I realized the prequels sucked when, I was watching AOTC on opening night and found myself bored during the speeder chase through Coruscant in the beginning of the movie. I remember actually thinking "What's wrong? Why am I not enjoying this?" as I was sitting in the theater. Then is dawned on me, like a light being turned on in the dark, "this sucks! The new Star Wars Sucks!!"

the seeds had been sewn with the Phantom Menace, but I allowed myself to be blinded by the fancy lightsaber fights & such. But when AOTC wasn't any better, and was actually worse, that was it. The veil had been lifted.