Rogue One proves Lucasfilm is lost

It was a space battle sequence which lasted nearly as long as the sequence in episode II. A space battle is a space battle. If we would take the semantics literally, meaning a pitched battle, then only IV, VI, I, and III have space battles.

 

That was all I needed to see.

 

I'll have to agree with you. We have only seen a small snippet in the trailers. While space battles are great. It will not make or break it for me. If it is a good story with good acting, then it will be a good movie for me, space battles or not.

 

Gotcha! Thanks!

 

The best SW movie of all time does not have a space battle (Asteroid field doesnt count).

 

There was a ground battle in both The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.

Considering that Republic or Jedi Cruisers are Star Destroyers, it would make sense for later models to be capable of doing so as well.

Depends on how many troops and supplies they have to drop off.

There's no real narrative to any of the space battles in Star Wars, unless you count I need to get somewhere and do something and plenty of people die along the way.

I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying?

 

So no space battles = Lucasfilm is lost? Really?
Look, my younger self loved space battles to the point that his least favorite of the OT was Empire. But he still loved the hell out of it. He still thought it was a great movie. Though to be fair, he would have been happier if there were dog fights between starfighters instead of snowspeeders and AT-ATs. My younger self would have been happy with the final battle in The Force Awakens.
Also, the quality of the film is what matters, not if there are space battles.

To be fair, just because they aren't currently in space doesn't make them any less of a spaceship.

I strongly disagree. The space portion of the Battle of Naboo was worse. Why? At least with the Battle of Coruscant, the Republic's success (rescuing Palpatine) was done by two Jedi who accomplished it intentionally. Naboo was won by a nine-year-old who accidentally started a starfighter's autopilot, accidentally landed in the enemy hanger (how was this even possible?) and accidentally fired proton torpedoes into the enemy's main reactor. Also, what was even their plan? Just fly at it and hope for the best? At least the attack on Starkiller Base had a specific target.

 

Wait, I thought TFA was a beat-for-beat remake of ANH.

 

It really isn't beat-for-beat.

 

I know. ;-)

 

the difference in my evaluation is whether the battle has a logical narrative structure in which the succes of the battle depends on the actions of the protagonists and antagonists. The Battle of Coruscant did not have this particular function. That's why I don't like it.

 

Which sequence in II? The Geonoisis Asteroid Belt sequence was a big chunk of the movie and really important in characterizing the conflict. That was a literal space battle...in TFA Poe/Finn were simply escaping and were shot down after a minute and they were still technically in the atmosphere of Jakku because of the smoke trails..

 

For the Republic, the goal is to rescue Palpatine from the Separatists. For the Separatists (or so they think), it is to get away with Palpatine. Anakin and Obi-Wan succeed. Grievous fails.
The only battles in the PT* where what you say actually applies is the Battle of Kashyyyk (we don't know anything other than "It is a system we can't afford to lose") and two of the four parts the Battle of Naboo (in the case of the Gungans, they've done their job of distracting the bulk of the droid forces and in the case of the lightsaber duel, they've done their job of distracting the very dangerous Maul away from the main force).

*I'll be fair and not count anything from the Order 66 scene since the battles themselves don't matter in the narrative, just the deaths of the Jedi.

 

I don't think that the Gungans were distracting anyone...they were the front forces for the ground assault while the naboo starships were space assault and the jedi were their guardians against the sith
..

 

The Gungans' primary purpose was to get the vast majority of droid forces away from Theed so that the Naboo Security Forces and Starfighter Corps could sneak in and capture Gunray and get the starfighters respectively. That's actually the battle plan.

 

True but the entire battle was built to defeat them regardless .

 

But it didn't matter how well the Gungans did. As long as the Droid Control Ship was taken out, the Federation would be defeated. And guess what, that's what happened (don't forget, the Gungans did technically lose their portion of the battle).

 

What's funnier is that the control ship being taken out was a complete accident .

 

Exactly! With the original strike capability of Naboo's star fighter force against the trade confederations ships, their plan was doomed to fail from the beginning.