One thing I loved that I've not seen mentioned, Saw Gerrera's devolution to Vader on the cheep. Bodhi's reaction when Saw was breathing from the mask was spot on perfect.

There was no Wedge call out. You hear Bail Organa start a conversation with "Captain Antilles..." after finishing talking to Mon Mothma; but he's talking to Raymus Antillies, captain of the Tantive IV.

I knew that was Raymus, I guess I read somebody else mentioned Wedge and I thought they were referring to the space battle.

So was the Rebel crew aboard the ramming Hammerhead just expendable? I didn't catch any escape pods going off and they're with the disabled SD all the way to the end so...

And we have to assume at least Red squad hyped out because they're at Yavin for ANH.

Oh and why did Vader have royal guards? Aren't they Emp specific? I get he was vulnerable in the bacta tank I guess but just figured they were Palp's alone.

Erso designed the main reactor so that it would destroy the station in case of detonation inside, but there is no evidence that he had anything to do with the exhaust port.

It wasn't outright stated, but it's a pretty reasonable assumption. Creating a deadly weakness is useless if it's in the middle if a giant impenetrable battle station.

The exhaust port is part of the reactor system, I have no problem assuming he designed the port as well.

So why did he decide to make Rebels job harder by not telling them?

@Saw

100% he will be in Rebels. Visual Guide says something about his mission on Geonosis 2 years before R1, the next Rebels two-parter in January is about Geonosis.

So why did he decide to make Rebels job harder by not telling them?

He said the details of the weakness were in the plans. And when the Rebels looked at the plans, they found the exhaust port. Seems pretty straightforward.

One thing I loved that I've not seen mentioned, Saw Gerrera's devolution to Vader on the cheep. Bodhi's reaction when Saw was breathing from the mask was spot on perfect.

Yes, that was excellent! With that collar on his suit, Saw was very reminiscent of Vader with his helmet off at the end of RotJ, and the breathing and the Bodhi's reactions were perfect.

So why did he decide to make Rebels job harder by not telling them?

I'm not sure why you think he didn't.

He said the details of the weakness were in the plans. And when the Rebels looked at the plans, they found the exhaust port. Seems pretty straightforward.

Yeah, the whole point of his story arc was that he intentionally created the exhaust port weakness and allowed the rebels to find and exploit that weakness. I guess he wasn't more explicit about it since he didn't want it getting directly back to the Empire in time for them to fix it.

If Rebels found the weakness in a copule of hours it would take minutes for the Empire.

If Rebels found the weakness in a copule of hours it would take minutes for the Empire.

It DID take minutes..

"Sir, we've analyzed their attacks, and there is a risk...Shall I have your shuttle standing by?"

Except the Empire literally built the whole thing without anyone realising they were building in a weak spot. And by the time they realise what the Rebels are attempting and decide they might have a chance (We've analysed their attack pattern sir...) it's too late. If Galen had literally sent a message saying "Shoot torpedoes at the exhaust port in the lateral trench" then he runs a much greater risk of any Imperial ears hearing it and immediately ruining his life's work. A cryptic "seek and ye shall find" message doesn't eliminate that risk, but it does reduce it.

We know Hera Syndulla is in it right before they leave to scarif over the speakers of the base we hear general hera syndulla report to the control room

Not only this but I also spotted everyone's favorite grumpy, homicidal droid Chopper in the film. When the comtech comes running out of the tunnel to inform Mon Mothma and Bail Organa about the attack on Skarif, if you look at the lower left corner of the screen you can see Chopper in the shot. It's a bit out of focus but you can see the shape of his head and the dish antenna on top.

I'm really looking forward to see how they tie the show and movie together.

if you look at the lower left corner of the screen you can see Chopper in the shot. It's a bit out of focus but you can see the shape of his head and the dish antenna on top.

If Rebels found the weakness in a copule of hours it would take minutes for the Empire.

It would be nice to someday see the endbattle in the Rebels series from Ghosts point of view

Except the Empire literally built the whole thing without anyone realising they were building in a weak spot. And by the time they realise what the Rebels are attempting and decide they might have a chance (We've analysed their attack pattern sir...) it's too late. If Galen had literally sent a message saying "Shoot torpedoes at the exhaust port in the lateral trench" then he runs a much greater risk of any Imperial ears hearing it and immediately ruining his life's work. A cryptic "seek and ye shall find" message doesn't eliminate that risk, but it does reduce it.

Rebels found the weakpoint knowing only that an explosion inside the reactor will destroy the station, they didn't even have Erso's message. Obviously if the Empire intercepted Erso's message they would doublecheck everything he has done (and unlike rebels they knew exactly which parts he was responsible for) and would find the weakness faster than the Rebels.

Only if they were looking for it. The Empire didn't know there WAS a weakness. They thought the Death Star was invincible. Only the Rebellion knew there was anything to find.

The discussion was centred around why didn't Galen Erso be more specific about the weakness he constructed. My theory is that he was attempting to mitigate the chances of the Empire discovering the weakness by not referring to it directly, so that even if they discovered his message they would be unlikely to discover the weakness.

