Rating: 
Summary: An Open Mind Will Always Take You Further....
Review: I am very excited to be seeing this DVD. I only hope that Lucasfilm is hard at work on the originals as well. I liked "Phantom Menace" a great deal. The key...an open mind. Lucas was making a movie for a new generation, and he had at his disposal a variety of tools that he could only dream of with "A New Hope." If you look at the movie without trying to read a ton of stupid nonsense into it, he has made a great start to a new story based on a previous story in HIS universe. If he wants to explain the force as a relationship with a symbiotic lifeform, let him. As far as Anakin being "too nice," that is only going to further help create the tragic story of his descent into the dark side under Palpatine. Remember, the only positive ending to this trilogy will be the twin children of Amadala and Skywalker. The third episode will truly be a Shakespearean level tragic story of star crossed lovers divided by forces larger than themselves, set in one of the grandest universes ever created. Think about that, and suddenly Jar Jar doesn't seem to matter all that much. So, in the meantime,"Bringzee ona zee DeeVeeDeez!"
Rating: 
Summary: PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE IS DE-THRONED!
Review: I never thought it would happen, but it did! It IS possible to make a movie WORSE than "PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE" and this scumbag of a movie is it! Star Wars 1 is flawed, horrendously (who in God's name hired Jake Lloyd for an actor???) acted, abominally written and cheesy and corny to no end! The special effects STINK and the story (not that there really is one) is so stupid it's funny! STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE should be featured in a book entitled: HOW NOT TO MAKE A MOVIE! Good bye.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a Poor Movie, but a Great Special Effects Show!
Review: I am being rather generous when I give this 2 Stars. I keep on hearing all this stuff about how it being impossible to beat the original trilogy and how true Star Wars fans will like episode 1. Yeah right. The true Star Wars fans will be the ones who like a good story and great acting (original trilogy) rather than watching all the neat stuff George Lucas can do with the technology making weird looking aliens and neat looking ships (episode 1). It boggles my mind to see how true fans would like episode 1 the most. Maybe I have different tastes. Sure, there were great fighting sequences, great ships, neat planets, neat costumes, weird aliens and much more! But does a great movie rely on just that kind of stuff. I have taken polls on the people's most favorite star wars movie, and almost all the time The Empire Strikes Back was the most liked. I am not saying this should be everyone's favorite. I am just trying to get this point across. The Empire Strikes Back DID have the least amount of weird creatures, it also used the least amount of big technology, the people were real, and it also had a great story. So do the next two movies that are coming out really need to rely on all the digital stuff or can't George Lucas remodel off of the trilogy. People's expectations might have been a little high on episode 1, and it might have been impossible to mount to the original trilogy. BUT to me George Lucas seemed like impressing the audiences with the high flying, loud, technology cities, which is all a special effects show. I have noticed that I can feel I have a special bond with the characters of the trilogy, because they are GREAT actors and have good, interesting personalities. It's hard to get aquainted with stupid characters like Jar Jar. Also to me the main cast seemd quite weak and boring. I just couldn't get in with the movie. Lastly, the story was really weak. Anakin was esp. weak. I mean him having no idea what he is doing in that ship and somehow managing to blue up that space droid control station is weird to me. To wrap it up, the TRUE star wars fans will be watching it for a GOOD STORY and a GOOD CAST, NOT A SPECIAL EFFECTS SHOW WITH A FEW HUMANS MIXED WITH TONS OF WEIRD CREATURES. That's all!
Rating: 
Summary: I hate it! No... can't stand it, Not my Star Wars!!
Review: I'm almost ashamed... I can't believe i gave anything with a Star Wars title 3 stars... Can i live with myself? Where's that bootleg copy?!?!Ok with that said lets get on to the review. The movie itself was a decent movie, but it didn't live up to the name of Star Wars. The acting was pretty good, though Anakin couldn't have done a better job. A few hard core Star Wars fans might notice every historical mistake made, such as the alterations in some peoples' ages and the C-3P0 problem... but other than that, no one else will notice. The movie does more for the Star Wars fan than it does for the average movie goer. Most Star Wars fans looked upon Phantom Menace as a menace, tarnishing the name of StarWars with the ever annoying Jar Jar Binks. This character seems to be out of place, way out of line, and just unnecessary comic relief that was never needed in any of the other movies. I wouldn't suggest this movie unless you are a Star Wars fan. Though the soundtrack is good and the pod racing scene was great, there isn't much you can get out of the movie other than historical data on the Star Wars universe, and unless you're a fan, you probably don't care about the historical value. If you saw it in the theaters and liked it enough to see it a second time, then you proably got everything you will out of it. Renting it might not work for you, because the one great thing about it was it's Big Screen production, and a 45" TV with stereo won't cut it (Though a theater system with a 16:9 super screen might fall just Shy of the Imax i saw it on). Again, i would only suggest this movie to the fans.
