Star Wars: Rogue One

My son and I saw it the first weekend it came out. Saw it again over the Christmas break with my dad, brother and our kids. Loved it both times.

Took my girls to see it over the Break. They liked it a lot. I thought it was pretty good. No complaints. The Darth Vadar scenes were BA.

Spoiler:

Toho  -someday, when you least expect it, a cloth will be held to your face. You will awaken to find your eyes propped opened a la Malcolm McDowell. 18 hours later, you will finally be able to make an informed comment.


Until then I will try and think of a way to get you to watch them. What if a HOMer personally drove to St. Louis?

That's about what it would take.  Aversion therapy.  Watch this or else.

And the more "real" science fiction I watch, the more entrenched I get in my position.

I get the psychology. I'm at my best at work when the fellas are being their most obnoxious. The more they want me to do something (or not) the easier it is for me to dig in.

Still...someday!!

To be honest, that's probably where it is with me now.

These Star Wars movies may be the greatest cinematic achievements known in the history of mankind and I still wouldn't watch them.

Setting aside how I had to live through the original SW being hailed as the "best science fiction movie ever", I'm now so entrenched in my hatred of the franchise that even if they came out with one that actually met my standards of "science fiction", I probably still would never watch it just because the general populace just goes ga-ga over anything and everything Star Wars. 

That's enough for me to dig in my heels.

But like I keep saying, the 99.9% of the rest of the world that loves these movies?  More power to ya.  Just not my cuppa tea and never will be.  Doesn't mean I'm right or wrong, only that I disagree with the vast majority of the world. 

Which is not something I'm unaccustomed to.

Toho, I wanna know what some of your top examples of science fiction film are.


I saw Rogue One a few weeks ago. I thought it was a huge improvement over the force awakens which I didn't think was terrible, but didn't think was all that great either. Lots of cool nostalgia with the costumes/designs/cameos. Vader ruled in a couple scenes. I like the dynamic between the two main characters never really delving into full on romance also.

tohostudios wrote:

But like I keep saying, the 99.9% of the rest of the world that loves these movies?  More power to ya.  Just not my cuppa tea and never will be.  Doesn't mean I'm right or wrong, only that I disagree with the vast majority of the world. 

Which is not something I'm unaccustomed to.

Lol still scratching my head about how you've never seen one single SW movie, and yet they aren't "your cup of tea". How do you know unless you've seen it?

And like stender, I'm curious what sci-fi flicks do you like? Tons of great ones, along with about three times as many bad ones, so which ones are some of your favorites?

Toho - You've described my reaction to quite a few other franchises, including the Fast and the Furious. They look so inane that from day-one I've avoided them, and the more popular they get the more I refuse to watch them. So, I get you (for the most part) I just wish it wasn't SW you were dug in against.


I think most of the SW devotees were kids when at some point during the last 39 years, so many of us were caught in the SW tractor-beams as kids before we were able to defend ourselves against them. Toho - your age might have something to do with this. You were close(r) to being an adult and were able to resist from the beginning. Dang the timing of your birth!

Hey, don't worry Toho. This is all you need to know about Star Wars:

https://www.facebook.com/dj.markzabala/videos/10153447615598477/

That's the entire saga right there

Good science fiction movies IMO:

A Boy And His Dog
Blade Runner
Dark City
Alien
The Matrix

Now that you guys made me think about it, there really aren't that many science fiction movies I enjoy. I enjoy a lot of the 50s "sci fi" flicks but let's face it, they're not actually quality science fiction. 

I guess I compare Star Wars more to my favorite TV series which are almost all science fiction: 

Twilight Zone, Stargate, Babylon 5, Star Trek, Star Trek TNG, Odyssey 5, Max Headroom

I also think another factor in my disdain for the Star Wars is that I was a voracious reader growing up and 90% of what I read was science fiction.  Name a classic sci fi novel or story and I've probably read it.  And then Star Wars came out and it was just lame compared to the great stuff I was reading.

