I love Rogue One. There was no way to force a happy ending for the main characters. They all had flaws and did bad things but were not bad people. One by one, you watch them succeed in what they needed to accomplish before dying as heroes. I knew going in that everyone dies but somehow still succeeds but i STILL love it.

Rogue One showed how an out-of-sequence addition to a film series can support and further justify the things that already exist, instead of contradicting them. Truly an impressive exercise in honoring continuity, even down to small pieces of dialogue.. Darth Vader mentions the 'stolen data tapes', and we are shown Project Stardust being stored in--- an archive tower full of data tapes. But it was also referred to as an intercepted transmission... how could it be both?? Rogue One showed us, and made it look natural and effortless. And that's just one small example. Thanks for pointing out the great job the film did with this video!

This movie was a breath of fresh air to the Star Wars franchise. Interesting story, interesting characters. Amazing tie-in to canon. This movie was unlike the other newer Star Wars films that were poorly written and unlikable.

I remember sitting through the credits hoping for a post credit scene. Then I realized the first Star Wars movie is the post credit scene.

On the subject of Stormtrooper accuracy: On the Death Star, they WANTED the rebels to get away so they could be followed to their secret base. So, they shot to miss to put on a good showing. On Bespen, some covering fire was used to discourage pursuit by Luke, but again he was not to be harmed, on Lord Vader's orders. Later, the chaos of the panicked evacuation allowed the Rebels to escape. On Endor, in an environment with LOTS of cover, the Ewoks had a numerical advantage, and were more skilled in fighting in that specific environment.. Meanwhile, onboard the Tantive IV and on Hoth, the Stormtroopers decimated the Rebels. This tells me that, when they are trying, they are actually very good at what they do. Even if they do prioritize the ones shooting at them over the ones accomplishing their mission...

I've said it before and so did Leia, the Stormtroopers let them escape on the death star. They weren't sure who the pilot was, and having just placed a tracker on board they needed to follow them to the base. Vader only knew Obi-Wan didn't fly the ship, because he hated flying. It's pretty much outright said in the movie. Tho literally everyone seems to miss it.

Artoo doesn't trick Luke into turning off his projector. He tricks Luke into removing his restraining bolt which keeps him from running away from his current owner(s). This is just another example of how crafty Artoo is.

Easily one of the best, if not the best Star Wars movie that has been put together. It really seems like in production they asked 'what would the fans like?' and then gave the answers: Compelling story. Tie up questions A New Hope raised. Epic space battle. Epic ground struggle. Makes the Rebellion actually seem like a Rebellion, essentially terrorising the empire and conducting guerrilla warfare. Vader showing us why lore represents him as such an angry bad-ass.

Rogue One and Episode IV are my favorite. They are masterfully crafted. They both evoke an immense emotional response and the overwhelming feeling of victory and strength I felt as a 7 year old after seeing Ep IV were justified after the absolute devastation and overwhelming sadness I felt from the deaths of the characters in Rogue One. If Star Wars was only ever just these two movies, I would still think it is the greatest story ever told.

Great movie- one of the very few things produced by Disney that felt like real Star Wars.

Rogue one was an amazing film. Everything about it was purposeful. It's one of my favorites.

Actually Tarkin was informed that a young imperial officer had found the flaw on the Death Star and he chose to ignore the issue thinking that it wouldn’t effect them. So ultimately it was also Tarkin’s arrogance and belief in their superiority that brought them down.

One little observation about "this time". Evidently Vader has had incidents involving Princess Leia before, because in between the two usages you mentioned in your video, when Vader confronts Leia, he says "Don't act so surprised, Your Highness. You weren't on any mercy mission this time", implying she has used that excuse previously in order to evade being discovered as a rebel.

Of all the Star Wars films, I would put Rogue One at #3, behind Empire and A New Hope. But it is an excellent movie that, as this video shows, ties up many loose ends. Don't forget, we now know the reason Skywalker received the designation, "Red 5."

