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Star Wars - Episode I, The Phantom Menace (Widescreen Edition)

Star Wars - Episode I, The Phantom Menace (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $13.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Star Wars history
Review: Now some have siad that lucas killed Star Wars with this film. Now I do agree there are somethings we could have done without(Jar-Jar). but it is the history of Star Wars and I for one and Happy it is there. I enjoyed seeing the young Obi-Wan doing battle. the Fight sequence with Obi-Wan and Darth Maul was By far the best in any Star Wars Film Yet. The speed at wich it took Place the Moves that Both Obi-Wan and Maul Did were out of this world. Over all I say this Movie was great but then agian I am a Die Hard Star Wars Fan. I for one Can not wait for Episode II

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: More muppets than the Muppet Movie
Review: Now that all the hype has long since died down, true fans are free to express their disappointment in this film. George Lucas has given us his Disneyfied vision of the origins of the Empire, perfect for the "ages eight and under" crowd. One would expect so much more from the creator of the original Star Wars trilogy, but apparently the twenty years in between have revealed a kindler, gentler, and much more cheesy Lucas. (But let's face it, we all knew this would happen after seeing the singing puppets and ewoks in Return of the Jedi.)

The goofyness of the Phantom Menace extends far beyond what any of us dared dream. Darth Vader invented and built C3PO? Yep. The best CGI character they could come up with was Jar Jar Binks, a wacky slapstick sidekick who gets into trouble wherever he goes? Hilarious. You go it. And let's face it, shouldn't Episode 1 start at the beginning? I would like to know of Obi Wan's training, how he became a jedi, where Darth Maul came from, and where Yoda fit in to everything. I could care less about the trade embargo they open the movie with. I'm sure the "eight and under" crowd wasn't interested either.

Perhaps in twenty more years they will make an Episode Zero that starts things off properly. Then we can all skip this movie.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: One hundred baffling choices, one mediocre movie
Review: Now that we've gotten two bad "Star Wars" movies in a row, does that mean the anticipation for the SW2 will be a little less insane?

I didn't think so.

Singing Ewoks, crappy production values, bad writing and an embarassing plot didn't sink "Return of the Jedi" -- and there are adults who say, with a straight face, that they actually enjoyed it -- so I guess it's no surprise that TPM has its defenders, too.

To be fair, it's not awful in the way that, say, "Deep Blue Sea," "Instinct" or "Highlander 2" are awful. It's just not very good.

It does have nice production values, and you can see the money on the screen. The beautiful costumes and sets, amazing CGI graphics, spectacular jedi battles and even the sort of pointless space combat are all done extremely well and hold up as the best parts of the movie.

But then there's the writing. Is George Lucas surrounded by people incapable of telling him no? Where was the outcry when he gave us simpering Asian stereotypes as evil stooges of the future Emperor? Where was the outcy over Jar-Jar Binks? Where was the outcry over Anakin's immaculate conception? Where was the outcry over the idea that being a good manipulator of the Force depends on bacteria in your bloodstream? Honestly, the writing end of TPM is like bad fan fiction.

The worst part is that it was all salvageable. The quasi-Asian aliens could lose the accents and be more or less fine. Jar-Jar Binks could have used the same and NOT opened the cart at the end by accident. Dump the crap about immaculate conception entirely and say Annakin's father has been dead, presumed missing, since his mother was pregnant. And cut the midichlorians discussion on the balcony.

Boom. Right there, another star for the movie, just by cutting out the worst stuff. It still wouldn't measure up to the first two movies -- they had actual good stuff in them, instead of just an absence of bad stuff -- but TPM wouldn't have been a real stain on Lucas' record. With "The Phantom Menace," he's provided critics with ammunition for decades to come, who are already deriding him as a terrible screenwriter, stiff director and an auteur who put his ego ahead of his story.

