David -- couldn't have said it better myself. I agree with all the major points of your analysis, on both the prequels and the original trilogy, though I would add that Liam Neeson looked like he was sleepwalking through some of PHANTOM MENACE as much as Harrison Ford was on JEDI. The points you make about the production design, art direction and scoring of PHANTOM MENACE -- I think you nailed why the picture appeals to me, in spite of its (and the prequels in general's) shortcomings. The picture does have a feeling of a certain time and place to it -- it's not just another CGI green-screen fest (at least Lucas went to Italy and Tunisia to capture some of it), and Williams' scoring was absolutely superb. In fact, I hope I'm wrong, but I'm guessing his prequel scoring will go down as the most significant works of the latter stage of his career (particularly in lieu of how forgettable KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL was).

I also particularly feel the same way where the original STAR WARS is concerned -- there is no EMPIRE without it, and while I know many believe EMPIRE is the "superior film," the free-wheeling, upbeat spirit of the original (which truly "started it all") remains invigorating to me upon repeat viewing, whereas the more serious, "mythological" elements seem to come into play a bit too obviously for me in EMPIRE (Luke and his father, etc., Yoda's proclamations, etc.).

Not saying I don't love EMPIRE, but the '77 STAR WARS has a special place in my heart for certain and has some aspects to it none of the other pictures in the series does.

I am still not on the Blu-ray bandwagon, but this release might just be the final push needed to win me over. I mean, if I've now purchased the soundtrack albums multiple times from LP, cassette and CD, what's the difference with owning the movies in a new format?

And for the record, I'm with Andy and David regarding the prequels, flaws and all, good comments about the Oedipus Rex and irony of a Jedi-led Senate... I never expected the new trilogy to duplicate aspects of the original, I was happy with new character dynamic, tone and story content. And I happened to like seeing the slowly machinations of Palpatine unfold across the three movies.

I need to relate one other story. About two years ago, I had the pleasure of working with Billy Dee Williams on a TV show. He was a very cordial and professional man, and quite a good actor. After we'd been working together for about a week, I couldn't resist asking the obvious question: If you have a friend, and that friend is kind of in a jam and needs your help and wants to hide out at your place for a little while, is it a really friendly thing to go ahead and turn him over to the guys he's running away from? And moreover, is it a really friendly thing to help them freeze him into a block of ice?!!! His response was fairly brief: "You know, you do go on...." But he did tell me that when he was dropping his son off at elementary school in 1980 or so, the other kids at the school would see him and shout "Hey! That's the guy that messed up Han Solo!!!"

I am still not on the Blu-ray bandwagon, but this release might just be the final push needed to win me over. I mean, if I've now purchased the soundtrack albums multiple times from LP, cassette and CD, what's the difference with owning the movies in a new format?

Tom, I think this holiday season will be the time to jump in if you haven't. I firmly expect a wealth of quality BD players under $100 and right now there's enough content out there to justify it.

If you're firmly into HDTV at this point, there's really no reason not to.