I agree with pointing out the lack of consistency in criticizing elements of the movies. I’ve been a vocal critic of the silliness of Imperial Walkers for decades. However, I appreciate the visual. It makes for an imposing presence and it’s cool for the audience. I thought they were interesting visually in 1980 and I think they’re interesting visually now.
To be clear, if you can do this;
You wouldn’t be bothering with this;
I’ve not been following this thread too closely (so tired of all the bickering, first with TFA, and now Rogue One). So apologies if I’m missing the point. But in ESB, the walkers were sent to take out the shield generator. We saw in R1 what happens when a ship flies into a planetary shield… And (I can’t believe I’m saying this) we saw in The Phantom Menace that walking slowly through an energy shield works. So maybe the imperial navy had every intention of sending a star destroyer down into the atmosphere on Hoth…?
As for the logicalness of walkers, they actually make a lot of sense in forrests or really steep and jagged/loose terrain. The original AT-ATs were inspired by an actual military research project.
I’ve yet to post my opinion on the film itself so I guess now’s as good a time as any. I really enjoyed it. I think it’s biggest flaw is weak and bland main characters (Jyn and Cassian), but I wasn’t too surprised as weak/uninteresting main characters is a common issue with Gareth Edwards’ movies. But I really loved most everything else. The locations were awesome. Loved the additional mysticism they gave back to the force (a trend started with TFA). Loved the final battle. Loved everything about Darth Vader (the castle! Finally!). He’s not a perfect replica of himself in the OT, but he was close enough. And I think his snarky remark and his final fight were totally in character and jived perfectly with what we knew of him from the OT. Loved how this movie ties into the opening of ANH. I actually feel like it gives those opening scenes even more weight, no small feat! So far disney’s batting a thousand with Star Wars in my book. Now if they’d freaking do the right thing with the OOT, all would be right in the world again.