Rating: 
Summary: 2001's Worst Video Transfer?
Review: The only purpose to buy this DVD is to showcase just how poor video quality gets on DVD. This movie was showcased as a beautiful digital video experience in "Electronic Cinema" presentations. Utilizing superb digital transfers and high powered experimental video projectors there was an existing digital version of this movie that was superb. Why the consumer version on DVD looks so soft is anyone's guess. Could there be a "Collectors" version we will have to buy to see a good quality version? I make my living promoting quality home video. This is not a good example of the potential for picture quality with DVD production capabilities. JS
Rating:
Summary: The force isn't with them
Review: The only thing I can say about Star Wars, Episode 1 is "What happened?" I finally gave in and used a free rental to see the movie and was shocked at how a film so awful made so much money. The acting was terrible, the special effects average (too many computer generated images) and the plot lacking emotion and substance. Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor sleepwalk through their roles and Jake Lloyd shows how one individual can single handedly ruin a franchise. To make matters worse, the script is full of dumb plot twists and bad dialogue that weighs down the movie and neglects to provide any depth to the characters. The climactic battle between the Jedi's and Darth Maul is too short and wastes the use of a great villain. The one positive thing about the movie is that we won't have to see Jake Lloyd in any future roles. Too bad we can't say this about the other actors. Keeping with the tradition of present day Hollywood, Episode 1 is another example of a film that uses special effects to disguise a weak plot and sub par acting. As Jar Jar would say "Mr. Lucas big screw up time but him no care since money he want so badly."
Rating:
Summary: Ani, do you like movies about gladiators?
Review: The only way Episode I will make you feel like a kid again is if you had a sneaky uncle.
Rating:
Summary: Jar Jar Binks, me thinks you stink!
Review: The only way the next Star Wars Movie ("Attack of the Clones"... maybe because the title "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" was taken?) can be any good is if Jar Jar Binks gets sucked into an X-Wing engine and shreaded into a fine mist! Lucas left out the one thing that made Star Wars great, gritty realism. The characters are too sweet, the ships to clean, and the plot too thin! Darth Maul was wasted... and so was my $$!
Rating: 
Summary: The only way to watch this movie
Review: The only way to watch this movie. Some people have been buying the "pan and scan" version which is a real waste of money. It also comes with some other doo-dads in the box but I was paying for the widescreen version of the movie. If you like this film, buy this version.
Rating: 
Summary: Unworthy of the name "Star Wars"
Review: The original Star Wars and its sequel were fun movies that played to both adults and kids, handled mature themes in a respectable way (remember the murder of Luke's aunt and uncle?) and held fast to high standards. With "Return of the Jedi" these ideals began to weaken. With "The Phanton Menace" they were abandoned completely. The special effects were good (hence the two stars), but that's about it. As an example of the abandonment of the high standards, the stormtroopers of the early movies are replaced in firefights by combat droids. Although this is politically correct, it gives the impression that by the time of the original Star Wars movie technology had regressed, continuity people! Darth Vader in the original movies was a well defined figure of menace. In Phantom Mencae Darth Maul is exactly that, a phantom. He lacks definiton, personality and even menace (he looks ridiculous and fights like Van Dame on a sugar high). In the original movies, the comic relief (R2D2, C3PO) were useful and capable. Jar Jar Binks, the comedy relief from "Phantom Menace" may have been funny in a juvenile way, but he accomplishes nothing. Jeez, if the forces of good rely on guys like him no wonder the empire took over so easily! Previously, the force had been "an energy force that surrounds us and binds the galaxies together." In 1976 we were all saying "May the Force be with you." Now, thanks to episode I, it turns out the force is a bacterial infection, "May disease be with you?!" In the original movies, Luke was a kid we could all relate to because he seemed human. In this movie, Annakin Skywalker is an ace pilot, a droid inventor, pilots a fighter in combat, and he's what, 7?!? I can see 7 year olds in the audience cheering for this bit of nonsense, but what about those of us with a cohesive sense of logic? In the films all time low-point, however, Annakin is informed that despite his accomplishments, he is too old to begin traiing as a jedi. How old do you have to be, a fetus? Luke must have been positively ancient when he began his training. CONITINUITY PEOPLE! Overall, "Phantom Menace" has none of the intelligence, wit or verve of the original movies. It is child-oriented piffle.
