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Star Wars - Episode I, The Phantom Menace (Full Screen Edition)

Star Wars - Episode I, The Phantom Menace (Full Screen Edition)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $13.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 2nd Best Star Wars Film Ever. One of 99's Best
Review: Being a Star Wars fan I was delighted when Phantom Menace came out. I saw it the first day and enjoyed it so much I took my friends, girlfriend, & nieces & nephews. Whenever I'm babysitting a friends kid I slip this in and am glued to the TV with them. The special effects were excellent and the casting was suberb especially Natalie Portman who did an excellent job as portraying young Queen Amidala the only problem is that it looks more futeristic then the original three.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The slide that began with Ewoks and CGI updates continues
Review: This film is really just a large bundle of errors and pointing them out individually is akin to sifting chaff for chaff, but here are a few: 1) The Force is genetic, the result of (or interpreted by) some sort of cooties. Is it contagious? Can you get blood transplants? 2) Anakin = Jesus. 3) Amphibians have hooves and enormous floppy ears, and display no discomfort after spending days and days on a desert planet in scorching sun and heat. 4) Every single time Jar Jar lurches onto the screen, he does something stupid. What he does is unpredictable, the fact that he will do it is not. 5) The N64 20-minute pod racer game came out the same time as the film, which features a 20-minute pod racer scene. Also note the albino bounty hunter (again on a desert planet with 2 suns) who appears because LucasArts was pondering a Tomb Raider spin-off. 6) There is no superfluous dialogue. An economy of speech and action moves the plot along like a 1-act play with 4 different scenes.

Basically, Lucas' genius is in marketing, not in film-making. What he failed to understand was that had he made a film that pandered to anyone over the age of seven, an entire generation of Star Wars fans would _have brought their children with them to the theater anyway_. He bricked an assured lay-up.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: gee...do I really wanna weigh in on this one?
Review: Let's cut to the quick...if you work hard for a living and at the end of the day you just wanna pop a burrito in the oven, grab a beer and put a special effects space flick on the tube so you can veg for a couple of hours, here's your flick. However, if you're looking for the original brilliance of Lucas...sorry. If you're looking for solid character development...no cigar. If it will break your heart to see the talent of Liam Neeson wasted...stay away. If you're turned off by the "Joseph Campbell-the-universe-is-a-great-big-myth-good vs.evil-mystical hodge podge"...run for your life. If you are offended by thinly veiled racial stereotyping...flee. But, if you need something to go with that burrito and beer...enjoy.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not as bad as people say, but not as good as others say
Review: To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this movie when I went to see it in theaters. While some people were waiting in lines weeks to get to see it and had prophecies of it being the best piece of film ever made, I figured it could go either way. The first thing I noticed from the previews was that they seemed to rely heavily on the special effects, at least as far as the sales pitch. The previews were basically a collection of the best eye-candy in the movie. This observation still held true after I saw it. Think about the first 3 Star Wars movies and how little they relied on special effects yet still created heavy doses of awe. This movie tends to rely too heavily on the special effects, which adds very little to the movie and creates that horribly cliched "Episode 1 was made for little kids" line. What I don't understand when I hear someone say this is why they think this is any different. The original Star Wars trilogy could have been just as easily entertaining to children as to adults, a rare feat indeed. There is so much I could say about the movie but I will sum it up with saying this. The movie is a good prequel but that is it. Imagine *just* watching A New Hope. You had to see the other 2 to get the effect. I'm sure when the other 2 are released in 2042 the series will be just as enjoyable. The lowpoint of the movie were the characters. Some were hatable (Jar Jar), others underdeveloped (Young Anakin), some just there for old times sake adding nothing to the story (Jabba), and others were inconsistent with the original (Qui-Gon). The highlight was Queen Amidala - well acted, memorable costume. Maybe the movie was made for Lucas' kid. Maybe it was just another Hollywood ploy because Lucas' bank account is running dry. Whatever it may be, it's still an average movie that does and will add something to this classic storyline.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Just enjoy movie
Review: So what if it's written for children. Who cares that the story line is an exact replica of previous Star War's installments. It does not matter that the acting, the jokes, the script, and the characters are sub par. This video is all about letting "everything go" and immersing yourself in an eye catching thrill ride. Looking for holes in this moving is like looking for holes in a screen door. This is a movie you watch for pure pleasure. Just revel in the fantasy, enjoy this classic story, and forget about trying to find imperfection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 2nd best in Star Wars saga
Review: This was a great movie and some of the best special effects ever seen in a movie to date, still it was no match for the awe inspiring Return of the Jedi.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Special Effects, Fair Plot
Review: When I saw Star Wars Episode 1 in the theater, I thought it was great. But after renting it and watching it back to back with the originals, I realized it was very different. HOLD IT! When I say different, I don't mean not good, I just mean different. My point is that this movie has classic special effects but a fair plot. I didn't like the characters as much as the original characters because they didn't have as much guts. The movie was not as colorful in pace as the originals, but like I said earlier the special effects are spectacular. I can't wait for Star Wars episode 2 to come out next summer.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A nice peek into SW history...
Review: For those of us who grew up watching the "Original" trilogy, this is an interesting peek into the history of the Star Wars universe, although I think Jar Jar's character was a bit too comical for the movie, I like the CGI effects and how the characters inteacted. The down side was that there wasn't the air of mystery in the force (we learn that it's generated by microscopic creatures in symbiosis with living things) which is a big disappointment for me.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun
Review: Take a deep breath and repeat after me: This is not STAR WARS... this is not STAR WARS... Om... this is not STAR WARS....

Okay, now try these also: this is not EMPIRE STRIKES BACK... Om... this is not RETURN OF THE JEDI...

So many people have come to this movie with the most irrational expectations imaginable, from the shameless marketing of the products disappearing that is as synonymous with George Lucas as freakin' RONCO, to it having a DUTY to outdo not just one of the greatest movies of its kind of all time, but in the context of people who had not only seen it 128 times but have studied it as much as Lucas himself. Why do this? I knew at the outset that nothing could ever possibly outdo the emotions of the nine year old boy I was in 1977, who sat in a movie theater watching a movie influenced by the mythological perspective of Joseph Campbell unfolding with special effects that changed the course of movie history forever. For starters, I'm not nine anymore; it's like comparing your Grandmother's Thanksgiving day turkey when you were six to your wife's on your first one together as a couple!

With that said, perhaps that's why I enjoyed it so much more than so many others. Not to say there weren't holes in the plot, particularly around the evolution of the young Darth Vader's relationship with the Jedi, and yes, Jajar Binks (sp?) was annoying. But the movie was so much fun, and all and all, once I released the expectations of a fashionably cynical, oh so experienced adult, and took on the open mindedness of MY son (who ironically enough, was nine years old when I first took him), I enjoyed it immensely. The story and the entire anthology is well served. the special effects are (what do you expect?) dazzling. It is worth owning. Complete your collection, and just have a ball.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What a great movie!
Review: George Lucas did it again. Star Wars Phantom Menace is excellent. This movie is nothing like Episode 4, but it certainly lives up to its hype. There are many characters that have ties to the first series of movies that most of us are familiar with.....young Anikin Skywalker, the future Darth Vader, C3PO, R2D2, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Yoda. This story is one big adventure that is fast paced with more special effects than you can shake a stick at. Lucas definately put a lot of time into this as his attention to detail is nothing short of incredible. I have watched this 3 times now, and have noticed something new each time I watch it. This movie certainly lives up to the Star Wars name and is great for the kids as well as Adults. This is by far the best Science Fiction movie in the last decade! I highly recommend this movie!


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