Rating: 
Summary: Stay in a galaxy far, far away....from this one.
Review: The hopes of Episode 1 fell quickly. This movie truly was rushed, and had no patient hands or minds. A moment of interesting starts, the federation was cutting all access to the planet of Naboo, and then starting the conflict. Liam Neeson, a super actor, looked and seemed good, yet failed to impress me as a legendary Jedi. He was flat, not very characteristic. Too many stop and go things with him. He still was the part, just not outwards. Ewan McGregor was the perfect pic as Obi-wan. Again, here was a problem. It wasn't him, no. He was very underused. The script he was able to work with, well, he did a good job at
keeping whatever was workable in this very uninteresting story.
And ya, Jar-Jar, go away. The Vice Roys are nothing but a bunch of cowardly overgrown guppies out of water...hahaha....and why the heck were they in this movie? I understand a cowardly villan was ok, but three of them? Where was the Menace (Maul) for the majority? Oh, here and there. Coward federation guppies! "Seal off the bridge!"
"Close the Blast Doors!"
"Where are those Droidikas?!"
"Send in the droid."
"I-dont-I don't know-"
"They're still coming through!" Cowards! 2 most disapointing details, are:
Anakin (Jake Lloyd) should not have been picked for this film/part. He talks like a Nickelodeon show kid who you see on Saturday morning (cool, totally awesome, whoa!...stuff like that) and has no acting skills, and says, "This is tense!", or anything a kid from those morinig shows would say. This is Star wars, NOT Nickelodeon! If only Elijah Wood was young enough to play his part-see him as a kid? He is an actor !
very tense, fun, and great acting. Why droids? Whatever happened to men fighting men? troopers vs. Gungans or Naboo people-that'd be better.....not....droids, droids....yawn. "Roger, roger....."
"Uh oh.....blast 'em!"
"Halt-freeze! Uh, does not compute.....ZZZZZ....ZZZzzap....fzzzz." Geese....., stupid droids. Effects are good, and so is the best sabre duel scene ever.
Oh. Why bring back R2 and C3P0? So what is they were loved....i like 'em, but again? They should have made 2 other droids....too lazy and selling out....they thought without R2 and C3, this movie would sink. No. I'd love to see original droids. marketing....geeze. Watto is hilarious!! "MMMMMM....yes -NUBIAN....MMMMM" And the meazly space battle was borrrring. Droid fighters? Wow...ooooh-scary......lol What a waste. Natalie Portman keeps becoming royal english accent, then loses it, gains it, loses it......
Rating: 
Summary: Everything a Star Wars Fan Could Want
Review: The hype associated with such an eagerly awaited movie often leads to post-event let down. Not so with Episode I. Lucas carefully kept the feel and quality of the original Star Wars while giving us something new to see and enjoy. Those of us who follow Star Wars in the books and movies were treated to the some answers of long-asked questions and some wonderful "inside jokes". The special effects were outstanding (especially the pod race!) and no matter what people say about Jar Jar Binks, he is my daughter's favorite character. This movie is one of the few available that both adults and children can really enjoy together. I believe with all the Star Wars entertainment (books and movies) that this is Lucas's intention. This movie is a must have for your family and in wide-screen so you won't miss a thing!
Rating: 
Summary: How can you go wrong with Star Wars
Review: The idea alone of making a trilogy and then making the fourth movie in the set the first is genius. The technology won't seem as amazing as it used to because we have come to expect it, but this movie is a good beginning to the explanation of how we got to where we started in the 70's. I was expecting more out of the fight scenes but the characters made up for where the fights lacked. It's Star Wars! How can you go wrong? I can almost gaurantee that you'll end the movie and find yourself doing Jedi impressions.
Rating:
Summary: Not the groundbreaker the orginal was....but not bad...
Review: The latest entry in the Star Wars list is certainly worthy of being part of the series. The first film was so "everthing" a movie should be, that the others films and this one have suffered by comparison plus Phantom Menace had the additonal handicap of having to live up to both the expectations of fans,plus the hype, both of which were impossible. Character development is not as strong here as in previous films, and no clear-cut, all-powerful (almost) villian ala' Darth Vader hurts badly, but the special effects, especially the pod race,are all any Star War fan could hope for. The Jar-Jar Binks character is annoying, yes, but degrading? I disagree there. "The Force" assumes more religous/supernatural overtones than in previous movies. It does seem to me that Lucas has a lot of ground to cover to connect Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader in only two more movies, but that is not my problem thankfully. Since I am not a hard-core Star War fan, I can and did enjoy this movie, and I would recommend it to anyone......
