The special effects were better, in my opinion, but that doesn't make the movie good. Obvious advances in technology mean that we will have special effects - can you imagine if all the space battles in the first three were done on a SG workstation instead of stop-motion model photography?? The "Battle of Hoth" in ESB might have felt more realistic.

Any movie that brings my attention to the fact that there's computer animation in it (ie, most of them nowadyas) loses a point for me right off the bat.
What about movies that are entirely computer animation?? Finding Nemo? Toy Story? The Incredibles?