Rating: 
Summary: Four stars "TPM", five stars "AOTC"
Review: Star Wars is great fantasy/sci-fi and could not be so with out being more intelligent than a lot of people might give it credit for. Firstly "TPM" is a good film and very enjoyable but does, for me, have a few things that stop it from being great. Got a good start, but for me loses a bit from the gungan city until they hit tatooine and receive the decoy distress signal. In that time it seems like anything could happen, in a bad way, and as a result there is a lack of tension. But after that it is great, draws you in, and about the only other thing that jars is that frog juggling a blue whatever on a tank turret!! All the acting is great, podrace is great, coruscent etc and why it would of been good to see a bit more lightsaber action, that is just nit picking. "AOTC" is great, the only thing that i can nit-pick is that there is just one quick cut that shows the jedi being forced into the middle of the arena so there is no sense of them slowly getting driven into the middle, just seems to happen very quickly, and the two other jedi who r saberless at the end being put in the middle also. But the whole movie is simply wonderful sci-fi/fantasy and really coherent, and basically long live king George and co!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Blasphemy! Blasphemy! Blasphemy!
Review: The original Star Wars films are (I don't even know why I bother typing this) ulticlassics among the motion picture artform. Never before and never since has any film series been so flawlessly entertaining. These "prequals", however, are some of the worst films of all time. Not only do they pay huge disrespect to their predecessors, they also suck as movies on their own.For starters, the acting is absolutely atrocious in both movies, starting with the bland-beyond-belief dialogue and delivery of THE PHANTOM MENACE (whose only saving grace was the undeniable presence of Liam Neeson). However, it's far better to not act at all than to act horribly, as was proven in ATTACK OF THE CLONES, which actually succeeded in being worse than EPISODE I. Not only does the second prequal manage to sport the worst title ever, it also sports the worst actor in the history of filmmaking: Hayden Christiansen, or however you spell his name. Man, just thinking about his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker makes me mad! Oh, and Natalie Portman sucks, as well. While Ewan McGreggor reigns far above those other "leads", he is still NOT Obi-Wan Kenobi. The best part of the movie was Christopher Lee, who's obviously having a jolly fun outing as the mediocre-yet-still-villainous Count Dooku. I only feel sorry for him for having the all-time worst, yet most hysterical name in history; I mean, they might as well have named him Count Chocula! In both movies, Samuel L. Jackson is totally wasted as Jedi Master Windu, whose only purpose is to provide Yoda with someone to talk to. Secondly, I absolutely cannot stand the special effects in both prequals. The originals were done entirely with models and hand-crafted tools, which is why they were so realistic and believable. Now, the love put into old-age techniques has been utterly forgotten in favor of modern-day CGI (Computer-Generated Inefficiencies, my friend calls them). Honestly, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Shrek and Donkey walk by in the background and wave to the camera! The not-so-special effects are THAT bad. Furthermore, these have proven to be John Williams' worst film compositions ever. They embodify the very essence of the word "bland", and have only one strong point: the spectacular "Duel of the Fates". I must say, that lightsaber battle in THE PHANTOM MENACE was awesome, but it was victim to quick-cuts; we would see ten realy cool seconds of the Jedi lightsaber duel, and then see a full five minutes devoted to the other three struggles going on. Then another ten seconds, and then another useless five minutes, et cetera. If all the footage of the actual duel was composited together into an uninterrupted scene (something I plan on doing someday), it would be one of the best action scenes ever. The same situation was found in ATTACK OF THE CLONES: though the lightsaber fights were well-staged and choreographed, they were so freakin' short! ONE-TWO-THREE-POW-ZAP-CLASH, and the fight would be over. This leads to my greatest complaint of all the prequals: Yoda's use of his lightsaber. Now you may gasp at this, and it's true that this scene has been rated the best of 2002; yet my decision stands. The entire concept completely destroyed the beloved mystical persona that Yoda had established in the originals. Now, he's just an excuse to please the audience with yet another thirty-second combat scene. Oh, and Yoda goes digital? Nope, terrible idea; he was born a puppet, and he should die a puppet! The original Star Wars Trilogy had everything a movie could possibly want: great acting, epic scope, groundbreaking FX work, stunning music, affective drama, witty humor . . . . . EVERYTHING! That is, everything these two prequals lack. I've said it before and I'll say it again: THIS IS NOT TRUE STAR WARS!
