The OT is a complete story-- beginning, middle, end. And you don't *need* the prequel "backstory", because even though there may be some cheese amongst the OT dialogue, it nevertheless is a well-written story and is satisfying as is. The prequels provided new, mostly uninteresting (and mostly pointless) characters and a meandering, unfocused story that never picks up. And an everything-including-the-kitchen-sink Sith that still seemed largely like empty calories.

The PT is of course a different ballgame, but hindsight was unusually not 20/20 here. The CG stuff, the casting, the half-baked story... it's wasn't magic anymore, or even just "saturday morning serial adventure fun"-- it's strictly business. The biggest mistake was tailoring the original films after the fact to now fit the prequels, and not vice versa. Can you really watch Eps I-IV in order and have it make sense? It seems rather haphazard. Just too much time had passed between Jedi and Menace, and Lucas never bothered to hone his craft in the meantime.

Seems like Lucas has modified his directing mantra, which is now spoken on his way to collect the dough:

"To the bank, Jeeves... with speed and intensity!"