Rating:
Summary: Don't lose sight of your vision George.
Review: All too easy to write a bad review on this film. Far too much expectation is levelled in the direction of George Lucas. And every single person who slates this film will still buy the DVD. The film is trashed merely because it doesn't live up to expectations. And it never would have. The film is George Lucas' vision, and not the collaborative efforts of the millions of fans out there who feel they could do it better. I hope he does not bow to the masses for the next two, that in itself would be a betrayal. This DVD has an unprecedented level of extra material, and has probably had the most money spent on it, more so than the T2 Ultimate Edition which incredible expense and effort was invested into. Completing shots that didn't make it into the final cut is unheard of until now, all too often we are treated to no more than rough cuts and storyboards. This DVD is made for the fans and for that they should be thankful. Don't lose sight George. Not everyone thinks you have lost it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not easy to rate
Review: Let me tell you something - how can you rate a movie that was expected form whole world, who is part of a legendary saga that has countless fans, as a dissapointment? Even if Lucas filmed Natalie Portman for two hours I would be pretty satisfied. :) OK, this was stupid (I really like Natalie:)), but try to get my point - Lucas was trying to open a new chapter, not do the evolution of characters or places. Did you expect dark, hard story, or countless emotional moments? I didn`t, and was not dissapointed. Waht we have here is a nice opening of a new triology, a moive with enough action, new stuff and an interesting political (galaxy political, not USA and Russia political :)) story that you can enyoj if you are a fan or not. I admit that I hate Jar-Jar Binks and that some things are too simplified at the moments, but once again, I hope you didn`t expect revolution. Episod 2 is promised to be darker and more complicated, wich is good news and will probably satisfy fans. But, untill then, Episode one is a cool galactial fairy tale made with just enough Lucas magic to NOT dissapoint.
Rating:
Summary: Dissappointing AND awesome
Review: Right. My first review ever. Yeay for me. I'm gonna deal with the dissappointing stuff first, in order to end on a lighter tone. Dissappointing: - Lack of story-line. The first three movies (I refuse to think of this movie as Star Wars 1. The original is part 1 in my book) were following a closely interwoven story-line. I was expecting this movie to add to that. Build up characters, and start with the basics. It did, in a way, but I was expecting more of it. - Annakin. I'm amazed this kid lived to his age. He's way too annoying. "Yeah", "Cool". He says that modern-kid stuff way too often. Mom COULD have drowned him when he was younger. But nooo. - Jar Jar. Leave this double jar on the shelf. "How rude". How I'd love to grab him by that big neck of his, and tie his ears around it. 'Nuff said. - Commerce. We all saw what commerce was when the first (See? Told you I didn't regard this one as the first) 'trilogy' was released. Thing is: Everybody who saw the older Star Wars movies and loved them is now older. Yet this movie was totally made for kids. (See JarJar and Anakin). We, the true old-timer (25 IS old) fans would buy the toys anyway. Heck, we have tons more cash to spend then 22 years ago. No need to have made them so annoying that we'd prolly end up tossing them out the window or hand rags over them to keep from gagging. Everything looks like it's sweet and huggable. We know kids are little adults, but they forget about the adult kids... But, there's some good things in the movie too. Awesome: - The fight. Like another reviewer said: "The best action ever on TV". - The Special-effects. I sometimes wonder when we definatly won't be able to tell the difference between something 'real' and something 'computer-made'. Some of them are a bit overdone, but overall, I'd say the line "Where's my jaw?" pretty much sums it up. - Extras. This DVD is packed with them. Kudos to Lucasfilm for that. - 1/3. Seeing this is the first one of the new trilogy (Ha. did it again!), maybe the Lucasfilm team will listen to all the negative reviews, and think about their long-term fans a little more next time. Granted, the first (!!) three movies were ALSO aimed for kids and commerce, but at least adults also got enjoyment. Now, I think most of the adults were trying to hold down their lunch because of all the sweet kiddie-stuf. AND we'll get to see more of Natalie Portman. (I vote we get full close-ups of her and Anakin going at is!). - Mace Windu. YEAY! Samuel L. Jackson rules! - This is not the end. For two reasons. 1. It's only a movie. My life won't end; I'll just watch the old three (Ha!) movies again and again and again. 2. There's two more to come up. Lucas can make up for this one, plus we'll get more of the storyline. Tip for Star Wars 5: Get Gary Oldman!
