Vader’s Corridor | The Best (and Worst) Scene in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

an explosion powerful enough to be seen from space marks the end of an almighty battle against good and evil but it's not over yet freedom fighters desperately clamber aboard their ship rushing to escape the clutches of an evil empire with the one chance they have to topple its greatest super weapon but they realize all too late that they are not alone blasters pointed towards the darkness these men are already dead [Music] [Applause] [Music] within roughly just two minutes the full power of iconic Star Wars villain Darth Vader is unleashed in all his magnificent glory combining horrific four-strokes and brutal lightsaber swings the audience is treated to a claustrophobic intense scene that proves how truly unstoppable the preeminent character of the saga is the score the tension the lighting the angles it's all perfect just utterly thrilling it's the best scene in row one but it's it's also the worst because it just shows how dire the rest of the movie is look I know there's a lot of you out there that really like rogue one and I'm not trying to pull over your enjoyment of it the attachment you have to a movie is a unique experience to you the viewer if you did like this movie I'm not going to tell you actually no you didn't or that you're a [ __ ] for doing so what I'm going to explain here is why for me it didn't work in fact I think you could pinpoint everything that works about this sequence extract each factor and use it as an argument for the rest of the movie for short first off this scene is full of tension the tiny cramped corridor helps to bolster this there's a clear a 2b we know where Vader has to get to we know how far away he is and what stands in his way so as he gets closer and closer tearing through the rebels like butter the tension only intensifies because we know that rebel has to get the plan to that tiny little gap the rest of the movie I think is lacking in similar levels of tension take the opening cronic invades the earth so homestead's takes Galen hostage and murders Lyra but we the viewer don't feel a whole lot of tension because the character that we're viewing these events through a youngjun Urso is so far away from the action that there's no danger at all as soon as things go awry she runs off leaving a sizable distance between her and her pursuers this would have played out much better if the Deaf troopers were right on her tail she should have climbed into a hiding spot at the last possible second before the death troopers entered the cave instead the whole sequence plays out like paint-by-numbers and then it's done and no point do I really believe Jin is moments away from being captured this sequence also shows the Warped geography of some of the movie like I'm not entirely sure between cuts how exactly far apart everyone is and if I don't know that how as a viewer I want to reduce the level of danger this movie also tells us too much in places robbing later scenes of the appropriate suspense take this moment for example intercepted Imperial transmission mom pebbles on scare off' i need to speak with admiral Radisson he's going to fight now cuts that's all we need that's all we needed the rebel base to sell what comes later namely when the fleet arrives to give rope once and much-needed assistance if we didn't see the rebels between this moment and the time they arrive it would leave ambiguity as to whether or not they do indeed to decide to come and help therefore when all hell is breaking loose on the beaches of scaris there's tension because it looks like our heroes are dooms until the very last seconds instead we see the rebels suiting up and getting ready for absolutely no reason beforehand because of this there is no ambiguity we know the cavalry is coming the audience is just watching this play outs with all of the information lay bare for comparison even attack of the clones and the rise of Skywalker two deeply flawed movies do this exact same setup better in clones mace windu goes to Geonosis to save Anakin Padme and obi-wan meanwhile Yoda tells Windu that he's going to go to Kamino to see the Clone Army visit I will the cloners on Kamino and see this army they have created that's all it's holds similarly as the heroes in rise doctor x of all to fight the first-order Lando says she's going to try and rally people in the core systems to help they'll take the Falcon to the core assistance send out a call for help for anybody listening we don't see Lando's journey this is crucial when each respective battle is playing out we don't know if Yoda Orlando have been successful we have no idea if they're even going to arrive in both battles the heroes are backed into a corner and it looks like they're going to lose and that's when the cavalry arrives [Music] there are more of us bow surprise the day is saved these moments only work because it appears all hope is lost the audience doesn't know if there's a solution and because of the well-executed tension in the vada scene I think the movie manages to conjure an attachment to these rebels even though we know literally nothing about them not even their names it proves that a good scenario is all you need to get your audience absorbed you don't need to know any of these guys backstories why they joined the rebellion who their mothers names are the stress and challenge they are put under is enough by contrast the rest of the movie has wafer-thin characters they're all based on broad Star Wars archetypes have very little discernible qualities that make them unique and spend the first two thirds of the movie meandering about the galaxy in search of the plots jyn erso seems distressed by her father's situation and in turn Galen says he loves her and misses her but we get next to no time with them together to see that relationship it's all told to us I don't get why jyn erso becomes so hell-bent on galvanizing the rebellion in the third act because there's no impetus for character to do so the most memorable things about the characters are their skillsets and abilities this is the guy that has the cannon this is the tech guy he's a robots this guy knows martial arts and on that note look I love Donnie Yen he's an incredible physical performer but what's his character Cheer it's not a seismic waste of Donnie Yen in a Star Wars movie why was he not in another movie playing a Jedi you telling me this would have been so much more fun with a lightsaber in fact you know you don't even need to imagine here you go our thematic level what's the point in showing the struggles of a time without the Jedi if you're just going to put a Jedi