Rating:
Summary: Nearly unwatchable....
Review: The Phantom Menace suffers from a horrendous script,but it actually has a couple of scenes that are genuinely entertaining.On the other hand,Attack of the Clones is quite possibly the worst big budget motion picture ever made.The script is even worse than Phantom Menace (and by a long way),and the movie is tedious,almost beyond belief.There is no 'acting',to speak of,rather just lame pronouncements from the various actors.I borrowed a friend's dvd,just to give it a viewing,and I wanted to walk out,even while in my own living room.These movies illustrate,if there was any remaining doubt,that Lucas has lost whatever talent he may have once had.I'm of the opinion that he had very little to begin with.
Rating: 
Summary: Some rousing action amid boring stories.
Review: The Phantom Menace-Hated by Star Wars purists everywhere, TPM fails because it's not consistently entertaining. That's most unfortunate because the movie gets off to a hell of a rousing start, with our two heroic Jedis, Qui-Gonn Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, fending off robotic assailants. And the movie actually gets better, with some visually amazing sights, particularly the underwater cities of Naboo. The point the movie collapses is when the characters land on Tatooine and are introduced to Anakin Skywalker, played atrociously by Jake Lloyd. From the point on, the story just dwindles its potential, dragging endlessly without any relief in sight. Well, relief finally comes, almost 70 minutes later! The movie picks up significantly in the climax, with a two-on-one lightsaber battle that's simply magnificent. Call it a case of too little too late for me, but at least the film ends on a high note. TPM boasts a cast of fine actors: Liam Neeson, Ewan Mcgregor, Natalie Portman, and Samuel L. Jackson. But aside from Neeson, everyone is wooden, an oddity considering that the original Star Wars boasted almost no proven talents (at the time) but were still superior to the cast on hand here.
** 1/2/***** Attack of the Clones-This sequel to Phantom Menace is, in the end, not really better or worse than its predecessor. The dialogue is just as awful as before and there's an insipid love story that's not the slightest bit romantic or believable. The cast is about on the same level as before, with Ewan Mcgregor impressing me a bit more with his almost dead-on Alec Guinness impression. Unfortunately, the political backdrop is boring and a little confusing, and most of the action sequences are surprisingly dull, the only true exception being the knockout colosseum battle sequence. The climactic lightsaber duel is a huge step backward from Episode I, there's no Ray Park/Darth Maul here to display versatile athleticism. The fact that Anakin Skywalker is a whiny teen doesn't bother me, that's the way he should be, but the fact that it's all noticeably acting on the part of Hayden Christensen is completely damning. Anyone under the age of fifteen will greatly enjoy the picture. Everyone else, well, that's a little tougher to tell.
Rating:
Summary: Some rousing action amid boring stories.
Review: The Phantom Menace-Hated by Star Wars purists everywhere, TPM fails because it's not consistently entertaining. That's most unfortunate because the movie gets off to a hell of a rousing start, with our two heroic Jedis, Qui-Gonn Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, fending off robotic assailants. And the movie actually gets better, with some visually amazing sights, particularly the underwater cities of Naboo. The point the movie collapses is when the characters land on Tatooine and are introduced to Anakin Skywalker, played atrociously by Jake Lloyd. From the point on, the story just dwindles its potential, dragging endlessly without any relief in sight. Well, relief finally comes, almost 70 minutes later! The movie picks up significantly in the climax, with a two-on-one lightsaber battle that's simply magnificent. Call it a case of too little too late for me, but at least the film ends on a high note. TPM boasts a cast of fine actors: Liam Neeson, Ewan Mcgregor, Natalie Portman, and Samuel L. Jackson. But aside from Neeson, everyone is wooden, an oddity considering that the original Star Wars boasted almost no proven talents (at the time) but were still superior to the cast on hand here.
