Rating: 
Summary: The movie simply does not stand on its own merits. . .
Review: First let me say that I grew up with Star Wars. I know every line of Episodes 4 through 6 by heart, and they have always spoken to me on an emotional and spiritual level. Perhaps emotions and spirituality form part of the reason why I so revile Episode 1. The Phantom Menace has neither emotion or spirit, simply a parade of the most complex special effects that George Lucas could muster. Granted, the special effects are breathtaking in places. In fact, parts of the movie are very good. These parts are typically the ones with no dialogue. The dialogue is wooden, and the actors, a formidable array of talent, still are unable to add any life to the movie. Obi-Wan has no particular depth, nor does Qui-Gon, nor Anakin, nor Padme/Amidala, nor Palpatine, nor Jar Jar. While some have argued that the next movies will explain everything, I do not understand how 2 more movies can explain why Lucas occupied two hours of my life with utterly one-dimensional characters. Others have told me to look at this movie in the context of the original trilogy and the movies to come. I do not see how any other movies could possibly be relevant to THIS movie. The fact is that the script is poor, the direction poor, and the acting is poor. As a prequel, in fact as the very FIRST movie in a story that spans 6 films, this film should above all establish character. Instead Lucas settled for special effects. I give this movie two stars. I only give it two because of the wonderful effects and the exciting final lightsaber battle. I refuse to give it more stars on the merits of the Star Wars name. A bad movie is a bad movie regardless of its pedigree. And this is a bad movie.
Rating: 
Summary: The DVD to own for DVD's Sake.
Review: It had a big hype and it may or may not live up to that hype, but the DVD is Second to none. If you like "home theater", this dvd will test your audiophile system. Video Quality is Excellent. The Extra disc is Actually worth every second with great entertaining behind the scenes stuff, and a few clues for the upcoming two movies (II & III). Look past the annoying JAR JAR charachter and enjoy the story.
Truth be said, if you don't care for Star Wars and sci-fi to begin with. . . You're on the wrong web page.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, the movie wasn't perfect but it's a great DVD
Review: Though this movie does not stand well compared to episodes 4, 5, and 6, it is still a decent movie (and would have been much better had there been less anakin and less jar-jar binks). It has a good story line (and saying there is no plot is erelevant because so did the earlier movies) and GREAT CGI. Also, i hate to comment on another review but had this movie premeired back when star wars did...it would definitely NOT be a flop, the exact opposite, it would have no hype whatsoever therefore no other movies to live up to. Had someone watched this movie without knowing about the previous films, i think they would have enjoyed it.
The DVD is great though. good commentary, good LONG featurette, and many deleted scenes, some of them were put back into the film (its a directors cut) i heared george lucas also took out some of the anakin-jar-jar scenes.
Rating: 
Summary: Wither Jake Lloyd . . . Please
Review: I have rated this DVD based upon what I would think of it IF I saw it. I had high hopes that when Lucas put out the DVD, he would finally find somebody who could act and take him to the studio to dub his voice over Jake Lloyd's. No such luck. So, I won't be buying this DVD, because if I can't stand to watch the movie again -- and Lloyd makes it absolutely unbearable to watch -- there's no sense owning the DVD, special features or not. (And, yes, I used "wither" in my title because that is what I wished Lloyd had done in the Libyan desert.)
Rating:
Summary: The Force Is Strong With This One
Review: Okay- First, this movie was surpassed by its own hype machine. People expected so much out of it because of all the pre-release hype. That said, this movie does not live up to all expectations, but it is an enjoyable look at the Jedi in their prime. The 2-Disc set with exclusive Episode 2 footage is well worth the purchase price. If only you could delete Jar-Jar or see the final Duel un-cut.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Spielberg knew what he was doing
Review: Yes, that's what I said. Ol' Steve knew what he was doing by releasing Episode 4 first. Who knew he had such vision? Like most of the other reviewers, I agree that if Episode 1 had been released first, there would have been a low rumble in the universe as Spielberg flopped into a big ol' pile of mud. But, by giving us Episodes 4, 5 and 6 he used the back end of a story to leave us panting for more. And he delivered more. We don't care that the acting is horrid or the plot is wobbly. All we want to see is how Anakin grows up to be Darth Vader. Mr. Spielberg are you related to P.T. Barnum?
