Does it actually say that about the reactor in RO (genuine question, I’ve only seen the film once)?
“The reactor module, that’s the key…any pressurized explosion to the reactor module will set off a chain reaction that will destroy the entire station.”
Aren’t volatile reactors all the rage throughout the saga? Anakin blows up a Trade Federation ship by accidentally hitting the reactor with big torpedoes. Death Star II is all about hitting the reactor. The Super-Star Destroyer cops it in the ol’ reactor too!
Take it up with Star Wars (1977):
“The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station.” - General Dodonna, Star WarsLook, I get it. Many fans didn’t think the initial Death Star takedown was plausible, and RO supposedly answers that age-old question.
Uh…what? “Many fans”? Gonna need to see some examples of that as I’ve never heard that brought up as an issue. Let alone enough to make it an “age-old question.”
I’m probably gonna get slapped here, but I despise this film. Talk about Special editions - this film is ‘Han Shot First’ on steroids. Placing the Tantive at the battle itself and having Vader - who had just seen the rebels passing the plans through a doorway - suddenly get his facts wrong (“several transmissions were beamed to this ship…”),
Several transmissions were beamed to the ship that the Tantive was docked inside of:
The data from the drive that Erso took was uploaded in four simultaneous transmissions.
The dialog from the film confirms this, “Admiral, receiving transmissions from Scarif!”
As for Vader’s dialog, humdinger has already addressed how Vader isn’t shown to know that a Rebel is trying to get the plans onboard the Tantive. At that time all Vader is concerned with is stopping anyone from escaping. Where the plans are is a secondary concern to stopping the Tantive from launching.followed by an interrogation with Leia that doesn’t remotely reflect what Vader has supposedly just witnessed
They both know she’s been caught red handed but that doesn’t mean she has to capitulate and admit to everything or anything. In that situation all she can do is deny, deny, deny and hope that Artoo can escape with the plans. And Vader knows she’s lying and openly calls her out on it, “You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor!”
…and all so we can see Vader exhibit a particular badassery that he fails to wield ten minutes later in 1977?!?
As has already been pointed out, Vader was in a rush to stop the Tantive from launching before. By the time he’s caught up with them, they’re trapped with nowhere left to go. He doesn’t need to charge in. Why take the brunt of an attack when you have lackeys to do that for you?
Rogue One is by no means a perfect film but I would say it does an excellent job of capturing the feel of the OT era and of delivering on its original mandate which was to bring these opening paragraphs to life:
It is a period of civil war.
Rebel spaceships, striking
from a hidden base, have won
their first victory against
the evil Galactic Empire.During the battle, Rebel
spies managed to steal secret
plans to the Empire’s
ultimate weapon, the DEATH
STAR, an armored space
station with enough power to
destroy an entire planet.
BINGO