There's over 2 and quarter hours of footage in each of the prequel films. Various edits have cut ~50 minutes from each film, and the result are still 90+ minutes long.
A 90 minute film is still a good size, and to cut almost an hour of footage can change quite a lot, so to say the prequels are irreparable is a gross exaggeration. They may not be wonderful, but they can still be good.