But there’s a thread on this site which makes a strong case that SW was never meant to be viewed as sci-fi, but rather Surrealist fantasy.
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Star-Wars-is-Surrealism-not-Science-Fiction-essay/id/82402
Viewed through that lens, the 2D space travel, human-piloted fighters, giant legged walkers, and other logically implausible elements SW is rife with don’t bother me so bad.
I agree Star Wars was never meant to be anything close to hard science-fiction. I mean, George Lucas basically just wanted to make something like Flash Gordon. But I would argue that Star Wars is, in fact, science fiction - at least partially. I realize the boundary between sci-fi and fantasy is fuzzy and often reduces to semantics depending on how you define “science fiction”. But I would argue that the key aspect that separates science fiction from fantasy is that sci-fi should include a plot or theme that explicitly highlights how some theoretical technology effects the world/characters. Star Wars has this. A major plot point of Episode IV is how the Death Star is a game changing technology that allows for complete authoritarian control. There’s also this underlying theme of man vs. technology, e.g. Vader (part machine himself) downplaying the Death Star, or Luke making the impossible shot without using his targeting computer.
I think Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi definitely have less of a claim to being science fiction, because that aspect of a game changing technology is either not present or not emphasized. Although, ROTJ still has the “man vs. technology” theme with the Ewoks, even though it’s not really presented very well in my opinion.