** 1/2/***** Attack of the Clones-This sequel to Phantom Menace is, in the end, not really better or worse than its predecessor. The dialogue is just as awful as before and there's an insipid love story that's not the slightest bit romantic or believable. The cast is about on the same level as before, with Ewan Mcgregor impressing me a bit more with his almost dead-on Alec Guinness impression. Unfortunately, the political backdrop is boring and a little confusing, and most of the action sequences are surprisingly dull, the only true exception being the knockout colosseum battle sequence. The climactic lightsaber duel is a huge step backward from Episode I, there's no Ray Park/Darth Maul here to display versatile athleticism. The fact that Anakin Skywalker is a whiny teen doesn't bother me, that's the way he should be, but the fact that it's all noticeably acting on the part of Hayden Christensen is completely damning. Anyone under the age of fifteen will greatly enjoy the picture. Everyone else, well, that's a little tougher to tell.
Rating:
Summary: Why exactly do we need these "films"?
Review: There are many words that came to my mind when I first saw these two movies: overblown, pointless, cruel, boring, disappointing, the list goes on and on.
So many things are horribly wrong with this cartoony mess, that it doesn't bear any resemblance to the (brilliant) original trilogy anymore.
In that respect, Episode I isn't nearly as atrocious as Episode II, and that's already saying a lot.
First of all, I don't know how long it took George Lucas to write the scripts for these films, and, actually, it doesn't really matter because IF he put any effort into them, it didn't show on screen, but the dialogues are so wooden that you might as well turn off the sound and read the subtitles only.
Now that we've established that the lines every actor was forced to say are horrendous, it can't look good for the characters either, can it? You can't blame the actors if you consider that they virtually had nothing to work with.
Not a single character in these sorry efforts looks convincing, except for Natalie Portman.
Christiansen's helpless attempts at "doing some acting", Jar Jar Binks' infantile jumping around (in one of the many "all time low" scenes on Tatooine, he steps into some dog poo), Young-Ani's witty "Oops", "Let's get out of here" and "Yeah" lines ... not a single minute passes without a cringe- worthy moment.
After four hours of pure nonsense and some of the worst "going through puberty" moments, a wacky CGI Yoda who bounces off walls doesn't even hurt anymore.
Even some of Christopher Lee's horror flicks are on a higher niveau.
And when I noticed that the chemistry between Portman and the kid who plays young Anakin Skywalker is better than the chemistry between her and Hayden Christiansen, then I finally realised that these films have no saving grace to speak of whatsoever.
And I mean NO saving grace. It's just aching in my stomach when legendary composer John Williams has to step down to this level and underline the worst clichés with some stomach- wrenching Hollywood B- movie love and action music.
Now the effects. Hailed by so many people out there who call them fantastic or a work of art.
Now, this may be my personal point of view, but CGI is there to enhance the movie, to put something on screen that you couldn't have done in any other way.
The gigantomany Lucas put on screen is no art.
The art is to make it look real, touchable.
That's what made the original trilogy, or Lord Of The Rings, tick: that the viewer can indulge into this world.
And CGI is not the only tool; miniatures can look great, good make-up and costumes, animatronics, and so on.
CGI is not the solution of everything.
You need some skills to make this world look real, which Lucas seemingly doesn't have.
Everything is so smooth and flawless that it just looks artificial.
Look at the Clone army and compare it to the Uruk- Hai army in The Two Towers.
See now why Lord of the Rings got the Oscar and not Episode II?
And the depressing thing is that after seeing the trailer for Episode III, it seems like we're getting another flick of the same pattern.
With Hayden Christiansen! Hooray!
Get out the earmuffs, here it comes!
I could give it an additional star because there's unintentional amusement value in these flicks.
