Yoda, Obi-Wan good guys or galactic criminals?

My thoughts almost exactly.The idea of manufacturing a threat to justify Palapatines seizure of power makes some sense but it would have been much more interesting if Dooku had been honestly trying to oppose the Sith.

And it would have also been cool if Yoda was shown to be aware of what was transpiring all along but was so fixated on the prophecy that he screws up i.e. he knows Palpatine is a Sith Lord and that Dooku is after him but does not intervene thinking Anakin will save the situation...then the second trilogy would also represent his redemption.

Not to be totally off-topic, but do you suppose that Christopher Lee totally (sith) lorded it over the other actors because he's in Lord of the Rings? I know I would. I'd be all like "So, the other day, when I was in Lord of the Rings - oh, forgot, you guys aren't in that movie. Just me. Sorry."

My guess is the other actors kept asking him "what's it like to be in a movie with a good plot and script?"

The original movie was based loosely around Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. As such it included some wonderful mythological motifs. One of the great themes was that of the Hero Cycle as defined by Joseph Campbell who was one of Lucas’ influences. The other films in the original trilogy had a very strong base to build upon and also introduced some classical plot elements.Unfortunately Episode I was so weak that the whole prequel trilogy has no foundation. The only mythological theme that I detected was the virgin birth of Anakin. The Force's mystery was also destroyed with the introduction of Midichlorians. It is space fantasy after all. There needs to be some Magic.I can forgive the cheesy dialog and bad acting, after all the stories are targeted towards pre-teens, but if there are no deeper themes then the older audience members aren't going to keep coming back. I also don't feel emotionally connected to the characters. The highs and lows of the plots have been filed down to mere bumps.Oh well ... I'll just keep chanting my mantra "The next one will be better"

I was perhaps a bit harsh by saying no plot but the theme, character development, important events etc. are really poorly defined and executed in Episodes I-II versus IV-VI...how good can the first trilogy really be when they constantly have short insignificant guest appearances of characters from the second trilogy rather than some more substantial connection between the younger and older characters i.e. in what way did seeing a young Jabba the Hutt forward the overall plot of the trilogy?