Rating: 
Summary: Who cares what others say!! It was great!!
Review: Every true Star Wars fan knows and loves this movie. If you knew what happened before "The New Hope", then following this movie is easy. But if you do not follow and were expecting action sequences like in "Empires Strikes Back" or "Return of the Jedi" then it is your loss. This was a time of peace in the universe and corruption in the Senate, and this movie lays the ground work perfectly. Buy it, rent it, do whatever it takes to see this movie.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: The number one film of all time gets the number one DVD of all time...The Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace DVD surpases any DVD ever released. With over six and a half hours of bonus material, it is a must have for anyones collection. You will not be disapointed.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Addition
Review: I know this is an unpopular view - but I thought Phantom Menace was well done. Granted, the creatures (like Jar-Jar) got annoying. But when people say that, I wonder what they thought of the Catina scene in Episode IV, or the Ewoks in Episode VI, or Jabba's palace, also in Episode VI, or perhaps the Jawas in Episode IV. To me the cute and cuddly Ewoks taking on the Empire was less believable than the Gungans in Phantom Menace. The story in Episode I was much more fleshed out. I love the original trilogy, but the dialogue is severely lacking in many places. (Witness the scene between Leia and Han in the Ewok village discussing her alleged feelings for Luke in Episode VI for just one example.) All of the movies are very cliched in many respects: there are a lot of dystopian viewpoints in it as well as Messianic overtones and even some Arthurian/Templar type mythology. And that is what Star Wars is: a recasting of many of our major myths in a science-fictional format. It still astounds me the people who fail to realize this and treat it as such. I thought this movie did a good job of showing the initial formation of the Empire via the machinations of Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious. No movie is going to be perfect (especially when matched up against people's expectations; even though they rarely know what their expectations were) but I think Episode I was a worthy addition to the Star Wars mythos. I take heart, however. Star Wars Episode IV gathered pretty bad initial reviews as well when it came out in 1977. It took people a little while to come around. Perhaps the same will occur with Episode I. I have also seen a lot of specific complaints about the movie: "Anakin not being dark enough." That would miss the point. The point is: he is the balance. This goes back to the mythology aspects of Star Wars, and is reminiscent of the idea of the seventh son. What this means is that Anakin is one of those that can be swayed to good or evil. "The midichlorians." What is wrong with that? Star Wars was a little too much like mysticism with the Force originally. I like the idea of this being a pervasive force throughout the universe (like a Higgs field in our own universe) that can be channeled by people. This should have a ready place in the hearts of New Agers or those who believe in the ability of people to channel energy around them. I am not one of those people - but at least I like this attempt to explain how some people can utilize the Force and others cannot. "Technology is better." Well, visually the movie looks better! Does that mean the technology shown in the movie is better? Are there some detailed specs that are floating around for each ship and that someone has done a massive comparison of? I doubt it. The droids were basically droids. The ships were quite obviously precursor designs in various cases to X-Wings and Tie-Fighters. This movie only took place 32 years prior to the events in A New Hope. Thus we would expect improvements but not necessarily massive change considering that during that time the Empire was in power and thus, much like the Roman Church in our history, clamped down on technology. And that is what we see: from the relatively simple ships, we later see Death Stars, Star Destroyers, and Mon Calamari carrier craft. "Jar-Jar." Okay, to some degree he might have been annoying. On the other hand, how different was he from Wicket (one of the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi)? I agree he was a little bit corny but, then again, Lucas probably wants to appeal to younger and older audiences - always a delicate balancing act. In fact, Jar-Jar was sort of the Wicket of this movie - he introduced the Jedi's to the Gungans (much as Wicket introduced the Rebels to the Ewoks). Also consider that this movie followed the theme of Return of the Jedi, particularly near the end. We had three battles going on: the space battle, the ground battle, and the light-saber duel. Think about Return of the Jedi and you will see that the same thematic ideas were used. Both movies showed a relatively inferior race (the Gungans and Ewoks) coming under the control of an ostensibly more powerful force and then, in the end, winning out. I bring this up because I have seen many people who claim they liked (or even loved!) Return of the Jedi say they hated this movie.
