Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Directed by Gareth Edwards
A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring a new hope to the galaxy.
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43 films that influenced Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
What critics say influenced Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The story was inspired, according to Knoll, by World War II adventure films that had energized Lucas, pictures like The Dam Busters (1955) and The Guns of Navarone (1961).
The action scenes are exhilarating — including a battle on the planet Scarif, idyllic enough to look like it was torn from a Club Med pamphlet, which takes up the entire third act and pays homage to classic war movies like "The Guns of Navarone."
Star Wars took direct inspiration from the behind-enemy-lines "men on a mission" pictures of his youth, like 1955’s The Dam Busters and 1961’s The Guns of Navarone.
Written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, "Rogue One" harkens back to classic Hollywood war films like "The Guns of Navarone" and "Saving Private Ryan."
It’s not quite “Band of Brothers in Space,” but it does channel a little bit from the likes of “The Guns of Navarone” and “The Dirty Dozen” among others.
The long battle sequence is replete with close shaves, daring escapes, sudden reversals, acts of self-sacrifice and a sudden intervention by friends (no “Star Wars” movie worth its salt would do without plenty of combat between armadas of space ships), but ultimately the entire scenario comes down to a protracted sci-fi version of pictures like “The Guns of Navarone,” in which a ragtag bunch of heroes take on a presumably invincible foe to destroy a weapon of unimaginable magnitude.
The story was inspired, according to Knoll, by World War II adventure films that had energized Lucas, pictures like The Dam Busters (1955) and The Guns of Navarone (1961).
Star Wars took direct inspiration from the behind-enemy-lines "men on a mission" pictures of his youth, like 1955’s The Dam Busters and 1961’s The Guns of Navarone.
While these are all enjoyable treats, what makes Rogue One such a rewarding watch is that Edwards has given us a romp of a war movie, cut in the mould of 633 Squadron and The Dam Busters .
Though Jyn had never exhibited any spirit of revolt—she’d had enough trouble surviving, even pseudonymously, merely keeping her head down—she’s thrown together with a venerable figure from her past, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), who huffs with a breathing mask seemingly borrowed from David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” and reminds her of long-standing affinities.
Reminiscent of ensemble war movies such as The Dirty Dozen, Rogue One gathers together a colourful collection of mismatched characters — including a blind warrior (Donnie Yen) and a rugged pilot (Riz Ahmed).
It’s not quite “Band of Brothers in Space,” but it does channel a little bit from the likes of “The Guns of Navarone” and “The Dirty Dozen” among others.
Soon enough, Rogue One turns into The Dirty Dozen of space operas, a premise that delivers its most satisfying payoff in Edwards’s dazzling third-act conclusion.
But it could also be a classic WWII-style action-adventure, derivative of past classics like The Dirty Dozen or Where Eagles Dare.
Modeled after WWII movies like The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare , the film sends a bunch of scruffy expendables on a suicide mission and aims for a harder, more violent edge than other entries in this family-friendly franchise.
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That includes the ensemble accompanying Jyn on her mission and contributing to a sense of camaraderie reminiscent of the crew in Aliens : the smouldering spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) with his matinee idol moustache; the twitchy pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed); the monk Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), whose blindness is no impediment to his fighting skills; his gruff bodyguard, Baze Malbus (Wen Jiang).
Like James Cameron’s Aliens , Rogue One is essentially a war movie built around the evolution of a punchy heroine, and Jones has that same blend of pain and chin-forward resolve that characterised Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley.
Think of this as the Saving Private Ryan of Star Wars lore – hard-hitting action that chews up and spits out both rebellion and Empire forces.
Written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, "Rogue One" harkens back to classic Hollywood war films like "The Guns of Navarone" and "Saving Private Ryan."
Full commitment to either a Saving Private Ryan -in-space vibe or a more conventional Star Wars tone would have been preferable to the inconsistencies of Rogue One .
A “Saving Private Ryan”-esque insurgent ambush on Jedha is expertly orchestrated and each clash communicates a burning imperative in the greater struggle.
Krennic, however, always draped in white, looks interesting—holding the veneer of a futuristic Roman senator—and Mendelsohn plays the role with an awkward authority that gave his brand of villainy a human touch reminiscent of Laurence Olivier’s Crassus in Spartacus (1960).
It’s a reminder of the hilarious “Star Wars” debate in Kevin Smith’s “Clerks,” in which fans consider the fate of all the contractors hired to rebuild the Death Star — suggesting a level of interest in every character in the “Star Wars” universe, no matter how minor.
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Felicity Jones is more Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley (in the Alien films) than Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia as Jyn Erso, a fugitive rebel whose childhood trauma opens the film, as her father Galen (Mads Mikkelsen, all spiritually-wracked) is taken away by the Empire’s nasty, uptight-looking Orson Krennic, as portrayed by Ben Mendelsohn, who realised a childhood dream by appearing.
(Never forget that the original Star Wars includes both evil “stormtroopers” and a victory ceremony for the heroes closely modeled after Triumph of the Will .)