Rogue One is outstanding! Great video. I always watch it before rewatching A new Hope

I genuinely difficult time parsing my feelings about modern star wars, as so much of it has been disappointing to me, but I love Rogue One so much. I really think it's in my top 5

Yes. I still quite enjoy Rogue One. Yes, I'll watch again this weekend! Thanks for the video. New content on Rogue One is always a "fix" for me as it captures the original essence of the Original Trilogy. To me, there are now 4 Original movies. Thanks again. Cheers!

Rogue One made the opening crawl of the original move come alive!

After a few years have passed since Rogue One came out, I can honestly say I enjoy it more now than I did when it first came out. It was very well done. Same for Solo, although I'll give Rogue One the edge since it is a whole new story.

Rogue one is an absolute masterclass in making modern Star Wars it manages to tell an original story with new characters but adds a whole new level of depth and emotion to the most beloved of the films while also fixing the series most infamous plot hole

I remember Rogue One catching tons of flak upon release. Since the first time i saw it, it was top 3 for me. Glad it gets it due nowadays

I would have moved the whole "thermal exhaust port plot hole" being filled thing up closer to the top of the list, if not even to #1. It's certainly the first thing that comes to my mind when imagining what Rogue One did to change A New Hope. (But, that's just me talking. ✌)

A New Hope was Luke as well as the sacrifices the rebellion made. As we saw in the death star run, the rebels couldn't make the shot. It took force sensitive Luke to hit the exhaust. He also represents a New Hope for the Jedi.

.... After seeing "A New Hope" back in 1977 Rogue One filled in the all important missing gaps for almost 39 years later!

Rogue one is up there with Empire Strikes Back and Revenge of the Sith if you ask me. What a film. What a climax. What a "beginning." I'm gonna go watch it now, bye.

A friend of mine doesn’t like Rogue One, his reasoning is that, “You spend all this time getting to know these characters, only for all of them to die at the end!” My thoughts were that, that was the point. This movie shows just how far the rebel alliance would have to go and the price they’d have to pay in order to achieve victory over the empire. It makes Star Wars more of a war movie than just a sci-fi popcorn action flick. Which it still very much is, but it now adds in the gritty ugliness of war. While, yeah you hate to watch these characters die, but knowing what they died for and that it wasn’t all for nothing drives home that point. I absolutely loved it by far my favorite scene in the movie is the Darth Vader hallway fight. Like I’ve said before and like others have also said, I really wish the whole Mustafar scene had been left in the cutting room floor, then added in later as a deleted scene. That way only the hallway scene would’ve been Vader’s cameo, it’d been way more effective in my opinion, but that’s just my opinion.

Rogue One is one of my favorite Star Wars movies. Also, how lucky was it that Leia programmed R2D2 to jettison from the ship to Tatooine, where he was bought at auction by Luke Skywalker, who brought him to Obi-Wan Kenobi where R2D2 played the message asking for help - and also by chance, Luke and Leia are long-lost twin siblings.

The four-hour 'Rogue Cut' combining both films is great viewing.

I love thinking of A New Hope as the sequel to Rogue One. The saga could just be those two films and I would be ok with it.

I really enjoyed Rogue One, but this video has made me love it so much more. I really appreciated seeing the way that those details enhance the entire series of events that make up the original trilogy, and put so much more context around the Rebellion, and the true state of the war at that point. Thanks for a great piece of work.

Even though I had a pretty good idea how Rogue One was going end, it was still an amazing movie.

I still love it. It has even slipped into the number two slot for me behind ESB despite the questionable tentacle scene and despite the epic lightsaber duel in ROTS.

Great video! Covered some good connections and insights between the films that makes me have a deeper appreciation for Rogue One and it’s importance in the overall story. 👍

The thing that always stuck with me was that in ANH the rebels don’t have a Rogue designation. But by the time of TESB they do. You figure that the rebels adopted it to honor the memory of Rogue One.

EASILY my favorite Star Wars movie!

