I think all three prequels are highly entertaining films. I think they tell the story in a way that makes the OT even more enjoyable than it already was. It adds more depth to the whole story. It creates a broader story. And it tells that story very competently, I think.
People say that there aren't any truly memorable moments in the PT that will stand the test of time next to the most memorable moments from the OT, but I completely disagree with that.
I think that Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan/Darth Maul dual at the end of TPM is absolutely brilliant. I think it surpasses any Luke/Vader fight in terms of sheer excitement. Darth Maul is seriously bad-ass.
I love the Pod Racing aspect of TPM; It's visually very stimulating and exciting, and it also serves the purpose of giving us some insight into what Anakin's life was like, as a slave child, before he ever touched 'the ways of the Jedi'. The pod race is iconic - especially the parts where the pod is actually coming towards you and the pod's beam goes across the whole screen.
I absolutely LOVE Yoda's line and Frank Oz's delivery of, "Everything! Fear is the path to the dark side! Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to SUFFERING.....I sense much fear in you......" - possibly my favorite line of dialog from the entire PT.
And say what you will about Jar-Jar - and he can be a *little* annoying at times - I can't really imagine TPM without him. He is to the PT as Chewie was to the OT.
The first film just does a very good job of getting Anakin started on the Jedi path by pure chance(they ran into him while taking refuge on Tattoine) while also showing Palpatine/Sideous start manipulating the entire galaxy to meet his own desires.
AOTC, imo, differs from the other two prequels in that TPM and ROTS are both very plot-driven while AOTC is more about just weaving together the advent of the 'Army Of The Republic'(Clone Army)(future Storm Troopers) and several different(albiet lengthy) battles(including Obi-Wan v Grevious, Yoda v Dooku, and Jedi v Droid Army) with the goal of showing how Palpetine/Sideous is slowly but surely controlling everything while accumlating more and more power, while also portraying the meat and potatos of the Anakin/Padme love story. Out of all SIX films, AOTC has the least 'big' events in it. The main point of ATOC is to show that everything is changing right underneath the noses of the Jedi, that the Republic is already being transformed into the Empire and no one even knows it. And, of course, to set the stage for ROTS. I had previously said that this was the weakest of the prequels - perhaps it is - but now I appreciate more than I ever have, because where before I was looking for those 'big' events, I now appreciate the more subtle approach of this film in that it is content to just progress the story and the development of the characters.
ROTS, on other hand, is all about the 'big' events. Some people have argued, even earlier in this thread, that the motives for Anakin's downfall aren't consistant throughout the film. That one minute it's because he doesn't want Padme to die and the next it's because the Jedi are evil. I actually think this dynamic works to the benefit of the character of Anakin and of the quality of the story. The way I see it, Palpetine/Sideous's relationship with all of his apprentices(Maul, Dooku, and Anakin/Vader) is all about taking ownership of the apprentice's mind, about playing with the apprentice's mind, twisting it, contorting it, confusing it. I think that the viewer watching the film isn't the only person who is confused about why Anakin is all of a sudden pledging himself to the Sith lord. I think Anakin is just as confused about it. I think Sideous is such a master of mind control that at this point he already has Anakin just repeating whatever he says. "You want to save Padme". "The Jedi are narrow-minded and dogmatic(paraphrasing)." I think that Sideous just totally takes control of Anakin's mind and uses Anakin's mind - and emotions - against him. I think that's why Anakin looks so lost at the end of the film(crying when Padme arrives, sort of expressionless during the dual with Obi-Wan) - he doesn't know exactly why he's doing this. I mean, you can't just say that Anakin made a concious rational decision to go to the dark side because of Padme, because the only reason Padme dies is because he betrayed her. If he doesn't betray her, she won't die, and he won't have to save her because there won't be anything to save her from. Sideous uses Anakin's fear to force him into making a decision he has ABSOLUTELY NO need to make. Sideous is playing Anakin's mind like a piano.
As for the rest of the film - I think it's brilliant.
I thought the entire last hour of the film was really very moving. When Sideous tells the clone army to execute "Order 66" and all of the Jedi are systematically murdered, there is a shot of Yoda on the wookie planet, and he is completely distraught. Same when Obi-Wan realizes that Anakin killed all the kids(and everyone else, but especially the kids) in the Jedi temple. He is completely heartbroken. His reaction to this is, in fact, almost like him finding out the Anakin has died. He starts with denial("no...no, it can't be") and then moves on to grief, as evidenced during the dual.
Obi-Wan's heartbroken-ness shines during the Obi-Wan/Anakin dual. You can literally see and feel how much agony Obi-Wan is in during this dual. You can see in Obi-Wan's eyes that this dual, the act of killing, or even attempting to kill, Anakin, will be the hardest thing he ever has to do. He spends most of the dual trying desperately to coax Anakin back from the dark side before he's lost to it forever. In Anakin's eyes, during this dual, you see a man who, upon seeing Padme and now fighting Obi-Wan here on this planet, is more confused than he's ever been. At this point, there's, as Padme says, 'still some good in him'. At this point, he still knows in his heart of hearts that everything Obi-Wan says during this battle is right, but he's still mostly consumed with the dark side, and without his new master there to tell him what to think, he just says the opposite of whatever Obi-Wan says, as though it were a reflex("From my point of view the Jedi are evil"). Only when Obi-Wan finally slays Anakin and leaves him burning in the lava is Anakin finally lost for good(well, until ROTJ anyway). Obi-Wan's monologue at this point is arguably the best piece of dialog in the entire PT:
"Obi-Wan: You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! You were to bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness!
Anakin Skywalker: I hate you!
Obi-Wan: You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you....
