Vaderisnothayden said:
If Lucas had made prequel films that were true to the spirit of Star Wars, they'd be much better received. The prequel trilogy was always meant to be a bit different in tone, but the one he put out was a whole damn different galaxy away in tone and mentality and that should have been avoided (and could easily have been avoided). A bit more effort to fit in with the story of the originals would have been no harm either.....

So no, it was in no way inevitable that the prequels be awful movies the way they were. That was something that took effort.

I've only seen one of the prequels and none of the SEs, so I have a very limited knowledge of the subject matter. That said - I'm with VINH on this one. Lucas answers to no one. The prequels are a textbook example of what happens when there isn't a system of creative checks & balances.

Vaderisnothayden, addressing ESF's Lucas quote, said:
Chilling quote, isn't it? To me, it's like a fucking declaration of war against fans of the originals.

He does seem to have a great deal of anger and spite for the very people that made him the billionaire he is. It's not just lip service either - he acts on it. He's like a child who takes his toys and goes home if the other kids won't play the way he wants to.

Strange.