Rewatched Rogue One just a few days ago, love it! Thanks for this video, time to rewatch A New Hope 😁

Episode IV: A New Hope is still the best. The reason is a bit unfair to the other movies. When IV came out it changed the movie world and most significantly Science Fiction movies forever. The special effects were like nothing seen before. The characters were very well done, for science fiction movies. It had space battles that were filled with tension and exhilaration. Star Wars broke so many molds when it came out. It was mesmerizing to a young child and amazing to a teenager. People went back to see the movie multiple times. Unfortunately, no matter how good the sequels and prequels are, there can only be one "break-out" movie stat started it all.

I just love Felicity Jones, wouldn't mind seeing more Jyn, I'm sure she has done plenty before getting arrested. Of course I still don't know how Saw lost his feet becoming poor little tink tink lol 😝 Perhaps Vader should've gone down to get the plans himself, but he doesn't like sand, so he told that Commander to see to it. Too bad Bail Organa made it home, not that we ever saw him crying out in terror and suddenly silenced. . . . Carrie Fisher thought the CGI Leia was deleted footage she forgot about, if you can't trust Carrie Fisher on digital Leia, who can you trust. Not sure how Peter Cushing would feel about Tarkin, but his family were okay with it

This is such a great list. Thank you, Josh.

I loved it. And enjoyed your show very much too. Very nicely done.

I don't know, I always thought that the opening crawl made it pretty clear that "A New Hope" referred to the Death Star plans. It flat-out says that the Rebels won their first real victory against the Empire, and in doing so stole the plans, and that the plans are the key to destroying the Death Star and restoring peace to the galaxy. Sounds pretty hopeful to me. Even the original 1977 crawl, lacking the episode number and subtitle, says the same thing.

Love it, but the Stormtroopers on the Death Star missed on purpose to let them escape to track them back to Yavin IV

I watched them back to back and it's worth it . It's almost like a 4 hour movie .

I fell asleep during R1 but that last scene! OMFG. I absolutely LOVE how Vader chilled out AFTER Episode IV. He was 100x more chilling once he stopped yelling

I mostly agree… however, as for the inaccuracy of the Stormtroopers, this can be explained by orders from the imperial command, who wanted the Millennium Falcon to escape and lead the Empire to the Rebel base.

Not bad, for a movie based on a scroll text, and a few opening lines. Definitely the best prequel.

It even describes why it took 20 years for the half built death star we see at the end of revenge of the sith to be completed

It’s hard to admit that it’s your favorite when you’ve been a fan since 1977, but it’s my favorite.

1. I like to think because the Stormtroopers in “Star Wars” were ordered to let the prisoners escape and were fanatics, they were willing to die for the Empire rather than disobey orders and kill Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie aboard the Death Star. 2. The odds of hitting the Death Star kill shot were “1 in a million”, and without Force guided torpedoes it probably doesn’t get destroyed (plus Chewbacca’s well aimed shot on the TIE fighter to breakup Vader’s formation). 3. “Rogue One” leaves me with one major question: How did Vader know the Tantive IV was going to Tatooine? In “Star Wars”, Vader said he intercepted communications between the ship and the Rebellion, but it sure doesn’t seem like Leia had time to inform anyone of her plans to detour to Tatooine, before jumping to hyperspace in “Rogue One”. From “The Empire Strikes Back” tracking the trajectory of a ship, when it jumps to hyperspace is damn near impossible. So how did Vader know to intercept the Tantive IV at Tatooine? I don’t think Leia went straight to Tatooine, as the video suggests. I think she tried going to at least one other planet, but the Empire put all points bulletin out to any space port to impound that ship. Leia had no choice but to inform the Rebellion of her change in plans and seek out Obi Wan Kenobi. 4. From the novelization of the OT, Obi Wan reveals that he had an agreement with Bail that if Leia’s involvement in the Rebellion became too dangerous, she should seek out Obi Wan on Tatooine. I know conventional wisdom is the Death Star’s a dumb waste of resources, but the number of things that had to go right for the first Death Star to be destroyed is mind boggling. In “Rogue One”, while Vader was leisurely killing the rebels he trapped, only one person heard the guy with the Death Star plans cries for help and turned to try to open the door. If Vader was a step faster he could’ve killed the guy with the plans before he handed them off. In “Star Wars”, the gunner who didn’t shoot the escape pod R2 and 3PO were on because no life forms were aboard set the stage for some fortuitous events for the Rebellion. Luke being too lazy to put R2’s restraining bolt back on, after seeing part of Leia’s message is one example. The red R2 unit Owen originally bought having a bad motivator is another. So many little events had to go right to get the plans to the Rebellion, the odds were really stacked in the Empire’s favor with the Death Star being able to control systems through terror.

