Originally posted by: Mr Bungle
If I have to be honest I like the PT though I dont worship every second of it and consider them to be cinematic masterpieces, but I find the story interesting enough and find them enjoyable enough to watch as entertainment for two hours,and as I explained before in the other thread I dont particulary care/have no interest in/for the whole 12hr saga bit so I dont need or want to get into it that deep and be as "geeky" like they do at TF.n. and other places

I feel the same way, and it is the story that interests me being part of the SW lore, and not the characters, and that is a huge negative to any movie, let alone three.

Every person I know who is a SW fan loves the OT, and thinks the PT is good/alright/entertaining. They all cut it slack because it is SW, and that is the ironic thing about the term 'basher' cause if most fans saw Episode I as the #1 movie right out of the gate, they would be asking for my money back. But OT fans give the PT alot of slack cause they want to see it as the saga 1-6, but through time, realize it just doesn't work for them, so they kinda look at the PT as popcorn movies, or dare I say a 'guilty pleasure'

And that is how I feel about the prequels, I can enjoy the movies if I dont' look too deep into them, if I don't invest myself into the characters, and if I take them for what they are, "Not great movies, but they still are in that galaxy, far, far, away, so I can enjoy it."

That to me is how the majority perceive the PT, I don't think the majority are the fans that love it to death and hate it to death. The big argument I hear at TF.n is how will the PT be perceived in 10-20 years, cause the OT was not a classic until the 90's. And that is where I disagree with them, and they are not understanding their SW history.

SW '77 was always a classic, and that has never changed. The only thing that has shifted in 25 years is ESB & ROTJ, in my opinion. Most, not all, fans probably loved ROTJ more as a kid than ESB, cause of the lighter tone, and as time wore on and we got older, we noticed how great ESB really was. Plus back in 1980 nobody was expecting a cliffhanger ending, so they felt cheated, but as part of the trilogy, it works just fine.

The PT is different cause everyone is a SW fan now, and we knew in general what the story was for us. I have yet to talk to a person who says 7 years later, "I thought TPM was alright, but in 2006, man it is a great movie!" The PT gushers don't even say that, they say, "The movie is better to me now, cause I understand alot of what Lucas was doing after ROTS." But except for the few wackos, TPM & AOTC are pretty average movies to the masses. And I believe ROTS is on that way for many, but will always stand out as the best to the majority of PT fans just cause it is the meat of the story. They don't care if its a great movie, but it has the duel, Vader being built, Order 66, and the kids being born. To me what PT fans love is the great moments they feel the movies possess, I just look at SW & ESB are just great overall movies, and that goes a long way 20 years from now.