the prequels were unapologetically campy, which is what made them so enjoyable. they were Lucas's honest vision, and they lack self-awareness because of it. what we got weren't conventionally 'good' movies—they were movies with dialogue (and delivery) so quaint yet so brazenly written that it's still quotable today. [...]
Which can be said of the first trilogy as well. There is certainly more of a common feel between the original movies and the prequels than any of the stuff that came after. Which raises the question, why am I so adamant about this?
I spent a bit of time last night (while drifting off to sleep) working through the reasons for my feelings on this topic, and a lot of it boils down to the lack of respect for the fan community Lucas exhibited during the '90's. I don't want to claim that the original version of the original trilogy was ever 'property of the fans,' because it's obviously not and Lucas and 20th Century Fox have very real legal rights to do what they want with the properties. But a couple of the edits Lucas made go beyond just 'cleaning up the prints' to the point of trying to whitewash and significantly change the original work. Not having Han shoot first subtly but significantly changes his character (and there's a good bit of evidence it was always Lucas's intention for Han to shoot first until well after the original movie was released). Yet Lucas was entirely willing to lie about this point in order to make the character 'more suitable for families' or some other bullshit.
I also think Lucas made a conscious decision to start using the films primarily as revenue sources some time in the '90's, when he made 'the last release of the original trilogy,' then turned around and edited the films and released those versions as well, fully expecting that 'true fans' would buy both sets... and then probably get another copy on DVD, when it was (eventually) released on that medium in 2004. All the while he was making minor changes to the films themselves.
Finally, having stood in line to try and see the midnight release for Phantom Menace (and having been too far back in line to make it into the theater and only seeing it the next night), the film itself was... kind of a let-down. It's a kiddie film. It has a cute(?) sidekick character. It's like Lucas took all the elements of the original film and chibified them, with an eye toward merchandise sales. Everyone knows Anakin becomes Vader, George - you can be a bit darker.
So the short version is that I don't like it when someone comes in and retcons a big part of my childhood, and then tries to sell it back to me at several times the original price.
i'd rather read 10 volumes of some villainess manga than rewatch any of the sequels.
I mean, I get it, but damn. You could have just said you'd rather walk out of the theater barefoot over broken glass or something.