Nearly 40 years later, the clumsy randomness of blaster fire finally takes center stage. Throughout Rogue One, a direct prequel to A New Hope and the first in a planned line of spin-off Star Wars films, blasters and grenades fill the screen. Innumerable civilians and soldiers die as the fascistic Empire attempts to crush the Rebel Alliance and its effort to steal the plans of the Empire’s latest superweapon, the Death Star which looms over the original Star Wars.

While the seven main installments in the series have thus far been operatic adventure films in space, Rogue One takes its cues from Hollywood’s depictions of actual warfare. Gripping firefights rage across several different planets, culminating in a space-to-air-to-ground battle assault more reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan than the beloved Hoth battle in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. For fans of war films, this final battle alone is worth the price of admission. Driven by an incredible mixture of practical effects and beautiful CGI, the ravages of armed conflict feel far more visceral than the Star Wars galaxy ever has before.

Rogue One is a film which knows its galaxy intimately and expects you to as well. This is a film written and directed by a group of Star Wars fans who have an encyclopedic knowledge of the universe and display that in full. Several cast members reprise their roles, often without ever being referred to by name. The film ends on a powerful image which works wonderfully if you recognize the character featured, but might fall flat otherwise. Moments of fan service, such as blue milk and allusions to later events, recur throughout the movie.

Luckily for newcomers, the central cast introduced in Rogue One do an excellent job carrying the movie on their own. Jyn Erso, played by Oscar winner Felicity Jones, brings a taciturn sensibility and moral ambiguity usually reserved for Star Wars’ male leads. Her journey and relationships with the people around her drive the movie, which feels like a tight character drama when the shooting stops.

Jyn’s motley crew of Imperial defectors, Rebels, and veteran warriors each bring unique personalities and fighting styles which make their interactions delights and their scrums highly engaging. Of special note are K-2SO, a sarcastic droid providing the film’s comic relief, and Chirrut Imwe, a blind staff wielder with an intense devotion to the Force. Donnie Yen’s portrayal of Chirrut repeatedly steals the show and wrung a few tears out of this reviewer.

Rogue One’s villains masterfully express the cruelty of the Empire. Ben Mendelsohn’s Orson Krennic, the director of construction on the Death Star, blends together arrogance, insatiable ambitions, and a will to murder those who inconvenience him into someone you truly love to root against. His bosses, a CG resurrection of Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing, who portrayed the actor in 1977, died in 1994) and the indomitable Darth Vader both inspire frights similar to their original appearances. Vader’s unflinching brutality is a special treat for longtime fans after watching him blandly mope his way through the prequel trilogy.

In many ways, director Gareth Edwards brilliantly blends together his film with the original Star Wars until Rogue One feels like it was made alongside it, not 40 years later. The look and feel of the environments, the use of original trilogy characters, and even clips taken directly from A New Hope’s production push this new movie firmly into the galaxy far, far away. Seeing the old stomtrooper armor (redesigned for last year’s The Force Awakens) covered in dirt and seeing the iconic rebel base on Yavin IV, ground Rogue One firmly in one of the world’s best known mythologies.

Yet Rogue One stands out and on its own. There is a record number of named Star Wars characters killed on screen. Though they constantly talk about hope, the circumstance has almost never looked bleaker. At times it seems as if the eventually victorious Rebel Alliance will not survive this prequel. There are no Jedi, no one learns to use the Force, and those clumsy blasters churn through soldier after soldier just attempting to complete a relatively minor task to further the Rebel’s goals.

Despite planet-hopping and the moon-sized weapon, this is Star Wars on a small scale. It is a unique entry in the franchise in many ways, fits right at home in many ways, and does a terrific job of being a great piece of entertainment, justifying the existence of spin offs in this universe, and should hold fans over until next December brings Episode VIII.