I still contend the whole idea of the Prequels was a letdown waiting to happen for many reasons:

1. No Luke, Leia, and Han. Sorry guys but characters drive movies, characters connect with the audience, there was no way any of us were going to love these movies because they were missing the big 3 from the OT.

2. The more movies in a series, the more they suck. The Rocky series started getting ridiculous by Rocky IV, Superman series by Superman III, some will even say the Matrix by the second movie. How about Lethal Weapon IV, what a piece of crap, same director Richard Donner. Oh, and that Godfather III debacle.

3. The Prequels restrict storytelling. The one thing great about the OT when watching it for the first time is you never know where it is going to take you. Lucas could take the story wherever he wanted (eventually making Vader Lukes father). With the prequels, everytime he tried to go somewhere new, he had to keep with the basic outline of how everyone ends up in Episode IV. And even then he contradicted himself!

4. Lucas is past his prime. When was the last time Coppola made a great movie? Or William Friedken? Or Brian Depalma? Does anyone remember Eyes Wide Shut as Stanley Kubricks last movie? These were all great directors in the 70's, and they all had their run in the 70's, and in the 80's, but I can't think of a great movie any of them made by the late 90's.

5. Everything eventually loses that magic. Even great TV shows lose that 'it', as many movie series do somewhere along the line. Return of the Jedi is a good movie that ends the Trilogy well, IMO, but it does lack that spark of Star Wars and Empire, and it is just so hard to recapture movie magic, that is why classics, are just that, they are come around every so often.