Rating: 
Summary: A bland film gets what was ONCE a long awaited DVD...
Review: But now it means nothing to us. The movie wasn't great, and when it was first released, we were ticked for it not having a DVD release. Now that that 'phase' is over, a DVD is released. I know I don't want it anymore.The movie has already been played on TV. Why waste the money?
Rating:
Summary: I really wanted to like this move.
Review: But unfortunately, this film was not very involving. George Lucas once said that special effects without a story can be a pretty boring thing. I'd wish he take heath to his own statement. While the movie does have some good effects, it's overuse of CGI was like watching a video game on a giant screen. It really became tedious after a certain point. I'm probably in the minority on this, but perhaps it was wise that Lucas NOT do these first three movies. In "Star Wars" we hear old Obi-Wan talk about the past. All of us had our own images on how that past must have looked like. Of course, all of that is now ruined. We now have Jar Jar Binks and bad acting by Jake Lloyd to visualize!
Rating: 
Summary: A little disapointing...
Review: but what can you expect from possibly the most anticipated movie of all time? Many people saw the movie and were disapointed, because they went in expecting the greatest movie ever made and then some. Many people watched Episode 1 and thought to themselves "What does this have to do with all the stuff from th other Star Wars movies?" And true, there isn't much that's really the same. There's spaceships, Obi-Wan, Anakin, lightsabers, the force, Yoda, bad guys with red lightsabers, droids, and it pretty much stops there. But keep in mind, this takes place how many years before the original Star Wars? And from there, how many years before Empire Strikes Back and then how many before Return of the Jedi? There's quite a large gap between these movies, and 2 more movies to cover it in, so many things will probably be cleared up. The movie by itself wasn't really groundbreaking, I must admit, but the special effect were awesome, and it laid down a good foundation, I feel, for the next 2 movies. So before you just slap the movie with a big "Disapointment" sticker, keep those things in mind, and maybe after we see Episodes 2 and 3, we'll look back on The Phantom Menace and see things we never saw before, just like the original 3.
Rating:
Summary: George Lucas scores BIG!
Review: By not putting out a DVD copy of this film, director/producer George Lucas has assured himself a bright financial future. While this VHS version mostly satisfies this fan, I know that I would have enjoyed having a the choices that are availible on DVD. George, we all know that you're planning a big release after the other two films are released, but believe me, there are plenty of us out here that would gladly purchase a meat and potatoes version of this fine movie on DVD and go for the high-octane version in 4 years, but instead have to purchase it on VHS at present. As for the pan & scan version of this film, because this was created for the BIG screen, it was lacking in the grandure that surrounded it in theaters. While it helps to have a good sound system, it is still VHS sound quality. The story, characters, and plot are classics just by carrying the Star Wars name. This is a 5 star movie, but I felt I had to hold out the last star for the bad format choice. George: good movie, bad format.
Rating: 
Summary: The Phantom Menace delivers
Review: By now, I can't imagine there is anyone who doesn't at least know the story to Star Wars. To those who are die hard fans, skip this review. To everyone else who hasn't seen this movie, SEE IT! Disregard the critics who say it falls short of George Lucas' abilities and all that garbage. This is Star Wars at it's finest! The special effects are enough to turn the heads of even the harshest anti-Star Wars protaganists. The final battle scenes at the end of the movie are simply incredible! Of course, there are heaping helpings of space scenes, and an underwater city for a twist. But it is so much more than just pretty pictures. The storyline is stellar in it's deeply rich text plots, and we go places that we have never been before in a Star Wars movie. The characters are a little stiff at times (for example Queen Amidala, where in every scene it seems as if she is made of cardboard with a moving mouth), but it somehow nevers detracts from the storyline. Jar Jar Binks has been ruthlessly criticized about being annoying, and while I agree they could have toned him down a wee bit, he did add complexity and diversity to the flick and managed to stay just far enough away from my skin to avoid getting under it. Overall, this movie, or should I say experience, should not be missed by neither die-hard fans nor those new to the Star Wars universe. Fantastic job, George!
Rating:
Summary: OK movie, Great DVD
Review: By now, most people have probably seen The Phantom Menace, and either you like the movie, or you hate it. I thought it was good, even though Lucas decide to make this one a little more juvenile than his previous Star Wars films. As for the DVD itself, it is full of extras, spilling ove on to 2 disks. As a fan of Star wars, it was nice to have all the extra information on the making of the film, deleted scenes, and all the other features and "easter eggs", or hidden features of the disks. The directors commentary was good to have, so you can see what was going on in the minds of Lucas, McCullom, and the other designers and filmakers who worked on Episode One.