Rating:
Summary: A film which has run out of ideas but the effects are good
Review: The original Star Wars films were what cinema is all about. Well scripted escapism which showed imagination and vigour. Star Wars itself was important in freeing woman characters from being love objects or plot focuses. It allowed them to become characters in themselves. Star Wars 1 is a beautifully made film. The sets, the effects the photography are all brilliant. The problem is the plot and execution. Jar Jar Binks is one of the most annoying characters to enter the film world. Black market copies of this film are being sold now with him being digitally removed from every scene. The notion that a 15 year old girl could be elected to run a planet is also a fantasy which is clearly designed to make the film appeal to a younger target group. In much the same way the development of the Anakin Skywaler character is again aimed at the youth market. However in reality would some adults allow a 10 year old to engage in a dangerous car race to enable them to get some money to buy an engine? There are some plot points which are so unrealistic that they grate. The forces of evil in this film use robots to fight for them. These robots are incredibly bad shots who never seem to hit anything. Clearly the main thrust of the film is to provide an explanation for the emergence of autocratic rule in the Star Wars universe. However the character who is to emerge as the evil emperor is such a greaser one could not imagine him getting a job in a small shop let alone running the universe. His emergence over the next few episodes will only be possible if the other characters have major brain surgery which reduces their intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Plan 9 from Naboo
Review: The ORIGINAL Star Wars trilogy fueled my imagination as a child. A few years ago when I heard that a new trilogy was in the works, I was elated. When The Phantom Menace premiered in my city, I stood in line for 6 hours to watch the midnight showing. When reading the opening scroll I knew I had been hoodwinked. This is one of the worst films ever made. It's Plan 9 from Outer Space with a 150 million dollar budget. I can't believe George Lucas had over 20 years to conceive this story and this is the best he could come up with. Willow and Howard the Duck sound like Shakespeare compared to the unbelievable stupidity of the dialog for The Phantom Menace. The special effects are amazing but what big budget movie doesn't have amazing effects nowadays? But alas, millions of money wasting collectors will rush out to purchase this widescreen VHS edition only to buy the movie once more on DVD after tape sales have declined and then rebuy this trite yet again when "STAR WARS EPISODE 1 - THE PHANTOM MENACE : SPECIAL EDITION" is released. Happy spending and May the Fraud be with You. (p.s. - I'm only giving this one star because negative 10 was not an option.)
Rating:
Summary: Oh, the Humanity!!!
Review: The original Star Wars trilogy was a defining part of my childhood. Born as I was in 1971, I was just the right age to fall headlong into this amazing new world Lucas created. I was one of those kids that showed up early at toy stores, breathless at the thought of collecting the latest Jawa action figure or Land Speeder...anxiously awaiting each subsequent installment of the series. I'm so glad that by my late 20s, the old thrill had faded, or else I would have been EXTREMELY upset over "Episode I: The Phantom Menace"...perhaps the biggest let-down in film history. What was with all the fart/"poo-doo" humor? Can anyone clear this up for me? Extremely infantile. Or could anyone have thought of a MORE boring plot device than interplanetary "trade and taxation"?!? I still can't figure out what all that was about. One minute their talking about taxes, the next we're watching some alien animal fart. Jar Jar. Perhaps the single most despised and insulting single character I've ever had the displeasure of loathing. Every second of screentime made my blood boil. Oh, and Anakin. Could they have found a WORSE little actor? Did anybody take this kid seriously, EVER?!? Did he ever convey a single believable emotion? Not that I remember. Good thing he wasn't the central character in the entire freaking movie!!! Folks, the party is over. It's time to shift allegiance to the new great fantasy epic of our time: Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best films ever
Review: The overall impression I have is that this film will go down as one of the most brilliant visual effects movies ever. As a fan of Star Wars, I marvel at how George Lucas' vision is translated in an art form. Mr. Lucas has created something very special in this film in that he was able to use his very creative imagination to his fullest. Yes, I will agree that the dialogue in the movie can be sketchy at times, but it didn't bother me in The Phantom Menace. I do like good writing in films, but Mr. Lucas writes what he wants to with the story or stories, HE creates. The action sequences are memorable, especially with Darth Maul and the two Jedi and John Williams' electrifying music to go along with it. No matter how bad most people think it is, it should be nominated for some Academy Awards. I'm thinking: Visual Effects, Costume Design, Makeup, Sound, Sound Effects Editing, and Art Direction. The expectations were way too high for most people and I for one looked at it as a different movie with different characters and different stories. Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace will be hailed as a technological breakthrough and a continuing tradition through Industrial Light & Magic, which is primarily responsible for most of the special effects in movies today. Companies have spun off from ILM with its influence. I just love the movie and anticipate it on DVD in the coming years.
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