Like I said in the other thread, I think they're okay movies, but there's a ton of wasted potential. Like games like Star Wars: Galaxies or Knights of the Old Republic II, a few things they did get right, but there was so much they they got wrong that it overshadowed the good. If you narrow your eyes a whole lot you can see that the PT could have been a great series of films. But alas they are crap.
For a long time, though, I thought they were good movies. I always knew they weren't as good as the OT, but I admit that I was nine years old when TPM dropped and I was taken in by the flash and action of the PT. I may even have laughed at Jar-Jar *shudders*, but my mind has thankfully chosen to repress that memory. (Though I do know my brother had a Jar-Jar t shirt, but he is also three years younger than I am, so...)
As I got older, the bloom started to come off the rose for the prequels. They became progressively less important to me as the OT became progressively more important to me. I am glad that I saw the OT first, even though I grew up with the 1997 SE and didn't learn of the plight of the OT for a long time, because I think that it stuck in my mind much better being my first experience with the films rather than TPM.
Even though I was growing out of the PT more and more as time went on, I didn't really acknowledge them as the piles of tripe they were until started hearing concentrated arguments against them, pointing out all the flaws and poor quality of the films in detail. This is when I started to get angry about them being bad. I think Red Letter Media's reviews were the final nail in the PT coffin for me.
I was an SE-lover for a long time to, as it was the version I grew up with; I was always a "Han Shot First" person, but the rest of it didn't really occur to me that it really affected the movies. It wasn't until I started talking to Tobar a few years ago that I started to get over it. And of course hearing of the change to Boba Fett's voice was inexcusable.
Seeing Ady's theatrical edition of ESB was like seeing a totally different and better movie, which surprised me, but in a good way. I never knew how much the SE affected the viewing of the movies for me, and how much removing all those little distractions made the movie better.
I can still watch the PT and it'll be an okay experience. The action is neat and eye-catching. But that's about all I can say for them. The OT is where it's at still, to this day.
Ramble mod disengaged.