So did I: I love it that it ends just where episode IV start and I like it too, spoiler alert, that the likeable protagonist do not make it (which we knew from episode IV but still).
I liked everything except for how they just give up at the end. That annoyed me. Them not making it is fine, but them all giving up when it looked like there were many viable methods of escape annoyed me to no end. I still think it's the best Star Wars movie overall.