Criticisms Of Rogue One

Darth Wardawg · Dec 9, 2017

Daddy_Stardust said: ↑

I'm not going to elaborate too much simply because I feel there's no real need, but simply, my sole criticism of Rogue One is that I enjoy it too much and wish there was another original-trilogy-era galactic civil war movie to enjoy beyond the OT before I burn this one out.

I've been a fan since 1986, not first-generation cinema-attending fan, but very close second-generation; the UK TV-premiere generation whilst the original Kenner figures were still sold in shops and summarised all my Christmas and birthday presents throughout the mid to late 80s, and this movie is absolutely up there for me on the favourites list. I used to have to wait till Christmas on ITV to see a Star Wars movie; after I finally obtained them all on tape a little while later, I used to watch my original trilogy VHS tapes to the point of warping; I still cannot watch the battle of Yavin without expecting the wings-roll-call to start scrolling up-screen with irreversible VHS damage because I watched those tapes so many times.

I didn't read any of the books beyond half of Truce at Bakura, half of Heir to the Empire and all of Shadows of the Empire (yet I admittedly owned about 30 of them), but I spent the 90s playing the glorious Lucasarts PC games. X Wing, TIE Fighter and Dark Forces 1 & 2, which helped define my personal Star Wars fanhood for me as I grew older. The likes of Rebel Assault 2 may have been complete crap, but I'm part of the teenage 90s generation of Star Wars fan who watched its FMV like it was the second-coming of real Star Wars movies (it was a big deal at the time) before we ever expected new films to actually be made and loved every single second of its cheesy wretchedness with complete awe.

For me, Rogue One was a love-letter to the 90s PC-gaming Star Wars fans. Sure, Kyle Katarn was gone, but the vibe was there. To see Imperial-infighting, the best space battle of the franchise (IMO), the emphasis of the rebellion vs the empire galactic civil war instead of the focus on Jedi, the ruthless but loyal sarcy droid, the miserable darkness of Eadu and its 'rebel assault' - ha! (when I was an adolescent teen, the Alien Trilogy took over briefly as my favourite sci fi franchise over Star Wars, so to have LV-426 visually referenced felt a very poignant touch for me), all in all led to me having an absolute delight of a Star Wars movie.

I'll be honest, I don't get any of the criticism for it. Sure if you want to get super-anal you can find some things to criticise continuity with (but none worse than Lucas' own prequel-to-OT continuity issues), however I adore Rogue One; it was the perfect latter-day instalment for me. I've watched it probably 30 times since release and with each viewing, as its script becomes more and more second-nature to my viewing, I love it even more. If you don't like it, that's cool, but I'm just saying, I don't get the criticisms laid at it, I loved it, it was perfect Star Wars for the 90s getting-older-generation and I've been waiting over 20 years since those classic PC games really delved into the non-Jedi Galactic Civil aspect to have it in a movie, and I got it, and for me it was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Sure, I'd love to see what was deleted, but that doesn't take away from being so very happy with what we got.

I said I wasn't going to elaborate too much, maybe I have, but I've just watched it again, and it's just warmed my cockles on why I love Star Wars and am just enjoying its vibe, I've got the Star Wars glow going-on and I'm just confused as to why so many people like to nitpick it so much, I adore it. But I'm not you, so feel free to dislike it if you want; me, I look forward to my next viewing, it only adds more to my fanhood with each joyous viewing I give it
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I love this and I totally agree with you. I'll give away my age (older than you) and first generation cinema-attending fan here. I loved this film. It was, for me, way better than the PT. It fleshed out and made watching A New Hope even more enjoyable, especially the first few minutes.

As for the nitpicking, it drives me insane as well. These are escapism films. If you want perfection, then of course you are going to be disappointed. I loved that they all die in the end. I loved the holy city of Jeddha (reminded me of my trips to Tibet and the middle east). I loved the fact they started to flesh out the idea of people worshipping the force and would love to see that explored in more depth.

Trokanmariel · Dec 24, 2017

I used to think of Rogue One as boring, but since I recognised the metaphor that's no longer the case - the film is a plausible masterpiece

Rebel on Toprawa · Mar 21, 2020

SKB said: ↑

Although I enjoyed the film and scored it a 7 out of 10, it still has flaws and annoyances.

