Rating: 
Summary: Put me in Group 1
Review: I've read dozens of reviews of this movie and I've come to the conclusion that most of them can be boiled down to two different reviews, coming from two different groups of reviewers.Group 1 : People who loved the first trilogy (though they may or may not have been disappointed by Jedi), who have been hugely let down by Phantom Menace. I won't go into why they were let down...their reasons have been listed very articulately hundreds of times. Group 2 : People who have love The Phantom Menace and who have forgiven its shortcoming on the basis that this is the first film out of six and there's a lot of setting up to do. Now let me address both groups for a moment: Group 1 -- you are totally sane people. I would co-sign a bank loan for you anytime. Group 2 -- you can't use "setting up" as an excuse. A good storyteller must tell a good story (hmm, makes sense) regardless of how much information he has to provide. He can't say, "I know, I know, this first part here is boring, but wait until later, wow, it's going to be REALLY good later, just hang in with me." As an aspiring writer, I realize this. You have to entertain from the very start, from the first page (or minutes, in movies). Also, some of you from Group 2 have compared Phantom Menace with the first Star Wars, as in "Sure, Star Wars was good but look how much better Empire was. See? You have to start slow and get better." Here's my response: Star Wars was not slow, it was not incomplete. It left you feeling satisfied. The fact that Empire was even better was a great thing, but only because it was an even better story. So, in closing, you can't excuse Phantom Menace simply because it was the first chapter, so to speak. A better storyteller would have been able to get the needed information in while still making it entertaining. That is what a good storyteller does. I guess good storytellers should not take twenty year vacations.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great DVD but what about the picture?
Review: I've read other reviews, and people are saying they're impressed with these discs, which makes me wonder if it's just me... I've looked at the movie and the special feaures disc, and I'm convinced my movie disc doesn't play as well as the same shots on the demo disc. The colours are weaker and the whole image is often fuzzy or lacking in contrast. Obviously the problems are of a minor order, but I've got a good quality player and TV and this is not normally a problem. (This is a Region 2 disc I'm talking about - but they're usually even a bit better than R1 discs.) Has anyone else noticed a less-than-perfect transfer? I expected something in the order of "Gladiator" or "Charlie's Angels", both of which look much better on my system (please somebody tell me it's not just me). The fancy menus were nice to look at but tedious in operation, with too much waiting for your very ordinary request, and why shouldn't you be able to directly select audio channels? The commentary was obviously going to be very "corporation" with this such a new, important product. Not so much of the insider information, and lots of G. Lucas' monotonous voice, most of the time making you understand just how hard it was to make the plot work. He seems pathologically unable to say that he has ever changed his mind about the plot since 1977. Perhaps he does this unconsciously to keep intact a feeling of myth about the story. However I agree with another reviewer in finding the introduction of the "midi-chlorian" theory for gauging who was "strong with the force" to be very anti-mystical. I quite expect commentaries, like reviews, to be monotonous, so no surprise here. One should be grateful that these guys bother at all I suppose. The others on the team do fill in some technical details which are of interest. As far as the extra scenes are concerned, they all seemed good and the pod race now plays better than ever. One final niggle. Don't wait till the end of the movie credits or you'll have to switch off your player to stop the copyright notices playing. Do they really think this serves any purpose other than to perpetually annoy people? Zero out of each ten million consumers has read a single word of them, ever.
Rating: 
Summary: Great addition to the legend
Review: I've seen a lot of negative reviews for this one. I don't know why either. Was Jar-Jar annoying? Yes, in some cases he was very annoying. Anyone else remember how annoying C3PO used to be? That didn't stop the first trilogy from becoming classic. The action (especially the end lightsaber fight) is spectacular. The special effects are also spectacular and blend very well with the rest of the story. Over all, I think people just expected way to much out of this movie and were dissappointed when it was merely just as good as the other Star Wars movies. I for one was very excited when I first saw this movie. I was like a kid the night before Christmas when I first saw Star Wars Episode 1 scrolling up the big screen. I was not dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Great Expectations?
Review: I've seen all the Star Wars movies many, many times. I went in to the Phantom Menace expecting exactly what Lucas had provided before, a sort of campy space opera that was just much better than the sum of its parts. And I got just that! The dialogue and acting are not Academy Award quality, and the special effects certainly ARE. The story is rehashed, and has been done ad infinitum (some would say ad nauseum), and Lucas certainly is not one to bring strong characterization to the screen. But, what many people overlook is, that's not what Lucas is good at! He's good at telling a story, and making you feel like you're actually peering in at a different world. And he did that, masterfully. Don't see this movie to see a great piece of modern American Cinematography, which it certainly isn't. See this movie because it's a tribute to storytelling at it's most basic, and certainly a classic in it's own right.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting...........but not that interesting
Review: I've seen the movie twice and I found it much more interesting the second time around. I find the trilogy much more fun than this lack of dialogue and plot movie.
