The movie started and ended in an exciting way in the middle of an ongoing story. The rebels had just dealt a mighty blow to the empire but were now fleeing from the might of the empire's retaliation. The characters and special effects were developed nicely versus A New Hope. It was a fairly dark movie, the main protagonists were on the run and not in control of things. A major character loses a hand and the big fight at the end of the movie, but lives to fight another day.
And it had AT-ATs, and no Ewoks or Jar-Jar. What's not to like?