Rating: 
Summary: -->Money comes in | Innovation goes out-->
Review: Int. evening - A dimly lit room.George: The movie must have a child-friendly comic relief, and we also need some clever doll to sell afterwards... hmmmmm... Jar Jar Binks! George: Wait it can't be too child-friendly or we'll loose the fans! Throw Maul into the ring, oooooh he's scary... hmmmm... we'll cut his dialogue down to three lines so the action figure can contain them all! George: Liam Neeson is starting to complain about his lame character and dialogue... hmmmm... let's just give him a noble death at the end of the movie... wait we've already done that.. aaah what the hell! Everybody loves a cliché! George: Wait! The script is a little thin... hmmmmmmm... Wait I own this cool Special FX company they'll fill out the holes! George: All the cool authors have expanded my universe making it diverse and colorful... but let's just focus on places we know... like Tatooine! George: Anakin is really smart... we'll let him build C-3PO... wait why doesn't Vader recognize him later? Oh yes... he's just been ignoring him... heh heh... George: Oh yeah I've also invented these midiclorieans... which they for some weird reason haven't heard about in the original episodes... well the knowledge has just been lost in the huge Jedi massacres later on! *George continues like this for months* Actually I'm a Star Wars fan... and I like Episode I because of the cool action scenes, spectacular special FX and I actually don't think that the acting is so bad, and Jar Jar is pretty funny at times. I just have this love/hate thing for this episode. The whole Star Wars spirit, the innovation behind the old trilogy has been replaced by some kind of Disney oriented commercial family pack! To much money (minus 1 star)too little creativity (minus 1 star)... and George you better clone Darth Maul in Episode II and make it bloody and horrible for Anakin, and realease the original episodes on DVD (and not make 6000 special editions), or I'll cut off that beard of yours while you sleep! (can you get sued for this?)
Rating: 
Summary: Great Eye Candy
Review: I thought the book was better at explaining and telling the story. However, it does add another dimension when you see what Lucas can put on the screen. Very entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Not a lot of heart, but a lot of fun!
Review: Even if the film didn't live up to its' hype, it's still a visual feast like its' predecessors. I've heard several people argue grass should not be in STAR WARS films. We had trees in RETURN OF THE JEDI, didn't we? What's wrong with that?
The special effects and creature make-up are incredible, as is the film itself. It is full of wonderful visuals. You get to see the towers of Coruscant Plaza, the Naboo Forest, Tatooine 30 years before the original trilogy, and the overall effect is absolutely eye-filling. I still don't know what George was thinking with Jar Jar Binks. His character is so lame-brained and annoying, but granted he was essential to the story and is a heavily made-up character. I just hope with EPISODE 3 Anakin's first act of vengeance after becoming Vader is killing him off. Then again when your name is George Lucas, you are making it all up. There are no rules. The only rules are the rules of the imagination, and George Lucas has an extraordinarily visual imagination. It is a real joy to see Ian McDiarmid back as the Emperor, C-3PO and R2-D2 when they are first introduced to the story, Yoda as now a more realistic Computer Graphics character and not a hand puppet as used in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI. It's hard to conceive that this is "the saga before the saga" because it's so different from the original three.
I think who really steals the show is not Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks, but Ray Park as Darth Maul. It is a small role, but a role that Park portrays with the utmost conviction. He is silent but deadly like Boba Fett, fearce and powerful like the Emperor, and terrifying like Darth Vader. He is the ultimate Sith Jedi, and the climactic lightsaber battle between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi is nothing short of incredible. Hearing the "Duel of the Fates" theme in the background gives the entire sequence an eerie quality, as was certainly intended. Jake Lloyd is in my opinion very good as the young, innocent Anakin Skywalker. He is such a kind, charming, and intelligent little boy. I find it a very scary thought that the tyke will soon become the big, bad Darth Vader. It sends chills down my spine! Also major credit to John Williams' score. What is STAR WARS without John Williams?
Definitely the best moments come through the lightsaber duel at the end of the film, even Errol Flynn movies can't compare. Now that I'm older I see where STAR WARS has its' flaws, but it's still fun to be in another galaxy even for only a day. Yet after it's over, I can't help but say to myself. OK George, it was great. Now let's move on to something else.
Rating: 
Summary: Jar Jar All The Way, Baby!
Review: Mooie, mooie, whatta awesome movie! Mesa gives it five stars jus because of dat cutie Jar Jar Binks! Hesa jus da bombaddest, cutest Gungan ever! Mesa would luv to take him home with me and hug him all day long. Oh mooie, I wanna play with those cute lil toes of his! And that tongue of his... *Clears throat* Okay, this movie was basically awesome. The special effects were top-notch and the action sequences were incredible. However, I would have hoped for the acting to be a little better, but you really can't complain given everything else the movie has to offer. After all, Star Wars isn't exactly about acting, and the acting in the originals was nothing to write home about. The Podrace scene was just a blast, and the lightsaber battles were edge-of-your seat excitement. There is lots of subtle symbolism and metaphors in the movie that can be easily overlooked by many people. You have look deeper to understand the full meaning of the themes going on throughout the film. I know that alot of people don't like Jar Jar, but I'm pretty much crazy about him (as you can see from the opening paragraph). There is really no reason to hate Jar Jar - he is just an innocent caught up in an adventure. He can't help that his voice sounds different and that he is clumsy. The world wouldn't be a very nice place if everyone hated someone based upon such things. There's something called "diversity" and I think that some people need to learn more about it.
