ST The big space battle: Will it be like Rogue One? Or Force Awakens?

Hi all, first post here.

I'm very excited for Rise of Skywalker, can't wait but I'm purposefully not watching the D23 footage to keep spoilers to a minimum. I got to thinking about the inevitable big space battle the film will have though and how JJ will handle it. Now obviously the sequels haven't had a really big one yet, but thinking back to what we did have at the end of TFA and what JJ did with the X-Wings animating like toys and pew-pew-ing like a video game has me a bit worried.

I really hope he can give us something memorable and deliberate as Endor or Scariff, both outstanding, and less generic and forgettable like Starkiller Base and Coruscant *shudder*.

Rian Johnson I thought did a good job in orbit over D'Qar but that wasn't really a "space battle" as such, but it was still something you can remember individual bits. I don't remember anything from the skies over Starkiller and certainly nothing from Coruscant in III, the lame buzz droids bit, apart.

I guess we're all just speculating but I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts.

Cheers!

 

This is one of the things I'm most hoping for in this movie: A space battle like Rogue One. It's been too long in a series literally named Star Wars that we've had a great space battle.

Seeing fleets in the trailer leads me to believe we're gonna get it.

If the more hyperbolic rumors of non-force-user ghosts showing up in this end up being true, I want a Raddus/Ackbar ghost led fleet.

 

I just hope its more Rogue One and less Revenge of the Sith/Force Awakens

 

Personally i think they need to do something different to Rogue one and TFA. probably is they were both trying to capture the OT battles and you give the audience too much of that and they will get bored. say what you like about Episode 3 but it was a different type of ships battle.

 

Yeah, completely unmemorable and emotionally hollow? You just didn't care about anything happening and nothing stood out. I wish directors would realise that simply throwing a thousand ships on the screen doesn't make an epic space battle. It needs memorable action, character moments, emotion, tactics, and tracking shots, not shakey-cam pew pew.

 

It'll be like ROTJ, only you'll have capital ships doing all of these crazy moves that light fighters would usually do because it's JJ Abrams and it needs to be flashier.

 

I Felt that way over TFA. infact i actually don't remember much of it. it blurs with episode 4 abit.

I remember more of Rogue ones fight, but at the same time there is only so many times you can push the boat out with Star destroyers ramming into each other, or hitting a damage point that destroys everything, or even lightspeed through another ship. once you do it then thats a tick off the list.

Maybe they can come up with something new that hasn't been done yet. perhaps the good guys will get their own superweapon that was rumored.

 

I actually liked the ROTS space battle. I wish we'd have seen more of it, instead of the tight focus on Anakin and Obi-wan, but it was still good.

My favorites are all in the old EU, mainly. Sluis Van, both Battles of Coruscant from the Vong war (especially Leia's speech!!!!), the Battle of the Katana Fleet. I like most of the movie ones, but the only ones that really get me excited are Rogue One and ROTJ. We do need new types of battles, and battle elements. Too many Star Wars battles center around a 'goal' that if they can just hit that one point, it's all over.

I really want a fleet on fleet slugfest. I want tactics, not luck.

 

The worst space battle IMO was the one in TPM. But I'm not even sure if that really counts, as it boiled down to a kid randomly pressing buttons.
The one in ROTS was a cluttered mess, but the more personal action involving the buzz droids kind of worked (and at least it didn't involve blowing up yet another massive space station, so that was a nice change.)
The one in TFA was serviceable. I assume it was meant to be secondary to the Rey/Kylo/Finn action, and in that sense, it did its job well enough, though I can't really remember anything much about it. It seemed like it was there mainly just to keep the pace up for the final reel of the film.

I suspect we'll get a more prominent space battle in TROS, with this being the grand finale. But I hope large doesn't translate to "cluttered mess" as it did in ROTS.

 

100% agree.

If I had to guess I think it'll end up being a bit of a cluttered mess, but with some good bits. Not as good as Endor or Rogue One but nearly.