Rating:
Summary: EPISODE 1 IS MEDIOCRE AT BEST
Review: Star Wars:Episode 1 is a okay movie. The fault is in the casting. The little Luke Skywalker is awful as an actor, what Lucas was thinking, I just don't know. The special effects are so computerized that you know they are computerized, they look cartoonish, and painted. The movie is interesting on a Star Wars point of view, the highlight is Natalie Portman as the Queen, well acted and great make-up and costume! other than that this movie is really a bust. Samuel L. Jackson in this movie is so misplaced. He looks like Samuel L. Jackson in costume on a Star Wars set. Liam Neeson is also miscast, Ewan MacGregor is good however. The movie is just a mish-mash that goes toooooo long with the race sequence involving young Luke, and the battle with those robots-...well what can I say, the special effects are really bad, they look painted on they don't look real. Episode 1 is not a special effects marvel, nor a acting marvel and they killed the villian OFF! NEVER KILL THE VILLAIN OFF WITH 'DARTH' IN THE NAME! Once Darth was gone it just destroyed the movie, besides the likes of Jar Jar Binks who was NOT cute and was absolutely annoying. Lucas is just getting toooo old for this. Give me Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher anyday! Now we have the likes of "Episode II" coming soon with Samuel L. Jackson too!...won't they ever learn to quit while their ahead. Should of ended with "Return of the Jedi", end of story.
Rating: 
Summary: Even worse than I remembered
Review: Just saw it again ... and it's much worse than I remembered! The visuals are great, some of them even beautiful, but the script and editing are horrible, mundane, plodding, and just plain silly. I thought the Ewoks were bad enough, but this episode is just goofy. And it's not just Jar Jar. Take him out (yeah, dream on) and you've still got a slowish mishmash of unimaginative drivel. Sure, Anakin looks cute when he curls his lip during the pod race, but what of the rest? The best part of the whole movie - the Jedi-Sith duel - is short and not always well photographed. The plot borders on idiotic. You have to see it for yourself (well, don't if you don't have to) to appreciate the understatement I'm using here. It's hard to state just how bad this film really is. I didn't think so before I saw it again on TV. I actually taped it, but promptly reused the tape afterwards to tape the end of a Seinfeld episode (Jerry: "What's mine is yours." Kramer: "Really?"). I've heard the DVD features are good, but I can't bring myself to rent it. Just awful.
Rating:
Summary: Great DVD for a not-so-great movie
Review: The DVD for this movie is amazing, but the movie itself lagged. Until someday when they could touch up this movie in the weak spots, I just won't be able to get into this movie. Jar Jar was a waste of space who did nothing but bumble and mess up every scene he was in. I mean look at the Gungan battle, it looks lame compared to the Hoth battle. The space battle in TPM looks even worse compared to the classic attacks on the Death Star. A little 9 year old kid accidentally gets into the control ship and accidentally blows it up and gets out on time, give me a break. The podrace was pretty good, but then again the english speaking podrace announcer had to mess it up with cheap gags and comic relief. Please GL, no more "Ex-squeeze me", "How rude", "Yippeee", and things like that. I wish they could take out Jar Jar's clumsyness and luck in the Gungan battle and the little childish sayings and Anakin's accidental blow up of the ship and the movie would be fine. The lightsaber duel ROCKED!!
Rating:
Summary: Please let the next movie be better!
Review: I am a major fan of Star Wars 4, 5, and even 6. Episode I just didn't work. When "A New Hope" came out, it was a brilliant piece of state-of-the-art movie technology. Episode I doesn't really have exciting new technology, so it relies heavily on computer graphics. But Computer Graphics does not a story make. It takes good writing that goes beyond, "Hey, look at R2-D2." or "He built C-3PO?" It takes characters that are deep and complex and villians that keep you on the edge of your seat. To be honest, the first time I saw Darth Maul, I laughed. It just looked like a guy wearing a Halloween mask "trying" to be scary. Remember Darth Vader? He wasn't even on the screen, but remember when you could hear his breathing and his slowly approaching footsteps? I still get chills. THAT is a villian! The music in the previous Star Wars films was fantastic. Remember when the movies first started and the Opening Theme came on and shook the theater and pumped you up? Remember Han and Leia's love theme or the music from the final fight scene between Luke and Vader? Unforgettable! But with Episode I, I can not recall one memorable piece of music. Probably because there was simply not one unforgetable scene. I know, I know. This is a prelude of better things to come. (At least I hope so.) Let's fact it. As a Star Wars fan I will see Episode 2. But will it be good enough to make me see it multiple times? I gave the movie itself 1 star. The DVD with all of its many extras brought the rating up a couple of notches.
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