I'm a humongous Star Wars fan so I will see if I can find that book in my local book store. It's funny, I figured out that Palpatine was the dark lord far before the third movie came out. I had a hunch after I saw Attack of the Clones, and I was proven to be right when I saw Revenge of the Sith.

We're talking about the villain in a space opera here, not a subtle study in real-life evil. I thought he hit all the right notes. Seeing the mask of calm manipulation finally torn away from this character I had know and hated (in a good way) for 22 years of my life was honestly pretty thrilling for me when I first saw it. And the fight with Yoda was freaking amazing, one of my favorite moments in the movie, and again, after 22 years of wondering what it would be like to see the guy fight, it was extremely satisfying.

That's really interesting, it had never occurred to me that his identity was ever a mystery to anyone, but I could totally see how it could be for a younger person who might not have seen the original trilogy first.

That fight compared to the Count Dooku fight? Now THAT was a Yoda fight.

Now, I know I'm being hard on the movie...but I really spent a long time defending it and making excuses for the prequel trilogy's horrible moments and eventually I just gave up. So now I'm quick to criticize their faults...especially since its release it has settled in that this is what we are left to deal with. And I am talking about maybe 10 minutes in the whole movie where he is over the top...but it was a critical 10 minutes for me.

Well I had seen the 4th 5th and 6th movies before the prequel trilogy, but I wasn't as big of a star wars fan as I am now, so I only watched them as movies, and didn't really focus on certain things. As I got older and watched the movies again though, more things started to click.

Even watching The Phantom Menace over and over again, you can see that they did put some anger into young Anakin's character, sort of hinting at the fact that he will be Darth Vader. Even though it's pretty obvious by the last name.

Whenever I have kids, I'm torn about whether or not I should show them the series in order or start with the classics. Obviously, I'm biased since I grew up with the original 3...but I am curious about how someone might judge them by starting at the beginning.

Yes, I agree that was even more awesome, especially because it was so surprising! And I'm sure it didn't hurt that I was stoned the first time I saw it.

Well, I don't deny that there are some weak moments in the prequels but I still enjoy them.

To give them the full effect, I'd say to have them watch the original trilogy, than watch the prequel. That's how it was for me in a sense, even if I didn't grow up with the original three. I found that the satisfaction of all the things finally coming together makes the experience more worthwhile.

I've found I am more critical after introducing several friends to Star Wars...non-fans are pretty harsh on the prequels. I should just stop caring and enjoy them myself haha.

Yeah, this is probably what I'll end up doing. I dragged my girlfriend to The Phantom Menace in 3d and she had never seen any of them. She was intrigued enough to keep watching them, and since she started with Episode I, I figured we should just keep watching them in order. By the time we got the the classics, I think her opinion was negatively effected.

Probably due to the classic feel of the originals.

Speaking of the Phantom Menace in 3D, I saw that as well, and I loved it. I had completely forgotten what a good story that movie told, but I really enjoyed it, even though there wasn't a whole lot of 3D throughout the movie. Maybe that's just me.