1. Title Logo - Having the Rogue One title logo pop up a few minutes after the introduction begins. It would have been preferable to have it immediately at the start before the rings of the planet Lah'mu.

2. Captions - Giving each planet or location a named title caption on the screen felt very unlike Star Wars. Traditionally in Star Wars films, the only text that appears on screen are subtitles for non-human species.

3. Re-shoots - Too many deleted scenes which were widely advertised in the trailers and teasers which implied they were part of the completed film. Annoying to realise scenes you hoped to see from trailers aren't even in the film.

4. Planets - Too many planets and switching attention between them all felt disorientating and confusing - probably why they decided to use on-screen name captions for planets (see 2). I counted 7 planets/moons (there may be more), Lah'mu, Wobani, Eadu, Jedha, Mustafar, Yavin IV and Scarif.

5. Inappropriate Cameos - R2-D2 and C-3PO for only 5 seconds.... really?! Ponda Baba and Evazan appearing randomly in a Jedha City which is about to be destroyed, but just happen to escape in time (off-screen) to show up in Mos Eisley, Tatooine for Episode IV?

6. Music - Pretty weak and forgettable. No memorable new tracks. I've seen Rogue One twice and I still can't even remember what its main theme sounds like.

7. Vehicles - Many of the vehicles of Rogue One are unique to this Star Wars film and do not appear in other films because they were not created for other SW films. For example, why aren't the tougher, bigger AT-ACT walkers used for the Hoth invasion too? Why are there no TIE Strikers in the Battle Of Endor? I think Rogue One should have not used these "new" advanced vehicles because they seem out of place with the established future timeline.

8. Darth Vader - I have no problem or objection with him being very aggressive, full rampaging Darth Vader in attack mode at the end of Rogue One was fun and scary. But it doesn't fit with the start of 'A New Hope'. Vader doesn't storm into the Tantive IV first with his lightsabre out, isn't Force-strangling or throwing the crew around, instead the stormtroopers do all the dirty work first and then once the ship has been captured, Vader calmly appears.

9. The Death Star Origins - Episode II clearly shows that the Death Star was originally planned and designed by the Geonosians. Yet in Rogue One, Galen Urso seem to be credited as the mastermind of the entire Death Star, having also deliberately engineered the infamous Thermal Exhaust Port flaw into "his" design.

10. CGI Tarkin & Leia - Good, but not good enough. They looked uncanny, unconvincing and too digital. Hopefully they can be improved further in time for Bluray/DVD release,
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Dr. Evazan & Ponda Baba being on Jedha really isn't all that far fetched, after all Dr. Evazan is responsible for the decraniated that you briefly see in Rogue One which is a pretty cool concept.

Criticisms Of Rogue One

How would you rate Rogue One score out of 10?

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Darth Wardawg Force Sensitive

Trokanmariel Clone Trooper

Rebel on Toprawa Clone

PLINKETT REVIEWS-Valid Criticisms Or Stupid Opinions

SWNN Live! – Discussion on The Bad Batch Episodes 6-7, Rogue Squadron News, and More

Rogue Squadron Back in Development With Patty Jenkins Writing

Gareth Edwards Looks Back at the Making of Rogue One, Hardly Addresses On-Set Drama

Kathleen Kennedy: Taika Waititis Star Wars Script Is Two-Thirds In, Rogue Squadron and Lando 'Still on the Books', and More

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Criticisms Of Rogue One

How would you rate Rogue One score out of 10?

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Darth Wardawg Force Sensitive

Trokanmariel Clone Trooper

Rebel on Toprawa Clone

PLINKETT REVIEWS-Valid Criticisms Or Stupid Opinions

SWNN Live! – Discussion on The Bad Batch Episodes 6-7, Rogue Squadron News, and More

Rogue Squadron Back in Development With Patty Jenkins Writing

Gareth Edwards Looks Back at the Making of Rogue One, Hardly Addresses On-Set Drama

Kathleen Kennedy: Taika Waititis Star Wars Script Is Two-Thirds In, Rogue Squadron and Lando 'Still on the Books', and More

Share This Page

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