I have always considered a new hope and empire to be the gone with the wind and cassablanca of sci-fi/fantasy films. Return of the jedi was a good film and better than the prequel films but it droped the ball when it was handed off from episode 5. Lucas is to blame for this. Same as he is to blame for the PT mess he unleashed on us.
I really do not think it is a lack of talant on lucas part. American graffatti and a new hope were awsome films. I do acknowledge that both gary kurtz and marcia lucas were there and they contributed a lot to those films. Lucas was the story man and kurtz and marcia fine tuned ideas and kept it all in line. Without them lucas just ran wild and everything became a mess. We see the results of that mess.
return of the jedi gets a pass. not cause it is an ot films but because it is JUST good enough to where you dont hate it or make fun of it. Not untill the SE anyways. The new indy film and the pt films are so bad you have to be blinded with bias or just flat out have no taste or desire for a good story.
If I were lucas right hand man I would tell him to just remake the pt films. say you made the first set for kids cause the back story was so serious kids would have been put off by it and then say you are now making the version you always wanted to do for adults. Hell he will just stand to gain another billion dollars and he would earn his respect back from fans and peers. Hire a great director....hire lawenrace kasdan to write the story and gary kurtz to produce. take it back to what made the originals so great. let the fans have two versions fo the pt films. one for kids and one for serious adult fans who want a real back story to anakin skywalker.