It’s a little premature at this point for me to rank ROTS since it’s so fresh in my mind, so new. I guess it’s a bit like sex for the Star Wars geek… it’s the action I’m getting’ now, it’s new, so I’m gonna say it’s pretty damn good. Always good when it’s new! And even when it’s bad, it’s still a good thing to have. Like so many have said before me, it will be interesting to see how it all settles down in the end… that said…

1. Empire – Still hands down my favorite. It took all that was cool about ANH and turned it up to 11. Though I almost went with…
2. Sith – I actually thought on it for a long time, and if GL hadn’t edited it down to fit his ‘standard trilogy timeframe’ I would have said #1. I would have sat through a three hour Star Wars movie. Who wouldn’t?
3. Menace – Yeah it had its faults. But it was the launch of a trilogy I had been waiting for for years. What if we never got a PT? What if GL whacked himself after Radioland Murders? Plus, Darth Maul, baby!
4. A New Hope – Started it all. And seeing it in a whole new light after Sith is amazing. I can’t imagine what it must be like to see these in order for the first time, to see Vader walk in that hallway after last seeing him in Sith… but it gave me goosebumps watching them all in order this last weekend. Thank the force for that workprint…
5. Jedi – Might have placed higher if not for the dreaded Ewoks. It leasr the SE got rid of that damn song at the end. “I am a Jedi, Like my father before me,” gets me every time.
6. Send in the Clones – or whatever. I still hate the name. Worst. Name. Ever. And all that clunky love story writing… Anakin came off like a deranged stalker. I always have to ask myself, THAT”S Darth Vader…?

But then again, they all rock in the end, don’t they?

In my opinion Episode III is miles better than either of the other two prequels but still doesn't even come close to being as great as the originals. Don't get me wrong, it is a good film... possibly even great. But it is still missing something that the originals carry.... and it's hard to put my finger on it. I think that, although this film does have and even provoke emotion, we are not made to invest as much emotion in these characters as we are made to feel for Luke, Han and Leia.

My list, for what it's worth:

The Empire Strikes Back
A New Hope
Return Of The Jedi
Revenge Of The Sith
The Phantom Menace
Attack Of The Clones

You make a good point though I do have to disagree to an extent. It would be amazingly upsetting for us if we did care for Anakin and Padme as we do for our OT heroes. But would this really be a bad thing? To be honest I was expecting to feel very sad during Padme's death scene which I didn't. Sure, I felt sad but not nearly as much as I'd expected. And when Obi Wan discovers the truth behind the Jedi slaughters I expected to feel a great deal of sorrow for Obi Wan. And it seems the characters in these films don't even have as much emotion as the OT characters... I would have thought Obi Wan would have been at least a tad bit surprised and upset to find his apprentice and 'brother' had done such things.

"Maybe it just shittier writing" indeed.

The two trilogies have very different styles in my opinion. Lucas has said himself that these films are not about the dialogue, but the visuals and sound. 90% of a character's character (for lack of a better word) comes from their dialogue. The OT is not just about visuals and sound which is what I think sets it above the PT.

Or maybe I'm just talking outta my arse...

I agree with you that the PT is meant to have a much greater scope than the OT... and perhaps that is what draws others towards the PT more, and what draws me towards the OT... I prefer the more personal feel of the OT.

1.- ROTS/ESB
2.- TPM/ANH
3.- AOTC/ROTJ

ROTS
AOTC
TPM
ANH
TESB
ROTJ

My ranking:

1. ROTS
2. AOTC/ESB
4. ROTJ
5. ANH
6. TPM


As you see, I don't like introductions.

Taiyou

Very well said. I completely agree.

It's definitely for the worse from my point of view... but obviously there is a big demand for these spectacular, cg-filled, 'epic's in today's mainstream society. Unfortunate as it may be...

I couldnt agree more. I cant believe some people are grouping ROTS with ESB!

no, AotC was already at the bottom when it came out. It's really the most boring of all six, and I force myself to watch it every time I do a marathon.

1) A New Hope
2-3) Revenge of the Sith/ Empire Strikes Back
4-5) Attack of the Clones/ The Phantom Menace
6) Return of the Jedi

I watched them all again, and honestly, A New Hope is by far the best film. I used to think Empire, and maybe it's because I've seen it so many times it's worn thin on me, but A New Hope is so much fun. I watched it by myself and literally found myself laughing out loud a dozen times. For pure rewatchability alone--this IS the film. I can't believe people complain about the pacing. I think it's perfect, and that's not nostalagia speaking since I never saw this in the theater until the SE.

