Rogue One: 8 years later, fans still love the Darth Vader's hallway scene

Rogue One, one of the most divisive but also most loved movies in the Star Wars franchise, celebrates its eighth anniversary this week. According to many, this film, starring Diego Luna and Felicity Jones, is not only one of the best movies of the decades-spanning space opera but also has the most breathtaking, spine-chilling scene of the series.

The sequence comes during the final few minutes when a Rebel Alliance squadron is trying to escape with the stolen Death Star plans that Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, and their ragtag team sacrificed their lives for. As a small group of soldiers get stuck in a hallway, the corridor goes dark. Then, they hear the franchise's most iconic sound effect:

Darth Vader breathing through his mechanical suit.

The moment Vader's red lightsaber flashes on the screen before he proceeds to massacre the men is an absolute cinematic masterpiece, even more so as it connects the overarching story with the beginning of A New Hope. Almost a decade later, fans still can't get enough of it.

With the movie turning eight this December 16 and Andor Season 2 on the horizon, let's take a look at how fondly the fandom still reminisces about the scene.

One Twitter user wrote, "When I saw this hallway scene for the first time, it gave me goosebumps. Finally, Darth Vader was given the recognition he deserves as the galaxy's number 1 badass." Another fan, who seemed to have watched A New Hope in the theaters when it came out, tweeted, "I got those same feels I did in 77. Rogue One qualifies as a Star Wars film, whereas the rest made after the first three do not."

A third said, "Remember, Darth Vader was considered a myth you told children about to scare them. Then we get this...BRAVO! I was scared watching this scene and knowing what happens in the future!" Another user hailed it as "one of the best scenes in movie history."

One fan pointed out how Luke Skywalker's The Mandalorian entry mirrored this scene: "The revisioning of this scene for Luke in Mandalorian also displays how powerful Luke really was, to be able to march through Deathtroopers the way Vader did rebel grunts."

Read on to see more fan tweets on the scene.

Reddit user Ordrius098's post on the scene around a month ago also garnered a host of similar reactions.

One fan said, "I always think it is a twin scene with the T800 stepping out of the elevator in Judgment Day, making Sarah Connor scream in sheer terror."

Another commented, recalling their reaction to watching the moment for the first time, "Brilliant scene! Showed how truly powerful Vader was and segued into Episode 4 beautifully. I too let out an 'oh, [expletive]!' in the packed theatre when the red lightsabre ignited."

The love the scene continues to get almost makes one forget that it was a last-minute addition to the movie and was not part of the original script. In a 2017 interview with Collider, director Gareth Edwards revealed that one of the editors working on Rogue One, Jabez Olssen, pitched it with only four months remaining before the release.

However, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy loved the idea and the cast and crew got cracking on it.

Freddie Prinze Jr., who voices Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars Rebels, said on Lights, Camera, Barstool later on that Dave Filoni (allegedly) directed the scene.

You can watch Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on Disney+.