Rating: 
Summary: What is wrong!
Review: What is going on with these reviews!
"Jar-Jar is bad." And all that stuff is totally wrong!!!
Don't think that George just relized his mistake, he noticed that people didn't like his movie, and some did, like me!
Okay, enough of that, it starts when the two Jedi knights, Obei-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon-Gin, come to the droid control ship as ambassoders, and fight a TERRIFIC, not BAD, battle with the droids.
They escape on the ship heading for the planet of Naboo in invasion, and meet a clumsy Gungan named Jar-Jar Blinks. After a narrow escape with four water monsters, they reach the Queen's palace, and fight their way to save her. They rocket away, and after a sharp hit on the fighter ship, they meet R2-D2. They land on the desert planet of Tatooine, and meet young Anakin Skywalker. After A TOTALLY TERRIFIC podrace, Qui-Gon relizes the boy is the next Jedi, and has more 'M' things inside his body than even Master Yoda. They travel to another planet, and there the queen stays for protection.
That's all I'm going to tell you, and don't believe those harsh reviews, because this is a GOOD movie.
Rating:
Summary: Just "Star Wars"
Review: What is here to be reviewed?! It is just the next fantastic "Star Wars" movie! I love it!
Rating:
Summary: Come ON....!!
Review: What is so awful about this movie? All I've seen at this site is DISTURBINGLY negative reviews of it, calling for the torture and death of Jar Jar Binks and calling the movie a "steaming heap of refuse" or words to that effect. Are you people SERIOUS?! Qui Conn Jinn I have to wonder about, granted, but Natalie Portman, for her young years, is an excellent actress....She seems much more mature than the 20 or so solar cycles she's seen. Yes, granted, Jar Jar Binks is a pain in the [...], but for my money, C3PO is STILL the most irritating character in the Star Wars pantheon. Why is he even THERE? R2D2 is the robot that usually pulls everybody's fat out of the fire at the last minute...what has 3PO done? Saved Luke and Han from the Ewoks in "Return of the Jedi"? I think they and Chewbacca could have eventually handled them. Anyway, back to "Phantom". While I take pains to defend the film, there ARE a few things wrong with it, some MAJOR things, not the least of which is Qui Conn Jinn's fawning interest in little Annakin! For instance, a little too much of it is reminiscent of "The Empire Strikes Back" in the beginning, especially as Qui Conn, Jar Jar and Obi Wan leave Gungan. Speaking of Gungan, I like Boss Nass as a character, with his odd speech pattern and facial tics. Very original character concept, if you ask me. Schmi Skywalker is also a great character, ("Schmi"?! Why was she named after a villain in "Peter Pan"?) She exudes a tranquil persona that permeates every scene she's in. Pernilla August handles this part beautifully. WHY was she killed off in "Attack of the Clones"?? The art direction....? Nonpareil! Though not the equal of "Attack of the Clones", if "Phantom" didn't win the 1999 Oscar(r) for art direction or visual effects, a fix was in for the actual winner, because few movies can equal this or its sequel for pure visual mastery. (Or pure cheek!) The plot? What was wrong with the plot? Granted the pathos and strong feelings from "New Hope" aren't there because THIS IS NOT "NEW HOPE"!! This movie didn't have the luxury or inherent specialness of being the founder of a film dynasty and institution, and it does put some light on the beginnings of Annakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and what made him so special in the eyes of the Jedi and the Empire. Sorry, but we will never again see the image of the remains of Beru and Owen amongst the ruins of their smoking residence, or Luke's stunned reaction to it. Never see Luke blow up Deathstar with the spirit of justice guiding his every move. Never see him shreik in outrage as his own father kills Obi Wan Kenobi right in front of his eyes. Never see Princess Leia surprise Han and Luke by firing a gun like a pro that first time. Nope...never. Deal with it. This movie could have been garbage, like "Return of the Jedi", which is, as far as I'm concerned, the REAL stinker amongst the Star Wars films! Lucas certainly didn't have to exert himself for the bucks, now did he? However, I will put this up against "2010: The Year We Make Contact", "Ghostbusters II" "Alien Resurrection", "Batman & Robin", "Star Trek: Insurrection" and any ONE of Spielberg's little money factory originals or sequels any day of the week for quality! About the only other thing that bugs me about this movie and "Clones" together is that Ewan McGregor is NOT a convincing young Obi Wan. Forty-five, fifty years ago, Alec Guiness pretty much looked, sounded and acted as he did in "New Hope" to "Jedi". It's impossible to imagine McGregor developing Guiness' distinctive speech patterns and mannerisms along the way to his dotage. Where's the nasal tone? The smirk? Believe me, nobody changes that much over the course of a lifetime, I don't care HOW much they age! All in all, NOTHING should prevent you from buying this movie...not the condemnations of fanboys, not the homicidal sentiments toward Jar Jar Binks or anything ELSE! Buy this for what it is...another great addition to THE Royal Family of popcorn movies! THEN...analyze it!
