Rating: 
Summary: ADD A FLYING TOASTER AND I'LL GIVE IT 2 STARS
Review: Like everyone else, I waited in rapt anticipation for this one. The continuation of the Star Wars epic in prequel. But then I didn't realize that Lucas, having been taken prisoner and apparently brainwashed by evil representatives of the Empire, had been ruthlessly forced to see his loyal followers as nothing more than Star Wars-starved nincompoops who would take in anything with the Star Wars logo slapped on it.It started out okay and then, with the introduction of Jar Jar Binks, easily the most unbelievable and ludicrous character that Lucas has ever cast, I realized that all was lost. The majesty (and, yes, I mean majesty) of the first three installments (Episodes IV, V and VI) of the Star Wars story were diminished by this one. Holy cow! Kill off the most interesting character in the whole story, Qui-Gon Jinn? What's that all about? And Ewan McGregor? What's going on there? Ewan needs to stick with shallower roles opposite shallower actors like Nicole Kidman (Okay, so she finally got an oscar. But, hey, since when did the Academy know anything?) Given McGregor's poor acting, I half way expected him to launch into a tone-deaf song or for Ms. Kidman to come cavorting across the screen as a half-dressed space trollop. It might have redeemed his dreary performance. And what is this using the force to push apart droids? If that is how easily it can be done then throw down the light sabers and push the heck out of everyone! It would be like Indiana Jones first fighting the black-turbaned swordsmen for several minutes and then pull his gun and take the easy way out. But wait, that's what Lucas intended in the first place. It was Harrison Ford (our long lost Han Solo) who determined that the gun was quicker and mightier than the sword. The final sequence, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's duel with a double-light-saber-wielding Darth Maul, brought me back a little. On pins and needles I thought that perhaps victory would be snatched from the jaws for defeat and a boorish movie spared by a good scene. Maybe something surprising would happen! Maybe a flying toaster would appear and save the day! It started well. The scene was well choreographed and believable (in Star Wars standards). And then things took a decidedly predictable turn for the worse. Qui-Gon unexpectedly takes a light saber in the abdomen and lies dying. But wait, Obi-Wan has fire in his eyes, grinding his teeth at his horned foe and the apparent murderer of his mentor. The two glower at each other menacingly--in fact they glower phantom menacingly. The force field drops and Obi-Wan engages the evil Dart Maul. Some first class light saber play ensues. There is hope. But then, one two and through and through (to borrow a phrase from Lewis Carroll) Obi-Wan, the hope of Jedi Knights everywhere, slips up, misses an important parry and ends up hanging in an air shaft while Darth Maul traipses back and forth above him like a deranged rooster. Now is the chance! Now surely Maul will reveal himself to the helpless Jedi, just as he had promised his master, Darth Sidius, earlier in the movie. But the cat must have his tongue. He prances stupidly on the edge of the shaft and says NOTHING! What is going on here? I recalled the wonderful dialogue between Darth Vader and this same Obi-Wan, (though several years older and much more convincingly acted by Sir Alec Guiness). But wait. There is STILL hope. Obi-Wan, using the force, vaults from his precarious perch, summons his master's light saber in mid-flip and lands in front of his ruddy-faced foe. However, before he can utter a word of appropriate dialog (such as "You killed my master, you horned toad from Hades!" or "You scratch that rash and it will spread!") Obi-Wan applies his light saber and sends Maul plummeting to his bisected doom. And with his two-pieced fall the chance for a glorious ending for Star Wars Episode I went down the tubes as well. While titled Episode I, this movie is easily the fourth best in the Star Wars series. Stick with The Empire Strikes Back or with Return of the Jedi, my two favorites, or the original Star Wars (Episode IV).
Rating: 
Summary: Phantom menace
Review: This new STAR WARS film is better than ATTACK OF THE CLONES,though lots of movie goers hated this film.but there all wrong because this is a masterpiece of STAR WARS series.George Lucas puts some exciting scenes in this one like the scene with the race and has evil Darth Maul.only reason this deserves 4 stars is because retarded Jar-Jar Binks ruined it,other than that a entertaining film.
Rating: 
Summary: "I'll stick to the classics"
Review: Thank you Mr. Lucas. I think most of us have been wondering, what ever happened before A New Hope? I think we can all agree that Star Wars is one of the best movies ever made. The Phantom Menace is not a bad movie but the classic originals are better. Attack of the Clones is better but still doesn't compare to the oringals. This is the beginning. This is what we've been waiting for. The explanation of it all. Anakin Skywalker (a.k.a. Darth Vader) is just a young boy and is taught by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) to follow the Jedi ways. You have to watch this movie though. Watch for Episode III to hit theaters in May of 2005.