Empire's great too, and I understand it probably is a better made film, but A New Hope is sheer exuberance.

Return of the Jedi is by far my least favorite. I watched all six, and I actually turned off Jedi and watched the rest later. It doesn't do it for me on so many levels. The fun isn't there, and there isn't tragedy or darkness either. If it wasn't for the Emporer scenes and Luke vs. Vader, I really would never find myself watching this movie. It's really the only movie in the series I wish was different.

As for the quesiton, yes, it makes the films, especially the PT, seem better, but at the same time it makes me wish that all the fluff could've been better in Jedi.

But honestly I try to think of it all as one film, and if it's looked at that way, I think it's much better to appreciate the story as a whole.

And on a side-note, Jar Jar never bothered me, except for a few minor quibbles, and Clones, though shit on by much of the community, has a ton of replayability. I honestly think some people have convinced themselves it's shit, even though they liked it at first. I do think it's kinda messy in spots though, but it's still a helluva ride (and everything related to Kamino IS why I love that movie).

ROTJ has definatley gone up in my rankings since ROTS,as it has for many people judging by posts in this thread.
But c'mon people ESB is easily the most powerful installment in the saga.
OH yeah one last thing,what a reversal in fortunes TPM seems to be having.
Who'd have predicted that?

Ok, heres my two pence worth:-

1) Empire - Four words "I am your father". Its what all six of these films centres round, and what every film in the series since 1980 has being buliding upon. It is by far the most important part of any Star Wars film. Not only that, this film has the best script, with some great dialogue, is beautifully shot, and is really tightly edited, with the parallel stories of the Millennium Falcon and Luke/Yoda making for a sense of pace that has never really been replicated since then. It just works, from start to finish, and does its job by leaving you desperate to see more.

2)A New Hope - Its the grand-daddy. The one that started us all down this dark path to fandom and merchandise hording. Its without doubt the simplest of all the films, but thats only because no-one expected it to succeed. In-fact its strength stems from its simplicity. Its the only one of the six that has a true beginning, middle and end. Its the self-contained episode that you can watch without having to see what happens next. Sith has brought new meaning to the film in the context of the whole saga, because it adds new depth to the characters and locations, which has for me soldified its position in second place.

3)Sith - First screening of this I was really undecided just how much I liked this film, because its quite possibly the fastest moving film I've ever seen. It zips through scenes like theres no tommorrow, and quite often theres no time to draw breath. Thankfully you do get the chance when an Anakin/Padme scene comes up! Overall though it is a highly enjoyable action film, that sets up well what is to come in the next three episodes. The Yoda/Palpatine confrontation and the space battle at the beginning are highlights, and the turn of Anakin works well for me, not least because you are able to trace its roots to TPM and AOTC.

4)Jedi - To be quite honest its not just in fourth because of the Ewoks. Its several things that grate on me. Don;t get me wrong, I think that the Battle above Endor is the best space battle of them all, and that the Luke/Vader/Emporer scenes are fantastic. But the rescue of Han from Jabba looks tired, the C3-PO "god" scene is really ill-advised, and the exchanges between Luke and Leia seem too forced. Only the Speeder Bike chase helps to bring a bit of zip to the movie.

5)Clones - I know, the dialogue is crummy, the love scenes are unlovable and it drags in places, but it does have one of the best twenty minute sections of any Star Wars film. Everything from the arena full of Jedi onwards is just pure fun, pure adrenalin, and builds up momentum fantastically that it makes you desperatley want to watch Sith.

6)Menace - Ironically its probably the best structured film out of the prequels. The script isn't quite as bad as the other two either, and the lightsabre battle between Obi Wan/Qui Gon and Maul is the best of all six films. So why is it at six. Because it just doesn't excite me. Never really has to be honest. It feels pretty dull in places, with the pod race being the only other stand out section. Its not Jar Jar's fault by the way, although he doesn't help. It doesn't have that certain something that helps to entertain like the rest of them do.


As a foot-note to all this, the reason why the original trilogy seems to work better as a whole is for one main reason. ANH, ESB and ROTJ were all told through the eyes of two little droids. They carried the story to the audience, and somehow you could empathise with these two little hunkajunks. The new films didn;t carry this notion on. Threepio only really had cameo appearences in TPM and ROTS, and only came into the new films at end of AOTC (see above). Just a thought, but one you guys might wanna consider.