Rating:
Summary: The force is not with this one.
Review: I've seen this movie multiple times... For the wrong reasons. I like the pod race and the shots of Corruscant (because I love Asimov's "Foundation" series, and Corruscant is like a visit to Trantor in the Asimov Universe.) Now, that's hardly the best reason to like a movie :-) In general, the action sequences are very good, as one would expect from the "Star Wars" movies, and the pod race is the best such scene in the series. (much better than the Death Star trench battle in Episode IV.) The animation of extra-terrestrial life forms are the best yet, and the alien environments and cities are thrilling to view and very imaginative - everything from the Gungian underwater city to the Senate chambers. However, that is the film's only strength here; there's no substance to this film at all. The original series had a zen-like mysticism about it (especially in "Empire"), but in this movie, the only thing we learn about the Force is that humans hear the force through these things called "midi clorians" which exist in a symbiotic relationship in all of our cells and are almost organisms in their own right. Now, talk about cheesy, because we already have found these "midi clorians" in biology; they are the "MITOCHONDRIA"! (they even sound the same!) Now I don't think that my MITOCHONDRIA help me hear the force. (excepting the fact that they keep me alive, and I won't hear the force on this Earth when I am no longer alive.) Sheesh. Jar Jar Binks is just plain annoying. He does not fit in the movie for me. It feels like he was a disney character who wandered in the wrong set when they were filming. If I ever see the movie I just do my best to ignore him. Finally, the ending was way too cheesy, even for Star Wars. (SPOILER ALERT), To expect a nine year old kid, even by a set of unlikely accidents to destroy a dreadnaught of space was too much even for the Star Wars series. (and even though the force was clearly with him, with all of those MITOCHONDRIA, er... "midi clorians" in his cells.)
Rating: 
Summary: A joke of a movie
Review: I've seen this movie twice, once in the theaters, and once with some friends on VHS. Here are my thoughts blow by blow through the movie (some mild spoilers): -- The beginning text crawl and the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wans dialogue were pretty lame. Pretty sophomoric. The Asian aliens on first note didn't really bother me but the second viewing I really noticed it. I'd be insulted too. -- The lightsabre fights had no point other than to look cool. They could have been avoided but all the Jedi did in this movie was fight. Seemed a 180 from their philosophy in the original trilogy. The whole "Force push" idea is ridiculous -- if it's that easy to break a droid's neck (Qui-Gon flicks two fingers as an afterthought, no concentration) -- WHY EVEN HAVE LIGHTSABRES??? Why not just do that all the time? The old Force required concentration to do things. -- The dialogue was stilted and about 4th grade level. -- Anakin has no personality traits, he is simply a vessel from which the audience can live vicariously through. Although you could argue Luke was like this too, he had guts, got angry, and was a decent character. Anakin is garbage. -- The Force is space bacteria? That is lame. (...). -- The pod race had no emotion whatsoever. Anakin (...) was blowing by people on straight aways. What's exciting about that? -- The final fight scenes were insulting to all viewers over 10. The lightsabre scene was cool but on the second viewing it was pretty stupid. The Jedi's spin for no reason and Obi-Wan keeps twirling his lightsabre for no reason. They do stupid stuff that looks cool the first time but after that looks pretty stupid. (...) Overall I'd say this movie is a joke. It's almost as if Lucas was making fun of his own series. (...). Lucas seems to have less of a grasp on the Star Wars universe than many of his fans. What this is is a 2 hour toy commercial.
Rating:
Summary: Long awaited and worth it
Review: I've waited for a long time for this movie and I loved it. Maybe its the kid in me who liked Jar-Jar. He added allot to the movie wether or not anyone agrees. If he wasn't in it, the movie would still be good, but I Binks brought the comedy relief needed 3PO and R2 brought to the other three.
Rating:
Summary: Lucas Masterpiece!
Review: I've watch all the Star Wars movies, and not one has grabbed me and taken me for such a thrill ride as Phantom Menace! This movie is filled with action and many twists and turns, and after the 2 hours you'll be begging for more! Liam Nieson, Ewan McGregor, and Natalie Portman do a wonderful job as Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Queen Amidala. This is a definate must have for any Star Wars fan, as this is the best Star Wars feature to date! Also recommended would be the Phantom Menace video game for either PC or PSX, also available on Amazon.com!
Rating: 
Summary: A Sad Ending to a Long Wait
Review: I, like many others waited long and hard for Star Wars 1 to come out. I was extremely disappointed. In the first trilogy released, while there were three movies that were separate movies but tied together, Star Wars 1 just seemed like the first installment in a miniseries. The inclusion of Jar-Jar Binks as a main character was, at best, a travesty. He has neither the warmth of R2D2 or the bumbling antics of C3P0. I can only conclude that, should George Lucas insist upon making the rest of the trilogy in this vein, he'll lose more and more fans. And should he continue to make the last trilogy in the line, there'll be no one left to watch.
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