CGI characters - Did you like them?

@SKB I saw from another post in a different thread that you viewed R1 in both 2D and 3D and your review makes it clear you preferred your 2D viewing. If you don't mind me asking you directly, and more specific to the question in this thread, in which version did you prefer the renderings of Leia and Tarkin?

 

Preferred 2D. Maybe because it was my first time seeing Rogue One, but seeing it again in 3D, it seemed to have lost a little bit of the surprise and mystery.
3D glasses do make the visuals darker with the tinted lenses, so I think i prefer 2D.

 

I thought the CGI characters, especially the facial stuff done for both Leia and Tarkin while not perfect were well done and definitely added to the movie.

 

This is a British tv interview with Guy Henry, the actor underneath the CGI Tarkin "mask" . Guy Henry also played Dr. Henrik Hanssen in the BBC hospital drama series "Holby City".

 

The whole scene fell flat for me, like @Ammianus Marcellinus said- the facial expression didn't match the context of the scene.

 

I liked them. Tarkin, Gold and rmRed Leader, Leia.
Leia looked strange but I still liked the scene. It was a perfect ending.

 

Tarkin was bad but I liked that he was in the movie (yet maybe too much). Leia looked better but definitely appeared to be CGI. Thry'll look better when the special editions come out!

 

My girlfriend had no idea Tarkin was CG until I told her after the film ended. Spot-Maclunkey-on I say.

 

When they first introduced Tarkin from behind (from the recent TV spot) with the reflection I thought, "Oh. They're going to be cute with this. Fair enough." But, when he turned around and I saw that it was a CGI Peter Cushing it was literally one of those mind blown movies.

They got me.

From that moment on it changed the entire tone of the film for me. I knew if they were willing to do that, the possibilities of them doing other things I did not expect were there. It made me more excited and anticipatory of what was to come.

As to Leia, I do feel she was a bit too upbeat in the scene. But it was 'cute' and got a good pop for the audience.

At the end of the day these films are enjoyment, not Oscar bait. (Though certainly bringing back Peter Cushing should get the visual FX Oscar). So I've no objection to fan service.

 

Those were better because only their faces were de-aged...Tarkin was 111% CGI including his legs (whihh was supposedly the hardest part to animate) and Leia's face digitally recreated and probably rotoscoped onto the actress that was cast
..

 

When Tarkin appeared i had my mouth open for a long long time. It was crazy. I repeated to myself " OMG it's him, OMG it's him! Jesus, It's identical, it's identical!". Probably the lack of light of his scenes helps in that way, we can't see the imperfection. Her scenes were really really cool!
But i would really loved to see Leia only from her back. Too much light. It's difficult to see a real person there although the effects are quite good.
When i saw the white dress i was like "Don't turn around. Don't turn around". Ok, she turned around. It's Leia, Jesus. It's a CGI Leia but it's Leia.

With friends discussed it. We thought it was director's joke, playing with us. It was like "I can do it. I will show to you. Somebody wants to see it. Somebody no. But I will show it anyway".
Weird but funny and lovely moment.

 

Watch out when academy awards nominations come out. Best supporting actor Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 17, 2016, Original Post Date: Dec 17, 2016 ---

I was close to tears too. Now if John Williams Leia's theme would have started to play when she was turning around I would have been a goner for sure. I know in ROTS at the end when Queen Breiha and Bail Organa took a baby Leia in their arms and they started to play her theme I teared up and that wasnt even Carrie Fisher.

 

I felt Tarkin was as close to perfect as needed. Other than the eyes, I thought he looked very believable and the story wouldnt have been the same without him.
As for Leia, I dont think she was CGI. I thought they had an actress actually play her, am I wrong?

 

I believe the Norwegian actress mentioned wore the white dress and did the scene and then the cgi'd Carrie Fisher's face in there. Just like Peter Cushing who they say was too tall was actually using an actor as a stand in and CGI. There is an interview of him on this page and he is tall.

 

Agreed. Tarkin was so necessary and he was so convincing. Great moments.

In final credits I saw Princess Leia with an actress name on the side which I could not remember right now

 

I was surprised to find that I loved the CGI characters in Rogue One; they looked fantastic! They are still effects, of course, and not quite seamless yet, but they are good enough that you can easily buy it. In other words, they are on par with the stop-motion Tauntauns in Empire Strike Back, Yoda's lazy eyes in Return of the Jedi, or Chewbacca's obvious make-up-underneath-the-Wookie-suit/shoes on his feet/sometimes poor facial expressions throughout the OT; it works well enough.

For those of you who hate the Tarkin in Rogue One because you can see it is an CGI creation, did you ever think C3PO was not a man-in-a-suit? Or Jabba not a practical effect? The CGI characters in Rogue One are VERY impressive, and this technology will (thankfully) only improve from here. Personally, I used to be a CGI disliker, finding even Avatar to already feel flat and fake, but what Rogue One did gives me hope for the future of SciFi/Fantasy films!

 

I friend of mine told me about a guy that went with him to see the movie and believed that Tarkin's role was played by an actor...

 

Not trying to play devil's advocate here, but just for a bit let's remember this is the girl some still judge because her planet had been just destroyed and she didn't show like a big sign of internal demise. This is the girl that was just rescued in the MF and was consoling Luke because he had just lost his old friend whereas she had been tortured, her planet destroyed, her adoptive parents killed, and she was still up to fight and banter with any scoundrel on her way. Wasn't she judged by the pilots in Princess Leia # 1 when she was honoring the ones lost in Alderaan, including Bail and Breha, just because she was not showing visible signs of sadness due to the loss of her parents? Wasn't not she called "The Ice Princess"?

Aside of it, she didn't see Vader killing all these Rebel troopers. She might have noticed the destruction of the Scarif base, but didn't actually see how our Rogue squad was decimated and sacrificed for their mission. She had to keep her composure in order to get her mission completed - get Obi-Wan from Tatooine and take the plans home. I guess Gareth Edwards kept the same vibe of the Princess we see in ANH.

 

Tarkin was mostly a distraction for me...the CGI was so obvious. An impressive technical feat to be sure, but it didn't quite do it for me.
Also, I was hoping they'd do Leia'a scene without showing her face, but was so disappointed when she turned around and spoke and then the movie ENDED on that. Again, nice CGI but WAY too obvious to stand in for such great characters.

 

CGI has come a very long way... but not so much that it's indistinguishable from real life, that said, I think some of my ability to spot it was based on my knowledge that Leia is not that age anymore and that Cushing died a long time ago. So as soon as I saw him (Tarkin) I figured I would get few (if any) close ups or obscured shots. My wife didn't know he was CGI.

So I guess they did a good job (it's probably the best human cgi I've seen) but I could still tell the difference, and because I could, I tended to focus on it, especially Tarkin's eyes and their subsequent movement.