In addition to all the items on your list, I really love how Rogue One gave me a much deeper meaning for Luke’s naming his squadron, Rogue.

One of the best of the Star Wars movies. Just great all around movies it had everything, even darthvaders cameo was amazing

Interesting addition of the Force for the aim of the Stormtroopers. I’ve heard that Leia’s line of letting them off so easy so they could track also explains missing shots. Though ofc they did not need everyone to survive for the tracking to work But, still.

Rogue one is one of the best star wars

I loved Rogue One and enjoyed your details very much. Thank you. I entirely agree with you on every one.

3:24 I had the Star Wars vinyl record when I was a little kid and listened to it enough times that I memorized it. In this scene you speak of the line is not 'There will be no one to stop us this time' but instead 'There will be no one missing'. So, I suggest that the line is much more likely a product of them trying different lines there in the film and deciding on the one that sounded best instead of any greater meaning.

Hmm, I'm starting to think that Rogue One might be the perfect entry point for newer/younger viewers to get into Star Wars. New enough to not be campy but does an amazing job of setting up the events of Episode 4 to where the viewer probably won't care any more that they're watching a 45 year old children's movie.

the Battle of Scarif is by far the best star wars space battle OF ALL TIME

I'm loving it even more and want to watch it 10 more times

Great video my guy. Prefect explanation.

I enjoyed this countdown. this was my favorite "off-shoot" films of the franchise and now I have some more reasons to like it best. Nice job, josh.

Rogue One: the best Star Wars film ever made. There, I said it. Fight me on it. I’m prepared to die on this hill.

Great film. I hope one day they go back and update the Tarkin and Leia cgi to the same as Luke in the Mandalorian

I'm a huge fan of Rouge One, but after watching this video I have come to appreciate it even more. Thank you!

I love Rogue One, especially for all that it did. I've seen every Star Wars movie when they first came out. I think it's at the top of my list

In other words the intrigue and mystery that the original film offered has been ruined by people who need everything spoon fed to them - once the curtain has been lifted it's all just Ho-Hum

Rogue One blew me away as its everything I'd ever wanted a Star Wars film to be.

wow you just made these better which i didnt think was possible

The ending of Rogue One, although the whole movie is about HOW the Death Star plans are stolen, ties into the beginning of A New Hope pretty flawlessly

Actually Rogue One didn't change the thing with Tarkin, the Empire had found out about the weak spot during ANH apparently. The tech engineer reported it to her CO, who was one of the officers who we see in the Battle of Yavin. He goes around the station, presumably on his way to Tarkin (the station is moon-sized after all), and I believe he does speak to Vader in the battle, or maybe it is a different one. Either way, he arrives in time to tell Tarkin to evacuate, but Tarkin says no. Mere moments later and officer and a mouse droid hurry to the command deck, the officer wishing to show the droid that the rebels who killed his friend (one of the troopers who boards the Falcon to check on the scanning crew) as well as all the rest of them will pay for all of the people they have been killing. The door opens in time for them to see Tarkin's iconic pose and then the station is destroyed after the gunner at the controls has a quiet breakdown (listen for someone shouting 'standby alert' to Tarkin next time you watch ANH).

i love rogue one and this is a very good video. good job

Okay, yes, good job on this one. It actually did give me a kick to go rewatch Rogue One.

