(well, at least 5 and 6 - but in episode 4, George was still worried about doing a good job). The guys for 5-6 were very gifted in this area, and had a solid reputation, and that showed through. This is why they were passable. Lucas wrote and directed 1-3 essentially in an echo chamber surrounded by sycophants. Not only is the acting, actors, and story line different for the worse, but the overall look, feel and underlying philosophical underpinnings of the shows is worse in 1-3. For Star Wars nuts, the difference is glaring, and spawned all the hate toward Lucas.

How you equate Willow Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Labyrinth is bizarre. You'll get no argument from me that Willow and Labryrinth are cheesy. That's a little like putting Schindler's list, The Land Before Time, and The Goonies in the same camp as Spielberg-involved movies that were okay but cheesy stories.