But don't make quick conclusions, I'm really not interested in "visual-effects-only" movies...
Jar Jar? Well, I must say that I've found him pretty useless, but he didn't really bother me. About the other characters, I must say that I've found weird to use again 3PO and R2. For me, they have always been regular droids who were at the wrong place at the wrong moment in ANH.
On the other way, I really enjoyed "Qui-Gon" character, but the matter was that, from my point of view, the film was turning around him instead of anakin, and that was not the inital intention of that movie... Oh, and BTW, I've read track titles from the OST too, before seing the movie, and I was already aware of Qui-Gon's death...
So, I enjoyed it. But you know why? Just because I love the Star Wars universe (and it was well depicted in the movie), and cause I've always seen Star Wars as entertainment movies. I think that a lot of fans are taking all this too seriously, and have forgot that they were kids when they've seen the OT...
I enjoyed it? Yes. But it's really not my favourite Star Wars episode. But I've just took the PT as a new and different era in the SW universe. I've never been really disappointed by the PT, cause, from the begining, I've always though that the new episodes would never be as good as the OT. From that point of view, the new movies were just fun and entertainment for me, and you know what? SW is just that. It's a QUALITY and pretty smart entertainment made with good intentions (that makes difference with all those Hollywood blockbusters!), but that's all.
And concerning the release, we were not lucky in France, cause the film aired in septembre '99 (5 months after the US release!)...
I hope that all I said was understandable, sorry for my english...