8 Best Moments From Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Fans have been worrying about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ever since it was announced. Would a spinoff from the main series work? Do we actually need another prequel movie? Later on, rumours that the final edit had been taken out of director Gareth Edwards' hands and extensive reshoots had been staged all pointed to a less than positive picture indeed. Thankfully, we can now say that all the worrying was for nothing. The film has been received incredibly well and most agree that it's stronger in some areas than the mega-popular The Force Awakens. For really putting the Wars in Star Wars, this grittier take on the franchise is totally unique when compared to the rest of the series and has already raced up many people's rankings of the Star Wars films. From awesome action sequences to welcome nods to the past (or rather, future), Rogue One is full of memorable moments and here are 8 of our favorites. 8) It Fixes The Biggest Plot Hole Ever Star Wars fans will be forever thankful for Rogue One for fixing one of the most glaring plot holes in cinematic history; the question of why the Death Star has such an obvious weakness in A New Hope. An exhaust port that leads straight to the Star's core seems like a bizarre design flaw, from the Empire's point of view. In Rogue One, though, we find out that it wasn't part of the Empire's plan at all. In a handy retcon, the movie explains this as a deliberate act of sabotage from the reluctant architect Galen Erso, who was forced to work on the project by Director Krennic. He always intended to betray the Empire and work in a flaw that the Rebels could exploit to bring down the weapon of mass destruction. Of course, this does leave the question of why a similar weakness is also present in Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens, but let's take one plot hole at a time. Besides, it's just about possible that the Base was based off Erso's plans for the Death Star - deliberate design flaws and all. 7) Tarkin Takes Control Perhaps the most controversial moments of Rogue One is the digital recreation of late actor Peter Cushing, who portrayed Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin in A New Hope. For his scenes in the movie, Guy Henry played the role on set and was later replaced by an uncanny CG likeness of the departed Hammer horror star. Some are fans of the process while others think it's a creepy use of technology and a bit disrespectful. Whatever your feelings on how he was brought back, Tarkin is 100% the character we know and love to hate from the original movie. His best moment comes when he forcibly takes control of the Death Star from Director Krennic. Now that Krennic has put in all the hard work, Tarkin swoops in when the weapon is completed and claims it as his own effort. In one scene, the character totally overshadows Krennic and shows him who's boss. Remember, this guy is one of the few people who can give Darth Vader orders. 6) K-2SO In General The droids have often been the stars of the Star Wars movies, from instant icons R2-D2 and C-3PO in A New Hope to little BB-8, who stole our hearts in The Force Awakens. Gareth Edwards' film follows the tradition by introducing K-2SO, the standout character of the Rogue One rebel team. An imperial droid reprogrammed to serve the rebels, a side-effect of his system rehaul has left him with a caustic tongue and a tendency to say whatever he's thinking. This leads to some of the film's best lines, which are often to do with calculating the character's slim chance of survival (something that turns out to be quite prophetic). Or how about the touching moment he shares with Jyn, which Kaytoo then proceeds to ruin. "Jyn, I'll be there for you... Cassian said I had to." It's a fresh personality trait for a droid, and helps Kaytoo stand out against the prissiness of Threepio and the bleeping bravery of Artoo and Beebee. It's a big shame then that we won't get to see him again. 5) Chirrut Imwe Is One With The Force As for the human characters of Rogue One, there are so many people to introduce that character development isn't one of the main priorities of the film. Instead, the rebels are broad yet likeable archetypes. One of the best is Chirrut Imwe. The blind monk who guards the Temple of Whills on Jedha is the latest in a long line of warrior wise men in this franchise, but Chirrut has the extra benefit of being portrayed by Chinese martial arts master Donnie Yen. The actor gets to show off his skills in a kickass sequence which involves Chirrut single-handedly taking on a squad of Stormtroopers. After confidentially strolling up to them, the blind man uses his keen hearing and affinity with the Force to avoid any blasts and take down his enemies with a trusty staff - even stopping to make a couple of quips along the way ("oh, is your foot okay?"). For a largely silent type like Chirrut, actions speak louder than words and this scene cements him as the coolest character in the whole film (well, with the exception of Darth Vader himself). 