In those 30 or so seconds, you really feel that as Anakin has become Vader, Obi-Wan has become a broken man....he has become 'Old Ben' in spirit. You feel Obi-Wan's anger, grief, anguish, and you can feel the very moment that Obi-Wan officially gives up on Anakin and on any chance of remaining an active Jedi - when he picks up Anakin's lightsaber and starts walking back to his ship.
The whole thing was very, very, very well-done imho.
And the other big dual, Yoda v Sideous, was just tremendous. The shot where they're fighting with their light sabres on the middle platform of the senate chamber as it RISES into the chamber, with the ominous music in the background, is cinematically brilliant and very, very symbolic. It's the master of the light side vs the master of the dark side, fighting for control of the galaxy. It's a very exciting fight, but Yoda, of course, loses in the end, and Sideous siezes total control of the galaxy and creates the Empire. I think that whole scene is just very, very, very powerful.
In the OT, they did a great job of showing that there was no hope for the Jedi and that Luke was the only one who could bring them back, and they did a great job of showing Yoda and Obi-Wan being pessimistic about Luke's chances, at portraying Yoda and Obi-Wan as broken Jedi Knights who had all but given up hope. At the very end of ROTS, as Yoda and Obi-Wan go into exile after losing their fateful duals, you can really, REALLY, feel that cloud of hopelessness and darkness and anguish overtake them - when Yoda says "Into exile I must go. Failed, I have", and when Obi-Wan says he'll take Luke to Tattoine and that HE'LL STAY THERE, it's like an admission that there's nothing else he can do now, other than look after Anakin's son.
And, say what you will, but I think the shot of Vader rising, in the suit, for the first time, and saying 'Yes, Master', is a truly memorable shot that will stand the test of time, along with the Maul dual and pod race from TPM, the big battle at the end of ATOC, and countless moments in ROTS.
I think the film dad a GREAT, GREAT job of dramatically portraying the fall of not just Anakin, but of the Jedi, and I think that was very neccessary, because a RETURN of the Jedi isn't very dramatic unless the initial FALL of those same Jedi was equally dramatic. And it was.
I've been shaky at time, but, overall, I feel that the PT did a very, very good job creating a story that leads right into the OT. I think the TPM and ROTS are both GREAT films, while AOTC is just a step blow, but still entertaining and of a high quality, if not as cinematically pleasing as the other two.
I understand why so many people don't appreciate the PT - they feel that it's too childish, or that the dialog isn't good enough, or that the acting isn't good enough, or that the overall execution is fundementally flawed....I agree that there are childish parts of the PT, but I don't really see them as being anymore childish than certain aspects of the OT(Ewoks, C-3PO's constant blabbering[I mean I love it, but], Chewie, etc). I'd be a fool not to see that the dialog is often cheesy and sometimes just not very good. The acting, while certainly not academy award material(except for MAYBE Obi-Wan in the final ROTS dual), is better, imho, than a lot of you give it credit for. I think Liam Neeson was good in TPM. Jake Lloyd wasn't great, but he was just a little kid. Natalie Portman is just fine throughout - in fact she is very effective in the contrast between "Queen Amidila" and "Padme" in TPM. Ian McDiarmid was possibly the strongest overall actor throughout the trilogy. Ewan McGregor was very good as Obi-Wan for the most part. Hayden Christensen wasn't great overall - just good in AOTC, but I thought he was really pretty good as a lost Jedi descending into the dark side in ROTS.
All of this(plus special effects) adds up to create the overall execution of the films. I think that whether or not you enjoy films like this lies in LARGE part in perception. Everyone has their own perceptions and their own feelings and their own ideals about how and what things should be, especially in context of the OT, and there's no way any filmmaker could have made the prequels in a way that would please all of the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of SW fans out there. Therefore, I'm not going to make any arguements in the vein of trying to make those of you who don't like the prequels change your mind. I think I've already done a good job of laying out what I enjoy about the PT and why I think it does nothing but elevate enjoyment of the OT.
I will say, however, that these so-called "OT Purists" make me sad sometimes. This is because, for a decent number(but certainly not all) of these purists, it's not just "The prequels suck". It's that ANYTHING Star Wars related that isn't in the OT, doesn't matter. There is a huge amount of "Expanded Universe" stuff that is "canon"(whatever the hell that means), but there are OT fans that simply don't care. There is huge amount of story, before the OT(and even before the PT) and after the OT, a huge amount of other characters, a huge amount of this FANTASTY GALAXY that's been created that is left unexplored by many.
I, for one, would love to see a film that takes place before the PT, in which we see "The Tragedy Of Darth Plageus The Wise" - the training and apprenticeship of Darth Sideous, and the surpassing and murder of Plageus.
Anyway, these are my thoughts on the PT. I can't really change your opinions, but hopefully I've offered something new for you to read. I just don't understand all the Lucas-bashing where the PT is concerned. If you're going to bash Lucas, do it for what he's doing to the OT.
Where the PT doesn't make me think less of Lucas, what he's doing - tampering - with the OT does make me think less of him. Some of the changes are utterly pointless...no point in making Greedo shoot first, no point in giving away the surprise in Empire, no point in putting Hayden at the end of ROTJ. But what really bothers me isn't the changes themselves, but Lucas's attitude towards the whole thing. According to him, the SE's are "canon", as in, they're the only "official" version of the OT now. The OOT isn't "official" anymore. The OT SE is now the only one that matters. It's that attitude that bothers me the most. If Lucas had just included a fully restored version of the OOT/OUT with the DVD release of the SEs in 04 to begin with, I would've just said, "knock yourself out George". The changes are pointless, but they don't matter as long as we have the originals. And that's where Lucas gets on my nerves. He doesn't acknowledge the OOT as "mattering" anymore.
But I'm rambling now. I guess I'm done. I hope you've enjoyed my thoughts.
And Yoda is without a doubt the coolest character in the history of Sci-Fi.