Star Wars Rogue One: 12 Most Awesome Moments
6. The Death Star Demonstration
Since the movie revolves around the Death Star it only made sense for it to figure into the story somewhere. The film establishes the stakes for the heroes early on, with Tarkin demanding a demonstration of the Death Star’s abilities, and Jedha’s capital is chosen for some light target practice.
While destroying a whole planet is obviously not a cool thing, it’s hard to capture the terror of what that’s like for people on the ground experiencing it. Rogue One goes for the middle ground, with the Death Star firing into the planet just enough to nuke the city, and the rebels see just how destructive this new weapon can be.
The scene also underlines how dark Rogue One can great since it’s not much fun watching a whole city get peeled off the map by a fireball.