What I've always found hilarious is how towards the end of Episode 3 they quickly transition from super shiny starships to the old designs of the original. It just doesn't work.

I just cant watch episode 1 i just cant after seeing it in the cinema and almost crying at what it did to the original trilogy why George Lucas Why?

This so much, for me.
Not to mention, I can no longer watch even the original trilogy without thinking of Vader climbing off that table and screaming No. It's not that I can't/don't still enjoy the originals, but if I could wipe "early Vader" from my memory I would.

...I have serious dislike for what the inner-tube-necked man known as George Lucas has become. (edit - not only because of the prequels but because he can't stop messing with the originals)

The right order is

-start-
Episode IV
Episode V
Episode VI
-end-

I watched them all once from I-VI i only really enjoyed the last two.

I wonder how we would treat Star Wars episode 4-6 if they were released today (with updated special effects, that are not crammed in for the sake of it, like in the remastering). Overall I don't think Star Wars is that good (KotOR though, is great).
Here is my view on the series:

Episode 1:
Decent enough acting, but pointlessly long sequences, like the podracer sequence and the need to explain things that never had to be explained (how the force works was bad, but explaining C3PO's & R2D2's origin was just utterly pointless and just felt forced, and C3PO's origin even clashes with what we know from later movies) makes the movie a pain. Yes, it is a movie for children, that much is obvious, but everything just feels so hamfisted that it bugged me, even when it was first released, and my young mind was less critical than it is today. After walking out of the theater, I had a long rant about the two droids origins and why it was poorly done. Obi-wan is decently handled, and the lightsaber duel at the end was rather good.

Episode 2:
A major stepup in the story department compared to episode 1. Less pointless sequences makes it better, but this movie just ruins a lot of the mysticism around Jedi knights. By throwing a lot of them on screen at once, having a huge fight, you make them feel less special. Now they are just a garden variety thing, and I could never look at them the same way again. Also, the acting is very bad in this movie.

Episode 3:
Another step up in the story department, and while things still feel a bit hamfisted, they do return some of the sense of mystery to what a jedi actually is. The major problem with this movie is the acting, which is not only bad, but utterly horrific. I laughed when Anakin was looking into the camera while telling his wife how much he loved her. Horrible. Had the acting been at least passable, then this would have been an alright movie.

Episode 4:
This one is watchable, but it suffers from the fact that the universe feels very haphazardly put together. It is understandable that the first movie will have a less developed universe than the later movies, but here it feels about as coherent as the world in Super Mario Bros 3. Some connecting elements, but everything is just scattered all over the place. Acting is quite alright.

Episode 5:
The best part of the series, this one actually has an engaging story, and Luke really comes into his own right. There is a lot of character growth going on here, for all major characters, and it feels well put together. Also, the world feels more coherent. Some not so minor plot holes do bug me though.

Episode 6:
A step down again. Not only does it suffer from an overly long and drawn out sequence (Ewoks), but the story feels less coherent overall than that of the previous two. At least the setting feels coherent and well though out, and it has a few very well made scenes. Enjoyable, but not outstanding.


If you want to watch them, I would recommend just sticking to the original 3. If you also want to watch some of the new movies, then just watch 2-3, skip 1, it hardly adds anything to the story anyway. I for one don't quite understand why Star Wars is so popular though.
(Not counting KotOR, Tie-fighter, X-wing vs Tie-fighter, Jedi knight and many of the other video games that were made, and that I thought were great).

In the late 70s, Star Wars was a major event. It changed Hollywood in ways that still resonate today. The popularity among this particular generation of viewers is understandable.

After that, it's just Lucas's brilliance. He's incredibly skilled at not letting the whole thing fade from the general consciousness, almost constantly throwing out new stuff with SW slapped on it, regardless of its quality (like the new Kinect dance thing, even though that might turn out to actually be a good game), never letting the brand die. Whatever you think of the man, his marketing of the Star Wars franchise is one of the greatest success stories in the industry. Hell, there are four year old kids who know what Darth Vader looks like, which is ridiculous, considering the original film is older than their parents.

Star Wars is stupid. The universe is stupid in a very literal sense of the word, with the whole ridiculously simplistic light/dark side thing. The only good film to ever come out of the franchise is Empire, and even that's not perfect; A New Hope in its original theatrical version is just kind of laughable, and the rest of it is better not spoken of. Some of the games were pretty good, though (KotOR2, were it finished, could have been the franchise's highest point).

Pretty sure he's waiting for the 50th anniversary so he can rererere-release them theatrically. Luckily he'll probably be dead before that, and the defilement shall be averted.

What I would like to see though, is some nice team of filmmakers/nerds remaking the Star Wars franchise (though I'll probably be dead by then). We would get some awesome where EP I-III would bare almost no resemblance to what we got, continuity and foreshadowing would be oozing everywhere, EPVI would have no ewoks, no annoying and silly kid(s), the Jedi order would make sense, the Anakin-Obi wan relationship would be awesome and tragic and full of mutual learning and a real friendship, etc.

I pretty much came here to ask the same question...

What you fail to see is that you cannot argue religion. Either you believe, or you don't.

Now that you mention it, priests are in general pretty awesome in not letting religion die, either.

Heh, and if we're really lucky he might even bring back the Ewok movies too... -_-