The shield is the main point here, that's what the Empire relied upon pre completion to protect Death Star II.
Yes it took a force wielder to make that glorious shot on the one weakness that was implanted by the designer of the original Death Star but isn't that now the point since R1?
As a modern canon SW guy and having dropped the previous EU "canon" TFA is a bit of a shemozzle and is realistically a reboot of Star Wars without being a reboot. R1 delivered on a lot of levels, it didn't try to create it's own Methos or pre-retcon stuff for ep 7 and beyond. It's a very solid story and imho is the best introduction to Star Wars for a non Star Wars fan.
If you look at the film on it's own; it's a good space action drama with characters who's plight moves you and as a stand alone it would open up a tonne of questions. That to me is why it would be perfect as "Star Wars 1"![]()