I think its a simple matter of wanting your kids to like what you like. I hope that my girls like the OT but I won't be surprised if they like the PT first. The PT can be far more visually appealing and superficial in a way that works well for the younger crowd. Please note, I'm not saying that if you like the PT you are immature. I liked some of the PT when it first came out, but the appeal didn't hold over as I got older, so I think that as people age there can come a different appreciate for art and media, and that includes Star Wars.
That is definitely the case, though it's overdone in many places. The visuals and every scene with Ian McDiarmid: the only good parts of the newer films.
My 11 year old stepson has seen the original trilogy and built some models of the ships- last week I introduced him to 'The Phantom Menace'. He liked the pod racing part but just did not care much for the movie as a whole. 'Attack of the Clones' is next for family movie night Thursday... When you watch the two trilogies side by side I get the sense of something missing. The prequels are technically sophisticated- no question the SFX was superior, but then again the movies seem to polished, almost sterile. The originals had vitality and personal touch- I just hope the new films can capture that magic again...
The OT was a less technologically-sophisticated classic car that has fewer cool options but still rides and looks great. The PT is a modern sportscar that offers more to look at, but under the hood there's this banging sound that won't go away and the mileage often sucks. You don't mind driving it, but it's never going to be your favorite of the two.
For those who want to watch the trailer, and yet not be spoiled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkgoNRZbze8
I wonder if they had to digitally erase Harrison's earring piercing in his left ear for closeup shots. I don't know if the hole is tiny enough that its unnoticeable when Harrison removes what he's wearing but I don't think any piercing spot is visible in the new trailer.
If not, then it's yet another thing to nitpick. I keep waiting for someone to insert Jar Jar in the new trailer.
I tried getting my 5 year old nephew into the original Trilogy by putting on ANH. I didn't force him to watch it but put it on in the room he was playing in. It didn't completely grab his attention but things like the run on the Death Star had his attention and by the end of the movie when his little brother came in from his nap he shouted to him "you missed it, you missed it!". I think Episode 1 would have his attention more. It might be better to wait till he's a bit older though. Oh, and I took him to the toy store and asked him if he wanted me to buy him a lightsaber to which the staff at the store said I should stop trying to convince him and just buy it for myself.
I stopped pretending that all the Star Wars figures I purchase are for a kid. Like, about fifteen years ago. Nobody was buying it even back then.
My dad was, under the same guise that it was for his kids (though, I was 15 at the time ). My dad still buys SW toys from time to time. Its one of of his favorite hobbies.
The original movies came out before I was born, and I was a young adult when the prequels arrived. I generally prefer the prequels, though I like all the movies. I like all the political stuff - I find the stories of the prequels to show a far deeper universe than the originals did. I don't hate on anyone who disagrees, which seems to be normal vice versa. I think a lot of prequel hatred is due to fans falling in love with the originals as children, forgetting their faults, and finding that the prequels did not meet sixteen years of pent up expectations. But your mileage may vary, of course.
I was nine about when The Phantom Menace came out. I remember seeing it in the theater and mostly thinking it was boring, Anakin was annoying and I hated Jar Jar from the moment he appeared on screen. I had seen the OT on VHS (we owned the special editions and probably got them on VHS the year they came out), but I obviously didn't have sixteen years of pent up frustration. I still thought TPM sucked, and when I also saw AOTC and ROTS in theaters I basically had the same reaction to them (although ROTS is ok, the best of the prequels and a moderately decent movie, although its not nearly as good as the OT).
There are a lot of things I don't like about how the Prequel Trilogy was written and filmed and I've made my share of comments both serious and jokey about how Episode II stinks and Hayden and Natalie have the romantic dialogue and chemistry of mannequins or background extras in a porno, but they're not that bad. They just tend to pale badly in comparison to the OT films. Do I think they're inferior movies? Yeah, to a large extent. But did they ruin the childhoods of every Gen-X'er who grew up in the '70s and '80s? Nope. At worst they're disappointing, not cinematic war crimes.