Rating:
Summary: What happened??
Review: while i still give this movie a good rating i think that people should know that this are nothing like the original three star wars films. this film is good but not as revolutionary as its predecesors. it is still worth owning.
Rating: 
Summary: I even liked Jar Jar Binks
Review: I don't really understand why when this movie came out, everyone seemed to like it alot, especially judging by the crowds in the theaters a month after it's release, and now it seems that the new fashion is to bash on it! Sure the acting may not have been great on Natalie Portman's part, she was young, and besides, carrying on the Star Wars legacy is a daunting task. She could have done a lot worse. How easily we seem to forget Mark Hamill's acting in the first Star Wars! The same can be said for Ewan McGregor! He's playing Obi-Wan for crying out loud! How tough is that to try to fill Sir Alec Guinness' shoes?!?!?!? I think the cast did a wonderful job, Darth Maul was great, Jar Jar Binks was cute and funny, and all in all I thought it was a perfect addition the the Star Wars stories.
Rating:
Summary: too bad there is not a negetive five star rating.
Review: Boy did that stink!
I agree with one of the previous reviews,it should be terminated,
with extreme prejudice (killed). This should get negetive five star rating.
Rating: 
Summary: This film is a disgrace to Star Wars......
Review: The Phantom Menace has to be the most boring Star Wars film I've ever seen.Nute Gunray and their droids were pretty stupid. And if this was supposed to be a kid's film, why do they bore us with all the political details?
The original trilogy was amazing. They talked about politics, yes, but keeping up with it was fun. Not so with Tpm.
Not to mention, the acting was pretty bad. Natalie Portman's character was so stiff and two-demensional that I thought she might be a droid. You just want to scream at her ,"Lighten up! This is Star Wars- have fun with it!"
Other than that, well....it wasn't that bad. People keep criticizing Jake Lloyd's acting ability, but he can't be older than ten or so. I thought he did a pretty good job.
The podracing scene was the best part. Can't see the point in bringing back Jabba the Hutt, though.
I'll give this film a 2/5. Watch for the much-improved Attack of the Clones and the as yet untitled Episode 3.
Rating:
Summary: Far superior to Ep2, but still awful.
Review: Well, the first Star Wars film in over 20 years and it turned out to be rubbish. My expectations shattered in 2 hours. Actually no make 45 mins after Jar Jar Binks appears. First, the good points. Neeson is pretty good in this and rather convincing as a thoughtful older Jedi. Palpatine is good too and subtle in his creepy role. The effects for the most part are well done, more convincing than in Ep2 actually. But everything looks too new and shiny. A problem that has yet to be solved with CGI. The ships in the originals are MUCH more convincing. They look used. Emmmm....now some of the bad points. As already mentioned, Jar Jar Binks. Well, single handedly, almost, this absolutely AWFUL character ruined what would have been an average first installment to the new trilogy. He must have been thought up when George [was not well], because I cannot imagine anyone with any kind of writing skills or imagination finding this stupid clunky, idiot being remotely funny. In fact the Gugan's as a whole were a terrible idea. But its indicative of how George Lucas's mind works. Take the Ewoks in ROTJ for example. Originally Endor was a planet of Wookies, but Georgy Porgy changed it to little teddy bears. Why? MONEY. He knew that they would be a hit with stupid people and kids. Therefore generating money. Ewok was a household name, but its not mentioned once in the entire film. Obviously Lucas hoped to replicate this in Ep1.......and FAILED miserably. JAR JAR BINKS IS NOT FUNNY. He also does not deserve to be in any film, never mind a StarWars movie. Ewan McGregor....well, hes ok. He tries hard to be a young Alec Guinness, but unfortunately I just cannot see him bringing out any of Ben Kenobi in the film. That bloody kid! Oh my God. When I first saw the poster I thought that maybe he'd be good. He looked moody and with the shadow of Vader behind him, I thought that the new trilogy would be a gloomy and grim affair, WHICH IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. But instead Lucas decided to make a kiddies film, with a kiddy star! This child is onscreen TOO MUCH....FAR TOO MUCH. I just wanted to slap him. And that pod race.....com'on he's a child....I don't care if he's got Jedi reflexes. Its just way too hard to suspend my disbelief. Portman is beautiful, but like Jar Jar doesn't belong in a Star Wars film, but for different reasons. She just looks bored by the whole affair, like she is in Ep2. And that stupid "twist" of her being replaced by her handmaiden.....what? The "droids". "Roger, Roger" indeed. They are brutal, unconvincing and absolute no threat whatsoever. George has chosen to make the enemy a useless army of Microsoft™ bug ridden foul ups. Can anyone imagine an army of these idotic machines actually winning any battle? All in all, if this had been directed by somebody else, with a tighter script and an actually threatening "menace" then it would have been an ok introduction to the new trilogy. But as it stands, it is not worth buying. Juat so it doesn't interfer with the original trilogy. I wonder if George could go back in 20 years and edit out the Jar Jar Binks scenes, like he did with the original Star Wars, only in reverse. Instead of putting in an awful representation of a character (Jabba the Hut), he could take one out and improve the film immensely. Tony
Rating:
Summary: Stop the hate!
