RandV
It's a wolf v2.0
This might be painfully obvious to the sci-fi nerds in this thread, but Star Wars isn't sci-fi. I know there's no exact measure for true sci-fi, but I'll impose one anyway. IMO, the "Science" part of Science Fiction requires the story to connect the science behind what we are to the science behind what we become. Want to feature alien life forms? Give them some science-based technology that allows us to meet, and some science-based reason for them to make the effort. In other words, show your work. Make us believe that, holy cow, this could happen.
Bottom line: It ain't sci-fi without some legitimate 'sci' mixed into the 'fi'. The spaceships and aliens in Star Wars are part of the same fantasy world as the white walkers and dragons in Game of Thrones. They exist in their own universe without any need for science or any connection to our universe*. Place Star Wars in Westeros and GoT in space and both stories could remain almost identical.
On the other hand, a film like Her is excellent sci-fi without a single space battle or alien, because it builds a beautiful story on the science of A.I. and society's adaptation to it.
How much thought have I given this? A full 12 minutes, so my argument is obviously air-tight.
*Just thought of Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, which isn't connected to our universe. However, the entire story is a monumental metaphor anchored in the sciences of sociology/psychology.
I gotta disagree in principle. On these sorts of things there's no hard written rule to define a genre and what it it can change over time depending how people see it. Case in point, Star Wars was inspired by the pre-space race campy sci-fi like Flash Gordon. I'm not really that familiar with the property but I'm assuming it holds up poorly to your definition of "sci-fi", yet that was what there was before we got to the Arthur C Clarke generation of writers.
But basically, you can't really "well actually" Star Wars as not being sci-fi when the vast majority of people consider it to be sci-fi. At this point space and aliens and space ships is enough to fit the bill.