And that's a shame. The promise of the first two films increasingly seems like it was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A MAJOR DISSAPPOINTMENT!
Review: Now this Star Wars film is more like a kids film, but that's not a bad thing. To be honest, I knew for a fact that this wouldn't live up to the original. A good way to introduce the greatest film series ever made! But for the the legions of fans of the original episodes in the Star Wars saga who can't help but secretly ask themselves: Sure, this is Star Wars, but is it my Star Wars? The original elevated moviegoers' expectations so high that it would have been impossible for any subsequent film to meet them. Same thing for Episode II, to high expectations, and I'm sure it'll be the same for Episode III. People are bashing this, especially LoTRs fans, who are jealous of the Star Wars success, now they have something to criticise. I say BACK OFF! Your movies just aren't better than Lucas's. You see Peter Jackson had to take a story and make it into a movie so that he could exploit special effects and try to make the new Star Wars. Lucas on the other hand came up with his own idea, made it, and it is still a bigger franchise than LoTR. At least people could stay wake in the Star Wars movies, half the people watching LoTR fell asleep! STAR WARS IS BETTER THAN LORD OF THE RINGS!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Please, make it end...
Review: Now, I am a fan of the original Star Wars movies. Not a big fan, but a fan none the less. The older Star Wars movies were enjoyable, although I believed that they didn't deserve being called the work of a genius. This movie is the work of a genius gone senile. There were some exciting scenes, most of which included Darth Maul, who was the utmost best character in the movie. Other than that, there was horrible dialogue and a just plain stupid plot. This is more of a muppets meet Star Wars movie when you consider all of the childish animal-like characters, which made this movie very irritating to me. Everyone can identify the character that was especially irritating, for he is the one and only Jar Jar Binks, who this movie would have been better without. On top of everything that angered me in this movie, I found myself waiting for it to end. I fell alseep briefly about half way through, which even friends of mine that liked the movie agreed was boring. This movie was just not my cup of tea. It might be yours, though, I'm not telling you to hate it. If you like it, good for you. I just hope you're not saying that because you used to think George Lucas was a genius.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It doesn't live up to the hype...
Review: Now, I love the Star Wars films... although this might not be as good as the *other* movies... this still is George Lucus' masterpiece! And 'heck', it's the first Star Wars film on DVD! Look at all those bonus features! It'll be a blast. I thought the movie was *good* but not great. It can be entertaining... just not as entertaining as the first 3. The special effects are totally stunning. (Just look at the pod-race scene, holy...!) It may not be as classical as the movies before it, but 'heck', it's Star Wars and I'm pretty 'darn' happy. Get this disc, it's a work of magic (the special effects that is..) the actual movie is O.K. it's not TOTALLY AWESOME, but it'll do until a new one comes out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great DVD!!! The movie could be better...
Review: Now, I'm a HUGE star wars fan. I am also a purist. So I was furious when the storyline didn't quite work with the original trilogy. I'll get off that path now, though because this could turn into an essay.

If you enjoy a good martial arts fight, see this. Forget the rest of it. I enjoy this movie for the special effects, Ewan McGregor, the INCREDIBLE! fight-sequenes and the beautiful costumes. The movie does not hold with the original trilogy as much as I'd like, but since Episode II is going to AWESOME, you'd better see this first.

The special features on this DVD are to die for. Go immediately to the fight and costume short features. They created an entirely new form of martial arts for this movie. If you're a martial arts fan or want to know more about the Jedi, this feature is amazing. The theory behind the fighting is really intricate. Costumes are just beautiful. Need someone to make me costumes like that. =)

In short, get this movie for the DVD features and the connection it has to the SW universe

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A disappointing film in a disappointing format
Review: Nowhere near as good as the original trilogy, The Phantom Menace is only about special effects. The "force" stuff gets too weird, maybe even blasphemous. Jar Jar and others are obvious racial stereotypes which some will find offensive. The only reason to buy this movie is so you can enjoy the state-of-the-art *digital* effects at home. However, you cannot enjoy them in the inferior and outdated VHS format. Wait for the DVD.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great begining
Review: O.K.
Maybe wooden acting
Maybe weird plot
Maybe annoying character
Maybe fake special effects
Maybe a bad movie

MAYBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OR IN OTHER WORDS
NOT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Star Wars Episode 1 is a great begining to the Star Wars saga.
Why?

