Proud and unashamed to admit that I liked the story. I liked the acting. I liked the dialog. I liked the movie. I liked the fact that the hatred Anakin swims in through the dark side causes him to try to kill the very person he sold himself to save.
I also realize that building a planet-killing space station the size of a moon takes more than a few months, even in a galactic empire.
Especially considering how small the "discretionary budget" appeared to be under the peace-time Republic, and how large it was becoming once it had been on a war-footing for a while.
I watched IV last night, and the acting is equally bad or worse. Hamill is the whiniest character in movie history. Acting is not what made these movies great.
The thing I-III missed was the 'banter' between character in the first three. The dynamics between Luke, Leah, Han, Chewie and the droids are mostly absent in the newer series. It is more about the story and the effects than the characters. I liked them all, except this addition would have made them even better.