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars Is Back!!!
Review: What do I have to say? Star Wars is back. I don't understand what all the bashing is for. This is a perfect installment to the Star Wars Saga. Those of you who hate this movie are either not true Star Wars fans or have no vision. A lot of you have said this movie is boring and that it's only gonna get worse. If you remember though A New Hope was kind of boring and didn't have the action or intensity of the other films. Lucas is Building up to a bigger and better story. The Phantom Menace is Just the building blocks to acheive that story...it's the first installment. As for the actors...Ewan McGreagor is an excellent Obi-Wan Kenobi. He amaziningly reseambles Alec Guiness from a new hope. Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ray Park, and Ian Mcdiarmid were also amazing. I can't wait for Episode II!
Rating: 
Summary: More imagination than a dial tone
Review: this movie was dull, flat, tedious, unimaginative, badly acted, and just not entertaining. You have to be a serious Star Wars fan to like this..I mean it was awful..I recently have seen an interview with george lucas from the 1980's in which he stated (at the making of The Empire Strikes Back) that his heart was gone out of this trilogy , he just wanted to get it over with and the only reason he is making the next 2 films is because he promised they would be made..and it showed The Empire strikes Back is so cheesy and plastic I find it comical..so why did he make this movie 20 years later? For commercial reasons, his heart isn't in it and sorry folks George Lucas is not an imaginative person, well maybe as imaginative as Dr. Suess...please
Rating: 
Summary: HUGE dissapointment
Review: I waited literally forever for this and then got some kiddie flick. Hopefully the nest two movies will make up for this sorry excuse of a movie. I recommend "Logans Run" over this movie.
Rating:
Summary: This is Star Wars?! Give me the Originals!!!
Review: I am going to sum this up quickly! I found the plot more than predictable: ridiculous, and way out there to ludicrous! I mean how do you get into a castle? The water way or the secret passages. Fairy tale nonsense; but they used them both!!!! That's just one example!!! There is more: like the under water creature that gets them, and then the bigger creature that gets that the little one and in doing so saves them. Come on?! On top of all this! Was the movie entirely acted by extras?! Or does it just look like it?! And I will even hit the action! That the action was horrendously botched by the actors dancing with their lightsabers rather than swatting at bullets, but the final blow to the action probably was the sense of boredom the actors portrayed. Over all it was terrible with like I think two lines I liked, I think. I could go on; but there is so much. I won't! Except I would like to say that the charm of the original Star Wars is all gone. I loved the Original Trilogy though! I say that was a masterpiece!
Rating:
Summary: Average At Best
Review: Well, there are over 1200 reviews of this movie. Most of the reviews are from the fans themselves. And seemingly, the fans are more critical of this movie than a viewer who has little experience with the original 3 Star Wars movies. However, I think most of us may agree with some basics of the movie. The special effects were well worth the viewing, however, they were a little overdone. I need to agree with most of the reviews about the character Jar Jar. If there was anything annoying about this film, it was this character. For the first 15 minutes of the film, Jar Jar was bearable. However, for the rest of the film, I found it difficult not to want to walk out of the movie! My first impressions for the reason why Lucas chose to have a bumbling, annoying character in the film, distracting the viewers, was for the mere commercialism. Perhaps he hoped to use Jar Jar's "comedy" as an attraction that little children might enjoy. And thus, use Jar Jar as an attraction for children to want to buy Jar Jar dolls and other Star Wars paraphernalia. Kinda odd (that while I was walking through ToysRUS) that the only toys remaining in all the hype over Star Wars toys, was the Jar Jar doll! As an end all, I feel this movie is a good story teller, and entertaining. The acting and costumes were above average. As a viewer, you might be a little annoyed at times, however, this is a good family film to sit down to with some popcorn. As A Star Wars fan myself (of the original 3), I found it hard not to be dissapointed with this film. But rightly so!! Every fan probably has some dissapointments. We're all hopeing to relive our past somehow. We were all hoping that Lucas would bring the dream back. What we should have realized, is that there will never be another "Star Wars" such as the one in the 70's, that left the world bedazzled with something new! I only hope the series take a more "Serious" approach in the upcoming 2 films... The last thing I want to see in the battle between good vs. evil (in episode 3) is a stupid Jar Jar binks running around in the middle of it all!!! Hey Lucas!! Get off your butt and make those DVD's. Quit with the excuses *read star wars website*
Rating:
Summary: Waste of money
Review: OK --- let's see how many 'Star Wars' fans I can upset here. I thought the whole thing was a waste of effort, time and money. I enjoyed the original 'Star Wars' - it was fun to watch, good entertainment. But this was just dire. The lead actors (McGregor, Neeson et al) were completely wasted in a script as flat as cardboard. The SFX were impressive at times, but even that failed to save a film that I would consider a chore to rewatch. There is nothing of the liveliness and gung-ho sense of adventure of the original. The whole thing is lacking in excitement and good humour. Spend your hard-earned dollars on something else.
| 