GREAT SPECIAL EFFECTS
FUNNY CHARACTERS
FUNNY ACTORS
GOOD CHARACTER
GOOD ACTORS
AN ITS STAR WARS!!!!!!
HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!?
Its Star Wars! What could be better?
Get it.
Good commentary.
You'll thank me.
JUST GET IT ALREADY AND STOP READING THIS REVIEW!
NOW!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?

BYE!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best DVD out there!!!
Review: Of all the DVD's I have seen, this one is the best, can't wait for EP II, This is the beginning of what we know as "Star Wars", although it falls a little short of 1977's "A New Hope", it definately delivers the goods, In this one we meet Obi-Wan Kenobi as a young Jedi under the guidance of Qui-Gon Jinn, a Master Jedi as they are dispatched to Naboo to end a conflict between the Trade Federation's shipping of goods to Naboo, what we learn is that the Trade Federation's commander's are being manipulated by Darth Sidious, a mysterious cloaked figure, as Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan arrive to settle the conflict, they are soon in a fight for their lives as an invasion is soon underway on Naboo, when their cruiser is destroyed, they hitch a ride to Naboo to warn the people, here we meet Queen Amidala as she & others are soon captured in an attempt to get her to sign a treaty which will put in motion a separist movement we know in Ep II, she & the ohers are soon rescued by Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan who then flee Naboo in her Royal Cruiser only to have it damaged in battle with the Trade Federation, once free, they land on Tattoonie, a nearby planet, for repairs, it is here they meet young Anakin Skywalker who has a special gift with the force, that Qui-Gon soon takes an interest in, but Anakin is a slave to Watto who Qui-Gon needs parts from, & uses a Jedi-mind trick that has no effect on Watto, with a pod-race looming, Qui-Gon cuts a deal with Watto to win not only his parts but to free Anakin, if Anakin can win the race, that is Nascar on steroids, the pod race is awesome as ILM works its magic here, Anakin wins & is freed to go with Qui-Gon, it seems Anakin wants desperately to be a Jedi, but Sidious has dispatched his apprentice Darth Maul(a demon-like Sith) to destroy the Jedi & get the Queen, Maul suddenly attacks Qui-Gon in a teaser of things to come, Qui-Gon escapes & they arrive at Courasaunt, the galaxy's Republic Headquaters, once there we meet Senator Palpatine who wants to oust Chancellor Valorum(Terence Stamp) so he can be Chancellor, we see Palpatine's manipulation in full swing as he sets his utimate plan for the "Empire" in motion, the Republic itself is losing it's democracy, we meet Yoda who suggest Anakin's training should be in question, given Anakin's emotion, Valorum is ousted as Palpatine takes over claiming he will bring democracy back, Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan are then told to escort Queen Amidala back to Naboo to take back the planet that is now under control of the Federation, once they do, a stand-off ensues as the Queen & her security fend off the Federation's battle droids, while Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan are confronted by Darth Maul, in a two-against-one face off, which is spectacular to watch, Maul manages to seperate the two, & soon cuts down Qui-Gon, putting Obi-Wan in vengence mode, as Obi-Wan charges Maul in a fierce lightsaber battle which Obi-Wan wins by pulling the element of surprise, afterwards we see Obi-Wan vowing to train Anakin as a Jedi since it was Qui-Gon's dying wish, Yoda reluctantly agrees despite his bad feeling about it, the ending is somewhat on a happy note, but you know Palpatine's true intension, many didn't like this one, although it may be aimed a kids, "A New Hope" was too, this one shows more of the political strategy that eventually birthed the "Empire" & began Anakin as a Jedi in the making, like Lucas said>"you have to start somewhere", & Obi-Wan comes into his own at the end, as for Jar Jar Binks, he did not annoy me that much, I don't hate any character that can make me laugh, & Jar Jar made me laugh, the Ewoks annoyed me in "Return of the Jedi", Lucas dropped the ball with ROTJ, not TPM, I liked this one & was not disappointed one bit with it, my only complaint was that we did not see more of Maul, but as Lucas said> "It is not about him", other than that, TPM is good movie, not as good as "A New Hope" or "The Empire Strikes Back", but way better than "Return of the Jedi" I think!!!,& is right up there with "Attack of the Clones!!!


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