Rating: 
Summary: A Masterpeace
Review: It is about time Lucas is putting this out on DVD. The DVD version should be great with the deleted scenes that they have put in. Phantom Menace was an exellent story setup for what is to come in Episode 2 and 3. This DVD should sound great in Dolby or THX setup. For the previous people who have posted knocking off a star for your own mistake of not looking at the technical information. This is what was listed. Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) THX Certified
Rating: 
Summary: A FORCE to be reconed with.
Review: When the world ran out of Fairy Tales, one man set forth to create a legend that would never be forgotten. In a time when a world needed heroes, he showed us to look within ourselves and use the force to overcome the menacing evil. From the people that shaped an entire culture, George Lucas and the team of Industrial Light and Magic, a new chapter emerges from the shadows of the past. The beginning to the most famous movie series worldwide, unlocks the secrets of the events leading up to that moment when Darth Vader appears on screen for the first time in '78. ILM pushes the envelope once more to tell the tale of the Boy Who Would Be Vader. In an attempt to protect the young Queen Amidala from the attacking Trade Federation, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Queen and her crew make an emergency stop on Tatooine. While trying to find replacement parts, they stumble upon this boy genius who is extremely strong with the Force. After proving his abilities in the Pod Race, Qui-Gon Jinn believes him to be the chosen one and takes him back to Corruscant before the Jedi Counsel so the boy can be taught. The council rejects Qui-Gon's request so he takes Anikin under his wing in spite. When the Sith, thought long extinct, return to the universe, they pose a menace to all who oppose them. The Trade Federation is ordered by the Sith to take over the Planet of Naboo. To save her people, Queen Amidala and Jar Jar Binks pursuede the Gungan Warriors to fight along side them and save their homeworld. The 2 Jedi engage a Sith Lord in the bowels of the city for a Lightsaber battle like noneother has seen. Obi-Wan graduates from student to master and Takes the Boy to train as his student. This chapter leaves questions in your head and leaves you craving for the Next Epic Film in the Series. Awesome Visuals, believable CG characters, and City shots that can't be matched.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible, horrible BAD movie!!
Review: Star Wars 1 is a movie about two idiots who try to rescue a queen from a palace in a far-off land. Sound familiar? The Phantom Menace is a really boring movie that borrows from every movie imaginable. I think this film is actually depressing, I am not a Star Wars fan at all but the film is so cheesy and corny and HORRIBLY written (I'm 15 and I could write a better script) that it makes you want to puke. After I saw this film, I tried to think of a scene that was entertaining or interesting, and you know what? I couldn't think of one. The film is just a big blur of CGI creatures and card-board characters. Do yourself a BIG favor and skip this flop.
Rating:
Summary: Dark Undertones
Review: Many people watched this and thought it was merely a flippantly humourous entry in the Star Wars series, however, there is a dark undertone to this film which can possibly only be appreciated on subsequent viewings, depending on how observant you are. Also, watching the first three films (or should that be the second three films?) is a pre-requisite. If you haven't seen the other Star Wars films, this may make little sense, and the ominous tone will be lost. On top of that, there's the state-of-the-art computer generated effects, a wonderfully fresh music score from John Williams and some excellent action sequences. Yes, the acting's a little wooden, but then it was in *all* the Star Wars films. Yes, the plot's a little thin, but then it was in.... you get the idea. Those afflicted with misguided nostalgia may want to avoid this, but for any *true* Star Wars fans, this should whet your appetite for the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless? Certainly not.
Review: There is not much to be said about the poor quality of this movie that hasn't already been brought up hundreds of times throughout all of these reviews. To be quite honest, I loved the first two movies (and portions of the third), and I refused to believe, even after being disheartened by the video-game effects of the Special Edition, that a fourth Star Wars movie could be anything short of impressive. I was very wrong indeed - somewhere along the line, someone's directorial beard forgot that Star Wars movies are just that: movies. And being so, they apply to the same rules of what constitutes a 'good' film just as any other moving picture does. (For more information on just how the elements of this film fall short, please see many of the thousand-odd reviews following mine.) The main difference between Episode I and the original Star Wars, is that there is nothing groundbreaking (at least in positive terms) about this movie. Of course, doing so many shots in ugly, un-photorealistic computer generation allows for full-360-degree-we-show-you-every-rendered-detail-of-every-object-by-swinging-around-it-with-the-camera-just-because-we-can cinematography. I have found the special effects to be the downfall of the movie - every problem I have with it can be traced back to the computer visuals. From the added dinosaur walking front of the camera and the tupperware fighters flying around the camera every which pointless way in the New Hope Special Edition all the way to the opening shot in Episode I of a pink tupperware ship to the eyesore that is the whole I-can't-even-kid-myself-that-they're-3D tupperware-skinned Gungan race. Oh, I'm complaining too much, and it's not going to do much good now. Suffice it to say, the newer generation of which this movie was written for, the generation that doesn't even know that Mario has a brother named Luigi, will in no way regard this movie as anything special in twenty years. The twenty-some year olds who saw Star Wars in 1977 were deeply impacted, and the twenty-some year olds who saw Episode I in 1999 had already seen Star Wars many, many times on video and television (and I didn't see them applauding when it was over). There was no ground for Episode I to cover but the younger generation, hence the contempt for a decent, mature audience (but don't listen to me - I hate The Matrix, too). And, as I said, nothing groundbreaking happened in the course of this movie, save for the biggest, most discouraging letdown in movie history, where only someone as sick to say, "If you were a real Star Wars fan you would have liked it," could possibly find any lasting value in this movie. I guess the great imagination that George Lucas has that everyone's talking about is the stretch of imagination it takes to recognize this mess as a legitmate movie, let alone up to par with the orignals.