Rogue One + Star Wars IV is without question my very favorite dual-film arc of all time. Further, I also tack on SW5: ESB in this group, as the full package of the greatest multi-film story arc in Sci-Fi film history. For me it's simple - SW IV rocked me to my core, as I grew up with that one as a kid. I was there in theaters in 1977; it literally changed the world overnight. Yet Rogue One was done so damn well, it always makes me cry. Every single time. I watch this entire film arc at least once per year. I prefer re-re-rewatching these over watching new films I've never even seen. For me, it's therapy. I know, I'm pretty pathetic.

About the claim that stormtroopers can't the side of a barn. Well, remember when Vader let our heroes escape the Death Star because he put a tracker on the Falcon? The entire pursuit was set up. This was realized by Leia. Most people overlook that little detail.

Great video. I immediately ran home after Rouge one to watch a new hope. And later, I just spliced the two as one long ass movie. ❤

I bloody love Rogue One. Awesome film. Good list, here, too.

The original reason for the Stormtroopers missing their shots in A New Hope was because they were ordered not to fire killing shots so that the empire could track the Millennium Falcon. Though I do love the video, good stuff

I absolutely love 💘 this movie 🎥😍 I put it up there with the original trilogy. I thought Solo was great as well, but it's because I read all the books, so they were brought to life in a way. My opinion lol

This is your best Star Wars video in my opinion

Rouge One is my favorite piece of Star Wars content since Return of the Jedi. I may even like it more then Return of the Jedi, but that movie being the culmination of the trilogy gives it an edge. I was so worried about it when I heard about the re-shoots, but watching it in theaters made me feel like I was alive well before I was born, witnessing the magic that people felt watching the original Star Wars in 1977.

The best of them all, good performances by a talented cast, a tight script and a film I rewatch regularly. The only thing I don't understand is why they think Cassion Andor should get his own series, rather than Jin. Felicity Jones is simply superb. Compare and contrast, Solo. Well named a film to watch once. (if you have to)

Ah, #2, The Stormtroopers intentionally allowed them to escape in order to track them. Tarkin's line to Vader, Leia's line to Han, the actual Death Star having tracked and followed them to Yavin 4, Can't find the rebellion's HQ and stamp them out once and for all if you allow your Soldiers to just kill them during their escape. Which again; even the 1977 movie addresses, several times. The storm troopers didn't miss their targets. They deliberately aimed to avoid hitting.

Out of the entire Disney Star Wars canon, Rogue One was the only movie which I truly liked and can't nitpick about. Overall, Rogue One is my second favourite Star Wars movie after Revenge Of The Sith.

Rogue one is becoming my favorite over time. A new hope narrowly ahead. Together they make a mega super hero

When episode IV was released, it was merely 'Star Wars'. There was no episode number, no "A New Hope" title, and Han clearly shot first.

Rogue One did not change a bit of ep IV. It just gave more depth.

For me, Rogue One is part one of A New Hope. A must watch.

As someone born in 1977, I take great pain at you referring to it as "nearly 50 years ago"!

Rogue One is the best Star Wars film and you cannot change my mind.

I'll tell you what, after Rogue One premiered, I watched A New Hope again and it elicited an emotional response like it never had before. Rogue One put all of the original trilogy into sharp and clear perspective. Great movie. I saw it in the theater the second weekend after it opened. It was so much to take in, that as I exited the theater, I turned around a bought a second ticket, another bucket of popcorn and large drink and watched it again.