Review: It's funny how people react to this movie. Some call it "flat," others say it "lacks edginess," and others say it "doesn't feel like a Star Wars movie." Of course, people are entitled to think whatever they want; I just feel that they're judging The Phantom Menace based on 16 years of their own expectations rather than judging it for what it is: a visually stunning space-fantasy popcorn flick. The battle scenes outdo anything in the original trilogy! I'll grant that it doesn't have the underlying heavy mythology of the original movies, but that's because it _is_ the underlying heavy mythology of the original movies. The plot is kind of convoluted, but you should be able to make sense of everything if you pay close attention. If not, just enjoy the visuals. The DVD itself is outstanding. The picture and sound are perfect and there are plenty of extras, including an hour-long documentary focusing on the making of the movie. Rick McCallum is hilarious. My favorite extra is the first web featurette, showing George Lucas going to work on his first day of writing the script (November 1, 1994). The deleted scenes are great also. This is one of the most loaded DVDs on the market, so give it a shot. It may be impossible, but try to watch without prejudice!
Rating:
Summary: terminate, with extreme prejudice.
Review: Chances are you already know what you think of this film, but just in case anyone's still out there who hasn't seen it: "The Phantom Menace" is about as much fun as eating six Milky Way bars in a row - and if you think that sounds like fun, you haven't tried it. When this 133-minute monstrosity first came out, Roger Ebert had a fairly persuasive defense of its total lack of human interest: "Hey, I've seen space operas that put their emphasis on human personalities and relationships. They're called 'Star Trek' movies." Fair enough, but even though it moves at a steady clip, it may be one of the most boring films I've ever seen. A 5-year-old could understand the basic premise of "Star Wars"; to understand the premise of "The Phantom Menace," you need to read the scrolling prologue three times, read the novelization, visit a few websites, and then probably watch the film again (a gruesome thought, that). Personally, I was a bit distracted from my valiant efforts to figure out what was going on by some of the worst dialogue ever written: "I don't care what galaxy you're from, that's gotta hurt!" Indeed. George Lucas still hasn't learned that being a director involves slightly more than knowing where to put the camera: just about every person he sticks in front of his lens looks terminally bored. Liam Neeson's Qui-Gon Jinn is a smug bore and Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi might as well be a droid himself; when the two have a "quarrel," they don't even raise their voices. Natalie Portman is cute but her line-readings are stiffer than a first year drama student on her first day of class. It's as if Lucas finally decided to emulate that OTHER great science fiction flick by making all the humans so dull that we'd start to sympathize with the technology on display. It's actually jarring to see beloved characters like C3PO, R2D2 and Yoda among these lifeless non-entities. Assembling a talented cast and then ignoring them in favor of spectacularly fake-looking special effects (admit it: were you even once able to suspend belief and pretend they weren't special effects?) is a slap in the face to them and to the audience. The worst thing about this movie is that it isn't fun at all. Part of the joy of the original "Star Wars" was its spirit of irreverent fun; unless you count the antics of the borderline-racist comic relief character Jar-Jar Binks (a humanoid llama with dreadlocks and a Jamaican accent), there's not a funny moment in this stodgy snorefest. The 30-something zombies who still revere George Lucas like he's Yoda, Obi-Wan and Joseph Campbell rolled into one either insist that the "Star Wars" saga is a retelling of all the great mythic stories at once (which would explain why it's so damn hard to follow) or that it's just a bunch of fun popcorn flicks for kids (which doesn't explain why they'll still try to convince you of its lasting "mythic importance"). "The Phantom Menace" is neither fun nor fulfilling. It's a drag. Before he made "Star Wars," George Lucas once considered making "Apocalypse Now." The only interesting thing about "The Phantom Menace" is that it's so absurdly cryptic and self-referential that - in its odd way - it's one of the most personal films ever made in Hollywood. With his billions of dollars and hordes of worshipful sycophants, Lucas has become a semi-benign Colonel Kurtz, doling out big spoonfuls of his goony New Age-y philosophy to anyone intellectually deprived enough to take him seriously. After seeing this film, the only thing that cheered me up and gave me hope for mankind was the thought that the people who hated it most were also the biggest "Star Wars" fans I know.
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