Rating:
Summary: No Widescreen
Review: These movies are both great though Attack of the Clones is clearly the best of the two. Still how come only the full screen versions come in a four disc pack. Why is there no Widescreen 4 pack. Widescreen is supieor especially in a Star Wars movie which look especially horrible in Pan Scan. Release a widescreen two pack this is rediculous.
Rating:
Summary: I feel sick!
Review: These movies suffer from: bad acting, bad dialogue, over the top CGI fxs, lack of emotions, and too much overall politics. I love the original trilogy but these prequels are the worst ever.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the originals and they where great!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: These two films the phantom menace and attack of the clones are classics in the making. The effects are ground breaking in both and the acting is believable also. They do a great job building up whats going to happen in episode 3 aswell. Rob Lucas youre a genius im my mind you did it once and youre doing it agian. These are the kinds of sci fi movies you can watch over and over agian and not get tierd off. So people dont miss you chance to get two classics in 1 tremendous collection. Do watch the first three first to get an idea of what each little piece is getting at though.
Rating:
Summary: The Phantom Menace is attacked by the clones!
Review: These two Star Wars movies are not major masterpieces like the original three but at the same time, they also are unfairly bashed by critics. From my perspective though, these two movies are simply great movies to watch and are worthy prequels to the original three. Yes they're both flawed but still, I don't understand why so many seem to hate these Star Wars movies so much. EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE- This first episode in the entire franchise begins with increasing rebel activity becoming an increasing threat to the Galactic Republic. The Republic is being lead by a mysterious figure named Queen Padme Amidala. Padme is under threat of being overthrown from power by a rebel force lead by Darth Sideous and his apprentice Darth Maul. A young boy named Anakin Skywalker comes into the picture who is a slave to a creature named Sebulba and has to win a pod race to be freed. Anakin is discovered to have HUGE potential to become a Jedi Knight but is considered a danger to the republic and the galaxy. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon Jinn and his sidekick, a young Obi Wan Kenobi go on a quest to train the young Anakin Skywalker to become a Jedi, against the objections of the Jedi order. Overall though, the movie suffers from occasional bumbling roles especially from the bizarre giraffe-like Jar Jar Binks who is despised by most although not by me personally and also of poor scripting in some areas. I thought that Jar Jar was funny in some areas but annoying at times. The big flaw though in my opinion was that THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH DARTH MAUL!!!! That was the main disappointment. Still though this movie was great. I think of this movie as a large bag of popcorn as opposed to an epic work. Lucas did a pretty good job with PM. This is a very underrated movie. This is the first of the episodes and is the skeleton frame of what's to come on the next two episodes. EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES- The second episode of the Star Wars franchise takes place ten years after the demise of Darth Maul with Anakin Skywalker as a nearly adult Jedi who by now was inching closer to the evil side. The Republic is under increasing threat from rebel attacks that becomes obvious after a failed assassination attempt on Senator Amidala that kills her decoy Corde. A romance is kindled between Padme and Anakin but is endangered because of Padme's role as a Senator and also conflicts with Skywalker's dream of becoming a powerful Jedi Knight. Meanwhile, a secret army comprised of cloned beings is being built on a planet that has eluded detection of the Republics authorities. Several pivotal events happen that make "Attack Of The Clones". First, Anakin starts going at odds with his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi and Amidala is under new threats from forces hired by Count Dooku aka Darth Tyranus. Overall, I thought that Dooku was classic, bringing out much more personality than Darth Maul. Yoda also surprises us in a duel with Dooku as well. Overall, while "Clones" has it's flaws from bumbling acting in some occasions, it's an improvement over "Phantom Menace". This is the precursor to the possibly riveting events that are to take place on Episode III with Anakin becoming Darth Vader. These two movies make a nice action movie combo and are both worth owning. While they may not be major masterpieces like the original three were, they are great on their own field. Hands down to George Lucas for bringing out the creativity in his mind and onto the big screen again.
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