I just showed THE PHANTOM MENACE to the kids (they've seen the other first 5 films, but I'd studiously avoided Ep 1). And they loved it. They loved Jar Jar, they loved the pod racing; they were rapt throughout. I honestly feel like I might have been misjudging it for 20 years.

Part of it is that as bad a 1 is, 2 is far far worse