Sorry but I can't agree with you. Expectations could never have been so high if the first two movies were not so genius. I'll never forget that moment in the theater watching "Phantom Menace" when the thought crossed my mind..."This movie sucks." It was an utter letdown. We were all violated by a marketing machine, and we were angry.
And they really were genius. Of course, I was just a kid back in 1977 but even in later viewings those movies were pure gold. To me, that shit was REAL. We cared about the characters, all of us did. I mean, Han Solo fucking shot a guy in a bar. Arms came off! Uncle Owen and Aunt Berew were slaughtered and their corpses set on fire. These bad guys were BAD and the fate of the universe was at stake. This was legitimate cowboy space-opera magic.
That's why the new movies are so hated, because we bought in and then our childhood memories were raped for money. Fuck you George Lucas!