Star Wars: Rogue One - 9 Ways It Actually Improves The Original Trilogy

9. It Makes The Entire Galaxy Feel Vibrant And Alive

First of all, the original Star Wars trilogy takes to some wonderful and varied locations. Opening on the desert planet of Tatooine (or rather in the space above it), then going to Yavin, Dagobah, Cloud City, Hoth, Endor and others, it paints a vivid picture of a huge and colourful galaxy. However, Cloud City aside, virtually every location we see is either a warzone or otherwise barren. You don't really feel like there are billions of people out there feeling the crushing weight of Imperial subjugation.

However in the settings Rogue One takes us to, there's a far more tangible sense of an intergalactic eco-system. We see Imperial mines, research facilities and bases across a number of different worlds, and Jedha genuinely feels like a living, breathing city with its own history and quasi-political issues. Even the brief scene we get on The Ring Of Kafrene shows off the huge scope of worlds and how far-reaching the Empire's grip is on them.

While this is great for the setting of Rogue One, it adds considerable weight to the the original trilogy. All of a sudden the Empire isn't just an assortment of two dimensional bad guys sitting on their big space station plotting ways to eradicate the Rebellion, they're a galaxy-spanning tyrannical force. They have to deal with things like local uprisings, policing far-flung reaches of the galaxy, and managing the resources of individual systems. The devil, for them, is in the details.