I like all 6 for what they are. It was impossible for the Phantom menace to be exactly like the original trilogy films, don't get me wrong it has a few flaws, but I think the plot is sound. Attack of the clones went in a direction that I liked (more thriller, gritty), and revenge of the Sith was a top quality modern film.

Growing up, I always recognized Empire as the best. Started on a high note and stayed there damn near the whole time.

I also loved Phantom Menace. I'm not going to defend that stance, because my taste doesn't need defending.

All that said, people who claim the prequel fights were bad are just plain wrong. No emotion? There was more emotion in Obi's reaction to Qui getting stabbed than there was in all the original trilogy put together.

I was not a fan of 1-3, I would've been more than happy to forgo seeing Yoda in a lightsaber battle, if it meant missing the first 3 movies of that series. But, that's just me, and to each their own.

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Episode 2 and 3 are good, however Anakins fall to the dark side is too suden and based on a somewhat forced lovestory. The duels are top notch tough, the only saving grace of Episode 1 is Dath Mauls duel, it makes no sense saying it is too coreographed and crap, theyre awesome period.

The prequels are okay. I think the over-arching plot about Palpatine's rise to power and the formation of the Empire was good. I agree that the details in each of the prequel films can be sketchy though. I agree the lightsaber fights, most of them anyway, were impressive in all three movies. When I first saw the Darth Maul fight back in '99 I thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever seen! The shallow dialogue is a buzz-kill though, and because of Anakin and Jar Jar I like Episode 1 the least by far. Episode 3 is quite good though, the only one of the three that captures the feel of the originals somewhat.

The original trilogy overall is a step above though in pretty much every category. And even though the fights are less smooth, I agree that the fights there are more 'significant' and are built up tremendously well. Luke and Darth Vader in Episode VI is amazing.

For the record, my ranking would be 4 > 5 > 6 > 3 > 2 > 1. At least the prequels got better and better! The difference is huge though, 4 and 5 are two of my favorite movies of all time together with Return of the King and stuff, but 1 is like, 100th or something. Can't wait for Episode 7 anyway, it's going to be great for sure.

It is a preference on what one wants from a fight. Even removing the emotional element, never once did I feel impact or tension in any battle. It was like watching a dance. You or anyone else can enjoy that, but for me action in film such as these should sell you what you're seeing is real.  From reading comments here clear very different lines of thought in what people want from film or action so doubtful either side will be moved.

I've been insulted by a ton of the Star Wars fan base for liking the prequels. But I don't really care. I don't really see them as any better or worse than the original trilogy. I saw them all roughly the same time so I saw them almost in order (1, 4, 5, 6 and then waited for 2 and 3 to come out). To me they're just stupid kids movies that your turn off your brain to watch and I love them for that. When I watch a Star Wars movie I'm not overly worried about the amazing lore, back story you have to read 10 books to understand and all that bullshit. They're just movies. Puppets, CGI, they're both just as good. I couldn't care less. Only thing I hate is the political scenes in the PT.

The vast majority of prequel haters can't even think on their own, often relying on Mr. Plinkett's review of the OG Trilogy as their justification for proving why they're the worst thing in human history. I do love those reviews XD but I can't help but notice the over reliance on those reviews, most just plagiarizing word for word Mr. Plinkett

My signature is mostly there as a disclaimer for people who get won't with anything I post. For a while, I couldn't sneeze without getting reported and banned. 

It took George Lucas four revisions of his Star Wars script before the studio would sign off on production. George Lucas is an excellent idea man, but falls short when it comes to scripts, particularly dialogue. This goes hand in hand with the way he handles actors reading those lines. Dialogue has a meter, a musical quality, that takes a trained ear and a bit of natural rhythm. I do believe that this isn't one of Lucas' stronger suits.

Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi used not just different writers, but aslso different directors. George Lucas got out of the way of himself for the final two installments of the original trilogy and the results are more than noticable.

In the intervening years his track record just isn't that great. It was even until he started doing the Prequels that his name even emerged on the mainstream stage as a director. He's been a prodicer of many quality works, but not the director. At this time he had created ILM, Industrial Lights and Magic, a technical marvel. It was toward this strength that the prequals were geared. No one will deny that the prequels don't look beautiful. The landscapes and battles are some of the best we've seen in cinema.

Unfortunately, Lucas surrounded himself with Yes Men for the project. No one would dare contradict his vision. This allowed the terrible scrtipts (both in dialogue and content) to be greenlit without much more than some basic editing. Stilted lines and bad dialogue weren't tweaked and you end up with atrocious scenes like anything with young Anakin in it, the Pod Race announcers, and much of the midochlorian mumbo jumbo. Add to this Lucas tendency at bad direction and you see that the actors themselves turned in poor performances without someone to guide their tone and inflection.

This isn't some knee jerk response to Jar Jar. It isn't even about Portman's Britney Spears' midrift tshirt or the fact that Ben Kenobi had direct contact with R2 and C3PO. This is a systematic example of why it's better to play to your strengths and allow others to make up for your shortcomings. Passing the titles on to another studeio, another director, etc, is akin to Darth Vader killing the Emporer at the close of Jedi. He realizes the true path and that he had been won over by the dark side of Pride. He relinquishes control to save the fate of his child, in this case, the Star Wars universe. It's a little late coming, but more powerful than we could have ever imagined.