Maybe a movie about stealing an enigma machine from the Nazis? Doesn’t that sound exciting, even though we already know the outcome?
It does sound really interesting, but since we know the outcome it would take more than an extremely dour (aside from distracting fan service) script involving stoic characters with little tangible motivation. R1 doesn’t tell a story beyond detailing a plot that we already know the outcome of. Although since this is more specific and less known, there’s more tension there.
But it is in the star wars universe. And we know what the death star is.
I know. All tension and excitement is predicated on knowing and appreciating iconic Star Wars images. It’s very similar to Star Trek Into Darkness, which is another movie I kind of like and would be the best example of what I’d compare this to (although I’d put Into Darkness above R1) or the recent Bond movie, SPECTRE, which is far far worse than R1.