Steve Long 
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Picture courtesy of Disney/Lucasfilm)
Steve celebrates the 4th Anniversary of Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars masterpiece
4 years ago today, Star Wars fans and theater participants alike in the United States were treated to Rogue One. Directed by Gareth Edwards, Rogue One was a prequel to the first installment of the Star Wars series, A New Hope. It included an amazing cast which included Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker, and more.
Prior to the announcement of this film, I wanted to see this film. Rather, I wanted to know this story. The opening crawl of A New Hope told us about a group of Rebel spies that stole secret plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s planet-killing ultimate weapon. I wanted to know that story. Who were these Rebel spies? How did they manage to these plans? This is a story that George never told us. In A New Hope, we were told about a critical design flaw in the Death Star that made it somewhat vulnerable. What was the deal with this design flaw? With all of the brilliant scientists, engineers, etc, at the Empire’s disposal, how did a flaw end up in the final construction? Another story that we could only spend years speculating about.
With Rogue One, we finally got our answers.
We were told the story about a young woman who just so happened to be the daughter of an Imperial scientist. Through the story, we find this young woman, Jyn Erso, being rescued from prison and joining up with the Rebellion to help steal the plans to this Death Star and being key to its destruction. Not only that, but we get to know the story of all of these Rebel spies and how they were able to land such a destructive blow to the Empire.
The characters in this film were amazing. Cassian Andor, the Rebel spy that spent most of his childhood and all of his adult life fighting against the Empire. Galen Erso, the scientist that is forced into Imperial service and helps to build this technological monstrosity. Bodhi Rook, an Imperial pilot that is convinced to defect by Galen. Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus, two former Guardians and best friends that join up with Cassian and Jyn after their holy city is destroyed by the Empire.
And those were the characters that were new to us in this film. The movie already reintroduced us to characters that we knew from previous iterations of Star Wars. Characters such as Saw Gerrera, who we first saw in The Clone Wars as part of a resistance movement against the Separatist government that had taken over his planet Onderon. In this film, we see Saw still as a freedom fighter. Additionally, we were treated to other well-known characters such as Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and even a brief appearance by Princess Leia.
Ever since it’s release, Rogue One has been my favorite Star Wars film. Great story. Great characters. Great action sequences. Great everything.
Happy anniversary to Rogue One.
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Steve is a fan of Star Wars, punk rock, comic books, and cats. In addition to writing for Future of the Force, he also sings for punk band Get Fired and hosts the podcast Rebel Rock Radio!
