Thought #1: Movie trailers used to suck! I have seen the original trailer for Princess Bride as well and can barely sit through it. I wonder if it's a difference of expectation or if they really did just suck back then. Movie marketing has come a long ways.
Thought #2: It was good to see the original trilogy outside of the context of the new stuff. It just reaffirmed my position that Lucas ABSOLUTELY deserves the lifetime acheivement award. What he did in those movies and in the industry was a monumental task, both in what he accomplished and how he had to accomplish it. It is incredible, the sheer number of revolutions in film and the industry that were either started, ended, or pushed forward by Star Wars. Lucas as the head of the operation deserves all the respect and awards he gets for those.
I still squirm because he won't acknowledge that the new Star Wars are not at the same level. I don't want to affirm him in that. But that's no reason to resent the award.
Thought #3: Lucas hasn't lost anything, he still has what he always had, and that was vision. The concept of Star Wars, of Indiana Jones, and all his other smaller works is awesome. It isn't Braveheart, it isn't Dr. Zhivago, it isn't 2001 type stuff, it's just GOOD solid film-making. It has all the entertainment of a B movie but with the depth and characters of an A movie that makes it timeless. To hear him talk about the old trilogy and what he's trying to accomplish with the new trilogy, he still has that vision. The problem lies in the execution; he should not be writing scripts (in my opinion) and other such things. The vision and the meat of it is still there, I just wish he would let other people do what they do best and be content with what he does best.
The short of it is, getting back in touch with the OT and hearing from Lucas in that way did a ton to restore my faith in him and restore the credit he deserves.