Originally posted by: darkhelmet
I agree with ronlaw in this summed up way: the PT was horrible due to too many "yes-men" at Lucasfilm enabling an incompetent writer/director.

That's what I find most distressing. The story itself was not fatally flawed, but ruined by crappy realization.
Nobody to tell GL that not every word in the script was a gem. That making Anakin a nine-year-old, then hiring a terrible child actor, was not a great descision. Or maybe tossing all the add-on junk (midichlorians, Jar Jar), might tighten up the story. The list goes on and on.