I've got to strongly disagree with you here about the Death Star. RotS helps make this make even more sense.

In ANH (pre-prequel), we have this scene where the regional governors talk about the Senate being swept away, and that fear of the battlestation will keep the local systems in line. Well, the Death Star gets destroyed, now the Emperor doesn't have his big stick to hold over the galaxys head, so he starts to build a new one. We see that happening, but maybe perhaps don't understand the full reasons why...

But with RotS, we have Bail Organa making it very clear that Palps needs the Senate to keep the Empire together. Palps doesn't have his full military machine online yet so he can become a true dictator. As soon as the Death Star is completed, he doesn't need the Senate any longer, so he scraps it...

Makes perfect sense to me.

Maybe it's because the person genuinely believes that ROTS is as good as ESB and that it will remain as good as ESB for years to come. It could also be explained by people realistically reviewing these movies from a critical point of view rather than looking back to how they viewed these movies as a child. It might also be explained by the fact that ROTS is generally receiving very positive reviews from fans and critics alike, unlike ESB which received mixed reviews after its initial release.

Stop condescending people by assuming that your reading of the film is the correct one. If people love ROTS then let them. Heck most people I know (who are more casual fans) put ESB dead last on their list of favourite star wars flicks. Are they wrong too? Or is it simply a case of having different tastes.

So true. I think it's mainly the more hardcore fans (and the modern critics) who put Empire on such a high pedestal. Most of my friends prefer Jedi, Sith, or even clones to Empire. They give the typical, no beginning, no end, it's depressing line.

I think for a lot of viewers who didn't get a chance to "live" the revelations of the movie, it's less magic to them than those who experienced it. I still think it's the best constructed movie though, from a purely technical point of view.

Empire is the best constructed Star Wars film. There is no question about that. It's definately the most polished.

1- ROTS
2- AOTC
3- ANH/TESB
4- ROTJ
5- TPM

1. ROTS
2. ANH
3. TPM
4. ROTJ
5. AOTC
6. TESB

Wow, what makes you put ESB at the bottom?

Yeah, that's basically what I was getting at in a very round about way. Those that saw Empire and were like "Holy shit!" at those amazing moments undoubtedly remember that, adding to the nostalagia factor. Me, I basically knew all that stuff ahead of time, since ROTJ was the first movie I ever saw, so it diminished the impact of some of those key moments in a certain way.

I USED to think Jedi was the best, probably because I'd seen it twenty times (recorded from the TV) before any of the others. And I used to like Empire the least (because I was young), but the more I got into the films, the more I appreciated the perfection of that movie.

I think that's why GENERALLY speaking, most older fans like the OT, and most younger fans like the PT. As I got older though, my whole liking of the trilogy really flipped around.

I think A New Hope is the perfect example of the age difference. Not all, but a lot of younger fans put Hope towards the bottom of the list for a whole bunch of reasons, but I still think that film holds up the best over the years, and would much rather watch that episode than any of the others. It's a shame how my generation is so hyped up at super-speed that they start getting antsy in their seats because of that incredibly slow five minute scene of the droids rolling across the desert. That the movie takes the time to breathe is why I love it so much.

ROTS
AOTC
ROTJ
TPM
ANH
ESB

I love them all, but I really like the storyline of the prequels. Particularly the way none of the good guys know fuck-all about what's going on in AOTC, and just start to get it in ROTS, when it's far, far too late.

ROTJ is incredible just for the Luke-Emperor-Vader confrontation, but I also enjoy the opening, and I find the Ewoks cute. So I really love it. And Ian's performance in this film is the only thing tht made me want to see the prequels.

TPM is a lot of fun for me, despite some admittedly wooden characters. Having the Darth Sidious hologram pop up every twenty minutes to give instructions to the weasel-ly bad guys was a great cornball approach that simultaneously set up the real plot of the movie, which is Palpatine's rise to power.

ANH is a bit slower, and doesn't fit in the saga as well as the others, but the droids really make this one for me, as does Obi-Wan.

