in subtlety or simply seems like a mismatch to whats happening dramatically.

Eadu for me is a perfect example of this, isn't a dark, stormy, mysterious place and this feeds though perfectly to what we unfold, the drama is the location and the location is the drama.

 

It was a cool location, but I think it could have been eliminated. Just have Cassian meet someone on Jedha or use an encrypted message. One less location would have helped the feeling of too much planet/location hopping early on. I felt Wobani was pretty unnecessary too. Imagine the shock of cutting from Jyn as a child to Jyn being lead right into the Rebel base years later.

 

Fair enough... I found the planet hopping a bit jarring at first, but then realised I loved it! The OT timeframe is easily the best (imo) so having all these extra planets was just the icing on the cake for me The ROK reminded me of Blade Runner which was great.

 

I wouldn't have minded seeing a bit more of Jyn on Wombi before the rescue and her journey to Yavin IV, that jump did feel a bit jarring as otherwise we followed her movements pretty closely, could have had a bit more buildup of her cynical nature at that point as well.

 

Lah'mu has absolutely gorgeous rings...I honestly wish Earth had them.

 

The planet-hopping was great, IMO. It's just that the music during the transitions was a bit abrupt. So chalk up that choppiness to Giacchino. That said, a short scene of Rey being escorted off Wobani (or being escorted off the ship when landing on Yavin IV) might have alleviated the choppiness a bit.

 

Yeah I'm not really a fan of that musical cue for Yavin Monk but generally I think the big issue is that the films judged by its own otherwise very high standards in this reguard.

Outside of this situation(which could be due to reshoots) I think Edwards understood and exploited the mechanics of "planet hopping" very well indeed. Each of the journeys allows for a naturally more introspective focus on character setting up the drama that will unfold on each location. I could imagine for example cutting from K2 chokeslaming Jyn to a scene with her on a U-wing staring down some of the Rebels she beat up and maybe a little aggressive back and forth between them followed by a more atmospheric arrival on Yavin.

I don't think Ring of Kafrene needed anymore footage around it personally and Cassian didn't need more character focus at that point.

 

Agreed... And I'll add (again) give us an extended version!!

p.s - Rey?? It's Jyn! Far out man!!! And you call yourself a RO fan...

 

Probably nothing more than a coincidence, but I noticed this while watching TFA earlier...
Tuanul Village, Jakku, home to the Church of the Force...

...and the Holy City, Jedha, home to the Guardians of the Whills...


Both on Plateaus.

 

And what is the Jedi Temple on Coruscant if not a giant artificial plateau:

 

The locations add value to the universe too, expand the lore and made me want to more of these planets and their history.

Wobani, Eadu & Scarif show the reach of the Empire in the installations they have and how much they have expanded since ROTS with a penal colony, weapons research facility and the location of the Imperial vaults.

Jedha not only raises the obvious questions as to its Jedi / Force mythology with the temples and the Kyber, but also shows us for the first time a civilised planet under Imperial rule and the oppression that brings. Not only that the holy city looks amazing, my favourite aspect of the whole story was this.

The Ring of Kafrene reminded me of the underworld of somewhere like Coruscant, Mos Eisley or even Blade Runner, not only does it look good but you've also got the added shadiness of it being a meeting place for the potential dregs of the universe looking to get ahead and a potential hub of all sorts of shady activity too. but also its Imperial presence adds to whats going in the universe at that time. Again visually this looks excellent and although its only on screen for a short time I wanted more.

RO shows that planets don't need to look other worldy to convince as alien planets, for me their inhabiants, the gritiness of them, the design of them and how they feel real are their big plus points. But in addition they have done a very good job of showing a universe under oppression. Imperial occupancy on Jedha and Kafrene, the tension of that is conveyed very well and I thought it comes across like the paranoia you see in an old WW2 movie. The might of the Empire is emphasised in their prison planet, weapons research planet and the highly protected installation on Scarif. Not only that Vader has made Mustafar his own too, the addition of that was a masterstroke for me.

