For what it’s worth, the machete order has been a thing for a long while now, but it was only more recently that the prequel trilogy was somewhat “redeemed” when the politicking became a lot more applicable and relatable to those earlier audiences who were likely very bored of it all as teenagers/young adults.
I would say the Phantom Menace is seen as a better movie today than it was back then, even though it’s a slow burn to get started, because it shows the early stages of a collapsing democracy that underlies the events of the following two movies. Everything is weighed down by bureaucracy, there are minor conflicts which escalate into something larger, people turning a blind eye to injustices like slavery, etc.
For what it’s worth, the machete order has been a thing for a long while now, but it was only more recently that the prequel trilogy was somewhat “redeemed” when the politicking became a lot more applicable and relatable to those earlier audiences who were likely very bored of it all as teenagers/young adults.
I would say the Phantom Menace is seen as a better movie today than it was back then, even though it’s a slow burn to get started, because it shows the early stages of a collapsing democracy that underlies the events of the following two movies. Everything is weighed down by bureaucracy, there are minor conflicts which escalate into something larger, people turning a blind eye to injustices like slavery, etc.