SpenceEdit said:

I always liked Phantom Menace and thought George did a great job directing it. To me it has always been far superior to the other prequels. While it's not perfect, it does have a certain sense of fun about it all, and some of the performances are quite good, especially Neeson and McGregor. Darth Maul is great, all of the action is great, Jar Jar and Watto are pretty amazing technical achievements, and it was just awesome to see some new Star Wars. The other prequels feel like they had been adjusted to fit what the fans wanted or what was going to be popular, but TPM has a certain pureness to it that feels imaginative in the way the OT does. It also felt to me like a director that hadn't worked in years, having fun with his new toys and firing on all cylinders.

All of this...

Also, in general, George has a vision, and he pursues it and sees it out (let's ignore, for the moment, that he is still pursuing it.) As a creator myself, I'm always impressed.