The planet-killing Star Destroyers were one of many reasons I see TROS as ROTJ done better. Not that it’s necessarily the greatest idea on earth, but more because it was a cool way to retain that ‘super weapon/final showdown’ idea without the blatant retread of the Death Star.
I don’t agree, because while the idea of planet-killing Star Destroyers might seem more original, and interesting on paper, it is used in the lamest way possible in the film. Essentially, they show one of these Destroyers blow up a planet, in an attempt to artificially raise the stakes, to then never use the lasers again for the rest of the movie. At least in ROTJ the Death Star was used in an interesting way, to lure the rebels to it, and then as a twist, have it be be operational. It was also actively used in the space battle to increase tension, forcing the rebels to engage the Star Destroyers at point blank range. Lastly, the part where the rebels fly through the Death Star super structure, has turned out to be so iconic, that thusfar each of the ST entries have rehashed it in some way:
I absolutely see your point, but for me the spectacular (and as you say iconic) aspects of DS II were drowned out by the silliness of it. When I saw ROTJ in '83 I was disappointed by the story but absolutely wowed by the SPFX. Naturally SPFX alone can’t really sustain the love forever. For me the Star Destroyers were at least logical (well, Star Wars logical) as a next step for the Empire whereas DS II was obviously something of a desperate story move. Plus I had issues with such pedantry as the size of the ship-destroying beam relative to its source, the size of the DS next to the Endor moon (as a reflection of its planet-destroying capabilities) and such. But I see your point regarding the tension and stakes as well as the great visuals.
I mean my anti-ROTJ bias is in full flight here and I freely admit that. TROS is the one OT clone that gets a pass from me because it just feels like what I always wanted Revenge of the Jedi to be. But if I had a higher regard for ROTJ I’d be writing TROS off as a retread along with TFA and TLJ.