Among the outlying areas, faith in the Force might exist but not be outwardly expressed, while it may be actively thriving among the Rebels. Meanwhile, in the Empire, the Emperor & Vader are Dark Side Devotees but it’s hardly in their interest to encourage an active Dark Side faith throughout the Empire as that could make everyone potential Sith rivals. Tarkin probably knows enough to be wary of it, happy to leave that kind of mojo to Palaptine & Vader
I’d argue that the “Millennium Falcon in the asteroid field” sequences more than fulfill said “gee whiz” element - witty banter, flashing lasers, giant space worms and all.
That’s a fair call. Also, Cloud City is a very clear reference to the Hawkmen’s Sky City in Flash Gordon, and the notion of ice and swamp planets similarly fits the space adventure theme.
My wife and I have seen only the three “classic” ones; we haven’t seen the prequels. But she explains that different feel this way:
A New Hope was the first Star Wars movie, and it had a basic plot and actors who were relatively not all that well-known. And it was a classic cowboy story: good guys wore white (Luke and Leia), bad guys wore black (Vader)…also note the other color scheme: the good side’s light saber is blue, the dark side’s is red. You have the hero (Luke), the damsel in distress (Leia), the bad guy (Vader), the rogue (Solo), the comic relief (the droids) and whatever else have you.
However, as my wife puts it, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi just don’t have the honest, good feel of A New Hope because after A New Hope the actors became rich coke addicts…