The Flickering Myth team react…
Following the announcement of its arrival, the final trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story landed online yesterday [watch it here]. The previous trailers left the Flickering Myth team with mixed reactions, but how will this final trailer play out to them?
Chris Haydon: I’m overwhelmed right now!
Matthew Skeen: Does a good job building on the earlier trailers, feels more exciting and intense than what we’ve previously seen. I like the Vader shots without having him say anything as it fully teases he’s quite involved without giving away his role or impact.
Gary Collinson: I wasn’t overly impressed by the last trailer, but this one… wow. It looks absolutely stunning. Could well be the best Star Wars trailer I’ve seen.
Ricky Church: Amazing trailer. It looks beautifully shot with a good mix of practical and CGI effects. I love the tone of this movie and how, judging by each of the trailers combined, there’s going to be a lot of focus on character building in this. Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso looks ready to steal the show and I also really like how we just get teases of Vader. He’s a villain who needs no introduction and having him present without speaking was a great decision. That shot of him strolling through the smoke just looks awesome. I am looking forward to this movie so much more now.
Anghus Houvouras: Chills motherfuckers. Goosebumps. That shit has got this middle aged cynic excited. This was the kind of movie I wanted to see after the end of the original trilogy and the kind of movie I was desperate for after the prequels. Tell me some new stories with new characters in this amazing, expansive universe. There are some epic visuals here. It seems like Edwards and company understand the iconography of Star Wars so well. It felt like I was watching the Dirty Dozen about to take on the whole damn Empire. This one can’t come soon enough, but if I watch this trailer again, I might.
Luke Owen: This trailer might just be the best thing ever made in the history of mankind. Including light bulbs and burritos. I wasn’t too enthralled by the previous two trailers, but this one changed my mind. I cannot wait for this film.
Andy Naylor: The previous trailers made Felicity Jones seem a bit wooden which damped the expectation, Hayden Christian-like. This gave a much better impression of her and her character. The visuals look stunning, please be good.
Chris Cooper: Hot damn.
Kris Wall: I genuinely think that this could be the most important (and best) film of the Star Wars Saga now, it looks that good!
Luke Owen: Someone emailed in on the podcast a month ago asking if Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them would take more money than Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This trailer solidifies my opinion that Potter doesn’t stand a chance.
Oliver Davis: Damn…
Luke Owen: I knew I’d be right!
Sean Wilson: I love how the story of Mads Mikkelsen as the previously unseen father figure ties into the mythology. Looks visually stunning and Ben Mendelsohn looks reliably chilling as ever. Amazing stuff!
Kris Wall: When is Ben Mendelsohn not chilling though? Ha!
Anghus Houvouras: I find it funny how much more interesting the characters in Rogue One seem that Star Wars: The Force Awakens which was about as character focused as an episode of Teletubbies.
Villordsutch: Here will be a film that will show the Empire to be the true wicked force of the Galaxy, and this trailer showed us that. A truly brilliant trailer with some beautiful imagery.
Oliver Davis: Are we sure some of those epic shots aren’t painted by the classical masters? Much more visually interesting than JJ Abrams’ Star Wars: Force Awakens. And the character perspective is full-on: Jyn has both a flashback scene and point-of-view ear ringing from an explosion. I don’t think the Star Wars universe has ever been presented so subjectively. That said, the final Man of Steel trailer was really good. And that film blowed.
Tai Freligh: I think you meant to say “blew me away”. I find myself more skeptical of how well a trailer actually represents a movie these days. Suicide Squad had some fantastic trailers, but I found the movie itself lacking. Part of the problem was all that footage in the trailers that never made it into the movie. It sold a version of the film that wasn’t reality. I understand that trailers are supposed to get you hyped, but if it’s getting you hyped for something that doesn’t actually exist, then it does movie fans a disservice.
Luke Owen: No he was right. Man of Steel blew.
Tom Jolliffe: First teaser I dug. The second trailer left me cold. This blows me away. It’s got the Mad’s Mikkelsen factor. That’s a big selling point for me as he’s a great, and intensely watchable actor. There’s obviously the classic parental issues going on here, which are par for the Star Wars course. I loved Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but this looks better. I do agree that in previous trailers, Felicity Jones didn’t come across well, but this sells her a lot better. She’s a good actress and the last thing she’d want is to be made to look bad (like Portman in the prequels). Can I book my ticket now?
Chris Haydon: I think Rogue One‘s promotional campaign has teased a sense of scale unlike anything else in the Star Wars Universe. It has that rugged, almost militant vibe which I just can’t get enough of. Putting the ‘war’ in Star Wars.
James Garcia: Rogue One looks like the Star Wars movie I’ve been wanting for most of my life: A story set in the vast and largely unexplored Star Wars universe that focuses on new characters and staying only tangentially connected to previous films in the saga. Based on this trailer alone, Rogue One not only delivers on that, but could end up being the best Star Wars movie. Period. That might sound hyperbolic, but I really loved this trailer. The cinematography is astounding, the action looks kinetic, gripping, and diverse (ground battles across various planets, X-wings in space!). And the characters on both sides look like they could be pretty memorable. I agree with Chris that the rugged, militant vibe does it wonders, and that war movie aspect is what has me very hopeful this will be something truly special.
SEE ALSO: Read James Garcia’s theory on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Eric Bay-Andersen: Looks brilliant. Nice to finally get a sense of the characters and a bit of context – makes all the difference. Every trailer up until now has had a few nice shots here and there, but this is what a trailer should be – well-paced, thrilling and mysterious. So much more excited for this film now than I was six months ago.
Danny Hale: Excellent trailer at the very least. Im very excited; the visuals look stunning!
Helen Murdoch: Looks stunning, thrilling and blew me away. More Mikkelsen to peak interest and Mendelsohn I’m sure will be fantastic. Counting down!
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Well, that was pretty overwhelmingly positive wasn’t it? Looks like every single member of the Flickering Myth team will be there for day one based on this trailer. Having said that, we always were…
From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for release on December 16th 2016, with a cast that includes Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Diego Luna (Milk), Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Alan Tudyk (Con Man), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), Genevieve O’Reilly (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith), Jimmy Smits (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones), Valene Kane (The Fall) and Jonathan Aris (Sherlock).
