Originally posted by: CO

The reason fans like myself bash ROTJ, is because it is not of the quality of SW & ESB. When you look at ROTJ as just a sequel compared to many other sequels, it is a really good film. But when you compare it to SW & ESB, you are following true greatness, and that is why fans are so tough on it.

I would rate ROTJ a *** (out of 4) film, while ANH and ESB are **** classics. ROTJ is not a bad film by any means, I did find it very entertaining.

And for whoever said ROTS is better than ROTJ, I disagree, it is on par with ROTJ, they have really great moments and really bad moments. The problem with ROTS is, I call it Episode III: The Movie Montage. The last hour is a just a collection of undeveloped scenes that we all waited 20 years for, showed by Lucas set to music, and that is it. ROTS is average at best as a movie, but the plot points are what make it interesting and that is why many fans think it is so good. To me it is like a Greatest Hits CD that I have of several of my favorite bands, so I don't have take all their individual CD's in my truck with me. Maybe I should call it, Episode III: The PT's Greatest Hits.

I mean in all honesty, what do you see in the last hour that any of us diehard SW fans couldn't have done on screen. Lets see: Show Bail Organa delivering Leia to Alderran for 10 seconds, check. Have Yoda say Leia goes to Alderran, and Luke goes to Tatooine. Show Vader being built for 15 seconds, and then he rises from the table, check. Have a lightsaber duel over a volcano that goes on too long, and has zero drama in it, and just let them flail at each other. The only reason anyone of us like ROTS, is it is a collection of cool images we were hoping to see since 1983, but overall it is not a great movie.

I rate both TPM and AOTC ** while I consider ROTS to be *** 1/2. Maybe it is a retread and could be considered a "Greatest Hits" package (I'll concede that point to a certain extent), but after 6 films, I was surprised that old George Lucas was able to pull it off. I went in with very low expectations and to just satisfy my curiosity, and I liked it enough to go for a repeat viewing and buy it on DVD. I think that Anakin's acting performance was 100 times better than it was in the previous film. The only weakness is that not enough was done to provide motivation for Anakin's turn (although I really liked the line, "From my point of view, the Jedi are evil"). "Nooooooo!!!!" was kind of corny, but I sort of liked it.

So I think that Star Wars fans fall into these categories:

1. Lucas apologists who think that the prequels and the SEs are far superior to the OOT. Greedo really shot first. And Jar Jar is simply awesome.
2. The casual fan who goes with the flow: prefers the OOT and doesn't care much for Jar Jar but still enjoys Eps. 1-6 as a whole
3. Those who prefer the OOT + Revenge of the Sith, hates TPM + AOTC.
4. Those who only like the OOT and hate all of the prequels
5. Those who only like ANH & ESB and hate ROTJ
6. Traditionalists who disregard the secondary title "A New Hope" and consider "The Adventures of Luke Starkiller" to be the only TRUE Star Wars.