Rating:
Summary: It is GOOD... YES it is...
Review: Many people hated this prequel. I can understand why they would. After all, when something like Star Wars has an almost religious following anything less than a religious experience would be disappointing. What these disappointed people should do, however, is watch the original trilogy and see how many goofy and annoying things they can find in it... seriously. Everybody hails the original Star Wars as a godsend but let's face it, Princess Leia was a whiny brat, Mark Hamille couldn't act his way out of a paper bag, and the lightsaber duel between Vader and Obi-Wan was far from exciting. Even the dialogue was less than great; "But I was gonna go to town to get some power converters!!!" <<whine>>. Or how about the fact that Luke finds his aunt and uncle (the people who raised him) both charred to a crisp and then basically goes; "Oh well... I guess I'll be going to Mos Eisley with you after all..." But God forbid should anyone find fault with the original, because after 20 years it has become like the Bible of sci-fi, because that is the way as children we REMEMBER it. As children, we could care less about acting, special effects or dialogue. What really mattered is all the cool stuff... how Star Wars made us feel... that we had been transported to another WORLD full of new creatures and technology, a world so remarkably detailed and complex that it seemed real. NOBODY but Lucas has EVER been able to create that feeling of otherworldliness. Every sci-fi movie since seems to me like a director/producer just trying to make a little world for a little 2-hour film, but Star Wars is much more, it gives us a glimpse, a magic window into a very real, living world that you can believe continues to thrive long after your window has closed and the credits roll. With the beautiful landscapes of Naboo, Coruscant and Tatooine, with the miasma of aliens and vehicles, who needs to see more? If you want good acting, watch the Godfather... or better yet, watch CNN and stay in good ol' boring (but realistic) Earth.
Rating: 
Summary: Phantom Plot, Acting, Writing, Integrity
Review: Besides the gripping lightsaber duel there is no reason at all to see this sorry excuse for a movie. George Lucas has sold out completely - especially with Jar-Jar. He was always in it for the money, with the merchandising avalanche of the first trilogy. But, at least there were some redeeming qualities in the first three movies. Ep 1 is simply garbage. The countless millions he spent on the boring pod race and the cliche "blow up the big enemy ship" would've been better spent on a script-writer (or maybe a whole team of them). How humiliating for McGregor and Neeson to be tied to such a third-rate production. Save your money and go see The Lord of The Rings this winter- Tolkien's trilogy is a thousand times better - with much more interesting characters, plot and no pander-to-the-8-year-olds Jar Jar character.
Rating:
Summary: The Dialog Was just AWFUL. Dissapointed but still Enjoyed
Review: I was very dissapointed by the UNATURALNESS AND FLAT ACTING. Felt way too MR RODGER'S NEIGHBORHOOD'ISH. The Dialog and interaction between Young Darth Vader and his mother was just APPALING. Way too 'see spot run'. I'm just dissapointed with LUCAS and his attempt to 'clean-up' all his films. Let's just shoot for a G-rating next time Mr. Lucas? I love Star Wars 4-6 but this was the biggest dissapointment yet. I'm sick of the rated G mentality.
Rating: 
Summary: Come on people, let's be a little positive here!
