ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

US
2016
2hrs 14mins
Dir: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Ben Mendelsohn and Felicity Jones

Unlikely heroes band together to steal the plans to the Death Star

This epic film, officially described as a space opera, is the first installment of the Star Wars anthology series, and an immediate prequel to Star Wars (1977). It was well-recieved, and was deemed to be quite refreshing, but only really for die hard fans of the genre. The author, having ‘missed the boat’ on the original Star Wars films, shall not be getting too excited by proceedings and will likely see such a film as only mildly entertaining. The London Underground’s Canary Wharf station on the Jubilee Line was used as a location for several scenes in the final climatic fight at the Imperial base; the location shoot taking place between midnight and 4 am, when the station was closed to the public. Despite the successful attempts at removing all clues as to the location’s real identity, the platform areas are still readily identifiable. The film is often referred to simply as Rogue One.

Canary Wharf station masquerading as the Scarif security complex
In this view at platform level, the platform edge doors are visible on the left. The escalators to the right have been disguised through the use of CGI.
Stormtroopers swarm through the station. The grey box in the foreground is yet more CGI. It covers the London Underground bench and roundel!
The production team were allowed just one, four hour stint at Canary Wharf to capture their footage. Here, Stormtroopers and a shoretrooper have a rest between takes. Picture courtesy of The Anglophile Channel.