Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Blu-ray)

An excellent, exciting chapter in the Star Wars saga, the blu ray version has excellent quality visuals and sound quality

The story of the original "Star Wars: A New Hope" is essentially an attempt to get the data on the Death Star's fatal weakness to the Rebellion, so they can blow it up. But how did the Rebellion get those plans in the first place?

That bit of never-really-questioned-before storyline makes up the backbone of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," a spinoff story that has almost nothing to do with the Skywalker clan (since Disney can only milk them for so much) and everything to do with the Rebellion they serve. While "Rogue One" feels tonally unsynced with the rest of the colorful saga, it is a solid enough action movie with endearing characters and a story that intertwines with "A New Hope's."

Imperial shuttle pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) has defected, and wants to tell the Rebellion about a horrifying new superweapon that the Empire is building, the Death Star. Unfortunately, he quickly falls into the hands of an extremist, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), who believes the whole thing is one big trap. So to find Gerrera, Bodhi and the information, the Rebellion rescues Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), a young woman who was partially raised by Gerrera... and it happens, her dad Galen (Mads Mikkelson) is also the designer of the Death Star.

Finding Bodhi and his information is easier said than done, since Jyn and Rebel officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) end up running afoul of Imperials on the remote planet of Jedha -- and find unexpected allies in a blind warrior-monk (Donnie Yen) and a gun-toting merc (Jiang Wen). But when Jyn discovers the true information on the Death Star, she also witnesses the sheer magnitude of its power -- and must take matters into her own hands when it seems the Rebellion doesn't know what to do.

Ever since Disney got their paws on Lucasfilm, they've been prepping for seemingly hundreds of spinoff properties, most of them not having much to do with the central family saga of Star Wars. But don't worry, the movie will let you know constantly that it's a Star Wars movie -- at times it feels like it's nudging you in the ribs with its many cameos and references, which feels unnecessary since it's directly and intimately intertwined with "A New Hope."

But taken on its own, "Rogue One" is a pretty solid sci-fi action movie, focusing more on the gritty, grimy, ill-equipped Rebellion (or Alliance, whichever) and the ordinary people who struggle against the evil Empire, as well as some internal struggles (a cutthroat general who keeps ordering Cassian to kill people). But it also adds some new and intriguing layers from Lucas' own past efforts, such as a warrior-monk of the "Whills," and glimpses of a great Jedi-centric civilization now broken and lost in the desert dust.

And of course, the action scenes are pretty spectacular, giving us glimpses of the Death Star's power... from the perspective of people on the ground. Giant blasts that reach out into space, Imperial walkers stamping through forests, star destroyers facing down against Rebel fleets, and some confusing but massive air battles. And of course, Darth Vader makes his grand reappearance, dripping with contempt for Imperial ambition and all-too-ready to slash through rebels.

However, it's rather tonally different from all other Star Wars movies -- it lacks that pervasively mystical edge (despite Chirrut's Force mantra) and is relentlessly gritty rather than showing us wondrous worlds and places. What's more, it's a very, very dark story with a lot of death... which does give us a glimpse of what the Rebellion suffers to defeat the Empire, but it's also a bit depressing.

But the cast is absolutely stellar. Jones can't come across as scrappy and rough as the character is supposed to be, but she's a solid action heroine who combines optimism and brusque rebelliousness. And Luna gives a thoroughly excellent performance as a devoted soldier who is haunted by the ugly tasks that his general sometimes demands he do, and torn between wanting to protect and help Jyn and following the orders that might be necessary.

It also has some solid performances by Mikkelson, Ahmed and Ben Mendelsohn, although Whitaker seems to be determined that no scenery will be left without his teeth marks. But some of the supporting characters are glorious -- Alan Tudyk as a snarky, no-filter-having droid, and Wen as a gun-happy merc who has a fun buttkicking bromance with Yen's laid-back ex-monk. Yen is particularly fun as a not-quite-Jedi who seems content to just float along with the Force's will, and provides many fun moments ("Are you kidding me? I'M BLIND!").

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" has some tonal dissonance and too many references to the other movies, but it's a solid sci-fi adventure with a talented cast, and likely will keep fans of the Star Wars saga thoroughly entertained.

A genuinely great movie that showcases just how terrible living under the Empire was, something I always felt was very underwhelming in the original trilogies, but also goes on to show just how genuinely terrifying both the Death Star and Darth Vader were. The cast of misfits thrown together is only held back by the sheer fact there isn't enough time with them.

As soon as the DVD starts it stutters a hell of a lot like it's scratched, continued to do this for the next 20 minutes before i gave up on it. I don't know if i just got a dud or if they're all like this, either way i'm extremely disappointed.