ESB. I love this movie, just like the others, but I never quite got why this is the universal favorite. Pretty much every scene that doesn't have Luke or Vader seems to be dicking around. Han and the crew getting chased around, hiding in an asteroid, going to meet pimp daddy Lando Calrissian....I don't know. I don't dislike it, but so much happens here that is of absolutely zero consequence--doesn't make for the strongest entry, at least to me. Anakin and Padme's romance may have been awkward at times, but the Han-Leia romance doesn't do it for me, as they fall in love like sixth-graders, and more importantly, the relationship seems to have nothing at all to do with anything, except giving themselves something to do while Luke carries the actual plot forward.

Anyway, love them all to death, can't wait to get my wallet pillaged by George in two more years in exchange for a huge Blu-Ray Saga set or whatever, with more changes to boot. I'm also glad I don't have the ludicrous technical literacy it takes to have the sound editing ruin the last two movies.

Wait a minute. You didn't find that "Are you an angel?" scene to be one of the worst in movie history? That makes me want to vomit every time that I see it. I'm not trying to be a prick but it just struck me as funny when you said that there "was no corny dialougue" in TPM.

And just cause I'm tired of seeing abbreviations, I'm writing out the whole names....

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Revenge of the Sith
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Attack of the Clones
6. The Phantom Menace

Honestly I'm very surprised by how high TPM (now I'll abbreviate) is on so many people's lists. I really don't get what you all see in that movie. Yeah I like it, and I watch it a fair amount, but I just don't think it compares with ANY of the other films in the saga. AOTC was a huge step up, and ROTS is lightyears beyond it, in my opinion. Really the only part of the list that is tough for me is the ranking of ROTS and ROTJ. I love the Vader\Emperor\Luke stuff so much that it almost nudges out ROTS (and I'm not someone that hates ewoks either), but the overall emotion level throughout the whole of ROTS (as opposed to just the super emotional last half hour in ROTJ) gives it the win. Again, all in my humble opinion.

Here is my list and my reason for each:

1. Empire - is there anything in this film that doesn't work? The mood, the sets, the dialogue. Yoda. Wampas. Fathers and sons. I mean everything just clicked.

2. Jedi - This is THE climax. The whole saga comes down to whether a father can redeem himself in the eyes of his son and the force. 2/3 of this film is just wonderful. Ewoks don't bother me that much, but couldn't we just have had the Rebel troops fighting stormtroopers on Endor?

3. Sith - Again, just like Jedi, 2/3 of this film is just wonderful. Actually I will go as far as saying that from the Emperor/Mace duel to the end is the best part of the entire saga. After seeing it four times, I still feel like from 20 minutes into the movie until the duel I mentioned above, the movie just drags.

4. A New Hope - Yes, this movie definitely gets better when viewed with Sith. Where it all started. Seeing those suns set gets me every time.

5. Clones - The only reason I put this one ahead of Menace is because of something other people in this thread have already mentioned: Kamino. Just the look of the planet. Like it always has a hurricane going on this planet. Such a dark awesome planet. The only thing is that I would have loved to see a Jedi and Sith go at it outside the way Jango and Obi-Wan do. A red and blue lightsaber duel would have been most excellent in that setting. I also love the Death Star plans coming up.

6. Menace - What can I say? It's all about Maul. If anyone was going to give Vader and the Emperor a run for their money as big time villains, it was this guy. Too bad he was sorely underused. And that probably bothers me more than all the screen time Jar Jar gets. What else works? Qui-Gon and young Obi-Wan. It's nice to see Obi-Wan as someones padawan instead of the other way around for the rest of the saga.

I actually loved the fact that Maul bit it so fast.

For weeks and weeks prior to the movie, everyone kept saying how he was going to be THE new best villain of all the movies.

Never quite panned out that way...

Attack of the Clones got a 3 1/2 star rating in USA Today when it came out. I remember reading that day's paper like it was yesterday.

I also loved seeing Jango get his head lopped off by Windu. One of THE best moments in AOTC.

Clones was critically more successful than Menace.

I can only remember a few critics that thought the other way around.

I dissagree. TPM was a great movie. Why it gets dissed, I have no idea. But AOTC was excellent. Everything about it was cool. Finding out all the back story and so forth about the clones, the lightsaber fights, even the love story part (which I find weird that people disliked so much) was very good.

I can't speak for the others here but I will tell you why I like TPM least of all six Star Wars movies.

The big thing for me (and many others) is Jar Jar. He just really really annoys me and when I watch TPM whenever he's on screen I find that I'm always asking myself "Is this really necessary?" His character just really annoys me and takes away from the other things going on in the film. It doesn't help that his character basically amounts to squat by the end of the PT.

