Perhaps ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ (‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’, 2016) was not as exciting and fun as we all expected, but there is a scene that did leave us with our mouths open. Without revealing too much, in case there is still someone who has not seen it, it has the mythical Darth Vader as the protagonist and works as a bridge between the end of this spin-off and the beginning of ‘Star Wars’ (‘Star Wars’, 1977).
During an interview on the occasion of the release of ‘Rogue One’ on DVD and Blu-ray, the director Gareth Edwards has revealed that the best moment in the movie was a last minute addition. It wasn’t in the script and it hadn’t been shot when they were already in the post-production phase. It was filmed a few months before the premiere and the most striking thing is that it was an idea from the editor, Jabez Olssen.
“The ride of death” (¡¡SPOILERS!!)
Gareth Edwards (right) during filming
Gareth Edwards, who dubbed the scene “The Walk of Death,” recalls that he was working in post-production and originally Darth Vader only appeared for order destruction from the “squid” ship and chase the escaped transport at the last moment with the stolen plans (which later find their way into Leia’s hands). Then, Jabez Olssen commented that the villain should spring into action. This is how he explains what happened next:
“I thought, sure, it’s a brilliant idea and I’d love to do it, but there’s no way they’re going to let us. It’s a great time and we were like three or four months from the premiere. Kathy [Kennedy] He walked in and Jabez thought, ‘Fuck it.’ He pitched the idea to her and she loved it. Within a week or two we were in Pinewood shooting it.”
Ever since the Lucasfilm boss allowed the footage to be filmed, Edwards’ team began imagining all the ways the character should display his power. According to the director, 30% of the ideas were too “extreme” and they kept 70%.
“Really, That aisle includes Darth Vader’s Greatest Hits. And we didn’t want to do anything you haven’t seen him do before, so as not to confuse people. We kept it on what’s been accepted“, declares the director.
Edwards is partly right; this Vader doesn’t come up with anything amazing that we haven’t seen before. If there’s one thing I’ve always found ridiculous in the ‘Star Wars’ prequels, it’s how the very George Lucas seems to want to forget what happens in the original trilogy and presents situations or dialogues that break the coherence of the entire narrative of his own saga. Like when it occurred to him to change the famous scene of Han Solo and Greedo because, according to him, John Wayne would not do it.
Despite what has been said, I think that what Vader does in ‘Rogue One’ does contrast with his way of acting in the following films in the saga (following the narrative order). In fact, in the original from 77 it appears after the entry of a group of stormtroopers, something that now, after showing all this power at the end of ‘Rogue One’, seems absolutely unnecessary. Unless you’re tired of course…
In any case, I’m glad they added the scene because it’s the most shocking from ‘Rogue One’, which I think puts Gareth Edwards in a bad light; He not only did not see this possibility of taking advantage of Darth Vader but he also did not dare to propose it to Kathleen Kennedy. On the contrary, we do have to give him credit for trust the judgment of your assembler and, of course, shooting this memorable epilogue.
It should be remembered that Edwards also set up a scenario where two of the heroes survived at the end because he thought Lucasfilm wouldn’t let him kill them all, which luckily he did. Who knows what I might have gotten away with a more imaginative and courageous filmmaker…
Peter Jackson was there and there is a Christopher Nolan in ‘Rogue One’
Yes, Christopher Nolan is in the ‘Star Wars’ spin-off, although he is not the famous filmmaker. One of the funniest anecdotes that Edwards tells is that in the Darth Vader sequence there is someone named Christopher Nolan: He is an actor who plays the rebel who orders the last ship to take off, just after the delivery of the plans.
“When someone said Christopher Nolan was on the set, they meant that guy, but everyone thought he was the director. we had a lot of fun with it“, says the director of ‘Rogue One’.
On the other hand, the actor Freddie Prince Jr. recently surprised with some statements where he stated that Dave Filoni had filmed the Darth Vader scene in ‘Rogue One’. However, in the video above, Gareth Edwards is seen on set. And in fact, Gary Whittafilm writer, denied the rumor and claimed not only that he was there when Edwards conducted it, but that Edwards called Peter Jackson in case he wanted to be on the set and see the scene. And the director of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ came as fast as he could.
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