"But let's face it. This movie was made only for the effects. George
has lost it. My friend Paul, who is a student at USCinema, quoted one
of his teachers to me once. This teacher said, "Old directors don't
die, they become cinematographers." What that means, is, when old
directors lose their story-telling ability, they start concentrating on
the imagery. George has clearly lost his story-telling ability."

I love that quote, "Old directors don't die, they become cinematographers."

I don't think this is the reason for the Return of the Jedi situation, I think the problem with Jedi was that Lucas was burnt out on SW. It was time for him to move on, yet some how, all these years later, he has still not managed to do so. I do feel that the prequels and IJATKOTCS have a lot to do with that quote though.