Rating: 
Summary: The Phantom Menace: "Quick Observations"
Review: Rather than cover a review of the movie and all of the features, both which have been capably covered by a number of people in the form of excellent reviews. I will cover some of the first impressions that you won't get on the back of the box.This DVD is the epitome of what DVD's should be, period! Covering everything from widescreen format to deleted scenes. Here are the five biggest impressions from the DVD: 1. Graphic work in menu screens are stunning
2. The Menus are laid out well and easy to manuver
3. The deleted scenes are excellent
4. Trailers are excellent
5. The documentary is very imformative. If only the documentaries would be a little more specialized, nevertheless, expect nothing less than great. The behind the scenes look at the film is excellent. Beside the making of the film in front of the camera, fans get a look at the trails of making the movie. I found the dialog between George Lucas and ILM quite interesting. Okay, this is the part I hate to bring up because I'm not a censor, but the reality is that parents will read this and kid's ears will be tuned if the DVD is purchased. In the documentary, there is some language that may be objectionable to young ears. This is simply a "head's up". The deleted scene's are a big hit too! All of the scenes are Lucasfilm quality and are accompanied with thoughts as to why they weren't included in the final production. This gives the fans an opportunity to question why makers didn't include some of the scene's. Both the television and theatrical trailers are all accounted for, again expect top quality. I wish there was a way to put these trailers in front of the movie and not just make them a seperate feature. Beside superb graphics that serve as a backdrop to all of the menus are simply awesome, the ability to manuver through the menu's are as easy as they are eye-popping! You get the usual Widescreen for the purists and Standard formats for those who don't like black bars at the top and bottom of your screen. The super visual quality as well as the bigger-than-life sound are every bit as Lucas as a Corelian Spice Freighter. A must for the collection of the Star Wars fans! To avoid misunderstanding, I want to stress again this is NOT to be a REVIEW OF THE MOVIE, instead it's IMPRESSIONS of the DVD. There are many very capably written reviews of the film, I am helping you determine the quality of the DVD features itself and the things that popped out at me when I first watched it.
Rating: 
Summary: OH MY GOD THIS DVD SUCKS!!!
Review: ... The sound and picture quality are great, but the added bonus scenes they put in the movie are completely worthless. It was completely a case of "We can so we will." There's a great quote from Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park: "You were so worried about whether or not you could you didn't stop to think about whether or not you SHOULD." The pod-race scene is now way too long and choppy, and the other added scenes completely broke the flow of the movie. The one where JarJar comments on the Queen to Anakin is hilarious, but that's the only worthwhile addition. To top it off, some of the deleted scenes that they DIDN'T put in the movie are great and SHOULD have been put back in. They are transition scenes that explain a lot about the next scenes (like why Anakin is tired when running to the ship while leaving Tatooine.) The commentary and documentaries are great for the hard-core fan, but the version of the film they put on disk one is just pathetic. I do hope Lucas releases another DVD that you can choose which version you wish to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible, Childish Movie
Review: This movie is a stick in the eye from Lucas to his now-ex-viewers. Childish covers the whole thing. It's a movie written for children and apparently by children. Unless you have very small children in your house, don't bother getting this.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing like a little bigotry in mainstream sci-fi
Review: As a fan who loved the sense of a universe of infinite alien species and civilizations conveyed by the initial trilogy, I found the sudden introduction of aliens with Asian (Trade Federation with slanted eyes), African/Jamaican (JarJar, the helpless idiot), and Arab (the slave-holding flying insect with the big nose) accents who ALL speak English, horribly distracting and annoying and, frankly, offensive. Watch the original movies and you're treated to subtitles when the aliens speak....because they're ALIENS. What this movie sacrifices in authenticity, it does no make up for in plot, characterization, or special effects. In the end, Lucas is running a machine now, and the movie's ultimate subtext is that the creator has crossed over to the dark side, forsaken true creativity and taste for the sake of commoditizing Star Wars, his most successful brand more than film at this stage. For no-holds-barred creativity and masterful storytelling, the Matrix, Dark City, Alien, Aliens, Blade Runner, 2001 are all truer and more compelling, and vastly superior by several orders of magnitude than this empty vessel. Lord of the Rings, which I just saw this week, soundly trumps Lucas's product with its blend of epic and intimate fantastical artistry. It is sad to see what a waste Lucas has made of Star Wars. But at least we have the first two movies (episodes 4 and 5) to cherish.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Star Wars Caliber....not Star Wars Caliber indeed
Review: When I was finished with the Special Edition, I waited ravenously for TPM (The Phantom Menace for all those who don't know). I've been a Star Wars fanatic since I first saw them on USA's yearly christmas broadcasts. I waited and waited, refusing to look at any Star Wars sites online, so it didn't spoil the whole experience for when I finally did see it. First off, I must commend whoever made the decision to start the Star Wars fun with Episode Four. Episode One, if premiered in 1977, would've ruined it's future entirely. TPM was a blatant attempt to attract younger kids into the hype. That's all that TPM was. Hype. The first three movies (reffering to IV,V,VI) were full of darkness and life-and-death battles. Not TPM. And of course, most people will agree with me. Jar Jar. Possibly the most annoying character in all of Star Wars history. Another thing that really ticked me off was Darth Maul. I'm a big fan of the Sith. The Sith, in my opinion, are better than the Jedi by far. It's is utterly stupid to have a Sith Lord say approx. two lines, then die. In the first movie at that. If that's the best that the Sith can come up with, I don't know what the Jedi have been fearing all this time. TPM did have it's good points. The battles, both in space and with lightsabers, did have my blood pumping the entire time. Obi-Wan, while the casting could've been better, was an awesome fighter, and tapping into the Dark Side at the end was the perfect touch. Anakin ticked me off as well. How could Luke Skywalker descend from him. He must have inherited most of his courage and skill from Amidala. When you first see this kid, you think "Hey! This cannot be Darth Vader!" SPOILER[....]
