Good points. The series peaked, I think, with "Empire Strikes Back". From that point on, story line, dialog, and plot were sacrificed to marketable toys and special effects for the purpose of special effects. (What the heck was the point of that whole long-running pod race scene in Episode I?)
Agreed! Don’t even get me started on the prequels. It’s my opinion that Star Wars fell apart with ROTJ. Leia is Luke’s sister-WHAT!!?? Cutesy furballs who can take on “elite” stormtroopers—WTH! Leia’s “I always knew.” Really!!? And you kissed your brother anyway in ESB? Ugh. Han Solo’s 90210 immature acting (”Well, if that’s the way you really feel about it, hmph”). Retreaded ideas—ANOTHER DEATH STAR!! And it’s BIGGER! Ooh. Yay.
Bad cinematography was it’s biggest downfall. The first two movies look gritty and real. ROTJ looks like someone took some Windex to everything and cleaned it up. I mean, even Jabba’s palace looked hokey.
Stupid. Just stupid.