 

Like Endor. Capital ships as back drops for a swarm of fighters. Pure chaos m, but you can still see what’s going on. Battle of Courscant had too much junk everywhere to make out what you were looking at. Endor never felt that way

 

Was there a space battle in Force Awakens? I don't remember one. I guess Finn and Poe's escape in the TIE was a brief "battle."

 

There's a brief shot of them fighting in space above Starkiller Base before they swoop back down toward the oscillator.

 

There was an X-Wing v TIE Fighter battle over Starkiller base, both just above the surface and in space, but proves the point really that it wasn't particularly memorable.

I did like what JJ did with the Finn and Poe escape and the Falcon v those Ties on Jakku, those worked well enough. Not really space battles, but still starfighter action. Gives me hope for TRoS.

 

Rey and Finn's escape from Jakku was the most thrilling starship battle in TFA, and it was the Falcon versus 2 TIEs. Numbers mean nothing!

 

I hope it's bigger than the Battle of Endor, which is the biggest and best space battle thus far in the Star Wars movies, IMO.

100% agreed.

 

In terms of scale it will be TPM. And Broom Boy will blow up the enemy ship by accident and save the day! Rey who?

 

I'd go so far as to say best space battle in all of tv/film.

As an example of what not to do, did anyone struggle through season 2 of Star Trek Discovery? That space battle in the final episode was so dumb, and not the first time the showrunners think that filling the screen with thousands of things = epic and great.

 

The Battle of Coruscant was more about character moments for Anakin and Obi-Wan.

I admit it is kind of just a linear approach by the Jedi to Grievous's ship for the most part.
Although; symbolically the entire Palpatine-orchestrated battle itself is a mirror to the battle of Endor - Sidious using himself as bait to lure the Separatist fleet and Rebel fleet respectively, then blockading them in as they attempt to leave, as he works on turning each male Skywalker.

It was never meant to be like the realistic dog-fighting battle of ANH.
It shows the two Jedi's dynamic has progressed since we last saw them... to being more on equal ground. It shows the contrast in their demeanours - "This is where the fun begins" vs "Flying is for droids".
And reinforces Anakin's un-Jedi-like loyalty to people over principles - "I'm gonna go help them out." and "I'm not leaving without you, master."
Contrasting Obi-Wan's insistence Anakin goes on without him to complete their mission.
Eta-
And the buzz droids as silly as they were gave Anakin a chance to save Obi-Wan again, to add relevance to his fond memories of Luke's father in ANH.
Plus some foreshadowing that they will eventually come to blows when Anakin accidentally shoots of his mentor's wing.

I agree the Battle of Endor was cooler as a space battle in itself.
The "trap" twist still gives me chills sometimes.

I think as Ive gotten older I maybe prefer the Millenium Falcon's scenes in ESB more. Not technically a battle though.

 

If you haven't done so, check out Babylon 5 and Deep Space Nine, both had some excellent space battles that really raised the bar. If anything they really emphasise the hollow nature of Discovery's second season finale battle spectacle.

Battlestar did some great ones too, which really emphasised the difference of capital ships and fighters.

The one weakness of Endor is that Lucas was having to jump between the three strands so you never got to see quite enough of each one - which you can argue was the point, but would anyone have said no to a bit more fleet action?

 

There could be inspiration from the Clone Wars series. We see lots of Star Destroyers in the trailer so I suspect some capital ship moments similar to Clone Wars.

I also think C-3PO will slave rig the Imperial fleet to fly into a sun (as per TFA artwork). No way will any Sith Troopers and mini Death Star tech survive.

 

I'm hoping for one like RO, although that will be hard to top.

 

Poe in the air with Zorri and the rest of the fleet, Finn on the ground with Jannah and the Resistance ground forces and Rey fighting Kylo/Palps somewhere else.

I don't expect the air battle to be the main focus.

 

Episode 4 of season 1 of the Expanse is the best space battle of all time, easily. But all these other ones are pretty great, too.

I would love to see actual fighter wings locked in at each other. Teams trying to communicate and work together, not one ace doing it all. Snap, Poe and Ello going up against...maybe the cool gold and red ace FO pilots from Resistance?