The answer to the question Are the Prequels that bad? is to list the things what is memorable about them.
- virginal birth of Anakin Skywalker
- the prophecy of the Chosen One
- Midichlorians
- Jar Jar Binks
- Anakin/Padme romance dialogue
- Darth Vaders NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
- rigid blue screen cinematography
- 85% CGI Effects vs 15% Practical Effects (that’s just my guess)
- (feel free to continue the list)
In the end, the things that are memorable about the PT are mostly the dissapointing (=bad?) things.
Let me enhance my first post to provide additional calmer air in this thread.
So, i said the PT is memorable for mostly the dissapointing stuff. Of course the PT contains some good stuff too. But to me the dissapointing ingredients are just too overwhelming to fully appreciate the PT as entertaining movies. Because of Lucas’ creative shadow, the PT became a melodramatic space opera and not a fun space adventure with likeable characters what the OT is. That does not mean the PT is BAD. A BAD Movie is (imo) somewhat like Highlander 2, Jaws 4 or RoboCop 3. ROTS is an okay movie and as far as i’m aware of the creative whereabouts, i can honestly give Lucas some credit that he put more serious (filmmaker) effort into his last prequel movie (cut down Jar Jar, throw out young Han Solo, throw out Palpatines fatherhood, tighten the focus on Anakin’s arc within Editing & Re-Shoots).
As for the so called fan service in TFA & R1: i can give TFA a free pass with its easter egg (negatively spoken: fan service) elements because it was the first Star Wars movie after 15 years of Special Edition/Prequel melancholia and none of them interfered with the story. But R1 on the other hand, should have been more confident with its own story material rather than rely on (imo) too much easter egg (negatively spoken: fan service) elements. Just an example: the presence of Tarkin & Vader diminished the the story/character impact of Krennic. Tarkin and Vader had no reason to be in this movie. Just do a quick hologram cameo - that’s it. Don’t undermine the main villain!
When Kylo Ren says to his father: [Han Solo. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time] some of you might argue that this quote is clumsy fan service, because Vader said that to Obi-Wan. On a secondary level that phrase is clearly an Episode IV reference (negatively spoken: fan service element). But on its primary level - [THE NARRATIVE] - the phrase works perfectly for the character of Kylo Ren. He dreaded to see his father again for years (Snoke hints that too) and Kylo Ren probably played through a potential reuinon hundreds of times in his mind. He said that specific phrase to make himself feel strong and to distance himself from the potential overwhelming emotions in that particular situation. It is a reused quote from Episode IV, but it serves perfectly the story/character drama.