Also, there's hardly any Darth Maul. I reallly loved his character but we didn't get to see enough of him. I think the main difference between this movie and the OT is the fact that we see very little of the bad guy during the film. If they would have had more of him in this film and really cut down Jar Jars role (or given his character something important to do) I would have ranked this film higher.

But that's just my opinion. Take what you want from it.

It's the tattoos and the horns.

Sorry but to me there's more to a character than just the amount of lines he has. The way he carried himself and the way he fought was totally bad ass. I only wish that they would have given Maul some more lines so this could have been drawn out some more and also add some complexity to his character. That's all.

Maybe that's why he's loved: no corny lines to ruin the coolness of the character. I think it's the case of judging a person by his fighting. I'm not a big fan of Maul, but I have to admit he looks cool and menacing - just like a young Sith should.

To me, he's the best star wars villian. Too bad he was only in one movie.

I think it's just because he seems to exude hate. And looking at his appearance, it appears he's way into the whole sith thing. I think that's enough to give off what his character is, someone with intent to destroy the jedi.

Too bad he never really pulled that off.

1. ROTJ
2. ROTS
3. ESB
4. ANH
5. TPM
6. AOTC

.... only my opinion.

ROTS
TESB/ROTJ
ANH/TPM/AOTC

1. Revenge of the Sith
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. A New Hope
4. The Phantom Menace
5. Return of the Jedi
6. Attack of the Clones

ROTS is an exceptional film, in spite of the minor flaws it has. And while ESB is a better all-round constructed film, the emotional pull of ROTS (from the care-free opening sequence to the tragic end) makes it my favorite SW film (ROTS, ANH & ESB are all very close though). TPM is also a much underrated film. ROTJ is just too disjointed for my tastes, although the confrontation between Vader and Luke is incredible. Clones is ... well, I'll simply say that it's my least favorite and leave it at that.

let this be entered into the Jedi archive:

1 - The Empire Strikes Back
2 - A New Hope
3 - Revenge of the Sith
4 - Return of the Jedi
5 - The Phantom Menace
6 - Attack of the Clones

Just because a few people of note didn't like the flick doesn't mean their opinion is representative of the entire community.

At the time of its release, AOTC was said to be a noteable improvement over Menace. Yes, some critics have backpeddled and retracted their opinions, but in 2002 it was a different story.

How many times are you going to make the same fucking post?

Idiot.

Im gonna sound like an ass but sorry, anyone who puts ESB at the fuckin bottom of the list, is reaallly hard to be taken seriously.

.

I like Palpatine, I can watch his parts all day so he makes the movies for me.

RotS
ESB
RotJ -The ewoks downing the Empire was GAY though
ANH
TPM
AotC -What the hell was the point of this film, I could explain what happend to someone between TPM and RotS in 30 seconds and they'd be fine.

Telling people they can't say ESB sucks sounds WAY too tfn for my liking, I hate those superfriends that wish they could suck Lucas's cock all day and think he shits gold....

1. ANH
2. ESB
3. ROTS
4. TPM
5. ROTJ
6. AOTC

I really respect how revolutionary ANH was, and I think it's always number one in my heart because of that.

My dad says:

1. ANH
2. ROTS
3. ROTJ
4. ESB
5. TPM
6. ATOC

He had a personal vendetta against ESB because it made him wait for three years before the story concluded. I wasn't around back then, so my opinion isn't skewed in such a way.

For me its:

1) The Empire Strikes Back
2) Return of the Jedi
3) Revenge of the Sith
4) Attack of the Clones
5) The Phantom Menace/ A New Hope

I absolutely agree with that statement.

I put ROTJ before Empire soley because of it's ending with Vader coming back from the dark side. Thats pretty much my favorite part of the saga. With ROTS it was Anakin's fall, another great part to the saga. There's no doubt that Empire was the most solid and best put together film of all of them but that doesn't mean it's gonna be everyone's favorite.

Hell, I've even read that some people loved the Kamino scenes in AOTC. Personally, I thought thats one of the things that drug it down.... but thats only my opinion.

