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: Three stars
Review: I almost didn't write this review. Unlike so many others, I have not seen the original trilogy. While I cannot hope to know the significance of this film as a part of the entire phenomenon, it does give me the advantage of being able to look at it unbiased light. I can well understand why many loyal fans of the trilogy were disappointed. This film desperately needed a Harrison Ford. It lacked the emotion and charisma he brings to all his roles. And whether or not you consider the character of Jar Jar Binks to be racially offensive, you have to admit he was so annoying that it was a relief when he finally shut up. I gave the film three stars purely for the special effects and the fight sequence between Darth Mol and Ewan McGregor. If you're a fan of the trilogy, then this film is a necessity to your collection. I, however, felt that the story line was rather weak. And aside from Darth Mol, none of the other characters are particularly interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun! But missing SOMETHING....
Review: I am a big movie buff. I don't like typical action films (e.g., John Woo) and I stay away from Hollywood romantic comedies. However, I STILL liked this movie, despite the incredible amount of criticism that surrounded it. Granted, Jar-Jar Binks is annoying and there were not any chracters that really stood out (a la Han Solo style). Nonetheless, I still chalk this up as a movie that IS worthy of being in the Star Wars vein. But just barely. Ewan McGregor was truly the best actor in this film as Obi Wan - I look forward to seeing him in the future Star Wars movie. He can carry himself as well as any Jedi I know. :-) Unfortunately, Lloyd's stilted and forced acting as Anakin Skywalker makes me relieved that we won't be seeing him again. Some people I know found that the plot was too complex - wranglings between the Federation and the Republic seemed too political somehow, it has been said. But I liked the shadow of what is to come (dare I say, The Phantom Menace?) and eagerly await seeing how the Empire grows. And what is it that turns Skywalker into Darth Vader? I think that there are some problems with the film, but I saw it twice and loved it each time. And, remember, this is just a set up for the rest of the movies.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Try
Review: I am a big Star Wars fan and I must admit that the first three were captivating movies. I expected the world out of a movie with twenty extra years of technology pumped into it. And when I saw The Phantom Menace (I could think of a hundred better titles) I was stunned, for two reasons. First, the graphics lived up to all my expectation. Second, Everything aside from the graphics was appalling. It was just a bad movie. Acting: None of the actors were good at all. Many were below mediocre to the point that they made the movie unwatchable. Biggest problem was Jake Lloyd as Anakin. Are we actually supposed to believe that this TellyTubby will someday be the Mega Villain Darth Vader. You couldn't get to know the characters as you could in the previos films. The performances didn't help to much as they didn't interact with eachother and have relationships. Overall it was just a bad movie.
Rating: 
Summary: The movie itself gets 1 star but the DVD has great features.
Review: I am a big Star Wars fan. I loved the first three movies, and I really wanted to like this movie, but I just couldn't. The whole thing felt forced and disjointed with the known Star Wars universe... just a flashy showing of digital effects. But worst of all is the child actor - and I use the term loosely - playing Anakin. His utter inability to emote even a quasi-convincing whoop of joyous victory overshadows any annoyance I may have felt at the infamous Jar-Jar or the cheap army of Binks clones for the last battle scene. All that being said, this DVD has some great extras that makes it worth getting even if you're a Star Wars fan that wants to smack George Lucas with a newspaper for disappointing you with this bewilderingly shallow-even-for-a-Star-Wars-flick movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, exceptional DVD
Review: I am a fan of the movie so I have tried to rate the DVD on its DVD merits only. I consider the picture and sound quality first class. The extra features are great. Overall I rate this as a very nicely put together DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A Glorified Kiddie film
Review: I am a fan of the original Star Wars and its first sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. Phantom Menace continues the trend began in Return of the Jedi, with the series stressing its appeal to children rather than developing a coherent storyline and developed characters. But hey, kids are the ones who buy the action figures (mostly!) and thus that is who the movie is geared towards. The special effects are excellent, but cannot carry a movie by themselves. The poorly conceived story of Phantom Menace is appalling, especially when you consider that George Lucas has 15 years to come up with one. For example, the film could have started with Kenobi getting his last lesson from Yoda before embarking on his first mission with Qui-Gon, considering that Obi Wan is the central character of the film. Anakin Skywalker should have been older, say as a cocky headstrong teenager rather than a cute little boy. The taxation of trade routes problem is not properly explained (who is taxing whom, and how does bombing Naboo into smithereens solve the problem?) nor are the Sith Lords explained either, though the next film will probably address this. Darth Maul is an intense and interesting villain, but he is not given very much to say or do, and thus he never generates the hatred and loathing that Darth Vader elicits from the viewers. While R2D2 and C3PO are thrown in to give some continuity with the original series, having C3PO created by Anakin/Darth Vader is not credible at all. This movie could have had great potential if the story was probably developed, but in the end one can't help but feel that this was cranked out just to make a lot of bucks. Unless you are an absolute die hard fan of the series, there is no reason to purchase this film.
Rating:
Summary: boring and stupid
Review: i am a forever fan of the original starwars, but my disapointment in episode one would have been just as dramtic had i never seen star wars before. i thought that lucas was a movie maker-not just a really rich guy with tons of special effects to his desposal. for some reason he was under the impression that if he filled his movie to the brim with visual stimuli, he could get away with a flat story and flatter charactors. i'm not joking. these charactors had no chemistry between them whatsoever. good actors put to dismal waste is what it was. the dialogue was so bland that i forgot what was said while they were saying it (and no, this does not reflect on me personally-it was the movie for shore) you see, good movies are not made unforgettable by the visual effects or the costumes. those can be over done very easily. good movies grow from quality of story, personality, and depth. there was so much potential in the phantom menace that i cannot watch it without weeping and wanting to kill myself (not really) anyway, yeah.
Rating:
Summary: A little greed is worse than Jar-Jar
Review: I am a huge fan of the original Starwars and was wondering how Lucasfilm was going to pull this off. To try and go back to the begining and give a begining to an established film was a tall order. Not wanting to raise or lower my expectations, I didn't watch any of the previews for the movie. I think the film was an outstanding work and helped set the stage for the next few films. Jar-Jar was bad, but not releasing the film in DVD was worse. I would love to own the film, but will have to pass. I will not buy this VHS format and turn around and buy the same movie in a year or two like the original "Special Edition's". A lot of us have been waiting for a long time for this release, imagine our dismay to only find VHS. Bad move George.
Rating:
Summary: Lucas needs a director/screenwriter...
Review: I am a huge Star Wars fan from way back, and I was amazed at how slow and uninteresting this film was. The pacing was just plain uneven. I sat in the theatre, stone-faced, waiting for something... ANYTHING!... to happen. Once the podrace sequence got started, I could finally feel the hairs on my arm stand up. There it was, the STAR WARS MAGIC! I looked at my watch, and an hour had already passed before a real moment of excitement had been achieved. Admittedly, the film does pick up a bit after that. The Coruscant scenes are pretty interesting, and the lightsaber duel is technically amazing, albeit emotionally uninvolving. C'mon, this is supposed to be SPACE OPERA! You want to root for the good guys and boo and hiss the bad guys! All the characters are so undeveloped (DARTH MAUL ISN'T BAD ENOUGH! ) and gray that they just look like action figures. Mr. Lucas, please... you have given the world a great universe that has enchanted generations. Please DO NOT feel the need to prove yourself as a director/screenwriter. It's been over 20 years, and it shows. Let someone else drive the car for a stretch. Thank you.
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