TOPIC: Rogue One vs. The Force Awakens

I have read many comments around the web about how much more "Star Wars" Rogue One felt, as opposed to The Force Awakens. While I agree to a certain extent, I also feel strongly that we continue to judge TFA somewhat unfairly. It is, afterall, the first chapter in a three part story. So, that it felt like it left a lot on the table, that is true. However, I don't think we can completely, or fairly judge TFA until after we see the trilogy completed. As a stand-alone, it might not be the strongest entry in the saga, but when viewed with the perspective of the trilogy as a whole, it might be seen in a more positive light. We really won't know until December 2019.

Rogue One, I believe, is a stronger movie; but it has the luxury of being pretty self-contained. I love them both, but I am still hopeful that the harshest criticism leveled at TFA might be mitigated when it is viewed in hindsight as the opening chapter to a fantastic story. At least that is my hope.

What to you think?

Rogue One has the advantage of being made in the wake of movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man and, indeed, The Force Awakens. They know they can take risks with Star Wars like they have with Marvel, knowing they can bank on strong support for the main series.

R1 also has the advantage that it doesn't need the audience to accept any of the fantastical elements to follow the story. The Force itself is always a contentious issue with casual fans of the series, and in R1 it's not used as a plot device directly. It's kept to moments where not even the other characters watching it happen can believe what they're seeing, both to stunning, and horrifying effect.

Of the two, I prefer R1. The story is compelling, continuous without gaps, new characters are believable and emotional in the sense that it can be better related to anyone who watches it. The space attack scene at the end was as exciting as that in ANH and ROTJ. TFA was very good, I agree it may be better appreciated until the whole trilogy is completed.

I can easily imagine us using all of Vader's script as boot up sound fonts!

I love them both in different ways. While TFA continues the Skywalker saga and the Jedi/Sith Force storylines, Rogue One gives us a look at the "reality" of the rebellion.

There are fans of the Saga that have lean towards the Jedi/Force storylines as being central to the Star Wars universe, and there are those fans that flock towards the non Jedi/Force storylines (Bounty hunters and Han Solo for instance). I think depending on where your interests lay, the two movies may hold different appeal.

I will say that Rogue One definitely set the bar for what a war/battle scene could look like for the rest of the movies. Both movies gave a glimpses of the Dark Side of the force put to terrifying use, and I hope we see an expansion on the nature of the force and force powers in the coming episodes.

NOT REALTED TO EITHER BUT: For the record, I REALLY wish they would have left the Han Solo storyline alone and done an Obi-Wan stand alone. I may cringe seeing ANYONE other than Harrison Ford play Solo...

Jas-Ot wrote:
It is interesting that we've had Lando show up in Star Wars: Rebels, but not even a reference Han Solo. Of course, Lando was still voiced by Billy Dee Williams, so that certainly helped.

Have to admit I enjoyed R1 more than TFA. R1 just had a more adult theme to me. I'm old.

Very hard to say... On the one hand I feel that it's like comparing apples and oranges, but on the other I do feel that both The Force Awakens and Rogue One are both full-on Star Wars.
Both have that familiar setting in a universe we love with epic battles, exotic locations and a story about how good will always triumph over evil.

TFA - despite being mostly a soft reboot of the franchise by reusing a lot of stuff from ANH - was the great old fun that we're used to from Star Wars; it has great lovable - and intriguing - characters that play very well off of each other, creating humor, tension, mystery and thrills whilst giving you the fact-paced action that we're used to with lightsabers, blasters, spaceships and The Force.
Where the Prequels at times didn't feel like Star Wars, TFA really managed to capture the spirit/essence of what it meant to be a Star Wars movie - having a fun roller coaster ride that once you're finished, you want to experience again and again.

R1 on the other hand went with an original story - although it has to be said that it could've been called Fanservice the Movie (not that I mind at all, I loved it to bits, but it was clearly doing that) - and with a different tone; still Star Wars in a way, but also not.
Where TFA was more 'fun for all', this was more of a 'badass' movie - still very fun, but not in the classical way.
It was more serious and adult and gave us a new look on the Star Wars universe that we've been desperate to see (despite seeing it in books, comics and games in the EU/Legends).
Showing truly how menacing and terrible the Empire was (something only hinted at in the OT) as well as all-powerful and controlling (really felt the nazi vibes with the constant patrols, check-ups, etc.) is something that was very welcome.
Also very cool was the fact that we see a different side of the Rebels; a universe where there is more grey areas than truly Light or Dark Side, which gives it a more realistic feel.
Yet the characters (despite not being one-dimensional) didn't feel as alive as in TFA and felt more 'on track'; like a James Bond movie where they had to hit the points they had to, to get to where they needed to be.
In TFA it felt more like a natural journey where our heroes weren't sure where they would end up eventually.