I just saw this movie yesterday and wow I loved it better than I thought I would cause I believe when this movie came out I remember hearing people talking bad about it and overlooking it I never got around to watching it cause I just assumed it was a random stand alone SW movie I didn’t know it was canon to the main timeline until a few years ago and I just finally started watching it I originally was gonna watch it after finishing Andor but I was watching this movie with my Dad and I had already started Andor and didn’t want to go back from the beginning so I just put on Rogue One it’s crazy that no one made it out alive in this movie Rogue One sacrificed their lives just so they could deliver the Death Star plans to the Rebellion honestly this is one of the best SW films I’ve ever seen it deserves more attention I love how the ending literally leads into SW: A New Hope to me that blew my mind when I saw how smooth it lead into A New Hope I then watched the begging of A New Hope again and it made so much more sense cause whenever I saw A New Hope I kept wondering “Why did this movie and series start off with a shootout right away with minus context?” But Rogue One helps explain all of that RIP Rogue some they will be missed😭❤️

Krenic didn't know about the flaw, he only knew they wanted something from the archives, not even specifically what they wanted. I just rewatched it today.

I literaly cried in the theater ... was the closer I've ever felt to my childhood watching a movie since the 80's. So much love, so much respect in the making of it ... How could Disney make this masterpiece and also the piece of trash that were the sequels?

I really loved rogue one. It felt like a war movie, and that final battle was beautiful. It's too bad Disney isn't making anymore films

I loved it too. In fact it is my favorite prequal out of all of them. So I have to agree with those many other fans and critics out there who seem to have felt the same way!!

Defo gonna go rewatch them now!

A New Hope came out right after I graduated high school. I remember friends telling me I absolutely had to see this movie, and right fully so. When, a few years later, I saw a preview for Empire, I was simply enthralled. The movie itself was, I think, successful and amazing because it has a strong sense of elegance. Having now seen all of the movies, I would rank Rogue One as my third favorite, for the multitude of reasons already cited in this video as well as in the comments. I do disagree, a bit, with the notion that Ep. IV is called a New Hope because of the reasons stated. The review suggests that the new hope was not Luke. But in Empire, when Luke takes off to save Han and Leia, Obi Wan says, "that boy was our last hope." He reiterates this in ROTJ when he says, "then the Emperor has already won; you were our last hope." So, a New Hope can certainly still be Luke himself.

Even though people would hate it, I would love to see a remastered version of A NEW HOPE. It would be so cool to add that next level of emotions to the scenes, and really make it feel like there is something at stake, rather then the lighthearted feel of the original, just my thoughts. Plus you could have ewan mcgregor play obi wan and the final fight between him and Vader could carry so much more weight. It would be a legendary remake I think

Rouge One is my fave, great video

So much more grittier than the central films and the one way WWII style mission and sacrifice just give it that more realistic edge - STILL love it, its basically my fave of the new ones and in some ways (for me) rivals the originals

10- Actually it leaves the problem of how did Vader track and locate them, let alone arrive before them when the Star Destroyer is not faster than the CR90 in hyperspace? 9- the initial weakness made more sense: there was one vent out of many that was a problem and it was missed -it's one of THOUSANDS of 2 meter holes on a construct the size of a MOON... easy to miss. Compare that to "we killed this guy's family and now he's willing to oversee our most important project! Yay! Let's not check his work!" Sorry, Rogue One makes it make less sense. 7- R2 tricked Luke into removing the restraining bolt so he could leave, not to turn off the projector. 6- Tarkin was told there was a weakness. So Rogue One doesn't change it at all. Tarkin was arrogant and believed he could not lose. Factoring in 9, Rogue One actually makes it make less sense. "There is a weakness" "Impossible. This is our ultimate construct" Vs "There is a weakness" "Impossible. The man who we pressed into service after killing his family in front of him says this is his best work, and clearly that would have no double meaning" 5- The Rebels were fighting initially against an Empire willing to kill and destroy everything. Plenty of reason and needed no "improving" (not that any was given, all this did, even by the video's commentary, was show they were about to give up recently) 4- the Rebel fleet was supposed to be small because they were rebels in hiding, not a huge army. It made sense before. 3- Fans have debated for years over how bad stormtrooper aim is, given Tarkin admits that the Falcon and Leia were allowed to escape. 2- The Death Stars destruction held plenty of meaning already, and that meaning didn't change. So again, what was added, wasn't needed, and wasn't some improvement or anything. 1- Personally I was sick of hearing the word "hope" by the end of Rogue One.