I think Ep 1 is so bad that it's unwatchable these days. I always found Ep 2 enjoyable purely for the comedy value of how poorly made it was (especially the CG), and I just found Ep 3 to be boring, but not bad. Most people seemed to like that one, but I didn't find any entertainment value in it. It was largely going through the motions to fit the square peg of the PT to the round hole of the OT. So by default my favourite was Ep 2, which is kind of sad.
Curiously, I like Episode I the most. For all its ridiculousness, it feels the most like a real movie. Not every background is CG, there's real sets in it. Not every dialog scene is shot/reverse shot. It's obviously not a good movie by any stretch, but it's not totally without merit.
Is there anyone who thinks Ep 1 is a good movie who didn't see it as a kid? I want to believe that nostalgia is the only possible reason anyone can find that to be an enjoyable movie.
I saw it as a kid, but the only thing I remember from then is the pod race scene. At the time, Episode I was actually my least favorite, because ATOC has action and ROTS was dark.
Episode III is the one that confuses me the most in terms of fan perception. It's the darkest movie, yes, but that darkness is so poorly handled that it's actually worse than the other two movies. It sucks when Jar Jar steps in the poop, definitely. But it's even worse when Anakin is explaining why he's chosen to completely betray who he is and says "IN MY POINT OF VIEW THE JEDI ARE EVIL!!!!!"
It will be interesting what the fanbase thinks about Ep VII. I'm hearing rumours that the rewrites to the script were to put the focus on the 3 returning characters for Ep VII, then hand it off to the new characters for the next movies, so with much stronger connections to the OT, I think people are going to be more strongly opinionated one way or another on the new movies.
I have no expectations. These movies exist not because anyone wanted to tell this story, but because Disney wants to make money. And JJ Abrams is directing. His track record is anti-inspiring to me.