DominicCobb said:
For me this has been especially in light of the ST, which in my opinion puts the PT to shame in nearly every respect.
I don’t agree with this statement. I think there are several important elements, where the PT puts the ST to shame, aside from the aforementioned world building, namely imagination, visual storytelling, sound design, and music. I will focus on the first two here. This video nicely highlights Lucas’ strength in visual storytelling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz7xgfawz44
This article nicely highlights how Lucas uses imagery more than anything to tell his story:
I can add a few more:
I think both the OT and PT have provided unique and iconic setpieces, imagery and locations. In my view the ST has done this to a far lesser degree, often recycling, and updating OT imagery. So, in my view the PT, and ST are two sides of the same coin, where both trilogies have been able to capture important elements that made the OT the classics that they are, but neither has presented the full package in my view. So, while I certainly think the characters, dialogue, and acting make the ST more accessible, that doesn’t make them necessarily better for me, because once you get past the initial bitter taste of the PT, I think there are a ton of interesting and unique flavours to be discovered hidden under the surface, that just seem to be missing for the ST.