Rating: 
Summary: This is its own story. Get over it.
Review: I agree with Timothy below. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Darth Maul is outstanding, and I'm sure Lucas has many equally sinister characters yet to come in this series. Jar-Jar Binks has been taking a lot of understandable flack, but I saw this film 5 times in the theater, and I grew to understand his ways and speech better with every viewing. Yikes, do I dare say I even liked him?
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better
Review: I saw the movie a year ago and have not seen it since. The entire film was like intergalactic C-SPAN with Jar-Jar Binks thrown in for comic releif.The special effects were attention-grabbing, though, especially the pod race and the final battle at the end.Not my favorite, perhaps Lucas can vindicate himself with Episode II.
Rating:
Summary: There's no turning back from Jar-Jar.
Review: Can special effects be the entire movie? The actual stars (Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, and Natalie Portman) definately weren't selling the picture. And that is a big part of the problem as to why "Star Wars: Epiosde 1" wasn't good, the other three Star Wars movies didn't use big film stars and they were great successes. The casting, storyline, and over use of visual effects made this film such a dissapointment. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if it didn't have so much to live up to.
Rating:
Summary: A great movie....if it's not taken personally
Review: I wrote this review because I just couldn't take it anymore. So many folks are giving this movie bad ratings, and there is simply no basis for it. It seems like there is some kind of bad-review bandwagon out there and people are hopping aboard without putting any thought into what this film was actually about. I am a massive Star Wars fan, and I will admit that this movie made me sneer at first. Then I realized a couple of things, such as 1) This movie was not made to personally entertain me or anyone else from the original Star Wars generation; it was made for today's generation (our children) and 2) It is easy to forget that this movie is a PRE-quel to a film made over 20 years ago! The original SW was criticized the exact same way this film was (too many effects, bad story, weak script, blah blah blah). This is also the beginning of a TRILOGY. People are saying that they miss Darth Vader without realizing that we are watching that character's creation, as well as the other events leading up to the older films. How could any SW fan be disappointed by that?No other film in history had as much to live up to as this movie did, and no other film has been scrutinized more. If the other Star Wars films didn't exist and this movie was a fresh idea, it would have been an overwhelming success. The amount of work and detail that went into this picture is a stunning achievement. If you take away the amazing computer-generated effects, you are still left with massive, intricate sets the size of small towns as well as costumes and props that are so commonplace, it becomes easy to overlook the fact that every last bit of it was taken from one man's imagination and brought to life with exquisite detail. He did not wave a magic wand; he spent years and years of his life working with hundreds of amazing people in order to give folks like you and me a two hour escape from reality. Bottom Line: If you want the same experience that the original Star Wars films gave you, then watch THOSE. If you want to experience an amazing thrill ride of what today's special effects have to offer, then watch Episode 1 (at least shut up and get it for your Pokemon-drugged kids). Or, if story and plot is ALL you care about (you boring snit), don't worry. Just stay put in front of your 1977 classic - this new series will eventually catch up to the old one. Before the re-makes come out, hopefully.
Rating: 
Summary: May the Force be with you!
Review: The Phantom Menace is awesome. When Episodes II and III are released, everyone will go back and watch The Phantom Menace with "new" eyes. You'll see. I recommend the Widescreen Edition Boxed Set!
Rating: 
Summary: Not much to it other than what I say below:
Review: The eagerly anticipated Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace is here. I must say that the special effects and creature design are both very good, especially considering the sequence of the podrace in the Boonta Eve. Then there's Ewan McGregor for the feminine audience to lust over, and Natalie Portman for the males. While the young Annakin Skywalker proved himself to be a good actor, I didn't like him, because he appeared to be too much of a conceited little brat. Don't even get me started on JarJar Binks...five consecutive minutes with him in a scene are enough to drive me crazy. I felt like getting up and walking out of the room or fast-forwarding through the scenes with him. He tries too much to be funny and doesn't succeed. It seems that Mr. Lucas has a penchant for being a great visionary of huge complex worlds and beasts and such, but that's pretty much all there is to it...I'm terribly sorry to all you Star Wars fans out there but this really didn't measure up to my expectations...
Rating: 
Summary: JUNK - A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME!
Review: All in all a great shame. I think LUCAS musta flipped and I say this as a MAJOR fan of the "Holy Trilogy"... To quote Stone and Parker the creators of South Park from their Playboy interview - an "atrocity"... The depth of the earlier films only makes this one feel even worse! No development of character, fights without reason or logic. You know when you come down to it - the actors looked pretty bored. And after everything and I mean everything, it all came down to unfair TAXES? I just cannot believe the whole thing looked like it did and I am truly sad for the whole catastrophe. I hope the next one is better...
Rating:
Summary: A complete waste of time..
Review: If I could've given it a zero I would've.. I loved the first 3 Star Wars flicks but this one has none of the suspense, charm and fun of the others. I wish they would've spent more time developing the storyline and characters rather than the special effects. Sometimes more is just more, not better..That's the problem with hollywood these days, they feel that they have push the envelope with explosions, chase scenes and graphics in order to keep us interested and to spend our hard earned money at the theaters. Then again, like everything else, it's supply and demand.... Maybe it says more about society today.
Rating:
Summary: Hey, George, where's the story?
Review: Question, my young Jedi: why write a review of a block-buster that everybody and their mother has something to say about? Well,'cause like most of 'em, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore" (to quote an actual "good" movie). Does George Lucas have such little respect for the legions of Star Wars fans that he thinks he can pass off this over-grown commericial for SW toys and merchandise as "the Real Thing?" Yes, visually it is spectacular-- the computer-generated sequences are amazing. But, after the opening scroll you might as well turn off the sound, 'cause if you came here for anything resembling a well-scripted story, you've come to the wrong place. Bottomline: if a modicum of the care and effort that went into developing the effects and "look" of the film had gone into the script and character development, STARS WARS I would have been a worthy addition to the SW canon.
Rating:
Summary: Enough is enough...
Review: I am sick to death of the naysayers, Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace is a gem. The story, the costumes, effects, sound, characters are all top notch. A year later, Star Wars fans are able to view this film with an objective eye and see the care and detailed ingenuity that George Lucas and Co. have utilized in bringing the beginning of this awesome saga to the big screen. Three cheers! Watch it again and again!
|