And to answer the questions of some, I don't need to see any Star Wars movies to know I wouldn't enjoy it.  Hell, there's no escaping reviews, synopses, critiques and everything else any time one comes out.  I think the description of "space opera" a few posts back is probably the most accurate description I've heard.

tohostudios wrote:

Good science fiction movies IMO:

A Boy And His Dog
Blade Runner
Dark City
Alien
The Matrix

A Boy And His Dog was a strange film but Blade Runner and Alien are bonafide classics (although I think of the latter more of a horror film). I always thought The Matrix was overrated tripe. I never saw Dark City. I'll have to hunt that one down.

That said, I'd never disparage anyone for their opinions. If everyone all liked and disliked the same stuff, it would be a rather boring world.

Yeah I actually like the first half of alien more than the "stalk and slash" parts once the alien gets big.  I think the first half is science fiction and the second half is horror.

And you wouldn't believe how long I put off seeing The Matrix just because I thought it was overhyped.  But when I finally saw it, while the pan and scan camera crap (or whatever you want to call that technique) was annoying, I really liked the basic story.

I'd never heard of Dark City before either but good ol' SD recommended it in the movie thread a few years ago so I checked it out.  I think you'll like it.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Citanul wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Don't wanna say anything to give it away, but pretty sure they screwed up with how the plans to the deathstar get to episode IV.

I thought that too, but I was thinking of the second Death Star.  Episode IV's opening crawl states that they've stolen plans, and I don't think there's any mention in the movie itself as to just how they got them.  So there may be no contradiction there.

Yes there is. At the very beginning, Vader is questioning one of the rebels on the ship about the plans being transmitted to the ship. I watched it this morning just to be sure

How is that a contradiction? The plans are beamed to the mothership , downloaded to disc then given to Princess Leia on our Blockade Runner. The Blockade Runner is then chased down by Vader in a Star Destroyer.

007 wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Citanul wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Don't wanna say anything to give it away, but pretty sure they screwed up with how the plans to the deathstar get to episode IV.

I thought that too, but I was thinking of the second Death Star.  Episode IV's opening crawl states that they've stolen plans, and I don't think there's any mention in the movie itself as to just how they got them.  So there may be no contradiction there.

Yes there is. At the very beginning, Vader is questioning one of the rebels on the ship about the plans being transmitted to the ship. I watched it this morning just to be sure

How is that a contradiction? The plans are beamed to the mothership , downloaded to disc then given to Princess Leia on our Blockade Runner. The Blockade Runner is then chased down by Vader in a Star Destroyer.

http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-A-New-Hope.html


Read the part where Vader is choking the rebel officer, then scroll down to when him and Leia meet for the first time where he's asking for the plans that were "beamed" to her ship. I had it all copied and pasted for you, but my kindle and this site don't get along, and everything I did got erased by some pop-up add.

Poorly worded maybe. But that's not too ridiculous. I suppose Rogue One could've had the plans beamed directly to the Blockade Runner but for whatever reason, they didn't. Probably done that way to show Vader kick ass.

007 wrote:

Poorly worded maybe. But that's not too ridiculous. I suppose Rogue One could've had the plans beamed directly to the Blockade Runner but for whatever reason, they didn't. Probably done that way to show Vader kick ass.

No not too ridiculous, but still a mistake in my mind. I don't see how the original is poorly worded though.

I just meant that I look at it as Vader poorly worded it (I know it was written 40 years earlier). He didn't have time so he gave a condensed version. Lol

tohostudios wrote:

Good science fiction movies IMO:

A Boy And His Dog
Blade Runner
Dark City
Alien
The Matrix

Now that you guys made me think about it, there really aren't that many science fiction movies I enjoy. I enjoy a lot of the 50s "sci fi" flicks but let's face it, they're not actually quality science fiction. 

I guess I compare Star Wars more to my favorite TV series which are almost all science fiction: 

Twilight Zone, Stargate, Babylon 5, Star Trek, Star Trek TNG, Odyssey 5, Max Headroom

I also think another factor in my disdain for the Star Wars is that I was a voracious reader growing up and 90% of what I read was science fiction.  Name a classic sci fi novel or story and I've probably read it.  And then Star Wars came out and it was just lame compared to the great stuff I was reading.

