Rogue One
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Gareth Edwards |
Produced by |
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Screenplay by | |
Story by | |
Based on | Characters by George Lucas |
Starring | |
Music by |
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Cinematography | Greig Fraser |
Edited by |
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Production
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Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Release dates
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Running time
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133 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $200 million[2][3] |
Box office | $323.5 million[3] |
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (or simply Rogue One) is a 2016 Americanepicspace opera film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Chris Weitzand Tony Gilroy, from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It is the first stand-alone film in the Star WarsAnthology series. Rogue One stars Felicity Jones,Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker, and follows Jyn Erso, the daughter of the unwilling designer of the Galactic Empire‘s superweapon, the Death Star, and her quest to retrieve his plans for destroying it.
Produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film is chronologically set after the events of Revenge of the Sith and immediately before the events of A New Hope. Principal photography began atElstree Studios near London during early August 2015 and wrapped in February 2016, with reshoots and additional filming taking place in mid-June 2016. Rogue One premiered in Los Angeles on December 10, 2016, and was released in the United States on December 16, 2016. The film has received mostly positive reviews with Donnie Yen’s performance, the action scenes, visual effects, and Giacchino’s score being singled out for praise. It has grossed $323 million worldwide.
Plot
Research scientist Galen Erso and his family are in hiding when Imperialweapons developer Orson Krennic arrives to force him to return to work on the unfinished Death Star project, a space station-based superweapon capable of destroying entire planets. Galen is taken away and his wife is killed in the confrontation, but their daughter Jyn escapes and is taken to safety by Rebelextremist Saw Gerrera.
Fifteen years later pilot Bodhi Rook defects from the Empire, smuggling a holographic message from Galen to Gerrera on the moon of Jedha. Jyn is freed from Imperial captivity by the Rebels, who plan to use her to track down her father. However, General Draven covertly orders Rebel intelligence officer Cassian Andor to kill Galen rather than extract him.
Jyn, Andor, and his droid K-2SO travel to Jedha, where the Empire is mining Kyber crystals to power the superweapon; Gerrera and his partisans are engaged in an armed insurgency against them. With the aid of blind warrior Chirrut Îmwe and mercenary Baze Malbus, Jyn makes contact with Gerrera, who is holding Rook captive. Gerrera shows her the hologram, in which her father explains that he has covertly compromised the Death Star’s reactor design, directing them to find the plans at an Imperial high-security data bank on the planet Scarif.
Grand Moff Tarkin meets with Krennic on the Death Star and expresses skepticism about the project and its management. As a demonstration, Krennic uses a low-powered shot from the weapon to destroy Jedha’s capital and crush Gerrera’s insurgency, forcing Jyn and her group to flee; Gerrera elects to remain behind and die rather than run. Tarkin uses security breaches under Krennic’s command as a pretext to take control of the project. Krennic travels to Mustafar to seek support from Darth Vaderand the Emperor, but Vader ignores his appeals.
The Rebels track Galen to an Imperial research facility on the planet Eadu….
Cast
- Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, a rogue maverick detained by the Empire.[4]
- Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, a Rebel Alliance Intelligence officer.[5][6]
- Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic, the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military.[5][7][8]
- Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe, a Zatoichi-like blind warrior who believes in and has a connection with the Force. He is said to be one of the Guardians of the Whills.[5][8][9]
- Mads Mikkelsen as Galen Erso, Jyn’s father and a research scientist.[8][10][11]
- Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, a Rebel-owned Imperial enforcer droid whose memory is wiped by Andor.[5][12][13][14]
- Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook, a former Imperial pilot who defects to the Rebels.[15][16]
- Jiang Wen as Baze Malbus, a Rebel warrior, mercenary and close friend of Chirrut Îmwe.[5][8]
- Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera, a veteran of the Clone Wars.[8][17]
Our Thoughts
I didn’t realize this was the story of how the rebellion got the plans for the Death Star from the very first movie. I remember the one sentence spoken about it, but this elaboration was a compliment to the franchise and, I believe it will be cherished by fans. One of my gripes about Star Wars has always been the over abundance of alien types. Disney will take this to new extremes because they are a merchandising machine and, who can blame them. I would rather it all be a bit more realistic ie: seven or eight alien races in all, and with more realistic, graphic depictions, of the violence. There is very little blood in Star Wars. I completely understand why it is the way it is, and I still love it. I highly recommend this movie and believe it is well worth the price of a premium ticket. We saw it in IMAX 3D and were blown away. 5 stars – MR
Find Rogue One and see the new trailer here.