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as it should have been
Review: The little boy who played the young Anikan Skywalker was wrong for the part. It was as though he was to carry the film, but his character was too young. Didn't care for Ewan Mcgregor's potrayal of Obi; it took a little getting used to.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good for a precuel!...although something's missing
Review: The long time awaited Episode I is here, and even though it displays a lot of improvements when it comes to special fx, it wasn't quite what I expected. The plot is ok, the characters are interesting enough and make a lot of sense (except for that Jar Jar Binks fella), and actually starts to make sense when it comes to finding out where all got started. For the Collectors Edition, it's cool to have a frame of the actual movie (that comes enclosed), altough the display mounting lacks of quality (I mean, it's a collector's edition, you could've done better). Along comes a mini booklet with sketches and drawings of preproduction for Episode I, and the VHS wich claims to have a featurette specially produced for such and edition (I couldn't say if it's true or not, since I didn't purchased any other edition. Bottom line...I give it four 1/2 stars. I enjoyed it very much, and would recommend it for anyone who's a fan of true sci-fi with a twist of action. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: THIS FILM IS A LETDOWN
Review: The main problem with the movie is Jar Jar Binks. There is no getting around it. Millions of people hate his rubber guts. He was given so much unfunny screen time that I won't be satisfied with Episode 2 unless those ...clones roast him alive on a spit....P>While EP1 isn't a terrible movie, its inferiority to the original trilogy is apparent if you watch this, then watch the originals. Sure, there is a certain amount of Geroge Lucas goofiness that is part and parcel with the Star Wars universe. Put in simple terms, the first three films were consistently fun, exciting and action-packed entertainment. EP1 is even flashier but is nowhere near as consistently fun... most of the movie seems to be either the plot exposition and set-up for the NEXT movie, or soul-robbing screen time for Jar Jar.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome, but....
Review: the main thing I have been looking for was not here. That is additional Darth Maul scenes. Was hoping to see the scene with the "Fear" dialog...I know, a Phantom Menace "Special Edition" can't be far around the corner, right? Make us by the same movie again but for a few additional scenes/features. Should have been on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Tapestry of Vibrant Colour (or: not THAT bad)
Review: The major failings of this film are 1: We all know how the story ends, and 2: It isn't an entire film unto itself. It's like the first half of a miniseries, or a premier episode of a tv show. It doesn't have the strength to stand alone the way the other Star Wars films do. The dissapointment with this film sprang primarily from the absence of a satisfactory ending. But Spawn did that to me as well. I still saw it again, and I don't complain. Why? Because it's PRETTY. I like pretty things. If you want a powerful plot, brilliant acting, intense action it's not here. It's not in Spawn either for that matter. But if you want to look at something pretty that doesn't tax your brain this is a brilliant, detailed taspestry of vibrant colour. You can watch it again and again and see new things every time. It's not a work of cinematic genius, Lucas leaves that to Kubrick (rest his soul) but it's really really pretty, and you don't have to think about it, just look at it. Furthermore, the special effects advances that all four existing Star Wars films (and Spawn) have inspired or downright produced allow other directors can make better, more mentally taxing, awe inspiring, films with storylines and dialogue. (here is where I rant about how instumental George Lucas has been in the advancement of SFX technology) The third major failing of this film is that there's no girl Jedi knights.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but certainly not very good
Review: The majority of the American critics were always going to pan The Phantom Menace. Yet after seeing it I'm surprised how close to the truth they were than those who were positive about the film. It is certainly not as bad as those negative reviewers would have you believe, but it's a major disappointment, devoid of the life, energy and personality that that made the original trilogy so good. Non of the characters are as likeable, as well developed as Luke, Leia and Han. Instead they are flat and unconvincing. Neeson is miscast as Qui Gon Gin, while McGregor speaks like a public school toff. The plot has non-of the drive of the original. Lucas had always maintained that the first film would be to introduce the plot and characters, yet how come A New Hope managed to do the same, but with more excitement and action? Here, for the most part, we have a dull political drama. I didn't really care whether Natalie Portman was going to sign a treaty with the boring Trade Federation. The action too, suffers a great deal due to Lucas' handling of the over-flowing plot. The Pod Race is the only decent action sequence in the film, while the rest never really get going. The final attack on the Trade Federation ships are barely a shadow compared to the Death Star assault in A New Hope. The lack of characterization too makes the final lightsaber duel between Darth Maul (who in reality gets about 5 minutes of screen time) and Kenobi and Gin, rather unexciting, because we have no-one to really cheer for like we did in the original trilogy. In the original trilogy too, Lucas had always kept a tight reign on the mysticism so it was believable and not overly pretentious. Here Lucas injects the embarrassing concept of Anakin (a good performance from the young Lloyd) being the result of a virgin birth. Please! The special effects are probably the best thing it, yet they too are strangely hollow, with some of the scenes having that unmistakable digital "sheen" to them, which makes them less than convincing. On the whole, this is not a total disaster, but not a great achievement either. It certainly hasn't put me off Star Wars for good and there is much to suggest that The Phantom Menace will look much better when Episode Two comes out.
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