Rating: 
Summary: Sad
Review: I was really sad when I heard rumors that the DVD version might not come out now till 2006. What is Lucas thinking, this movie was made in digital and DVD is digital. I bought the widescreen version and I'm still sad about the quailty of the picture. Comon George wake up.
Rating: 
Summary: By any other name...
Review: This was THE most hyped movie in recent years. People stood in line for MONTHS just for the chance to buy tickets. I even took the day off work to watch it two times. Was it a good movie? Hell yeah! Was it the best Star Wars film? No, it wasn't. Does it capture the essence and the magic of Star Wars? I think it did.There were some things that really worked in this movie (like the lightsaber duel *droooool*), and some things that didn't work (Jar-Jar, Artoo predictably saving the ship, etc), but if this movie had been released as the first in its series, it would have been met by rave reviews, and not the mixed ones we're seeing here. I'm now waiting for Episode II and III. I wanna see the lightsaber battle at the volcano, dammit! :)
Rating: 
Summary: Yuck
Review: words cannot describe the atrocity george lucas has commited on mankind by making this movie Down with the anti-christ! Down with George!
Rating:
Summary: Disgraceful
Review: This movie was the biggest disappointment I've ever seen. Lucas expected his dazzling special effects to save this piece of garbage. Sorry, George, you'll have to do better. This so-called "great movie" is nothing more than a disgrace to the original trilogy. I loved the first three parts-why did Lucas have to ruin it with this? In the trilogy, the acting, storyline, and characters were much more appealing. In Episode 1, the characters where annoying and mediocre at best. Most of the people on this page who are posting 5-star reviews are just some Star Wars nerds-the kind who camp out by the entrance of the movie theater in Star Wars costumes.
Rating:
Summary: Stop being so critical
Review: StarWars Episode I, in my opinion excellent movie. The story is quite impressive. The special effects are the finest ever seen in modern movies. I saw all threes of the origional Star Wars movies in the theatres. I think people should stop comparing the movies and just sit back and enjoy. Isn't that what going to the movies is all about anyway?
Rating:
Summary: BLAH - no DVD.... :(
Review: Ok, the movie WAS great... George Lucas is not. This version on video (widescreen and pan and scan) is despicable. Lucas is selfish, greedy, and really does not like his fans. DVD is better quality.. end of story.
Rating: 
Summary: Lighten Up, darkjedi5150
Review: This is the widescreen version of the Star Wars movie, which means they compacted the top and botton to fit everything left and right. There is nothing missing on the right and left of the screen. I think you were looking at the full screen version. I have no complaints about this version of the movie except I would have rather seen the documentary at the end of the tape, not the beginning.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT
Review: This is an excellent movie, with incredible special effects and great background information on a world we were thrown into in A New Hope. Reading the reviews of all the people that are bashing this movie makes me sick. Episode 1 is not so much about action, but about the beginning of a story that will answer all our questions we have about the Star Wars Universe. This is exactly why Lucas made Episode 4 first, he knew that people would not accept a slow starting movie series, so he pushed everyone into the action of A New Hope. Take this movie for what it is, an incredible journey into a galaxy far far away. Who can watch this movie and not be excited about the next two. Only complaint, no DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace
Review: Well, I waited and waited and waited to see this movie. (Never bothered to go to the theater). The only reason I waited was I assumed the movie would be released on DVD or at least LaserDisc. But, Alas all we have is the Pan/Scan and the "SPECIAL EDITION VERSION, which includes some extras and the Wide Screen Version of the movie" First of all the 2 stars are for the movie, I liked it, good effects, good story line. Good enough to rate 5 stars if it was only released in a digital format with Dolby 5.1. Well, I learned my lesson, never ever ever again will I plunk down the money for a VHS Pre-Recorded tape. In the Wide screen version, which I purchased, I see white spots every once in a while in the widescreen border (being played on a reference S-VHS deck) Very grainy image (come on Lucas get off your a*( and release a DVD version.) Very disappointed, my recommendation is to rent the tape and wait for the DVD or Laserdisc. Very Very disappointing image quality. Robert
Rating:
Summary: IT INSPIRES NO SENSE OF WONDER
Review: The hallmark of the first three Star Wars films was that a timeless, superbly engaging story was told with brilliant, groundbreaking effects. With Phantom Menace, we are faced with a half-baked, poorly written story told with spectacular but hardly innovative effects. The overall result is a disappointment on its own, and an outright disaster when compared to its predecessors. George Lucas seems so intent upon the digital, that he has utterly forgotten the power of the spiritual, the mystical, the magical...the HUMAN. All of these qualities were present in his first three films and are, for the most part, lacking in his latest. Let's start with the effects. Yes, they are marvelous...particularly in regard to the scenes of the "march of the androids" in the battle with the Gungans, the Senate hearing, the various city-shots of Naboo etc, and the final light-saber duel. But magnificent effects alone are not going to inspire a sense of wonder...after all, we have become quite accustomed (even numbed) to effects- driven films...some films having very nearly the same quality effects as Phantom Menace, and some with even more "effectively used" effects. So George was giving us nothing THAT radically new, a thing he had previously accomplished with his other films. In fact, some of his effects seemed dated and underwhelming. Several of the background creatures on Tatooine looked like rejects from 'The Muppet Show,' and the digitally- created Federation androids were just plain silly-looking. They weren't the slightest bit intimidating. Those androids were a huge effects goof. The Pod-race was gripping and "very good cinema," but there was no sense of urgency. They weren't destroying a death star...they were just gambling on getting parts for their ship. The acting was TERRIBLE, but it's not the fault of the actors...the script stunk to high heaven. If I heard "I feel a disturbance," or "The situation seems more complicated than we thought," or "We have no time for this," once, then I heard these lines a thousand times. The dialogue was horrifically stilted, real emotion was absent, the scenes seemed strung together with Elmer's glue, and the characters were uninvolving. Every character was a bore in this flick, from Qui Gon-Jin to Queen Amidala (whose cheesy, corny-looking outfits seemed more fitting for second-rate drag queens than a space queen). Yoda was underused, Samuel Jackson's acting was hilariously bad, and the Jar Jar Binks character was REALLY the most shockingly useless Star Wars character ever imagined. What was Lucas thinking? The racial bit was painfully obvious. At the end of this film, I wouldn't have been surprised to see the bell-bottomed, big-butted, pigeon-English Gungans stooping to worse lows. They did everything but tap-dance and spit watermelon seeds. How very stupid and insulting and the character was completely unconvincing. I know that people warn against comparing this film to the others, but the film IS based on the others, IS related to the others, and IS meant to be regarded in at least SOME connection with the others. But that doesn't matter. Even on its own, it's a bore, an example of what can happen when Lucas panders to the dumbing down of the audience by believing that no one really cares about a great story anymore. Visually, Phantom Menace has everything but the kitchen sink...but it has no soul.
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