But this is what I mean; what is Star Wars?
An argument can be made that it is fun for people of all ages, telling a 'simple' story of good vs. evil wrapped in a space opera jacket with elements of spirituality thrown in there to balance out the sci-fi with fantasy - being more magical than realistic.
Yet R1 totally felt natural to this universe and despite there not being the 'normal' amounts of humor or plain fun, it was still badass.

Again, I feel like it's comparing apples and oranges; like putting 'Prince of Egypt' and 'Finding Nemo' next to each other; both amazingly awesome movies, but totally different tone-wise and what they're trying to achieve.
So yeah... I still don't know; on the one hand TFA felt more like a true Star Wars movie because of its characters and emotional journey and therefore the better movie, but it wasn't as original and unlike Rogue One, that last space battle was almost forgettable next to this one.
But then Rogue One relies heavily on fanservice and - although it being an original story - didn't feel as much fun (in the classical Star Wars way with a space opera that's pure epicness) and more like a gritty war movie that was just badass to watch.

I think the best way to put it in words is like this; TFA felt like an 'adventure movie' and R1 felt like an 'action movie'.
Both are extremely alike - and great at what they do - but there are small differences that make it hard to compare them.
TFA was the classic hero's journey which was more magical and wonderful, while R1 was a mission or eye-witness account of soldiers during wartime that felt more realistic and rough.
Both are amazing and both definitely are Star Wars, but it's hard to say which is better; in any case I liked both way more than the Prequels.
That is to say, ROTS felt Star Wars, but there were too many small annoyances (Anakin's turn to the Dark Side was way too rushed amongst other smaller things) that made TFA and R1 feel like the better movies.
The first 2 movies didn't feel fun in any way, be it badass or marvellous and as for the OT; I don't want to put TFA or R1 above ANH or ROTJ (ESB is the Holy Grail and untouchable), but they are definitely on-par in my opinion

Rogue One took me back, and made me feel the way I did when StarWars first hit the theaters. TFA I personally thought was a wasted chance, and felt let down, because nothing about it was worthy of the franchise IMHO.

Both are Delicious.

I had not seen that video clip of Daisy Ridley practicing with a light saber. I do hope that is practice for Episode 8, and that practice will be put to use in this upcoming episode.

Also, I just developed a mad geek crush for Daisy Ridley.

I've watched R1 twice now. A true fan would view it more than once.

Execute66 wrote:
...and in that vein, I will be going to see it for the 2nd time tomorrow morning! This time on the MPX/Atmos theater in my area (HUGE screen, and awesome sound), as opposed to the theater where I originally saw it, which had a fairly small screen that had dark spots on it, and "small" sound.

Been wanting to see it for a second time more than a week now (saw it Wednesday the 14th), but work was a b**** with xmas-chaos, so hopefully tomorrow on the second day of Xmas I'll be viewing it for the second time finally

After multiple viewings, I can comfortably say that I vastly prefer The Force Awakens to Rogue One. There were a few really great character moments, but overall the cast felt kind of stale to me. Loved the way they brought back Tarkin and Princess Leia, and the battle at Scarif in general was fantastic. Most of what went on before that was just kind of dull, though. It certainly wasn't the worst Star Wars movie in terms of execution, but it also didn't really do anything for me until the very end. I'd put it after all the saga movies if I rated them, and kind of expect that's how all the anthology movies will end up.

I would agree that the beginning was slow, but I submit that was necessary for some character development for people we have never met in the Star Wars universe. We had to meet them, understand why they were doing what they did, and care about how they ended up. Just my take.

Sometimes that is necessary, to be sure. I just felt like we've gotten more and better character development in the same or less time in other franchise entries, like ANH and TFA. To be fair, Rogue One is working with more characters. I think it's simply a risk they chose to take that worked for some and not for others. For my part, by the end, I didn't really care how most of them ended up; partly because we had a pretty good idea how they'd end up from the start, and partly because the characterization just didn't seem that strong.