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OK, this is just my theory, so I welcome any disagreements or agreements:)
Many here (not all, I am generalizing), wonder why SW & ESB stick out as such classics and wonder why ROTJ & the PT couldn't harken back to the quality of those two movies. Here is my theory:
Star Wars '77 is just a simple good vs evil story that is essentially told through the hero. It is a self contained movie, and it is film 101 at its best.
ESB is a brand new start to the series, and really tells a whole NEW story, essentially with the same characters we fell in love with. Now the movie isn't just about good vs evil, but about father vs son, and by doing this Lucas can take the movie WHEREVER he wants to go. He doesn't have to tie up any loose ends, isn't held down to saying what happened to this guy and that guy, the movie just moves for 2 hours and this is the NEW story, as Episode IV was just a prologue.
ROTJ and the PT are essentially tied down now by all the plot points that have to be settled because of ESB. In ROTJ, we have to have closure if this is the last movie, we have to see what happened to Yoda, we have to see what happens to Vader, we have to have Luke find out who this 'other' is. Great plot points, but the plot points essentially dictate the story, rather then in ESB, the story dictates the plot points.
Lucas is even more tied down in the PT as he has to tell the WHOLE backstory. He has to follow a plotline and address many of the plot points in the OT to keep the story linear. He can't go from point A to point C like he did in ESB, he has to go from point A to point B and finally to point C, and that is why the last hour of ROTS is essentially a paint by numbers greatest hits.
Just my theory, discuss!