Good thoughts here. And just to be clear: because the prequel trilogy was helmed by George Lucas, I think it is indicative of what we would have got in the original trilogy if he'd had 1999 technology back in 1977.
Could be, but age makes a big difference also. It is entirely possible a 33 year old Lucas with late 90s tech would make something different than a 55 year old Lucas.
I think Star Wars was sort of a fluke? To me, this explains why there was literally no clear way to successfully "handle" further expansion of the franchise: nobody (not even the fans) can agree on what made it work in the first place.
It was certainly a product of circumstance and likely needed to be released when it was to reach the impact it had but I don't think it is that hard to define what made it great to begin with. Good scripts, good directors, and likable characters all in a Sci-Fi setting unlike anything we had seen.
I give the PT and ST a pass on that last part as they needed to live in the universe we had all become familiar with but where I don't is on the script, directing and characters.
For example, the PT is full of interesting ideas that were implemented poorly because the scripts were terrible. Even when they hit on something it was bad on screen due to the dialog and acting. We aren't talking about bad actors either so that had to be coming from Lucas. The man had been away from writing or directing for decades and it showed.
One reason I think RotS was the best of the three is because he had time to get his feet under him with the first two. He even kept himself involved in the Clone War cartoon so who knows, maybe he would have hit his stride again in future movies had he stuck with it.
As for the ST, the ideas where not as interesting or fleshed out and in some cases didn't seem to exist at all but the actual dialog and directing was at least tolerable.
On the character front... yikes. I could likely write a couple of books on just how bad the new characters were and how badly many of the older ones were used.
Not to pick on the PT but to keep this from getting too long, use TPM as an example. Jar Jar is a terrible character though Ahmed Best did what he was asked and should not take any blame and in no way deserved the abuse he took. Jake Lloyd was annoying and unbelievable but that is on Lucas for hiring a kid with no acting experience and giving him nearly no direction. Then we have Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan who made growing grass watching paint dry look exciting.
And now, the fandom comprises fans of each PT, OT, ST, EU, animated series, D+ series, the different video games, etc. and it isn't one fandom, but a collection of multiple (some of them rivals).
Sure, I know we are talking about opinions and there is nothing wrong with someone liking something, but it is the lack of self-awareness I find in people that I have a problem with. There are plenty of movies that I KNOW are bad but thoroughly love and enjoy. If I was out there trying to argue that Leprechaun In the Hood was better than Citizen Cane, I would just be wrong no matter how much I personally enjoyed the two movies.
Bottom line, I don't begrudge anyone for liking what they like but objectively sometimes things are legit better than others no matter our personal feelings.
