Rogue One Is R1 Your New Favorite?

Don't get me wrong. I love "Rogue One". But I see that it is fast becoming an overrated film . . . like "The Empire Strikes Back".

"Rogue One" is set directly before "A New Hope". I don't find this feeling surprising. But in regard to tone, I find its ambiguity a closer to the PT. And although I enjoyed "Rogue One", I have felt for the past five years that "Rogue One" was a sign that Disney had failed to get over its obsession with the OT. I don't mind if a Star Wars movie or series make narrative connections to the OT. But I still mind that today's Lucasfilm filmmakers have this tendency to try to recreate the style - storytelling or otherwise of the OT. Lucasfilm needs to be more original. It should stop trying to recreate the Original Trilogy. It's becoming exhausting.

 

No. Rogue One is loved by fans, and importantly, loved by audiences and critics who aren’t Star Wars fans. It’s totally very different, and in all the right ways. Just a bit of a more mature look at this complex galaxy. Further, as a one and done, its esteem will grow as a great standalone films, and one of the finest in the sci-fi genre. Rogue One will be the most like TESB, with appreciation for it growing significantly with time. Ultimately, it’s clearly the best of the Disney era (hard to argue with that), and this sentiment will get stronger.

 

That should've read "tonally" very different, not "totally."

 

I do agree that Disney has an obsession with the original trilogy and trying to recreate it, though thankfully we have been getting more original storytelling with the High Republic which tackles a new era filled with new threats instead of just telling another Empire vs Rebels story (which is one of my biggest issues with the sequel trilogy). But in regards to Rogue One, tone-wise I feel like it works as a transition between the prequels and the original trilogy. The first half of the film is deconstructive, similar to the prequel trilogy. But the last act of the film is reconstructive, setting up the tone of A New Hope and the rest of the original trilogy. Rogue One deconstructs to reconstruct, which is one of the reasons it is one of my favorite Star Wars films. To be honest, I feel like Rogue One and Solo are the Disney Star Wars films that appreciate the prequels the most. And when it comes to recreating the style of the original trilogy... I don't mind it with Rogue One, mainly because of how good it looks. I mean, I have to agree with Krennic about the visual effects and the look of Rogue One...

Spoiler

 

Rogue One is by far the most beautifully-shot Star Wars film. That’s about as close to objective fact as one can get with subjective stuff like film.

 

I think ESB is right up there behind Rogue One. For me it comes in second because I wasn’t a huge fan of how Dagobah was shot (though that…also has a lot to do with the set, and not just the lighting and camera work). I have no such issues with Rogue One.

 

I would say though that "obsession with the OT" is quite a broad criticism and I think the way Rogue One relates to those films is significantly different from the way the sequels do.

Really I think Rogue One is mostly focused on recreation of the environment of the OT BUT I think it quite a generalist way. It does of course feature existing designs from the OT but moreso I think it looks to follow the aesthetics of those films, the combination of used industrial designs and frontier like locations. It feels more like the recreation of an environment than it does a film focused only on playing to nostalgia which I felt the sequels and solo were much more guilty of.

You look beyond the setting though and I think its actually quite original dramatically, I mean its a heroic Hollywood blockbuster so yes there are going to be some similarities but its not a story about a chosen one growing into their heroic destiny. I think its actually quite interesting to see the two lead characters essentially meet in the middle morally, individualism and collectivism balanced to give catharsis.

 

Exactly. Frankly, Rogue One is stylistically the most different Star Wars film yet. It’s not the pulpy, goofy, often cheesy, action adventure that most Star Wars is. It has a more realistic, grim, serious “Battle of Britain” tone, leavened by some flashes of humor. In short, all other Star Wars movies were swashbuckling action adventures. Rogue One was a war movie. That’s a major difference. Villeneuve noted this when commenting on whether or not he would ever consider doing Star Wars. It’s the most original of the films yet, when compared to each other.

 

Back in early '77 when I heard there was a movie coming out called STAR WARS, knowing nothing about it but the title, I would have predicted it would be more gritty and serious than what GL made. R1 is the SW movie I had expected way back then. Of course I loved the lighter adventurous fun of the original, but the franchise is broad enough to encompass both styles of story-telling, and many more.

 

This. Star Wars will persist forever if it remains open to all kinds of different styles. It will only begin to seriously stagnate if an overly restrictive formula is locked in.

 

To answer OP: It's *probably* the one I enjoy watching the most. It's not my personal best, though.

 

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s unequivocally the best Star Wars film, for me. On every criteria of judgment - visual, aural, narrative, character, etc. It’s almost hard to believe how good it is.

 

I haven't seen a Star Wars movie in the theater since Revenge of the Sith. I've watched all of the new ones on DVD. The first time I saw Rogue One, I was so impressed that I immediately rewatched it. For comparison, it took me four days to get through The Force Awakens.

 

Decided to rewatch the OT again before going back to the TV shows and opted to start with Rogue One and every time I rewatch it, it floors me. Definitely the best of the films to come out post-Disney deal. Krennic's a superb villain and all of the main heroes are likeable and relatable. I also think it works brilliantly as a prequel and if I was showing Star Wars to someone for the first time, I'd start with R1. Establishes the Empire as the big bad in the universe and it's brilliant that Tarkin's villainy is now spread over two films. Plus, we get references to the Force but no full-on Jedi keeping the mystique. Vader in R1 also works brilliantly as an intro - used sparingly but effectively, no Anakin references, maintaining the reveal in ESB and him going full on berserk mode at the end adds to his entrance in ANH. Palpatine's also out of sight, keeping him as this mysterious character behind the scenes. I think there's an argument for it being the best made Star Wars film.

 

Yup. To me, it’s almost flawless.

 

"Almost"? What the heck? This is really uncalled for.

 

I’m so sorry. Really, I am. Don’t know what came over me. I hope there’s some way I can atone for this heinous blunder.

 

"Oh, look, here's @Bor Mullet, back from the dead."

 

Sounds fair to me.

 

How about…you can have all my pineapple pizza leftovers?

 

"Rogue One" is a favorite of mine. But it's not my favorite Star Wars movie. I'm not a fan of the movie's first 30 minutes. I thought the pacing was too fast. And I found the actual heist of the Death Star plans troubling. The CGI for the Tarkin and Leia characters did not help.

 

That first time seeing RO in the theater left me speechless. It is unreal how fantastically flawless it is; truly a well crafted, artistic film that rewards upon multiple rewatches just like TESB.

Rogue One will have longevity and notoriety in SW history as being one of the best films; at least among us diehard fans.

 

The first 30 minutes is actually my favorite part of the movie. There's something about it that just feels so organically real.

I've also found (among many people I know) that it's a favorite of viewers who aren't Star Wars fans. Particularly among people who don't warm to the cheesier elements of the franchise.