Shameful Star Wars prequel live journal reminiscence time:
When I saw The Phantom Menace in theaters, I didn't hate it. BUT I was not really a movie watcher then. We didn't have cable, my parents didn't buy/rent movies, we just had Disney movies on VHS and whatever was on CBS/NBC/ABC/FOX /UPN/Telemundo. It was a big deal to see movies in the theater, and I'm not gonna pretend like my palate was too refined for TPM. I was easily impressed.
Between TPM and AOTC, I got a DVD player and started watching a ton of movies. I was becoming a bit more jaded. BUT I was drinking the kool-aid from AICN, and they said it was the best Star Wars since ESB omg! And when I saw it, I still thought AOTC was pretty cool. I saw it with some friends, we were all like "woah, Yoda had a lightsaber and there were a million jedi, very cool!" Then I saw it again and I was like "damn, this love crap in the middle really drags on" but it still worth it for the awesome action scenes. Very cool! I couldn't wait to see it again on DVD. Then I saw it again on DVD and I was like "damn, this movie is really shit".
By the time ROTS came out, I was in full film-snob mode and I was not about to let George Lucas get one over on me again. I went in prepared to be unimpressed BUT...I wasn't. Impressed, that is, because the movie was kinda shit. I'm willing to say that it was better than AOTC and TPM, but overuse of CGI and green screen, the terrible acting, and Lucas's tone deaf ear for dialog was finally too much and I don't think I've seen ROTS or any of the prequel movies in their entirety since then.
I have watched Ice Pirates on many occasions though, and might do so again at a moment's notice. Bruce Vilanch > Hayden Christensen