Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is highly regarded as one of the best and most underrated films in the iconic and long-running franchise.
The movie portrays war like no other Star Wars flick. Every battle feels so raw, and there is little romanticism to the fighting, with even rebels like Andor having a brutal edge to them. The 2016 film gave fans an incredible cast of characters. It also knew when and how to tug at those nostalgic strings. The movie also gave lifelong fans a reason as to why the Death Star has that glaring weakness!
However, Rogue One‘s most iconic achievement is, at least in this humble fan’s opinion, giving fans the most brutal cinematic depiction of Darth Vader.
The last few moments of the film showing Vader carving his way through a hallway and slicing Rebels apart is forever etched into the memory of every Star Wars fan. It was such a powerful scene that truly displayed what a terror Vader actually was. However, some fans may not know that this moment wasn’t planned initially. In fact, the now legendary hallway scene wasn’t filmed until about four months before the movie’s release.
Darth Vader’s hallway scene almost never was
According to director Gareth Edwards, Rogue One didn’t originally feature much Vader action. In a 2017 interview with WIRED, the filmmaker broke down how the beloved hallway scene came to be.
“So, we knew we were going to be dealing with the blockade runner escaping from the Calamari ship,” Edwards explained. “We were cutting the film together, and my editor Jabez Olssen, he said, ‘I think you need to see one last moment with Darth Vader. Like. I think he needs to have like a badass moment.” He does indeed, Olssen! He does indeed.
Edwards added, “We all felt the same way. When he mentioned this, it was about four months maybe from release.” He elaborated that he initially thought they might have missed their opportunity. However, after a conversation between Kathleen Kennedy and Olssen, production for the scene moved forward as the former loved the idea.
The director explained that the team only had three days to create the sequence. Morbidly touching on the hallway setting, Edwards admitted, “I like the idea; I really like the idea of them all being trapped and that Vader’s going to kill every single one of them.” Brutal but beautiful. Thank you, Mr. Edwards!
Another funny anecdote that the director shared was that he cast himself as one of the few surviving rebels. Not just any rebel soldier, but the one who pulled the lever that allowed Princess Leia’s ship to disembark. “I like to think that guy is kind of the savior of the entire rebellion, really … if it wasn’t for him, you know, there’d be no Star Wars, and I’m still waiting for the action figure.”
For giving fans that legendary Darth Vader scene, Edwards and Olssen deserve all the action figures in the world!
