Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Blu-ray Review
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
It’s a phrase that, since 1977, has inspired a certain hope and promise: that what you are about to see is going to be so miraculous, so stunning, it will occupy your mind for as long as you’re a movie fan. From the original trilogy to the prequels to the sequels, it’s been a staple, an invitation into a world so key to cinema.
It’s present in ROGUE ONE, too, the first installment in Disney’s collection of anthology films. But the moment that the large yellow “ROGUE ONE” pops on screen, something feels off. There is no opening crawl, no John Williams score, no jolt of excitement. In those first moments, ROGUE ONE reveals itself something that no other STAR WARS film has been in its opening act: lacking.
The point of ROGUE ONE, as a story, is to set up the creation of the Death Star, under the supervision of Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s MISSISSIPPI GRIND). With word out, young fugitive Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING), Rebel Alliance officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna, THE BAD BATCH) and others initiate a mission to steal the plans.
It’s a promising setup and there are plenty of terrific action sequences, dazzling special effects and intricate set design. Indeed, ROGUE ONE looks, sounds and acts like a STAR WARS film, but the whole is weak compared to even the best parts (or, to be more cynical: imitations). When the film is over and the score (tones from Williams’ original, not Michael Giacchino’s sorta-kinda Williams-esque go) beams through speakers, we are expected to be satisfied with the entire film solely based on the final sequence. It’s what will be remembered about the movie, not because of what it does for ROGUE ONE but for what it does for A NEW HOPE. ROGUE ONE doesn’t stand on its own, nor does it stand out. It’s an expansion pack and feels too much like a cash grab than a work of passion or necessity.
ROGUE ONE may be solely for the true STAR WARS fanatics, the ones looking for supplementary material in comics, books, TV shows, spinoffs and on and on so their beloved world (and childhood) has no end. The more casual fan likely won’t find a whole lot to be engaged with in many of the new characters or much past the mention of “Death Star.” Instead, it’s the nods (the utterance of “It’s a trap” gets a recognizing smile) and more familiar faces (some of which, like Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher, have been superimposed) that will be of interest.
Directed by Gareth Edwards (2010’s MONSTERS, 2014’s GODZILLA) and written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY feels far too much like it’s splitting its potential fanbase in half. In one corner are the devotees, the ones who have immersed themselves in the canon since birth. In the other, the casual fans who enjoy the series as entertainment. ROGUE ONE is for the former. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does isolate the latter and make them wonder, perhaps while looking over their shoulder, was all of this necessary?
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: 2.39:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. Without a doubt, this is one of the sharpest-looking Blu-rays since, well, THE FORCE AWAKENS. This transfer boasts an array of colors, all of which show up brilliantly, and details and textures that showcase the excellent set and costume designs.
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English 2.0 Descriptive Audio; Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; French 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitles in English, Spanish and French. As with any STAR WARS film, sound design is a key contributor to its success. It’s no different with ROGUE ONE, which sounds stellar on this Blu-ray: effects (from army clatter to weapon play to soaring spaceships) come through with full dimension, while the score hits every mark and dialogue hosts zero issues.
The Stories: Housed here are ten featurettes: A Rogue Idea (9:00), which covers the evolution of the film from concept to assembling the cast and crew; Jyn: The Rebel (6:16), which covers the primary protagonist and Felicity Jones’ interest in the saga; Cassian: The Spy (4:14), on Diego Luna’s character; K-2SO: The Droid (7:43), covering the “anti-C3PO” of the film; Baze & Chirrut: Guardians of the Whills (6:20), on the duo’s role in the story; Bodhi & Saw: The Pilot & the Revolutionary (8:35), spotlighting the characters played by Riz Ahmed and Forest Whitaker; The Empire (8:18), which devotes time to the antagonists of ROGUE ONE; Vision of Hope: The Look of ROGUE ONE (8:24), in which some of the design and effects teams discuss how they came to create the look of the film; The Princess & the Governor (5:49) goes into bringing the characters of Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia to the screen one more time; and Epilogue: The Story Continues (4:15), containing footage from the premiere.
Rogue Connections (4:31): This fun featurette shares a number of connections between ROGUE ONE and other STAR WARS films.
DVD
UltraViolet