Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: A great movie, lives up to even my admittedly lofty expectations!Perhaps not as spectacular as The Empire Strikes Back(but then again, what is?), but it certainly shines in comparison to The Return of the Jedi(the worst great movie ever made). The fx are spectacular, the characters are well acted and memorable(despite complaints to the contrary) and I, for one, look forward to seeing how it all turns out over the next 2 chapters!
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars Episode I
Review: Great movie...better than the first three. More action, better special effects, better action scenes. Ewan MacGregor and LIAM NIESON (especially Liam) were awesome.
Rating: 
Summary: A truly dazzling visual tour nevertheless
Review: I'm very sorry to hear that this movie fell short of George Lucas's hopeful expectations, but it has its truly inspiring moments anyhow. The action sequences will truly take your breath away as well as the eye-popping ariel shooting of the majestic cities that may one day represent our own cities several thousand years from now. And the young queen who ascended the throne so early in her life is the most fascinating character of all, with her really bizarre hairdos and her plucky exploits. The story, however drags on a little and I did squirm about in my seat at those times. In addition, there are some pretty silly parts like the king of the swamp shaking his jowls until his spittle flies everywhere and a desert mount suddenly breaking wind for no good reason. But the special effects, especially produced by the sophisticated computer technology of the '90s are quite beautiful and awe-inspiring to watch. So go enjoy the ride nevertheless!
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Film
Review: I think the reason The Phantom Menace has gotten some bad press has everything to due with unrealistic expectations and nothing to do with what is an excellent movie. Too many people went looking for the thrill of the original movie and when they didn't get that magical moment I think they were a little turned off. My point would be that the original movies were just that the originals. They came out of nowhere and delivered before our eyes something we had never seen before. Since these new movies are built off of what has already been done how can we really expect something with the same power?I for one thoroughly enjoyed the movie and actually went back to see it in the theater twice more. It moved along relatively quickly with only the middle portion of the movie stalling slightly. Special effects where tremendous with the creations of Naboo and Coruscant an absolutely breathtaking visual feat. I had some problems with Darth Maul in that he never really semmed very "Evil" no strangling of people in a vaderesque manner but I suppose as some other reviewers have indicated this could have been intentional so as not to distract viewers from the hidden threat that has not yet fully revealed itself. Jar Jar Binks was pretty annoying the first time but I found that each time I saw the film I found him a bit more acceptable. I actually understood everything he said the second time I saw it and found him pretty amusing. Some portrayals of the battle scenes where really silly such as the Gungans and Droid armies facing off like some battle of the Ancient world with Romans against the barbarians. I mean they had all these high tech weapons and instead of fighting the way we would today over massive land areas they marched out into an open field and lined up. For cinematic effect I guess it had to be that way but it personnally annoyed me. I found the potrayal of the Jedi in the movie to fascinating and the lightsabre battle at the end was one of the most impressive battle scenes I have ever scene.
Rating: 
Summary: Everyone's seen it anyway, but here's what I think...
Review: Billion-dollar special effects, exotic locations, mind-blowing computer animation.. with all the money being spent to produce this movie, would it have killed George Lucas to hire a decent script writer as well? The good things from the first SW movies are improved: excellent fight scenes, wonderful landscapes and effects, terrific music. But others have repeatedly proven (Fifth Element, Godzilla, Titanic) that special effects can't save a bad movie - you can fool a lot of people, sure, but it's not the same thing. Pod races and lightsaber battles aside, this is an extremely weak movie. There's no real villain. No one except Liam Neeson (and Macgregor at times) can act. I've never seen a more obvious marketing ploy, not to mention a more unnecessary irritant, than Jar Jar Binks. George Lucas is fantastic at bringing ideas to life, and with some strong writing he could possibly make the best Star Wars movie ever done... so why doesn't he?
