I might be a minority, but I always considered plot of original Star Wars extremely underwhelming and the only interesting parts of all movies when I was a kid were space flight/another planets and sci-fi action scenes like X-wing vs Tie fighter battles, speeder bike chase, taking down star destroyer, the destruction of a planet by Death Star and lightsaber fights. The rest was just a boring filler. I frankly see no point in Star Wars these days as computer games are way more elaborate (e.g. Mass Effect, Elite, Prey, Borderlands Pre-sequel etc.), both in story and technical arrangement.
I also remember some original Star Wars actors despised the movies, doing them only for money, and then were surprised by the popularity and disgusted by the fact those movies represented their "life's work" they were best known for.
I agree with you. Original ones were super novel in technical/fantasy aspects and I get whey they became topics of such obsession by many during releases, but as stories and cinematic quality go, they are on the level of cartoons for 5 year olds with some heavy inconsistencies which are hard to ignore for adults. Some parts like ewoks I literally have to suffer through. No wonder many actors weren't proud of their participation.
Proof - older gens consider them eternal classics, most of the young these days couldn't care less. Give them some true classics like Spartacus or Orson Welles and they are more intrigued.
All that bashing said, I love them all, even the crappiest prequels, but then again I love tons of sci-fi and fantasy.
> Give them some true classics like Spartacus or Orson Welles and they are more intrigued.
I don't think your proof works as well as you expect. Counterpoint: pick a random person, tell them to watch Citizen Kane, and tell them that it's "the greatest film ever made". I think they will have... opinions about that title. On a quick search, "A new hope" has higher audience ratings that "Citizen Kane" in IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic.
The original trilogy is not perfect, but it definitely is a true classic under any definition of the term.
I also remember some original Star Wars actors despised the movies, doing them only for money, and then were surprised by the popularity and disgusted by the fact those movies represented their "life's work" they were best known for.