I won't argue your technical points about the pod race, but damn, it was a great scene. Wonderful tribute to Ben-Hur except with more action and visuals. I really liked it.

Of course, suspension of disbelief is the most important part of enjoying any piece of fiction. But for me, it's not technical details that make me lose my SoD. It's simpler things like the actor's dialogue didn't get looped in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, so the entire time, all of the apes sounded like people lisping through rubber prosthetics. I mean, that movie had the best ape make-up ever put on film, and it's completely wasted because they don't take a couple weeks to re-record the dialogue. I would have totally BOUGHT the apes in that movie if it weren't for the lisping through the rubber. What were they thinking?

And yes, these movies are aimed at youngsters and teens. But every time a new Star Wars film comes out, I'm 12 all over again...