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Saw Rogue One

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Posted on December 29, 2016 at 19:59:54
Ross
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Joined: January 24, 2000
The Dirty Dozen in Space, with a dash of Henry V inspiration.

A blind Jedi makes perfect sense.

The end justifies the means as long as the end is virtuous.

The Rebels are guerrillas, with their very own Che Guevara (Saw Herrera).

CGI can resurrect the dead- hope their estates were well compensated.

Producers did a great job of capturing the feel of the original movie- hairstyles, costumes, sets, computer graphics etc.

Several major and minor cameos- some expected, some unexpected, but all served to tie the stories together in the continuum.

Definitely a war movie with a rousing cavalry rescue.

Definitely a Disney movie with the requisite multicultural cast.

I understand that Disney has planned 6 new movies; 3 as a new trilogy, and 3 as "side movies" stand alone stories that inform the main series of 3 trilogies. Rogue One was the first of the side-movies, telling the story of how the plotline for Ep IV- A New Hope was set in motion.

There have been various theories and conjecture regarding the next 2 stand-alone stories. One will feature a young Han Solo and Lando Calrisian- early adult years, becoming a smuggler, how he came to be in debt to Jabba the Hut etc. Could be a good space buddy movie with Chewie and Lando. I understand Emilia Clarke (Danerus Targarean from GOT) will be the female lead.

Through all of my cynicism, I still recall my wonder at seeing the original way back in the summer of '77.

I liked Rogue One.

 

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RE: cgi characters and some spoilers, posted on December 30, 2016 at 11:17:14
Being of the Star Wars franchise you can expect that ILM (Industrial Light & Magic)was behind the effects. Of course we see it in the credits at the end of the film. But....heck, ILM pioneered the industry starting with the first Star Wars... and now the firm continues to stay in step with the cutting edge of cgi movie technology.

Over the years there have been several attempts at duplicating a living and breathing human with CGI....unsuccessfully. And when I look at the cgi construct that was Peter Cushing I am at once amazed at how close they got to reproducing his likeness, and also somewhat creeped out because in the end it fails to convince. This likeness had this effect, probably, because of the many facial close-ups. It was Peter Cushing, as if brought back from the dead and just ever so slightly -- not him.

The cgi Princess Leia was a close repro...but not done as well as was Cushing. But those shots were brief and somewhat blurry. (intentional no doubt)

X-wing fighter pilots from the original movie...some of those guys were included and they did not look 40 years older! I'm guessing that the faces were not cgi constructs, but everything around them was and so original footage was put into use there. In another month or so we will be able to read about the tech that was used in a few different industry magazines. I'm looking out for my next issue of Computer Graphics World.

Oh, yeah, I liked the movie too. What if it turns out that the stand-alone movies outclass the episodic ones? I wouldn't be surprised.

-Steve

 

Cushing was definitely caught in the "uncanny valley"..., posted on December 30, 2016 at 11:36:38
Steve O
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Location: SE MI
Joined: September 6, 2001
...IMO. I can't identify exactly what it was about his image that I found unnerving but unnerving it was. Carrie Fisher was less unnerving probably for reasons you stated. OTOH these CGI humans are much better than past attempts...creepiest in distant memory was "Polar Express".

 

The time line is whacked on this one., posted on December 30, 2016 at 14:55:07
free.ranger
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Joined: April 8, 2004
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January 7, 2005
Felicity Jones was in the previous SW flick as a newly introduced character, interacting with an aging Fisher, Ford, and a cameo from Hamill -- all well past the earlier "death star" episodes.

In this one, we have the building of the weapon, with the Jones character (now older), previously introduced w-a-y ahead in time. One reviewer I read said this story is timed in at about episode 3 and a half.

I haven't seen it, so maybe somebody can explain that.

 

RE: cgi characters and some spoilers, posted on December 30, 2016 at 15:54:12
Ross
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Posts: 1814
Joined: January 24, 2000
CGI staff used extra footage from the original as source material for characters in the new movie. As I understand it, 40yr old footage was digitized, then broken down to extract specific portions of the frame images. The extracted data was merged into new digital files to create "new" footage for the new movie.

Cushing looked like he was embalmed, and also a bit older than he did in the original. However, this one took place in the time frame immediately before the original movie. There were times he looked like he was superimposed into the scenes, and other times when you could see halos around his image, and edge pixelization.

 

I saw it in '77 . . . , posted on December 31, 2016 at 13:00:17
Billy Wonka
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October 15, 2013
at the tender age of 28. I thought it was a child's movie and, even at that time, could not understand how people of all ages lost their flippin' minds over it. And, continued the madness for decades to come.

I just didn't get it.

 

I still don't get it..., posted on January 1, 2017 at 10:17:52
musetap
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January 28, 2004
Mass Market Mediocrity OR Supreme Popcorn/Large Soda Moviemaking at its Finest.

That's Entertainment!

I was 18 at the time and remember seeing the commercials that were SO incredibly B film
quality I thought it was a spoof film.


"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

RE: Saw Rogue One, posted on January 3, 2017 at 10:08:50
jamesgarvin
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Posts: 5007
Location: southern ohio
Joined: July 9, 2004
I don't see many movies anymore, but since my kids love Stars Wars, I do get to indulge a little. First, I love the franchise. I really liked the film, particularly after The Force Awakens, as I was a little disappointed with that film in that I thought it too much a retread of past themes, and unlike Darth Vader who really seemed dangerous, I was not convinced of his protoge.

Stars Wars was always a Cowboys and Indians movie set in space, and I thought Rogue One really carried that theme to the nth degree. I was concerned it would disappoint the kiddos, as it spends a fair amount of time developing the characters at the expense of the action, but when it hits the action, it goes balls out.

And having my son turn to me with a bright smile when Darth Vader chokes a subordinate made my day.

 

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