Rating: 
Summary: not the best star wars..it will have to do for now
Review: 'Due to the neck's flat refusal to release the other star wars ON dvd until at least 2006'said a well selling dvd mag in the uk.Who were they talking about I wonder?OK so Phantom was a dissapointment apart from the duel,the effects,the podrace and space battles but it will have to do until the real stuff comes too dvd,whenever that may be.Apart from the absoluteley top-notch picture and sound quality.this dvd has truly intresting features when you watch them all,particularly the beginning documentary.Perhaps we need more than this too last another five years though regarding star wars on dvd.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre Moviemaking - Star Wars deserves better
Review: This DVD is absolutely phenomenal. It is loaded with extras and is great fun. I wouldn't give it the "best DVD ever" title - it's got serious competition from Snow White, released the week before - but it is certainly one of the five best DVDs released to date, but only on the technical aspects side. The film, as it is, is quite subpar for George Lucas - at least George Lucas of old. I was very uncomfortable with this film on my very first viewing back in '99. As I watched it a few more times I did finally become more comfortable with it. However comfort with a film does not make the film great and Phantom Menace is nowhere near a great film. It has all the eye candy but very little heart or spirit. Two of the main characters are not too terribly well-acted (Portman as Padme/Amidala and Lloyd as Anakin) and some of the supporting roles are not convincing either (Capt. Pinaca is a good example of this. The plot is a bit overly simplistic but adequate. It's just that the film moves very slowly until we reach the final battles at the end of the film. I always have felt that I never would have missed much if I slept through the Tattooine and Coruscant sequences (okay, the POD race is exciting, but the rest of the Tattooine sequence is longer than it needs to be - and the POD race actually runs a little long). It's really a shame, what has happened to the Star Wars saga. A New Hope (Ep. IV) and Empire Strikes Back were both excellent films that evoked real emotion and made you feel for the characters. Return of the Jedi was good but a bit dumbed down from the previous two films. This was my favorite as a child but as I've grown I've come to realize what a trite and naive film it can be. The unfortunate thing is that Phantom Menace is merely adequate. It tells the opening chapter of the first part of the Star Wars saga but doesn't tell it very well. Sadder still is that the newest trailers for Attack of the Clones (Ep. II) don't give me much hope. It looks to be steeped in melodrama and, once again, acted poorly. Portman and the new Anakin seem like two 2x4's interacting and the dialogue looks to be the cheesiest ever in a Star Wars film. Say it ain't so George!
As for the Phantom Menace, it is a fun film just not a very engaging one. I've only watched it once since I bought the DVD. I can't say I'm looking to watch it again in the near future - my heart's just not in it. And that's a sad thing, when you can't get yourself into a Star Wars film. I think I'll go watch Empire and pray for better days ahead.
Rating:
Summary: Be Wary I Sense A Disturbance In The Force
Review: we all know about the movie, big film, mixed reviews etc etc. i'm a star wars fan so naturally i loved this, TPM is a fun movie, its not supposed to convey any message, its not supposed to convey an ideal and its not a film that is to be taken seriously. its a fairy tale, pure entertainment. the dvd is chock full of features, it took me 3 days to sift through and watch them all [i hadn't even watched the movie yet!]...this is easily the most feature laden dvd i have, and lucasfilm haven't just thrown a [lot of stuff] in there to fill up the second disc, we get an in depth look at how the film was made plus the featurettes as well which take the 'making of' documentary even further. theres the usual tv spots and trailers which were good and the duel of the fates music video which was also worth a look. the menu screens are beautiful, smooth animation and easy to use interface. a must have for anyones dvd collection the film: 5/5 the disc[s]: 5/5
Rating:
Summary: Three stars
Review: I almost didn't write this review. Unlike so many others, I have not seen the original trilogy. While I cannot hope to know the significance of this film as a part of the entire phenomenon, it does give me the advantage of being able to look at it unbiased light. I can well understand why many loyal fans of the trilogy were disappointed. This film desperately needed a Harrison Ford. It lacked the emotion and charisma he brings to all his roles. And whether or not you consider the character of Jar Jar Binks to be racially offensive, you have to admit he was so annoying that it was a relief when he finally shut up. I gave the film three stars purely for the special effects and the fight sequence between Darth Mol and Ewan McGregor. If you're a fan of the trilogy, then this film is a necessity to your collection. I, however, felt that the story line was rather weak. And aside from Darth Mol, none of the other characters are particularly interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Highly dissatisfactory
Review: Even when some people try to save this insulting sequelae of SW, This film is an example of how easy is to fall in the temptation of using the past glory of a masterpiece as Star Wars to atempt to fool the educated espectator. This is not only not a fun movie, but a disgrace for the film industry itself. In spite of all those special effects, the overabuse of computer animation is worse that those seen in Jurassick Park (sequelae II and III), and the lack of inteligent and coherent plot is discouraging. It might be fun for people without filmic pretensions, but is so heartbreaking for us Star Wars lovers. Please Mr. Lucas, can you change the title of the next movies and separate them from the marterpieces we saw 20 years ago?, don't ruin our memories.
Thanks
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