And to answer the questions of some, I don't need to see any Star Wars movies to know I wouldn't enjoy it.  Hell, there's no escaping reviews, synopses, critiques and everything else any time one comes out.  I think the description of "space opera" a few posts back is probably the most accurate description I've heard.

2001 A Space Odyssey is also a great sci-fi movie.

Anybody seen the movie Moon? it was directed by David Bowie's son

toho's feelings about Star Wars are pretty much how I feel about the Lord Of The Rings and/or Hobbit saga. I saw the first LOTR movie, wondered what all the woop de doo was about, and never bothered with the rest.

I guess it's one of those things you either "get" or you don't, and I don't. I'm sure that the Tolkien books were a major influence on Lucas when he was writing Star Wars but I dunno, I'd rather watch spaceships and robots than elves and barbarians, I guess.

I am similarly uninterested in the entire Harry Potter phenomenon. Never seen any of those movies, and it is not likely that I ever will. I'm sure they're entertaining 'n' all, it just doesn't sound like my thang. (shrugs)

Star Wars Rogue One, however, was frickin bad ass. Liked it as much, if not better than, Force Awakens. I was a happy little fanboy.

I think it's different if you first saw it as a kid. And they made you wait for decades for the sequel/prequel trilogy. They didn't oversaturate or dilute Star Wars before that.

Fat Freddy wrote:

toho's feelings about Star Wars are pretty much how I feel about the Lord Of The Rings and/or Hobbit saga. I saw the first LOTR movie, wondered what all the woop de doo was about, and never bothered with the rest.

I guess it's one of those things you either "get" or you don't, and I don't. I'm sure that the Tolkien books were a major influence on Lucas when he was writing Star Wars but I dunno, I'd rather watch spaceships and robots than elves and barbarians, I guess.

I am similarly uninterested in the entire Harry Potter phenomenon. Never seen any of those movies, and it is not likely that I ever will. I'm sure they're entertaining 'n' all, it just doesn't sound like my thang. (shrugs)

Star Wars Rogue One, however, was frickin bad ass. Liked it as much, if not better than, Force Awakens. I was a happy little fanboy.

I loved the LOTR movies, but the Hobbit was terrible. The LOTR movies followed the books pretty well, but the Hobbit movies were nothing like the book. There was the main story from the book, but they turned what should have been a fun movie into something completely dumb. The hobbit book is 280 pages roughly, tell me how you make it into a nine hour plus epic? I could read the whole book twice in the amount of time it would take to watch those terrible movies. They are my favorite books though. Really sad they just can't give the Hobbit it's propped movie.

Harry Potter I can't get into either. It's not that I dislike them, but they just don't do much for me. I've watched he'd the first four, and plan on watching the rest of them, but I'm obviously in no big rush.

The LOTR movies were really good. I saw the first Hobbit movie and liked it but not enough that I have to see the rest. I saw the first Harry Potter movie in the theater back in the day with my son, a huge fan. I thought bit was decent but I've not had the urge to see the others.

Fat Freddy wrote:

toho's feelings about Star Wars are pretty much how I feel about the Lord Of The Rings and/or Hobbit saga. I saw the first LOTR movie, wondered what all the woop de doo was about, and never bothered with the rest.

I guess it's one of those things you either "get" or you don't, and I don't. I'm sure that the Tolkien books were a major influence on Lucas when he was writing Star Wars but I dunno, I'd rather watch spaceships and robots than elves and barbarians, I guess.

I am similarly uninterested in the entire Harry Potter phenomenon. Never seen any of those movies, and it is not likely that I ever will. I'm sure they're entertaining 'n' all, it just doesn't sound like my thang. (shrugs)

Star Wars Rogue One, however, was frickin bad ass. Liked it as much, if not better than, Force Awakens. I was a happy little fanboy.

Actually I believe Flash Gordon was a bigger influence on Lucas.

I loved the LOTR movies but i never saw Fellowship in the theater. It had awesome cinematography, Im about 3/4 through the Two Towers (book) and the more i read on the background and the tid bits of info that are not needed but are there makes me believe the LOTR was a work of sheer literary genuis.