1a. Revenge of the Sith
1b. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope/Return of the Jedi
3. Phantom Menace/ Attack of the Clones

Strange, but ROTS didn't affect my pre-ROTS ranking of the movies. I rank them by rewatchibility:

ANH - 100% rewatchable Timeless classic that started it all. I enjoy even the slow Tatooine parts.
ESB - 98% rewatchability. Wompa is boring and space slug is silly and I actually wish sometimes they rescued frozen Han so that we wouldn't be stuck on Tatooine for half of ROTJ. It might be the best constructed movie but there's something unstarwarsy about it. Like it takes itself a bit too seriously for a space opera.
ROTJ/AOTC - both movies had great potential they they failed to realize to but still achieve respectable 70% rewatchability. ROTS has made Vader/Emperor/Luke scenes a lot more meaningful but also made it even more lackluster finale to the saga.
TPM - 50% rewatchability (on a good day). There're a lot of things I dislike about this movie and Jar Jar is not one of them (but toilet humor is). All in all, it's a waste of time in terms of plot and characterization. Too much time spent on characters who don't have a significant part in the later stories (not even mentioned in the OT) while the relationship between main characters of the saga is not set up. Why couldn't it be Obi-Wan who went out on Tatooine and found Anakin? Action is not very exciting. A lot of intriguing ideas introduced but never explained (living Force, balance of the Force, the prophecy, "at last we will have revenge" - revenge for what?). But we do get a lecture on midichlorians. Some silly concepts even by Star Wars standards. 14 year old elected queen? Huh?

So where would ROTS fit? Right now up there either with ANH or ESB. It's still new and exiciting and unlike other prequels gets better with subsequent viewings. So there's hope it stays there on top.

It seems there are two different sets of fans here... ones who prefer the personal approach to the originals and those who prefer the generic, epic style of the prequels and possibly Jedi.

Call me an OT loyalist if you must, but I just can't bring myself to put any of the prequels up there with the originals. And I don't think age or when you first saw the films matters much as people have suggested. I first saw the originals when I was eight when they were rereleased on VHS in 1995 and was hooked immediately. They still blow me away today!

Another take on my rankings of the saga:

ESB>ANH>>ROTJ>>ROTS>>>>>TPM>AOTC

>>>And I don't think age or when you first saw the films matters much as people have suggested. I first saw the originals when I was eight when they were rereleased on VHS in 1995 and was hooked immediately. They still blow me away today!<<<

Isn't that the point people are making? That we saw the originals when we were younger and that dumb things like turture machines for robots and han solo's utter lame-ness in JEDI and the Ewoks didn't matter yet cos we were just into the spectacle of the movies, even on video?
i remember myself when JEDI came out going to see it on opening night in 1983 and being completely blown away - I thought it was just so great - I though it was the best Star Wars movie by far. I was 11 at the time (I was 5 when ANH came out in '77) and just loved the spectacle of it - and I thought Salacious Crumb was the funniest thing ever. I was actually sad when the Eowk get's killed during the battle.
Maybe I saw it too many times, or maybe I just grew up, but JEDI has not aged well for me. ANH and ESB still work for me like gangbusters. I never would have thought this in May 2002, but now I find TPM more satisfying than AOTC - I think AOTC is better tasting when it goes down, but doesn't satisfy your hunger in anyway - there's not much to chew on in it.
In any case, my actual point was that you say age doesn't matter, but then say you saw the first trilogy when you were 8 in '95 and loved them. Now you're 18 and don't like the prequels as much. Well, when I was 18 in 1989 I didn't like the same kind of movies I did when I was 11 either.
Rather than rank the films in any sort of order, I would just say that they all have flaws - but that JEDI being in the highlight position of the big finish to all 6 films ultimately disappoints in a huge way. TPM's weaknesses may be in inherent in it trying to start off the series despite being made 4th. CLONES really feels like the middle 2 hours of a miniseries. SITH is very satisfying. ANH and ESB are also very satisfying, although the Special Additions (sic) sort of interrupt the pacing for me (especially in ESB). Oh and here's another thing - I remember seeing ANH Special Edition in '97 and being shocked at how bad the acting was in the Jabba scene and the Biggs scene on Yavin compared to the rest of the movie - then I realised that the acting was totally consistent, it was me that changed between seeing those scenes for the first time in '97 and seeing the rest of the movie 20 years earlier.
It's all subjective anyway and who knows, maybe 20 years from NOW we'll all be saying how lame all 6 Star Wars movies are and how GL's real triumph was the 8 sequels to WILLOW!