Rating:
Summary: Could've been a lot better
Review: My husband and I went to see "The Phantom Menace" on our honeymoon in Marco Island. We had both seen and enjoyed the original Star Wars movies (well, he really didn't care much for the Ewoks). So we were eagerly anticipating the "prequel". My husband liked the movie, but I was disappointed. First, almost all of the characters (with the exception of Darth Maul) acted "wooden" - you really didn't care about them - even if they survived or not. Second, they really should've developed the main characters roles a little more - like knowing something about their past and how they're important to the lives of those they interact with (like between Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan). Third, while computer animation is a great thing, too much of it (which this movie had alot of) can take away from the "realism" of the scenes. Now, don't get me wrong - the movie wasn't a total loss: I loved the duel between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and the racing scenes felt like I was playing POD, but I felt the movie was missing something. Maybe I expected it to be along the vein of the first 3, but it could have been alot better. But I will buy "The Phantom Menace" when it comes out on DVD for my husband because at least someone in the household will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars strike back! But not so hard...
Review: Well, I came in and read a few reviews, none over 3 stars sadly. When I started reading the one star reviews I was immediately ready to disregard anything they said. But, after I read the whole thing, I saw the points they made, and actually, they were really good points. In Star Wars, we have an all powerful evil we have to destroy of it will soon take over the galaxy. The Death Star is destroyed, much to the relief of everyone by Luke Skywalker. In the Empire Strikes Back, the same evil is back, and this time the evil wins, and Han Solo is lost to Jaba. In Return of the Jedi, the Death Star is back, and supposedly it is "out of order" but as we find out it is "Very operational". Again it is destroyed by our good friend Lando, and everything turns out for the best. Then, we go back to the beginning. We have an evil force, but it's not so big and it's not so bad. Most of this movie takes place on land, not in space where we all hoped, and even some underwater. We meet Darth Vader, or Anakin Skywalker, and he sure does need to take some acting classes. George Lucas's best accomplishment is finding out how to make young Anakin into an older Anakin, and a different actor. ... It had no plot, and it gave the watchers what they wanted, action. "Breakthrough"? I think not, the plot in the last 3 films was what made us watch this movie, and sadly you left us wanting more. I'm not devestated, it's just a movie, and I will watch it again, because let's face it, that light sabre scene at the end was just awesome, the fight choriography was great. The only reason I give this movie 3 stars is for the action and the past. I'm sure the final film in 2005 will be the best, it has to be. Mark_Sigel
Rating:
Summary: Menace to Society
Review: Much has been written of this film, much more than it deserves. After all, its just a movie. Some people seemed to base their own personal happiness on the outcome of this bit of entertainment. Taken out of the Classic Star Wars series, I'd take this film over 90% of the action adventures we get. But place it in with THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and its weaknesses are apparent. Firstly, its hard to tell what the story is about. We know what the series is about, but this story on its own rambles between Qui Gon, Obi Wan and Young Anikan (Jake Lloyd in a slightly annoying child's performance). Plot matters. Outside of the plot, many of the set pieces are amazing. But, none will ever match up to the EMPIRE STRIKES BACK AT-AT attack on the winter base on Hoth. The Pod Race is well done but looked like a "driving" video game, without INSERT COIN(S) flashing on screen. Yoda, by muppet master Frank Oz is back and is still the best special effect in the film. Jar Jar Binks, a new completely computer generated character premieres with this film and is well accomplished. But, he is focused (as is this film) on the younger set so annoyed many an adult. Evil is strongly represented by the too infrequent Darth Maul. His performance and the best light sabre battle to date stand out as high points of the film. Now, after watching Star Wars for the first time, I was immediately able to draw film elements all over my school folders. (ie Darth Vader, R2-D2, Threepio, The Tie Fighters, The Death Star, X-Wings, etc...) I have since seen Episode 1 three times and still cannot describe the robot driven ships in the final attack. Hopefully, we will be more fulfilled with EPISODE 2.
|
