I agree that it doesn’t technically contradict what was later established in the prequels. You could argue that the assumption would be that they flew together when Red Leader was a “boy”, or when he was still a young pilot like Luke. But further canon could’ve had a little moment where a young Red Leader encountered Anakin when he was fighting to liberate his planet during the Clone Wars. It seems canon has kept the idea that Anakin Skywalker was a bit of a war hero.
Idk how well-known it was that Luke was the son of Anakin when he first showed up at the Yavin base. I mean, how did Red Leader know who Luke’s father was when Luke just found out he was actually a war hero literally a day ago?
Considering how often future stories have really ridden the line of almost contradicting continuity, I feel like keeping this would’ve been far from the worst offender.
To be fair, it’s not like the original 70s effects still look good either. No matter what version you’re watching, Star Wars must be seen as a product of its time. Not that that’s a bad thing, I hate when people dismiss older stuff because it doesn’t hold up to modern standards.
Late reply. I do think people are generally forgiving of older effects because they recognize it as an older film. It fits the aesthetic, in a sense. In the end, a lot of those older effects still tend to be tangible things, versus early CGI. But I also think people are able to suspend their disbelief more with rubber alien costumes than CGI because it fits the mise-en-scène of those films. Idk if that makes sense, but I’m planning to write a longer post about this idea in the near future.