Rating:
Summary: It's sooooo bad!!
Review: I really wanted to love this movie, but 5 minutes into it, I found myself checking my watch. I think George Lucas should apologize for making this movie, like he did for the second Raiders movie (I think it was him). Anyway, it was embarrasing to watch. The DVD? Forget it. I'd rather watch a commercial for doritos.
Rating:
Summary: The Phantom Menace is a great movie!
Review: Ok, I do not understand why people have given Star Wars Ep I such a hard time. I am a hardcore SW fan, can't wait for Episode II and didn't think this movie was extremely bad. Yes, Jar Jar was an annoying character, and the midichlorian thing is a little strange, but COME ON! This story is not complete! We must wait until Ep II & III come out before we should totally judge Anakin's story. I believe this one was meant more for the kids, so in thinking as a child, I can see why they love this movie. I gave this one 5 stars because it is a great movie for all ages, but focuses more on children, unlike the original trilogy which was best for more mature audiences. Just wait until Ep 2. ....
Rating:
Summary: Expectations aside this isn't a bad film.
Review: Trying to create a prequel to the immensly popular Star Wars films is akin to stripping off your clothes and running naked through the mall - some will be grateful and pleased, others will cover their eyes and scream 'THE HORROR, THE HORROR'. But either way, it takes guts to even make the attempt. From the first scene it's obvious that Lucas isn't simply trying to cash in on the Star Wars name. He is trying to provide a backstory, a new legend for today's youth who have grown up watching the three original masterpieces but have never had one to call their own. What Lucas gives us is a mixed blessing, a film whose best scenes are riveting, heart-pounding fun but whose worst scenes are embarrasing and tedious. The acting is relatively non-existant. Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor sleepwalk through most of their scenes (and McGregor's Alec Guiness impersonation is wholly aggravating) and young Jake Lloyd is as unbelieveable as comic co-star Jar Jar Binks. But there are a good number of performances which hit their marks. Natalie Portman's young and brave Queen Amidala and Ian McDiarmid's creepy old Senator Palpatine are both well-played. But the movie's best character is the vicious Darth Maul ('X-Men's Ray Park) whose face adorned hundreds of toy boxes but has relatively little screen time in the actual film. The story line is a bit muddled, but no matter. We are meant to take this film at surface level and it's best that we do. It's hard to get excited about this first chapter when we all know how it turns out and are really just waiting for Episode 3 so we can all see young Anakin become the Darth Vader we all know and love. I can't say I thought this movie ranked up there with the other three films but I can say that it was a good start to the new trilogy, laying in line the events and characters who will guide us through the remaining two prequels. Hopefully when it is all said and done we will have a truly great new trilogy to hold up and call our own. After all, 'Return Of The Jedi' wasn't exactly the greatest ending for the original three but it certainly didn't diminish the previous two films. So maybe the next two will be PERFECT. And this and 'Jedi' will serve as the two less then savory bookmarks for the trilogy... like a sandwich you can't help but enjoy... despite the two slightly stale pieces of bread holding it all together.
Rating: 
Summary: Lucas Shakes Off the Dust, "Phantom" Survives Shaky Start
Review: I've had no desire to watch this episode with the frequency as the beloved originals. It doesn't ring with the boldness and tangible excitement the classic trilogy flaunted. The first quarter of the film is almost painful, as viewers witness Lucas getting his directorial chops back. The Trade Federation are my biggest gripe, they are painfully benign villians that are shadows of their imperial descendants. There is little to no character development, the Jedi's seem vaguely interesting, but no effort is made to endear them to us. Naboo is a generic, courtly world. I wince when reminded of the flatuating beasts. But, in spite of itself, the film begins to breathe with the pod race, which captures the rebel spirit of the first films. Lucas then tantilizes with the enigmatic Darth Maul, truly the only evil presence in the film. The lightsaber duel that concludes the film is poetic violence. Finally, the mysterious clues provided by Mace Windu and Yoda point to a much darker, more engaging second film. Perhaps then the Star Wars pedigree can be restored to its previous distinction.
Rating:
Summary: Good, Bad and Ugly
Review: I have heard some say that they waited in line 18 hours to see a flop. Some people say it was nearly as bad as Dune (which if done today, whoops it has been, wouldn't and wasn't that bad). Some said they didn't like Jar-Jar. I liked this movie, saw it with seven people in the theatre on the second day (saw it at 1 in the afternoon when everyone had gone back to school and work, no line mind you) and actually liked Jar-Jar. I look at it like this: A lot of people didn't like Episode IV when it came out in theatres. This is a growing pain for Lucas. A New Hope did things no other movie had done before it, and Episode I did too. I look back at the original series and Harrison Ford didn't even actually start acting until most of the way into ANH, actually about the scene when he met Princess Leia did he actually act. If Lucas is true to form, then this will be a hiccup that starts a new trend. So in shorter words: the plot was a little cheesy, the acting a little foupa, and the action not so exciting at times, but definitely worth the 7 times seeing it in the theatre and the almost worn out cassete tape I paid for it.
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