I have no doubt some people went back to see it over and over again just because of their love for the classic trilogy. I'm not even suggesting there is something fundamentally wrong with doing something like that. Either people were hoping their opinion would improve, or they were making sure their opinion that it sucked wasn't just a hastey conclusion.
But I'm telling you, there are a bunch of us who just thought they were great. I don't like to admit it now so much, but I saw TPM 21 times at full ticket price and lost count once it hit the dollar theater. It was almost every weekend I would go see that movie the summer of 99.
When Christmas rolled around, I took great delight in seeing it again for the holiday re-release. Every time I saw it the theater was at least half full, there were a lot of kids, but some adults. It really seemed like the longer it was in theaters, the more the audience was made up of people who really got into the movie.
I remember kids and adults laughing at Jar-Jar, and getting excited when the pod race was starting, and cheering on the heros when they were confronted by Darth Maul.
We were all having a blast, and nobody was cringing at anything.