Rating: 
Summary: A very BIG heart-breaking disappointment
Review: What Lucas has done here is taken many many MANY years of excited anticipation that I've been building since the first whispers of more Star Wars movies were first heard back in the late eighties and squashed it all flat with very poor dialogue, poor acting/lack of good matieral to work with, transparent plot points, and alien races that practically make fun of various ethnic groups. As a very long time faithful fan of the Star Wars series and having seen all the original movies on the widescreen when they first came out, I was utterly disappointed with The Phantom Menace. While I was severely crushed because I missed seeing this on the big screen, fifteen minutes into this video made me realize that I really wasn't missing much other than being able to read the prologue properly as it scrolled up the screen and the pod race scene in all its widescreen glory. My list of grievances is too long to properly list them all here. But I would just like to point out that Jar Jar Binks was an unnecessary sidekick--he was unintelligible most of the time and the excrement and flatulance jokes were in poor taste and made the movie much less sophisticated than it could have been. Anakin was poorly played by a cute boy who needs more acting training, Darth Maul's coolness was wasted, the beginnings of any relationship between Anakin and Amidala were quite poorly placed here and there, and Lucas' poor attempts at being clever with several plot points only made the movie seem amatuerish and silly. The dialogue in many many many scenes were poorly written and painful to hear. McGregor and Portman's talents were much wasted here and I was disappointed by how two-dimensional their characters were. The various aliens that populated the movie were nothing compared with the complex alien races that are portrayed in the Star Trek series. There were too many obvious elements of our own ethnic groups present in these beings to make them properly "alien" to me and I found this to be insulting in many ways. Lucas may be aiming at a younger audience here, one which has not grown up with the original series, which may explain many of the juvenile jokes and juvenile dialogue--but I think I speak for many older fans who have been enamoured of the series for the past 20+ years when I say that this movie disappointed in a seriously crushing way. Perhaps Lucas needs to relinquish some creative control over the movies and allow someone to step in who can HELP the next two movies. The only reason this movie has received even 1 star from me is because of the beautiful architecture and scenery in the Naboo scenes, the pod race (minus the insultingly non-hilarious announcers) and I happen to be a big fan of McGregor and Portman. Otherwise, this film deserves a half star at most--and this only because it is a Star Wars movie. Without the Star Wars label and hype, this movie would be a below-average installment in another long-running fantasy epic.
Rating:
Summary: Jar Jar Stinks
Review: WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED? I just can't believe it, after nearly 16 years the whole STAR WARS saga has been reduced to this kiddie fare nonsense! It seems to me like George Lucas should've had his mid-life crisis a LONG time ago. Especially with Jar Jar Stinks! "Duhr,duhr,you'sa people gonna die?" Well I was just about to after I saw this movie. I now wonder if George Lucas has gone to the dark side.?
Rating: 
Summary: Star Wars is not what it used to be!
Review: What the heck is this? The entire movie is based on special effects. No story, nothing really interesting, and the movie doesn't even look like Star Wars. The sword fight is really the only good scene with maybe the podrace, which is quite weird. I frankly miss the fun I had watching the first movies. Where's Han, Chewie, and C3PO looks really dumb. And that ugly frog guy, Jar Jar Binks, seems to take C3PO's part. He is the funny guy(?). He's funny but after a while he gets reaaaally boring. It seems that the movie and its story went back to some modern dark ages. If you have to take a movie tonight skip this one for the next century. It might look something like this boring movie. Small kids would like that, not grown-ups!
Rating:
Summary: Oh Brother
Review: What the heck was Lucas thinking when he decided to make this movie? (...) This is a pitiful excuse for a Star Wars movie. Lucas really should have quit while he was ahead. This movie has SO many problems. bad casting, bad acting by the child stars, horrible characters like Jar Jar and Darth Maul. Under developed plot AND an over developed plot (only Lucas could screw up on both counts) He tries to cram too much into this movie. I mean what are the chances that Darth Vader built C-3P0. He totally killed the magic of the force and annoyed the heck out of everyone by having the characters over explain everything. Ant the worse thing, The fact that Lucas used toilet humor in this movie. The only good to come of this movie is the soundtrack, the podrace, and the lightsabre fight. The rest of the movie is really lame
Rating:
Summary: Lucas should be put in jail.
Review: What this guy did to his own Star Wars excellent saga is criminal. The dialogues... the acting... the plot -what plot?-, the characters -maybe except Ewan McGregor's Obi Wan- ... and... JAR JAR!!!
George Lucas had not directed a movie for twenty years till he made this one, and it shows.
Rating: 
Summary: Phantom Menace...Better than we dare to admit
Review: What we were really expecting out of George Lucas? The truth is that to be fair and honest, most people who were not satisfied with this movie are in the mid 30's and 40's and gradually throught the years developed an aura of mysthicism of the entire Star Wars saga. If we go back to the original films will see that R2D2 and C3PO were the comic relief of the series just as the small and ridiculous koala bears look-alike were in the Return of the Jedi. Are we being too hard on Jar Jar? As far as I know, Jar Jar seems to be ok with 21st century kids.- Are we getting old? As for acting, Mark Hammil is a terrible actor who never got a significant starring role afterwards and the script, why are we being so hard on the current cast? Bad news for all of us in our mid thirties and forties. This movie was made for the "BARNIE" generation, not for the "Mr. Rogers" generation. Yes, I would certainly purchase a "Less Jar Jar" special edition as we all seem to agree on this point as for the rest, acting, editing and directing is as good or as bad as the original Star Wars. Soundtrack for the Phantom menace is superb! The DVD is packed with features, crisp clean images, excellent soundtrack.- Excellent value
Rating:
Summary: Very Good, But...
Review: What's to complain about? This DVD has just about everything: excellent picture quality, sound, and state-of-the art effects work. The special feature disc is loaded with documentary material and deleted scenes. Nevertheless, some of the acting is pretty bad (Jake Lloyd in particular), and the dialog is lame in spots. Certainly these were gripes I had about the theatrical version, and I still went to see it twice! The extra footage added to the DVD version does make it noticeably better. I just hope George and the gang make an effort to rein in the more maudlin elements in Episode 2. In my mind, the best "Star Wars" episode overall is "The Empire Strikes Back (aka Episode V)", displaying excellent acting, visuals, and plot. The cornball stuff took a back seat; it would be great to see at least one of the first three episodes come close to it.
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