Also they have bridged the gap between ROTS extremely well by taking where the Empire was at the end of that to not only show how far its reach is in Rogue One on all the planets depicted, but also how jaded, paranoid and frightened things seem to have become too.

Overall they did a very good job with the worlds and how they add value to the overall story, they weren't just another planet or window dressing.

 

My girlfriend and I watched R1 yesterday, and she pointed out that Wobani is an anagram of Obi-Wan. Now I headcanon that Wobani is Kenobi's true home planet.

 

Plateau or just somewhere elevated? Luke now lives in an elevated position where the Jedi built their first temple....may be the Jedi believe they need to be elevated to be closer to the Force?

 

I really hope that we get to see Wobani and the Ring of Kafrene again in some way. Both were very cool locations that I desperately want to know more about.

 

I just showed Rogue One to my friend, he thought Kafrene was interesting. Asked if it was even in the Star Wars galaxy.

 

My favorite planets would be all of them. Jedha itself seems mysterious. It has many secrets. Would be interesting to explore. Eadu is beautiful. Tarkin not only destroyed Eadu's facility, but may have contaminated the world, as well, given that it was, for all intents and purposes, a thermonuclear blast. Besides, I would consider Jyn, Cassian, K2, Baze, Malbus, and Bodhi to be martyrs. The Rebellion and the New Republic ought to have erected statues of them on that planet. They did, in my headcanon.

 

Tarkin didn’t destroy the facility on Eadu. He destroyed the facility on Scarif.

 

Thank you for the correction. Lol. That's funny that I got that mixed up. To me, I guess it's my subjective synesthesia, but if it were me, I would name a desert planet "Scarif." I would name a gas planet "Eadu." And I would name the actual planet Scarif "Jedha." Lol. Scarif, in my head, evokes brown/yellow dust and sand, and Eadu evokes white clouds, and Jedha evokes jungles. Well, my brain is my own version of Disney's Fantasia. Go figure. Case in point: Jyn's name is dark green, and Cassin's is yellow, Baze's is Chinese red (orange and red mixed), Chirrut's is grey-blue, Bodhi's is green and brown, Krennic's is white and grey, and Galen's is light green and black. As you can imagine, I enjoy listening and watching music because of this. It's something else.

 

No worries. That's funny, though as Jedha is just a few letters off from Jeddah, a holy city in Saudi Arabia:



In which context, I find it was a very appropriate name. Interesting that you associated it with jungles. How do you make that connection?

As for Scarif, I thought of it as scar + reef. A scar in a coastal reef. An Imperial blight on an otherwise paradisaical world.

Eadu...well, Eadu is just Eadu. Brings no images to mind, apart from a vague sense that it's an old Babylonian or Sumerian word.

 

I'm not sure. Js often, but not always, appear dark green, or some shade of green, in my mind. I am aware that they probably named that locale after the Saudi Arabian city. But I guess because we hear Tarkin and Krennic say it, that affects it. A British accent makes colors lighter in my mind, while an American accent makes colors sound darker. The whole idea of mystery darkens the colors of certain concepts.

Oh, I see. I did not know about those translations. I'm talking about this purely in artistic terms. I perceive sounds, concepts, feelings, emotions, ideas, letters, music, etc. as a vast spectrum of colors. They typically are related to perceptions and feelings more than anything else. Case in point would be real world names. The colors often have little do with the translations of those names. For example, a name that means "warrior" appears green when the actual word warrior appears grey and black. I don't often see things as red or orange, since I'm not fond of those colors. I like them in sunsets, clothing, and leaves, but not much in clothing. I hate neon orange and blood red, since both remind me of violence and rage. I associate love and wisdom with pink, purple, and blue.

But we're getting off the subject. A lot of the film of Rogue One is grey and purple to me when I think of it overall, due to its moral ambiguity. That's why I like it. I love those colors. In terms of morality... Jyn makes me think of green, blue, purple, and grey. Krennic makes me think of red, white, crimson, and stale, nasty teal. Seriously, though, I like the color teal, but it sometimes reminds me of someone who was an accessory to some real life crimes.