Rogue One [Official Info] Grand Moff Tarkin (Guy Henry and Peter Cushing) in Rogue One

On my second viewing, a family member asked me "that guy is still alive?" after the first scenes. I had to whisper that he died about 20 years ago, and it was all ILM work. They were utterly shocked!

I thought it was very good. Much better than I would have expected had someone told me CG Tarkin with tons of screen time before going in. Did I know it was CG when I saw it---of course. The guy is dead. Would I have preferred they exclude Tarkin? No way, he needed to be in this film. Would I have preferred EP3 Tarkin? No freaking way. That would have been horrible. Is the technology perfect? No, particularly to the nitpickers. Did it enhance my experience with this movie? For sure. I will take it all day.

 

If you haven't tried it, I can honestly say that CGI Tarkin looks way better in 3D than he does in 2D. In 2D it was way obvious. But see it in 3D and you can see what they were going for.

 

What happened to the Bothans?

 

The Bothans had nothing to do with the first Death Star, they got the information for the second one. And why are you asking this in a thread about Tarkin?

 

I think Tarkin is pretty hard to animate with all his stiff movements and his detailed face. They did very well, but Leia was on a different level.

 

To me, Tarkin and Leia looked obviously CGI. Very, very good, but not 100%.

But, some of the people I saw it with didn't even realised Tarkin was CGI, which I thought was very impressive.

 

Truthfully I'm glad they brought Tarkin "back" for this movie. It wouldn't have been the same if he didn't play some pivotal part in the stuff that went down.

 

Tarkin was very, very good. I'm glad they went this route. It wasn't perfect, but its Star Wars it can be improved later down the line when the tech is 100%. Some shots were just uncanny, others, the expression wasn't as strong as it should be making him look robotic and there were some instances of glass eye. But maybe its because I'm looking because I know he's dead.

 

The more I think about it, Tarkin wasn't really needed for this movie. All you needed was for him to say that he was taking over the Death Star from Krennic, which could be achieved from a voiceover and a hologram, a la the Emperor in Rebels. Keeping his visual presence out of the film would have removed the ethical dilemma that the filmmakers had to tread.

You could keep Leia though, since Carrie Fisher is still alive.

 

On the one hand, the CG was good enough that I don't think it was a mistake; on the other hand, it was just noticeable enough that I don't think I actually heard anything he said.

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I've seen it twice and I don't understand how people here are upset with the cgi. It was Tarkin. It looked, sounded and acted like Tarkin. What was wrong with him?

 

That's what I was thinking as well. I watched A New Hope after seeing R1 last night and I noticed that the makeup for everyone in ANH had a little too much blush as everybody (at least those who weren't wearing a mask) looked much redder in the face than usual. The skin around Cushing's eyes is noticeably redder in ANH than his CG counterpart in R1. Not a huge issue, but one which they may want to touch up on for future films.

 

I'll probably never be quite able to forget that his head is CGI, but it works well enough. So does the voice acting. Most of the time, I'm convinced it's him.
Of course, Krennic's interaction with him helps sell the illusion.

 

The CGI Tarkin is greatness!

 

I stayed mostly clear of the spoilers, so I was insanely shocked when Tarkin turned around for the first time. I literally said out loud "holy *****n sh**", really well done and surprising. Its amazing that we're at a point where we can have actors 40 years younger or the ones who passed away to be in the movies. I cant wait to hear Carrie commenting on her look in RO

 

Yeah, like others in this thread, I had to tell the folks I was viewing the film with that it was CGI at first. It looks a lot more convincing when you don't know it's CGI. I do think recasting the role to another actor, and using makeup and also CG to make him look like Cushing (look at the amazing work done with Michael Douglas through those means in Antman), would have been the winning strategy rather than having it all be CG, but as it stands (and I suppose they could touch things up for home release), it's more than decent, and gets better as the film goes on.

 

I'm wondering how Lucasfilm was able to work this out legally and what kind of a precedent this might set. I'm assuming that permission had to be granted by Cushing's estate, along with LFL paying the estate a considerable amount. I hope this wasn't just a situation of LFL saying that Cushing (and other Star Wars actors) signed off on allowing their likeness on toys, comics, cartoons, etc., and that this is pretty much the same thing as animation. I personally felt that Tarkin was well done in Rogue One, but the idea of making cgi versions of deceased actors doesn't really sit well with me when we have no way of knowing if that is something that they would have wanted.

 

The credits listed Cushing's estate, and I am certain that they would not just up and replicate him without the blessing. Even if they do own his likeness, they would still go about it in a sensible way so as to avoid bad blood and lawsuits.

As far as the execution, I'd say they did a pretty damn good job. I had a big dumb smile on my face the moment Tarkin turned around. I knew we saw his full face, due to a leaked photo from a theater, but I had no idea how close to 100% they would get. Sure they didn't completely nail it, but it was insane how close they got. I mean, there are a few ways this could have gone:

1-They totally nail his likeness and the animation and it is like they brought Cushing back from the dead
2-They nail his likeness, but the animation is off though it is great enough to work despite the fact that it isn't perfect
3-They fail with the likeness, the animation is off and it is a joke – see The Mummy Returns
4-They hire a lookalike, go 100% practical makeup to get as close to accurate as they can and dub him with a soundalike and obscure his face – See BTTF Part 2's George McFly

The first option is, I think, just a few years away. RO's Tarkin and Leia were where they landed. While at times it does take one out of the movie, I'd argue that the third and fourth options would be much worse. A total failure of CGI would ruin those scenes, and an all practical makeup attempt would have looked cheesy and just weird. It worked well enough in ROTS, as Tarkin was not given any dialogue or a closeup, but imagine Rogue One's Tarkin scenes with this guy filling the frame: http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net..._Tarkin.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20071027053245

 

The 4 people I've spoken to who aren't familiar with ANH or Cushing didn't know he was digitally created. Amazed by that.

 

Thought the CGI was great, but maybe unnecessary for Leia. Thing is, if you knew it couldn't be the actor you immediately start looking for telltale signs of CGI, and if you're looking you'll find them. Still, incredible how good it was. Wish the Leia cameo had been the droids.

 

From the get go I was surprised he would turn his head. But when he did, I could see the limitations and this was my first viewing. My next two viewings, I engrossed with the Story and the timings of the appearances and it sold me. Perfect! Next up 3D Imax.

MJ

 

By the second viewing, Tarkin looked excellent. Leia's still wonky, but Tarkin is a marvel of modern CGI.

 

Here's a controversial & perhaps ethically dubious statement. To me I find Tarkin a more interesting & entertaining character in R1 than ANH. His duel & masterful undermining of Krennic is more engaging than anything he did in ANH. That's no slight on the late great Sir Peter Cushing. I just mean in terms of the story & character arc. & they not only got a performance out of fake Tarkin but a damned good one.

 

Tarkin was very convincing to me, as was Leia. So, Guy Henry stood in and they animated Peter Cushing over him. But who voiced him? Was it Henry himself? I assume so. Initially, I didn't think it sounded like Cushing, but after a few seconds I accepted it.

However, I haven't seen this film in 2D. I saw it in IMAX 3D. But I bought it, just as I bought Davy Jones and Harvey Two-Face. This was a lot more convincing than infant Resesmee in Twilight.