Review: So it wasn't the best film ever! Were we all really expecting it to be? We've all grown up with Star Wars (hell, it's been on TV every year since about 1985!), IMHO we should look at this new film as part 1 of 6 ... Why was the technology better? Well lets look at the ancient civilisations like the Myans and the Egyptians and then look at where they are now ... Civilisations fall, looks like that could be what's about to happen in the Star Wars universe does it not? The whole Metaclorin thing ... Makes perfect sense, the civilsation fell and when old techology was found no-one knew how it worked ... it became "magic". No doubt in the years after Jedi this sort of knowledge could be recovered. Jar Jar. Ok, I'll give you Jar Jar (although you probably wouldn't want to take him!) ... In short, if you are looking to hate the film you will find no end of reasons to, if you want to love the film then it doesn't matter what people say you'll love it. Make up your own minds, don't listen to any of the robots here ...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent movie
Review: Only pseudo-intellectuals hated this movie. Those fat, ugly, virgin, pizza eating computer geeks who feel for some reason as if Lucas owes them something. For some reason they all think the original trilogy was dark and morose and horrid and wrecthed. Those were meant for the family and so is this one. I loved this movie the second i saw it. So did everybody else. They just wanted to fit in and be cool and all simultaneously said they hated it in order to look cool and fit in with the crowd. The movie is great beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Rating:
Summary: two thumbs way, way up!
Review: Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace, is the first part of the number one saga in the history of motion pictures. The breathtaking glory and magnitude of special effects, is like nothimg ever seen on screen. Combined with a classic yet intruiging adventure of a story, it hails as one of the greatest movies ever made. Two Jedi Knights are set out, on a secret mission, to simply settle a conflict with the Trad Federation and a peaceful planet. However they do not yet know the power behind this uprising. Fearing for the saftey of the queen of the planet, the Jedi Knights escourt her and an alien represntative they rescued, to Coursant in hopes to bring forth her case to the Senate. Their ship, badley damaged from an attack however, is forst to land on the small remote planet of Tatoonie. Seeking for the parts to repair their ship, one of they Jedi Knights discovers a young boy by the name of Anakin Skywalker, who is the chosen one, discribed in the prophecy to bring balance to the force. Their currency is quickly rejected from the dealers, but the young slave boy named Anakin offers to enter a pod-race to aquire the repiars for his new friends. The race becomes one for freedom when the Jedi Knight bets all their chances of getting off the planet, so Anakin can come with them to fufill the prophecy and become a Jedi. After triumphantly winning the race, Anakin now must face his future and let go of every thing he has ever known, vowing to someday return to free his motherfrom slavery. The situation becomes much more complicated when they are attacked by a Sith. As soon as they get to Coursant, the Jedi along with Anakin, go to the Jedi Temple to report the situation. The queen struggles in the senate and is persuaded by the mysterious Senator Palpetine to vote for a new Supreme Chancellor. Palpetine manages to hide his true identity, as the Sith Lord behind the uprising of evil and Trade Federation, from them. The Jedi Temple sees Anakins future as clouded and deside not to train him. The Jedi Knight that found him sees differently and promises to train him any way. Meanwhile the Queen desides to return to her planet to fight for her people no matter what the coast. The Jedi are told to return as well to investigate these mysterious Sith. Mapping a plan to stop the invasion of the Trade Federation they see that they must work together. Once inside the Thrown Room the Jedi are stopped by a Sith and ingage in a fearce light saber duel, as Anakin and the rest continue. Seeking refuge from the battle in a Starfighter, Anakin uses it to defend the Queen then quickly realizes it is set on auto-polit to destroy droid control ship and it takes off. He is able to help destroy the droids and the queen takes back her Palace and planet. The Jedi who is responsible for finding Anakin is killed in the battle with the Sith but inscructs his former apprentace to carry out the prophecy. The Jedi promises to train Anakin just as his former master trained him, and the saga begins... This is a movie anyone will enjoy for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Number 1 on my list!
Review: Dazzling special effects and excellent battles, excellent storyline that excells with speed, and a great original cast. To many fans it was disapointing. What do you expect? No popular saga could ever meet the expectations fans had!! It was good enough for me. Critics put it down saying it is a embarrassment to George Lucas. Why is it that it is selling as good as it has been doing. Number 1 on the list with 3 or 4 months to go till' release. Alot of people like this movie, alot of people don't. Thats with every movie. The average movie watchers say it is good. Critics are just a bunch of buttholes. Whatever anyone says I love this movie. Definitly my number one! Star Wars movie are meant to be seen as a saga, not individual movies, so hold off the Jar Jar arguement till the prequels are completed for goodness sake!!!!
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