STACK NZ Apr #83

DVD&BD FEATURE

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Committed Star Wars fan Gareth Edwards was determined that the first spin-off Rogue One would have its own distinct identity. Words Adam Colby

G areth Edwards was only two remembers vividly when he first saw it. “I do remember sitting in the back of a car after having a falling out with my mum and dad,” the director of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story recalls. “They went somewhere and came back with a box. It was a Betamax player that played films. I remember instantly asking if we could get Star Wars . They were already ahead of me because my next door neighbor had it on Betamax. We went ‘round their house to when the original Star Wars movie came out at the cinemas, but still

morning I’d put it in, eating breakfast, then I’d have to go to school.”

The first of the Star Wars standalone spin-offs, Rogue One is set between Episode III and IV of the blockbuster sci-fi saga and tells the story of a group of unlikely heroes who band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star; the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. Although closely aligned with the original movie – now more commonly known as A New Hope – Edwards was determined to give the movie its own identity within the Star Wars

borrow it, and I don’t think I ever gave it back. We went home, put it in, and I felt like I knew what I was doing for the rest of my life: I’m watching this over and over on a loop. Every

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APRIL 2017

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