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You obviously watched the first two movies of the new trilogy through the lense of sentimentalism. Holding the original trilogy on a pedestal, which everyone who is now aged 27 to 37 does, will definitely give you bias.

I am a huge fan of the original trilogy. It is close and dear to my heart. However, the new trilogy is not a complete waste of film..err..pixels.

As far as the changes made to the original trilogy go, yes, most all of the changes annoyed me. Even the ones that really help sell an effect. That said, my kids won't mind the changes. They are growing up with the completed "saga". If you watch all 6 films from I to VI with all of the changes, and if you have never watched the original releases of IV-VI and thus are not "tainted" with sentimentalism, they flow together much more seamlessly than if you watch them with the originally released IV-VI.

Responding to your Darth Maul criticism:

1) The Sith were not in control. Sidious and Maul had to work in secret, behind the scenes or the Jedi surely would have just hacked them down.

2) Maul made the Trade Federation guys plenty nervous.

3) Maul couldn't live up to Vader. Ever. First, that is part of Sidious's dilemma. He can't find a decent apprentice. Second, why, story wise, would you want the disposable villain of Episode I to overshadow the allegedly most powerful Jedi/Sith ever in Anakin/Vader?

4) That duel at the end of E1 was truly epic. It was very satisfying watching Obi-Wan take him down. The defeat of Darth Maul by Obi-Wan was key to Ob-Wan's character development.

Responding to your dialogue and character development criticism:

1) The original trilogy is bad too. If you really want crisp dialogue, go watch a Kevin Smith movie. If you want character development, go watch the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings. I would NEVER characterize the dialog in the OT as "simply amazing". That really smacks of OT fanboyism.

Responding to Jar-Jar:

What hasn't already been said since 1999? Jar Jar is a tragic figure in episodes I-III. Go back and watch all three and his fall from grace.

It's Jar Jar's chance collision with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in the jungles of Naboo that inflicts his continued presence on the screen for the rest of The Phantom Menace. But by Clones, his role is reduced to that of a deferential stooge of the nefarious Palpatine, and in Sith he gets only a single line of dialogue, suggesting a certain balancing out of Jar Jar's irritating disturbance in the Force. More important, we are made to see how Jar Jar's apparently coincidental meeting with the Jedi needed to happen, since it is his misguided vote that allows Palpatine to take control of the Senate, leading to the death of the Republic. The clown becomes the villain, and balance is restored.

I found this once on the internet. It is the conclusion of an essay that someone wrote about his anger and depression and finally acceptance of the whole thing:

[quote]Acceptance: The Force is a nebulous, superficial plot device, not something to base a personal belief system on. I guess I will just have to realize I will never be able to “will” the remote control into my hand from across the living room. The Jedi are just as corrupt as the Sith. Anakin Skywalker is not the ultimate villain, just a whiney, pain-in-the-ass teenager. The dialogue in all six films is truly atrocious. You can drive the Executor through the plot holes. And George Lucas is a hack. A blind, stinking lucky hack that had one truly revolutionary concept and hit a grand slam home run with it. Then he slurped down the collective goodwill of tens of millions of devoted fans and spent the rest of his “directing” career coasting and lording over delirious sycophants who were either too blind or terrified to say “uh, George, you sure you want to go with that Gungan thing?” He became the evil emperor and totalitarian despot he was trying to warn us all about. But for all that, I am fine. I am actually OK now. 6 years of fretting, waiting, hoping, spending, over-spending and spending some more is all over. I am ready to join the human race. Star Wars no longer defines me as a person. My active fantasy life has now been supplanted by an actual life. I choose now to live in the real world and try to find my own adventures in a galaxy right here. Star Wars is now just a couple of fun hours at the movies.

My unabashed love for Star Wars is dead. I will remember my relationship fondly, but now it is time to move on. As a Star Wars grief survivor, I hope my spiritual journey can help others with the healing process. Star Wars is only a movie. That’s it. It isn’t a lifestyle or a way to achieve enlightenment. It is a vehicle for having silly, uncomplicated, check-your-brains-and-maturity-at-the-door fun. Put away the Jedi robes and the C-3PO Burger King Collectors Glasses, grab a big, bucket of popcorn and enjoy the films as they were intended; harmless, meaningless, escapist fun. Once Jar Jar has no meaning to you, you can sit back and laugh at his antics. Let go. Let Lucas. May the Force be With You![/quote]

Character developement is the key to any great story, novel, RPG, or movie.

I can't believe you missed the sarcasm in Anconeus' post. :P

Sorry that you missed the sarcasm there, DaCoop. So in an effort to make it (sarcasm)easier to pick out, I will use asteriks (*) to signify when I'm being sarcastic… Dammit, I forgot to type an asterik before I starting typing!!! Now this post will rip a hole in the sarcasm/serious continuum. What have I done?!!?!? ;)

I'll admit that, when I have cable and ANY one of the 6 episodes is on, I immediately stop clicking(unless there are boobie elsewhere, but fetishes aside)and go into a catatonic state and start parroting out every single line that I can. Hell, one time, Brasidas and I rewound Episode III over and over and over to count how many "Breeeets" Obi Wan's annoying lizard makes during the course of those scenes. I think last count was 47…
Anyhoo, I think it truely is a matter of taste and perspective. I kind of don't see all 6 episodes as one long story, but 2 trilogies connected together. Episodes IV, V, and VI focused more on a few characters within an interglactic war, while Episodes I,II, and III were more focused on the intergalactic war and a few characters within it.

But, then again these are the hypoxic ramblings of someone who is living 5,800 ft above see level. :)