xhonzi said:

There more I've thought of this, the more I just think it's crap.

The rebels attack the Death Star in primarily a right to left direction. Does that make the scene more tense? There are a few shots of the X-wings moving left to right... are those scenes supposed to make you feel safe?

What else... ?

Perhaps this had an effect at one point in time... but I'm guessing we're all so over-exposed to it that it no longer works on most of it.

Just like how I don't get motion sickness from videogames but my wife still does since she hasn't logged her 10,000 hours.

Today's moviegoers are much more visually literate. We can comprehend faster sequences of shots and figure out space relations when there is much more ambiguity. Classical Hollywood Films took great care to visually orient the viewers, who had not been raised consuming visual media all their lives. Modern viewers are much more sophisticated so modern films are much more liberal with their techniques, including screen direction.