bigsef, tpm is fine, you must remember that these films are 1 persons idea and are part of a 12 hour film, any book spends the first sixth introducing characters, i'm sure the next film proves how important ob1's upbringing was i.e his arrogance and how anakin showed his over confidence. I like tpm, it does what it is supsosed to, introduce characters, show the size of the "galaxy" thats all.
if it were not for tpm, the sith would still be a secret, the grandious nature of the jedi would not be known or would the size of the republic. without knowing these, the first 3 films would loose some of their appeal, the fact that 1 person can bring down all of these factors.
sw's is about dv, and he does bring down these 3 important factors. obviously with palpy's help but tpm is just used to set the story. nothing else. wait for aotc.
sand person, i dont argue with any of what you said. TPM sets everything up nicely and explains alot. but the actual plot and dialog sucked. there was absolutely no reason TPM could not have had the character interaction of the original trilogy. GL admits he sucks at writing, and thats why i have problems with TPM. i feel anakin skywalker should have had alot more screen time, and the relationship between obi-wan and qui-gon should have been developed alot more. i dont think anyone will disagree with me on those points. other than that, TPM is fine. even jar-jar. 🙂