I went on about this in another thread. examine the first scene: the rebel ship goes zipping by, and disappears to a speck on the screen; the star destroyer starts as a speck on the screen, and emerges into view until it fills the entire frame. in the first ten seconds we are given the relative size of the rebellion vs the empire. we know who the aggressor is. we know that the rebellion is shrinking, as the empire grows, to dominate everything. :o its visual poetry.
enter:Vader. as a seven year old, in the audience, back in 1977, he scares the living crap out of you. nobody's ever seen a villain like this guy before. he picks up the rebel captain with one hand and breaks his neck.. then demands more victims, 'I want them alive'.
enter:Leia. she's like, 5-foot-nothing. this tiny little petite brunette. she gets right up in Vader's grill and.. tells him off! she's not afraid of anything. as a seven year old, in the audience, back in 1977, you just want to hide behind her skirt and let HER do the talking. you'll follow her ANYWHERE! (you'll buy the doll, you'll kick the ball, you'll sleep on the sheets).
enter: luke. he will be your guide through the galaxy far away. he will ask EVERY stupid question on your behalf. he will rescue the princess FOR YOU. :o
this movie is SOOO well put together, it makes everything else look stoopid.
(( meanwhile, TPM doesn't EVEN have a clear protagonist . *ahem* yeah. "good game, lucasarts"))