Rogue One [Official Info] Forest Whitaker (Saw Gerrera) in Rogue One

No age is given. 20 years older than in TCW though, as of Rogue One. TCW Saw looks adult, but it's hard to tell more than that - he could be anything from early twenties to late thirties.

 

If I were to make a piece of art, it would be Saw pointing to his hair with his right hand.
Caption:
"It's a part! That's what this is."

 

I feel like after watching R1 three times now, I like him more as a character in the movie. You better able to piece together all his questions and situations and facial expressions, and because of that, I feel his character is richer than upon first viewing only. Forest Whittaker was awesome.

 

Sadly Saw Gerrera was the one performance in this movie that pulled me out of the moment, it just didn't really work for me. I kept getting flashbacks of Forest Whitaker in Battlefield Earth.... never a good thing.

 

This was what I wrote about Saw in my review. It's sadly kind of negative at least as far as he's concerned but that doesn't mean I don't want to see the character again in some other form. And forgive all the stuff about setting up who he is but this was part of a larger review and I felt like I had to set this up for people unfamiliar with the character:

"I mentioned Clone Wars and Rebels earlier and this film marks the first time a character from one of those shows makes the leap from animation to live action in the form of Saw Gerrera (Forrest Whitaker) and while none of his history from the Clone Wars is referenced that he led a Rebel uprising on his home world of Onderon against the Separatist Alliance and while he and his people won the fight for the time being at least with help of Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka Tano he lost his sister Steela in the process we do get reference to the fact that he's an extremist which I imagine comes from the fact that he's been fighting nonstop since the Clone Wars never resting and has seen so much war and is an old veteran the loss of his sister also no doubt having a long term affect on him.

The character wasn't my biggest problem if anything he does add a bit to the Rebels and their identity that despite the Rebels being labelled the good guys they will do some shady stuff in order to protect the greater good it's just how far are they willing to go? Saw's methods are labelled to be too extreme and now he's off on his own away from the larger fight at hand yet the Alliance is willing to send Cassian to murder Galen who helped in the construction of the Death Star sure but he is still a human life that may be more valuable alive then dead. Not to mention Cassian mentions he has done some bad stuff in the name of the Rebellion he even does so in his opening scene he's forced to kill his friend so as to not give his position away all the while his friend is scared out of his mind and trying to tell him what he's been hearing about the Death Star. I wish they got more into that stuff personally but again this is a film and there's only so much you can do plus Rebels can explore that stuff potentially but my main issue with Saw was actually Forrest Whitaker himself who again isn't a bad actor but he didn't work here entirely.

It's mostly due to this voice he puts on and there's a reason for it he has to wear this large bulky suit of armour that acts as a life support system with a built in oxygen mask that gives him oxygen to help him breathe. Like I mentioned before Anakin now Vader trained him and it's kind of cool to see him become the reverse Vader also being part machine by having a cybernetic leg but every time he spoke in that raspy voice it took me out of the scenes he's in. It was cool to see a character from animation transition to the screen though and I hope they can keep doing this in the future and make it work naturally and it's performed better then hear because the performance was a letdown."

That being said though I am looking forward to seeing Saw again in Rebels with Forest getting another chance to flesh out the character and since he isn't ill yet he can talk normally so the raspy Ralph Fiennes in Clash of the Titans style voice won't be present. I hope there are more references to his time during the Clone Wars since I imagine any references to it in Rogue One were cut so as to not confuse the general audience who may not have seen it (considering though from the new clip shown he gets to have a reunion with Rex there more than likely will be) and also maybe hint as to what's happened to Onderon over the years and Lux's current whereabouts or what he did after his last appearance in Clone Wars. And also how Steela's death still no doubt affects Saw which I mentioned may play into his behavior. She seemed to be the more grounded of the two and kept him in check and since she died he doesn't have that filter anymore.

I do wonder if maybe there are references to the Clone Wars in the background of his lair and we just can't spot them? Another way to see more of Saw I would like to see him in maybe another spin off film set before this one and also a comic series or an appearance in a novel. Years ago when I first saw the Onderon arc I didn't think much of it but now I wonder if I saw it again would I like it better due to all the history that's come from it and the progression of Saw's character? Maybe I might do that some day

 

Not sure if this has been discussed but why does he sacrifice himself? It seems to make no sense whatsoever to me.

 

Well for one thing I think its questionable whether he would have been able to escape even if he'd wanted to given how slow this robo legs were but I think perhaps also a realisation of what he'd become and that his presence wouldn't be helpful?

I would say for me the big issue with Saw first time around is I was expecting him to end up as "part of the team" which hampered me from seeing what they were actually doing with his character, Second time around I think Forest Whittaker gives a great performance and its really only that cheesey "save the dream" line that hurts the character.