Rating: 
Summary: Good.......that's it.
Review: By saying good, I mean (being a STAR WARS fan) "damn why was it such a lame movie? " For starters, Jar Jar Binks was a waste of time...I mean, is he loveable?........nope. If I got the chance I would tie his tongue to a speed train and let the rest to the beauty of dynamics......we'd have a dramatic Jar Jar scenery in red. Second point....The plot was simply lame.... The good points: Lightsabres battles are spectacular.....they are...I was really trapped at moments. The trilogy lacks lightsabre action. The pod race......amazing. In conclusion.....a good movie but not as good as the trilogy. That may be beause luke, leia, chewie and han were much more sentimental than these her today.
Rating:
Summary: MAN!!! This is NOT what I expected...
Review: C'mon George!! What happened?? The first three were of course, great. But Episode I was just Ok. I had waited a really long time for this one to come out, and I was somewhat disapointed. Better luck in the next movies.
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: terminate, with extreme prejudice.
Review: Chances are you already know what you think of this film, but just in case anyone's still out there who hasn't seen it: "The Phantom Menace" is about as much fun as eating six Milky Way bars in a row - and if you think that sounds like fun, you haven't tried it. When this 133-minute monstrosity first came out, Roger Ebert had a fairly persuasive defense of its total lack of human interest: "Hey, I've seen space operas that put their emphasis on human personalities and relationships. They're called 'Star Trek' movies." Fair enough, but even though it moves at a steady clip, it may be one of the most boring films I've ever seen. A 5-year-old could understand the basic premise of "Star Wars"; to understand the premise of "The Phantom Menace," you need to read the scrolling prologue three times, read the novelization, visit a few websites, and then probably watch the film again (a gruesome thought, that). Personally, I was a bit distracted from my valiant efforts to figure out what was going on by some of the worst dialogue ever written: "I don't care what galaxy you're from, that's gotta hurt!" Indeed. George Lucas still hasn't learned that being a director involves slightly more than knowing where to put the camera: just about every person he sticks in front of his lens looks terminally bored. Liam Neeson's Qui-Gon Jinn is a smug bore and Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi might as well be a droid himself; when the two have a "quarrel," they don't even raise their voices. Natalie Portman is cute but her line-readings are stiffer than a first year drama student on her first day of class. It's as if Lucas finally decided to emulate that OTHER great science fiction flick by making all the humans so dull that we'd start to sympathize with the technology on display. It's actually jarring to see beloved characters like C3PO, R2D2 and Yoda among these lifeless non-entities. Assembling a talented cast and then ignoring them in favor of spectacularly fake-looking special effects (admit it: were you even once able to suspend belief and pretend they weren't special effects?) is a slap in the face to them and to the audience. The worst thing about this movie is that it isn't fun at all. Part of the joy of the original "Star Wars" was its spirit of irreverent fun; unless you count the antics of the borderline-racist comic relief character Jar-Jar Binks (a humanoid llama with dreadlocks and a Jamaican accent), there's not a funny moment in this stodgy snorefest. The 30-something zombies who still revere George Lucas like he's Yoda, Obi-Wan and Joseph Campbell rolled into one either insist that the "Star Wars" saga is a retelling of all the great mythic stories at once (which would explain why it's so damn hard to follow) or that it's just a bunch of fun popcorn flicks for kids (which doesn't explain why they'll still try to convince you of its lasting "mythic importance"). "The Phantom Menace" is neither fun nor fulfilling. It's a drag. Before he made "Star Wars," George Lucas once considered making "Apocalypse Now." The only interesting thing about "The Phantom Menace" is that it's so absurdly cryptic and self-referential that - in its odd way - it's one of the most personal films ever made in Hollywood. With his billions of dollars and hordes of worshipful sycophants, Lucas has become a semi-benign Colonel Kurtz, doling out big spoonfuls of his goony New Age-y philosophy to anyone intellectually deprived enough to take him seriously. After seeing this film, the only thing that cheered me up and gave me hope for mankind was the thought that the people who hated it most were also the biggest "Star Wars" fans I know.
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