in your story anyway for all functions within the story for all the spectacle the character delivers turrets is a Jedi the writers just got around it by calling him something else the only really clear-cut character is director critic he's not only got clear motivations B is hit with challenge after challenge the entire movie yes his achievements rips away from him he's obviously a villainous [ __ ] but he feels vulnerable I get who he's supposed to be and his death is easily the most satisfying he gets completely [ __ ] over [Music] Ochs I think this is a good way to show when and when not to use a legacy character in your new Star Wars movie Vader is relatively easy to translate to the screen at virtually any time because he is a fully suited and masked character pretty much anyone can fill the role if they're the right height and build I expect you not to rest until you can assure the Emperor the Delian person has not compromised this weapon luckily James Earl Jones still has that magnificent voice tool into the role but even if Jones had declined it would have been fine honestly I mean it doesn't speak for the entirety of his most infamous scene in the movie we have no idea who's playing him but he's just there isn't he that's Darth Vader the magic is there that's not so easy to do with other characters from the original movie take Grand Moff Tarkin for example everyone responsible for bringing him to life from actor Guy Henry to the incredibly talented special effects wizards ILM should be commended this is the absolute gold standard for doing what they attempted no question but he's just not really there is he and now I know he's not literally really there I mean more you don't see past the special effects it's abundantly clear that his face his expressions were made in a computer it doesn't really matter how good it looks I don't get a rush from seeing him on screen the same way I do Vader and that's because Vader is a spot-on recreation of that character actor Ben Mendelsohn is really acting off of a six-foot-five black-clad Angel of Death and it shows versus acting off of an awkward Lemony Snicket come on he looks like freakin Lemony Snicket Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher are unfortunately no longer with us but even if they were they wouldn't look at proprietary unless you went for Scorsese with this and to what end could Veda not have filled the narrative function that talking has in the version of the movie we got are you really going to tell me you wanted more of this we've heard word of rumors circulating through the city over more of this another small but crucial thing I think makes this scene work the object of desire is well an object a physical thing in the world that we can see passes through hands as it just about manages to escape vadas clutches in the movie half the work of getting the plans off scarf involves sending a transmission I don't know who needs to hear this but transmissions are boring there is no tension in something invisible being transmitted thousands of miles funnily enough if you recall the very first trailer it showed an alternate scene that clearly got cuts we're in gin rushes at the walkers with the plans in hand when it's a physical object we instantly know the stakes we see a single frame the character holding it the threat where they need to get to the original way that the hero's got those plans off the beaches would have been so much better I'd bet my ship in the game of sabacc on its when I watch the vada scene I always enjoy it but I can't help again empty feeling thinking why is it in the wrist in the film like this I've heard rogue one apologists say that the first two acts are indeed a bit of a plodding mess but it's all forgiven because of the third acts final battle for me that's like saying you love dinner only for you to admit to me that you hated the starter in the main well why did you like dinner if you only at the dessert Diane yeah I think the final battle is well constructed everything but when I don't care about the characters all of that good stuff can take me so far you know honestly I just wish this movie had been simpler and a bit closer to what was promised which was a war movie this isn't a war movie is a battle at the end but it's very much the same kind of big planet-hopping fantastical adventure movie the original films were the whole thing could have easily taken place on scare off' starring a company of rebel soldiers on the front lines giving us a real taste of what it's like for the everyman soldier in the Star Wars universe no one needs to be connected to the guy who built the Death Star 1917 sees its lead soldiers given a mission separate to the battle at hand and you just see that play out across the movie you could have easily done the same thing and have the company of soldiers worth following get the call Oh turns out this base for attacking is actually holding some super secret plans for a mega weapon and now your preeminent objective is to get them what everyone else fights this losing battle immediately setting this movie on just one planet would have made it really unique amongst the other theatrical Star Wars offerings and you know what you have Vader just make him the big threat in the third act why isn't he on that Beach imagine how much more impact the vada scene would have had if the main characters have been the ones trapped in a corridor trying to get out I digress maybe that's not right either but I just wanted something leaner more focused more unique from the Star Wars movies we already had because surely that was the point of making Star Wars stories no the Vader sequence is epic but surely surely we deserve more than just to truly top tier minutes of Star Wars in a movie that is well over two hours thank you for watching another full-fat video don't forget to click that subscribe button if you'd like to see more of our deep dives into reality TV also huge thanks to all of our patrons especially dr. gk jax merrick and mike nandhu you're all amazing until next time

Channel: Full Fat Videos

Views: 584,206

Keywords: Full Fat Videos, star wars rogue one, rogue one, star wars, star wars rogue one darth vader, darth vader, star wars rogue one ending, star wars rogue one darth vader reaction, review, analysis, critique, breakdown, Spin off, star wars spin off, video essay, star wars video essay, Lightsaber, new trilogy, star wars trilogy, rogue one worst, rogue one best, best rogue one moment, worst rogue one scene, worst star wars movie, Episode 9, george lucas, Jyn Erso, Felicity Jones

Id: Px6GwbBAocM

Length: 12min 43sec (763 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 31 2020