The SE, I could understand he wanted to update effects, and actually don't have a problem with it, it is just the changes to the story that bother me. He gave in on Han Shooting first, he put Hayden in at the end of ROTJ, and the Jedi Rocks song in the jabba palace is so bad, I feel like they have a tv in there and MTV is on!
The prequels, and I guess starting with Jedi, he started inching toward the kiddies, and the movies sufferered. ROTJ is still great, cause the space battle is the best ever in the history of movies, and they got right the one thing that needed to be right: Vader/Emperor/Luke scene. That scene is so well done with real tension and drama, and great music, it makes up for the flaws of the Ewoks and the slower Jabba scene at the beginning.
TPM, was written too much for kids. Jar Jar, is so bad, if there weren't a bunch of yes men, as shown in the documentary on the DVD, someone would have edited him to a bare minimum in the movie. To this day, he ruins EVERY scene he is in. The ending has no tension, no drama. And the four main characters you follow through Tattoine: QuiGon, Padme, Jar Jar, and R2-D2 with the secondary characters being Obi Wan and little Anakin give me no attachment like Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca, those characters were pure gold.
Then Lucas said, while filming TPM, I will direct this one, and have someone else direct Episode II & III, and what happened Lucas the authoritarian directed all 3! He was like Anakin, he wanted more power! AOTC, though I feel and many do not, is a step better than TPM. Jar Jar has about 5 minutes, it is alittle more adult, but the love story is just plain BAD. Hayden was a bad pick by Lucas, he is not a great actor, and it hurts the prequels because of it. Lucas just got a good looking guy, thinking this should be enough. But when the crucial scenes of real drama were needed, Hayden & Natalie having zero chemistry, and bad direction, dropped the ball.
ROTS, atleast for me personally, redeemed Star Wars. I really thought leading up it would be as good as the original and ESB, but after seeing it, I liked it, actually really liked it, but finally realized that I was living in fantasy land that Lucas would ever make a classic Star Wars film again. I mean, in my opinion, he hasn't made a classic Star Wars film since 1980, what will make him change now. The ending of ROTS had a enough tie-ins to the OT that it was satisfying for me, but just as a prologue to the OT, not a prequel. I am sorry, but I don't see it as the story of Anakin, the continuity between 1-3 & 4-6 just don't work.
To me, Star Wars is a prime example of how great a saga can be, and how it can be thrown away by its same success. That is the irony of Star Wars, Lucas went through alot of personal anguish to get the first made, and he had the fire and hunger to make it succeed, and it is one the of the greatest movies ever. ESB had to be great, cause he was financing it, and it would build his empire, Lucasfilm. He told Kersh before ESB, "This has to be better than Star Wars, cause if it isn't then we don't make any more movies." Then once he succeeded, the collaboration slowly diminished, they realized the merchandising was a money maker, and ESB being a very dark movie, and grossing half of the original, maybe a little lighting the mood in the next movie will bring a bigger base in, and ROTJ grossed the same as ESB.
The Prequels, did bring in new fans, but now we have fans looking at a great saga many different ways: Some see it as 1-6, some only see it as 4-6, some say you should only watch it 4-6,1-3, and some are in the middle like myself at 3-6. Some want the more changes to integrate the two sagas even more, more Emperor in ANH, etc. Some just want the original movies that first appeared in the movies in the late 70's/early 80's. Some hate Lucas, some gush over him like he is god, some thought he was god, and now resent everything he has done to the saga.
Do I hate him, NO, do I think he has screwed up the saga, YES. The one thing that really bothers me, is through all this saga talk, the one movie that can stand on its own, and is still my favorite movie, and one of the greatest of all-time, is the original, please George don't forget about that.