*satisfied sigh* Another prequel bashing thread? Sign me up!
TPM is certainly the best of the prequels from a certain point of view (real film, actual sets etc. etc.), but it has the worse pacing of any of the three, Jar Jar Binks in a major role, Jake Lloyd, Chinese people Neimodians, terrible art designs (that, admittedly, looked good on paper), and a shit colour palate.
But what makes TPM more worthy of respect than the other prequels is that, warts and all (and there are a lot of warts), it seems to have been following a genuine artistic vision. George is famous for having said "I don't care if I make a piece of art or a piece of shit". Well, with TPM he made a piece of shit. He was confident the movie would make a lot of money, so he could make the film he wanted.
AOTC and ROTS seem to have been made to try and get fans back; they attempt to look more "Star Wars" (include prequel-era version of stormtroopers, Boba Fett etc.) although they actual feel less "Star Wars" than TPM due to excessive and poor use of CGI. I really think George was worried about the box office after all the negative reaction to TPM.