4) All The Cameos Even though Rogue One is a spinoff of the mainline saga films, it's not shy about tying in to the rest of the Star Wars franchise, as various familiar characters turn up. Tarkin and Vader appear for significant roles, as does Mon Mothma on the Rebels side, but there are plenty more shorter cameos scattered throughout the film. Speaking of Mothma, she's seen talking to her Rebel colleague Bail Organa at one stage (as played by Jimmi Smits, reprising the role he previously played in the prequels). The Alderaan ambassador discusses his plan to contact an old Jedi friend of his who's been in hiding for many years - a clear nod to Obi-Wan Kenobi that sets up A New Hope. Another nod to the first Star Wars movie occurs in the brief appearance of Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan. The pair memorably met Luke and Obi-Wan at the Mos Eisley Cantina in the original film and here turn up on Jedha (somehow escaping the moon's subsequent destruction). Some much bigger players also appear, of course. R2-D2 and C-3PO turn up very briefly at the Rebel base on Yavin in a totally needless but fun bit of fan service all the same. Finally, none other than Princess Leia - or at least a CG version of a young Carrie Fisher - appears at the film's close. In a beautiful bit of continuity, she receives the plans to the Death Star, which leads perfectly into the beginning of A New Hope. 3) Everyone Dies! In retrospect, we should have seen this end coming. For one, Rogue One was all about new characters that were for some reason never seen or mentioned in the original trilogy. Director Gareth Edwards had also already confirmed that there would be no sequel and, most damning of all, Mon Mothma already told us in Return of the Jedi that many died when retrieving the Death Star plans (although it was stated to be Bothans). But still, when the entire crew of Rogue One bit the bullet in the thrilling final act of the film it came as a big shock. It's a move that makes this a much darker film that any other entry into the franchise. Yes, characters have died before in the line of duty and we know that their efforts go on to save the galaxy, but killing the entirety of the central cast of your movie is still a downer of an ending. That being said, in this age of endless sequels, it was refreshing to have a film that so definitely sealed the fates of its characters and made for a complete story. 2) Rebel Fleet To The Rescue It's not Star Wars without a climax revolving around a band of rebels battling against the might of the Empire, right? While The Force Awakens might have overdone the nostalgia factor in some areas, Rogue One hit the balance just right in its big climactic battle sequence. As Rogue One are busy on Scarif, trying to retrieve the Death Star plans, the Rebel fleet engages with the Imperial forces in the skies above the planet. When Jyn needs the shield around the planet to be broken so that she can transmit the plans, the Rebels manage to use a Star Destroyer as a battering ram to save the day. The result is a truly triumphant scene. Gareth Edwards has to be commended for doing such a terrific job at not just relying on nostalgia but infusing the action with a more modern sense of scale and grit. The awesomeness of the scene is only increased by the use of some deleted sequences from A New Hope, just to add to the feeling that this is the same group of rebels that soon after attacked the Death Star. 1) Darth Vader Attacks Our favourite scene from the whole movie has to be Darth Vader's final charge on the Rebel ship at the end of the film. After first appearing for a brief scene to dress down Krennic earlier on in the film, we'd been eager to see Vader return for a proper use of his iconic status. Thankfully, this last scene delivered in a big way. When Vader lays siege to the Mon Calamari rebel ship, he decides to leave no prisoners. In his bid to retrieve the Death Star plans, he uses his formidable mastery of hand-to-hand combat and Force powers to tear down every man in his path. It's an astounding and terrifying deployment of the character and it really gets across how much of a threat and a figure of terror he is to the people of the galaxy. The moment where he breathes once and unsheathes his lightsaber sends a shiver down your spine. The only minor quibble with the scene is that Vader probably could have used his Force powers to whip the plans out of the rebel's hand - but then that would have put a premature end to the entire franchise. That aside, we can confidently say this is one of the character's best moments ever and our favorite moment from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.