Rating:
Summary: A Different Breed of Star Wars
Review: I look at The Phantom Menace and I see a very good film. An excellent story line, breath-taking special effects, and wonderful acting all put together into one amazing feature. There are just a few minor problems with this film as the beginning of the Star Wars saga. Even longer than I can recall I have been entranced by the epic saga of the Star Wars films. I saw the magic that George Lucas can create, but this film has lost a small portion of that magic. While I do agree that the effects on this film were astonishing, I feel that computers were over-used. Anyone who has seen the original trilogy knows that Mr. Lucas & Lucasfilm don't need all of this modern technology & CGI to take our breath away, but now that they have it they don't know where to draw the line. The special editions of the originals were fabulously done because all they did was mainly a touch-up job with the re-addition of some cut scenes. On Episode 1 however, everything uses computers. They created an entire race (the Gungans) that never showed up on the set. They made shields for ships, droids, and even live characters that appear on screen with a bluish tint. Lucas never had to use computers to come up with characters or alien races that captivated his audience, look at Chewie, the Ewoks, or the entire cantina scene from the first movie. The original films, and even the special editions of them, did fabulous without the audience seeing the Millenium Falcon's deflector shields, we just knew they were there (in fact, the lack of those shields allowed us to see the pain-staking detail that had been put into the ship), and if they weren't there we were always told about it ("Chewie, we're losing our rear deflector shield!"). In this day and age everyone uses computers and CGI, and everyone tries to do it better than the last guy. If your reading this, Mr. Lucas, my advice is don't jump on that bandwagon. If you want to really shock and amaze people show them what you can do _without_ computers, not with them. Show us that you can do without CGI technology what most people couldn't even do with it like a lot of us already know. Also, back on the subject of ships, the only ship that I remember from this is the Naboo Fighter. I didn't expect the Falcon, X-wings, Y-wings, Star Destroyes, TIE Fighters, or Slave 1 to show up, but there were no really memorable or outstanding vessels on this movie. How many of the ships on this movie actually had a name? I never heard any, just types of ships (i.e. the afore mentioned Naboo Fighter). Why is that? Now the characters in this film are fabulous, and very well portrayed by the actors and actresses cast for them. These are character that we know, or even better, that we _thought_ we knew but are just now learning the details of. And the new additions to the Star Wars family are just as intriguing. The one exception would be Jar Jar Binks. I am not one of the "death to Jar Jar" people, but it is obvious that this character was designed only to bring in the younger viewers. Based on opinions I got from other viewers after watching the film (at least 20 after each of the 6 times I saw it), it seems that this character appeals to the age group of 5 and below. What they are not taking into account is that in 1977 they didn't have a Barney wannabe and it still captivated several children in that very age group, myself included. I wasn't even 2 yet, but my mother took me to see Star Wars and she swares that I never turned away from the screen and never made a sound to interupt it; and I have met over 100 people with similar stories since I have been on-line. Even with the defects I have named above though, this is still an excellent film. The story alone is enough to outweigh the defects, but when you add to that the great characters and marvelous acting it still turns out a masterpiece. I commend George Lucas, and the entire cast & crew, for the they work put into this film. I give 4 out of 5 stars, the faults listed above being the reasons for the loss of that 5th star. Congratulations, Mr. Lucas, you've done it again.
Rating: 
Summary: And the DVD is where?
Review: If you appreciate the StarWars saga and want to see these films on DVD, then make your voice heard. The DVD is/was purposely held back for this film as well as all the other StarWars movies. Why? Greed. Instead of making this film available on DVD like hundreds of thousands of other films, those of us with DVD players are being manipulated into buying BOTH the VHS and DVD versions (assuming a DVD does inevitably come to market). LucasFilm is also paranoid about illegal duplication and is making YOU AND I pay for their paranoia. I can think of no better candidate for beautiful digital reproduction than this film, and it's unlikely any of us will be able to view all that glory for quite some time - if ever. Shame on you George Lucas. I will not buy this film on VHS, and if you have any sense of community and own a DVD player you can only make your voice heard by following suit. Look at all the films we are NOT seeing on DVD because those of you could be "voting" for what you want are staying away from the polls. I have purchased many many DVDs from Amazon. They are kind enough to keep a list of everyone who asks to be notified if/when a film makes it to DVD. They have even stated they will send a count (pettition) to the studios withholding DVD versions, as evidence of demand. I for one would NEVER have shelled out all this money for VHS titles, simply because the shelf-life of VHS is as limited as the sound and video quality. DO NOT BUY THIS FILM ON VHS IF YOU OWN A DVD PLAYER.
Rating:
Summary: HEY, COME ON!
Review: HEY, COME ON! THE MOVIE WAS'NT THAT BAD. I MEAN THE MOVIE WAS'NT THE BEST OUTTA THE SEIRES BUT IT DID SET IT UP. I DOTHINK THAT KID LOOKED WAY TOO CUTE TO BE VADER. AN IF THEY PICK LEO FOR 2 THEN IT WILL FIT THE CHILD BUT STILL TOO CUTE I THINK. AN WHAT ABOUT THEM F/X'S? WoW! AN WHAT ABOUT DARTH MAUL? THIS SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY OE THAT HE WILL BE IN. WAS HE NOT KICK A$$ OR WHAT? I THINK HE WAS THE KOOLEST EVER. BUT NOT BETTER THEN VADER. I DO THINK HE LOOKED KOOLER THEN VADER THO. WAS THE FIGHTING IN IT NOT THE BEST IN ANY STAR WARS? I MUST SAY I HOPE JAR JAR DIES AN FAST. I DONOT WANT HIM TO RETURN. HE MESSED UP THE MOVIE BUT THE MOVIE IS'NT BAD.
Rating:
Summary: the force is back!
Review: this movie was a box office hit for more reasons than 1! many people are skeptical of it because they had astronomical expectations. the movie was in no way a failure, it can be enjoyed by all. star wars fans who have been in a coma for a year won't be disappointed when they see this. the viewers of the movie shouldn't have been so skeptical of characters such as jar jar binks. lucas made this movie in his vision, not to be a hit because it had young, "hip" stars that everyone knows. he actually got actors who have the amazing ability to act. this movie was a great achievement, i saw it 8 times in the theatre. may he force be with you!
Rating:
Summary: The best "Star Wars" yet!
Review: This have got to be the greatest sci-fi movie of all time! Whoever says that Jar Jar sucks has no sense of humor and was deprived of a childhood. He was great! Not only was he funny, he was also very realistic. I can't believe he was CG! I can't wait to buy the video. Too bad there's no DVD yet, not until 2005 (at least). The special effects were amazing, the story was interesting and easy to follow at the same time.
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