Well, it's not like we've had any scintillating prequel trilogy discussions either, so this is probably on point.
It's more interesting to talk about why Star Wars both rose and fell than it is to talk a out any of the things that happen in any of the movies.
What has become clear in the past couple decades is that Star Wars rose because of happy accident. A confluence of circumstance and creative people (Lucas being only one of them) that came together at exactly the right time. Lucas had a vision, but it was augmented by so many others, and Lucas was not yet so powerful or ego-driven to believe he was the only one whose ideas were worth hearing. Artists in different departments made real contributions, actors shot down the worst of the clunky dialogue, and the entire movie was only made watchable at all through the inspired editing of Lucas' ex-wife.
Contrast that to the prequels which was Lucas, all alone, surrounded by yes-men. All you have to do is watch any of those Prequel "making of" documentaries to see how scared they all are to talk about the Emperor's new clothes. Every crazy decision he makes is met with a nervous, "It's good that you decided that -- REAL good!" like they are afraid of being wished out to the cornfield in that Twilight Zone episode. No one to rein him in, no one to question his dialogue, his camera blocking, his characters. The original Star Wars and Empire were creative collaborations. Jedi to a lesser extent. But the prequels were all Lucas. The artists, modelers, animators, etc. were used more like tools than creative partners.
What many consider to be the high point of the series, Empire, was the movie Lucas had the least to do with. And I think that was the beginning of the hurt ego problems which eventually led to the downfall of Star Wars. For the next movie, instead of hiring a director with a voice, he hired a puppet behind whom Lucas could shadow-direct. Never again would Lucas let someone else receive credit for making Star Wars great. So when you talk about the fall of Star Wars, I think you have to say it began with Jedi.
All that being said, I think I have more respect for the ridiculous folly of the prequels than the adequate-at-best sequels made by soulless committee and market testing. The sequels are much better shot, particularly the character-focused scenes. And the dialogue & acting in the sequels is infinitely better than in the prequels. That's not even open for discussion. But the prequels are at least someone's honest and uncensored artistic vision, regardless of how far they go wrong at so many points.