For me Saw's purpose is to highlight the morality dubious nature of the various forces resisting the Empire which I think is ultimately one of the main arcs to the film. Jyn is convinced to join the fight but also Cassian and then the Rebellion as a whole is convinced to put politics and distrust aside and work together.

 

He's extremely ill, and he's seeing that the game has escalated to a level that he can no longer fight on. It's not really a sacrifice per se because it is not meant to serve a function - it's an allusion to Vader of course, someone who would rather die a man (hence yanking out the breathing tube).

 

He couldn't run due to his cybernetics.

 

I thought Forest Whitaker gave an good performance. I don't understand people who say he was overacting. This is SW! It's supposed to be theatrical, just look at Emperor Palpatine!

 

The closest thing to a Colonel Kurtz we may ever get in a SW film. He's gone mad, plain and simple. Deserves to be a fan favorite, and I think he is destined to be.

 

Had Saw been in more of the film, I honestly think he would have been my favorite character. His first scene with Bodhi is wonderfully intimidating, and his conversation with Jyn prior to the hologram communicates their shared history so well. Terrific work by Forrest Whitaker, doing so much with only 10-15 minutes of screen time.

 

Maybe it was my theater, but we found it very difficult to understand his dialog

 

Can anyone who's seen RO recently confirm that Saw has his breathing apparatus when he rescues Jyn from the hideout on Lah'mu? If I'm right and he does have it, there's a major inconsistency with how he's going to appear on Rebels.

 

Very happy to see a Clone Wars character make their film debut. Forest Whitaker did a great job.

 

Saw and Whitaker's odd performance of him was a highlight of the film for me in terms of memorable characters. I wish we had gotten a little more on him and his band of extremists. They were the most interesting thing to me during the first half of the movie.

 

It's funny the way I did a complete backflip with Saw and his rebels... The first time I saw the film I thought they were the worst part about it. The second and third I started to realise how much layering and depth there is to the whole situation. Aesthetically I loved his cave...had a real Jabbas Palace feel about it. I loved the fact he was a rebel version of Vader (someone barely hanging on to their own body) and most of all I love the fact the Alliance had cut ties with him because he had become too extreme. It happens to good people. I have heard of good guys doing bad things, to bad people they didn't believe that society would deal with appropriately... It's a fine line between being a good guy and a bad guy.

What's that old saying "In war it's not about who is right - But who is left!" Hmmm

 

1138% correct.

Not just Palpatine, but Jabba too is a larger than life character. Even Yoda has a weird, distinctive way of talking.

Saw, as played by Forest, is VERY Star Wars.

 

He doesn't seem to have it in the flashback. Also, his voice is clearer.

 

What was the point with his haircut change? Personally, I thought he looked better bald.

 

Perhaps his performance is a bit out there, but I think it mostly works. I like how his unhinged nature leaves you in suspense as to how he will deal with his captives. Feels like there must have been more to the character that was abbreviated in the final cut. But that's okay. He's still a memorable character, despite not having much screen-time.

I think it was to make him look a little wilder and disheveled, and to show the passage of time.

 

Watched it again. Not sure he just gave up at the end there. I think Saw had had enough. Paranoid. Unable to discern friend from foe. Crippled. Barely alive.

He even wonders why Jyn would come to kill him as in his own words "there's not much left" of him.

No. I suspect if he tripped on a sidewalk he wouldn't even lift a hand to break his own fall. The destruction of Jedha was probably just an opportunity for sweet relief.

 

Not to mention that as all good revolutionaries in history understood, Saw probably saw value in martyrdom at that stage. Continuing on as a shell of his former self was probably too shameful for him. This was his opportunity to go honorably into the night.

 

I had a similar experience. On my first viewing I thought Saw was speaking a made up alien Star Wars type language when he yells out "Lies! Deceptions!" while approaching Bodhi. I thought it was actually pretty creepy and cool cuz the Jedha theme was still playing, the way he said it was intense, and all I could think was what is he saying? It was only as he continued to speak that I realized he was speaking English, but in the back of my mind I still thought his first lines had been in another language. On my second viewing the following day I had to pay particular attention during Saw's introduction to realize what he was saying at first. But yea, I think it had to do with the audio the first time around.

 

I liked Saw and thought he was pretty cool. Keep I mind, I have not watched Star Wars The Clone Wars or Rebels, so his character was completely new to me. He really seemed "off the rocker" so to speak. Whitaker did a solid job IMO.

I only wished that they had delved deeper into the bond between him and Jyn, as Saw became her father figure of sorts after her real dad was abducted under duress by the Empire. I still felt Whitaker and Jones had good acting chemistry together, though.

I think Saw simply had enough. He even said there "isn't much of me left", and when he said he would run no further, I felt as if it was a person kind of just embracing the end, as if he wasn't happy about what he had become.