Having said that, I'm pretty sure he actually was fairly clear about it? I'll need to rewatch it to really get a handle on the dialogue.

There are plenty of CG characters in movies I have been completely sold on, Gollum still stands out as perfection to me. Not a thousand little animated skin movements, all over, all of the time. Not specular light all over the face, making people almost glitter because every pore in their skin has its own little reflection (its impressive from a technical point of view) but the hyper realisem just gives me the grand uncanny valley tour. There was loads of old characters like Dodonna and Mon Mothma that was done with new actors and that worked perfect. Again its nitpicking, Tarkins role in the movie was great.

So was the Rebel crew aboard the ramming Hammerhead just expendable? I didn't catch any escape pods going off and they're with the disabled SD all the way to the end so...

Only if they were looking for it. The Empire didn't know there WAS a weakness. They thought the Death Star was invincible. Only the Rebellion knew there was anything to find.

The discussion was centred around why didn't Galen Erso be more specific about the weakness he constructed. My theory is that he was attempting to mitigate the chances of the Empire discovering the weakness by not referring to it directly, so that even if they discovered his message they would be unlikely to discover the weakness.Having said that, I'm pretty sure he actually was fairly clear about it? I'll need to rewatch it to really get a handle on the dialogue.

If the Rebels found it the empire would find it too. They just weren't looking for it, but they would if they intercepted the message.

The message said that an explosion inside the reactor will initiate a chain reaction which will destroy the station. Not even a hint how he imagines the explosion to occur.

It was so good and so grim. I definitely felt the countdown to squad wipe.

The optimistic kid in me wanted some good guy twists, such as:

K2SO copying his personality into the other droid he was shown hijacking earlier in the closet. That scene of them running through the corridor (then onto the beach?) had me convinced he was going to come back with some snarky comment. Also, the earlier scene where you think he got shot by Jyn.

I know there wasn't supposed to be Jedi and too much Force in this, but I was really hoping to see grizzled Baze manage a Force push on that detonator after killing the trooper who held it. I thought Chirrut's earlier comment that Baze was the most devout guardian of them all was to foreshadow that moment that hung for just long enough for it to pop into my head.

Maybe too much war movie for my space fantasy mind.

This movie is porn for old school Star Wars fans.

However, as I was driving home and commenting it with my son, I grew grumpier and grumpier after thinking...

Probably most of you here don't agree with me. But watching this movie just made me realize how disappointing, lazy, unimaginative, bland and missed opportunity The Force Awakens was.

I have been saying this for a year now.

I'll hazard the opinion that without TFA the way it was, R1 could never have been this. Not that I think TFA was a bad movie. It needed to reestablish the brand to the greater audience, not us hyperfans. Not for nothing are the first words of TFA "This will begin to make things right".

Loved this movie, so many things explained now (like absence of rebel fleet at Yavin). Callbacks to concept art, use of established sets, I don't even mind the ease with which the AT-ATs are blown up, probably had an armour upgrade later (they're much tougher in Battlefront in chronological later levels than on Scarif as well).

Loved this movie, so many things explained now (like absence of rebel fleet at Yavin). Callbacks to concept art, use of established sets, I don't even mind the ease with which the AT-ATs are blown up, probably had an armour upgrade later (they're much tougher in Battlefront in chronological later levels than on Scarif as well).

They're AT-ACTs- AT-ATs redesigned for cargo transport. Taller, with less guns - a bit too tall, they need energy fields in the leg joints to prevent them from breaking - hence the crackling when shots hit those joints.

Thank yer!

This movie is porn for old school Star Wars fans.

However, as I was driving home and commenting it with my son, I grew grumpier and grumpier after thinking...

Probably most of you here don't agree with me. But watching this movie just made me realize how disappointing, lazy, unimaginative, bland and missed opportunity The Force Awakens was.

I have been saying this for a year now.

YUP the reason I do not hate it is because it did have some good stuff in it and it was the safe way to get kids on board our beloved STAR WARS TRAIN.

THE NEW SHIPS FOR THE GAME TOO... GLORY.

For me, this and TFA were very different movies. TFA was more in line with the original Star Wars 'hero's journey' style. It focused on a couple of people who come from obscure backgrounds, learn skills, lose a mentor, and help save the galaxy with high heroics and flair. I think it was like that very deliberately to get Star Wars back on the true path after the Prequels went down a dark path of confusion and badness. So no, it wasn't super original, and it held a very big mirror up to Ep. IV, and it did that to play things safe and restart the ailing Star Wars heart.

Rogue one, on the other hand, was a very different type of film. A dark gritty war film that didn't use the hero's journey mythology, and instead told the story of the unsung heroes who died in the background.

I like them both, for different reasons (my issues with TFA are mostly to do with the speed of the action - watch the battle of Yavin in Ep IV, and the space battle in Ep. VII - at Yavin every pilot is a character, and they're who the battle is about, instead of it being about shiny effects).