Rating: 
Summary: Lucas makes yet another fatal mistake
Review: As if the travesty of the special editions in 1997- the Jabba scene, Greedo firing first, the crappy new song and dance number in Jedi and changing the Ewok song at the end- wasn't enough, Lucas(who supposedly spent over 4 years working on the Episode I script) gives us this basically bland update of the original Star Wars film and in the process completely and irrevocably turns the Star Wars Universe on its proverbial ear. Originally these characters were all supposed to be older- Anakin as a teenager, Obi-Wan already a Jedi Knight- but Lucas decided to make them younger and thereby created a dilemma. Obi-Wan was too young to be a Jedi Master so he had to be a disciple. Instead of having Yoda as his master(Anyone remember in the original films where Obi-Wan EXPLICITLY says that Yoda was his master?) we are introduced to a character- Qui-Gon Jinn- whom we've never heard of before. Did Lucas even go back and watch the original trilogy for reference? It doesn't look like it. Especially when you throw in the mitichlorian nonsense. Yoda must indeed have been too old when he was training Luke in Empire Strikes Back because he never mentions these little "creatures" when he tells Luke all about the Force and how it works. You would think that this little "detail" would be important enough for Luke to know. It may come as a shock to some of you, but not only did Lucas not direct Empire but he did not even write the screenplay. That was courtesy of Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett. After seeing The Phantom Menace, I am convinced that Lucas never even saw Empire. The Force cannot be two different things. It is either some mystical energy field that binds all living things(and exists in the space between everything) together and can be tapped into through faith and belief OR it is a power that can only be tapped into by communicating with little creatures living inside a person. It can't be both. And since Yoda's teachings in Empire came first then I consider the mitichlorian explanation an abomination. That said, Lucas also tries too hard to connect this new film to the old ones. Anakin happened to live on Tatooine,(The planet furthest from the bright center of the universe) too? How coincidental is that? Anakin made C-3PO? How is it that Vader doesn't remember him in Empire or that 3PO doesn't make some kind of connection between Luke and Anakin? They have the same last name and Luke was on Tatooine- same as Anakin.(Here's something that's always bothered me. Why didn't they change Luke's last name if they were trying to hid him from Vader. They did it with Leia. Yet Luke keeps the last name AND lives on the planet his father grew up on. Not too bright.) Also, why doesn't Obi-Wan remember R2D2 in Star Wars. He may be older, but he still had a healthy memory. Too many little nagging questions like this ruined my first viewing of the film. What it boils down to is that Lucas never had any idea what Episode I was going to be about until he actually sat down and started writing it. This means that he just made up the mitichlorians and all the convenient connections to the original trilogy. It's really a shame because with a really good writer, this film could have been awesome- instead of being a travesty. I will admit, there were some nice moments in this film. However, most of them revolved around the throwaway character, Darth Maul. The underwater Gungan city was awe-inspiring and I loved the the grand architecture of Theed, but looks and visuals do not make a film great(to paraphrase Yoda) This movie had no soul and Jar Jar Binks only made matters worse. Mesa thinkin this film bombad. You are better off watching the original films- especially Empire. However- and this is Lucas' final great insult to all the fans of the original films- you may not be able to buy them anymore. In November 2000, Lucas rereleased the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition as The Star Wars Trilogy. This means that he now considers the special editions as the originals and will no longer release the original films on any home video format. So don't be too eager to get these films on DVD because you will only get Lucas' horribly revised abominations from 1997. Hold on to your Original Trilogy VHS sets and Laserdisc sets and take very good care of them 'cause you won't be able to replace them. As for the Phantom Menace, don't expect too much when you see it and you won't be disappointed. It may be better if you have never seen the originals or if you are still a young kid. I know my nephew loved the film and he was only 8 when he saw it.(The same age I was when Star Wars came out in 1977)
Rating:
Summary: I've got a bad feeling about this
Review: It's been several months since I watched The Phantom Menace. So I decided to pop in the VHS and watch it again.....Well, overall, the film has the awkward feel of a television pilot. A crisis forces together a motley crew of adventurers, introducing everyone, focusing on no one. If I had to pick six words to describe this movie, they would be, "too busy, too silly, no mystery." When George said it was a 'kid flick', man, he wasn't joking. Christ, is it really necessary to fill every friggen piece of the screen with ships and cute aliens?? Too many scenes fall flat as the actors try to spew that Saturday morning "dialog". There's too much focus on characters, events, and plot points that don't matter. Darth Maul has maybe ten minutes of screen time, ALL of it critical. Jar Jar Binks has nearly 90 minutes and is LUCKY to perform one significant act in any of that time. Also, the old flicks could only hint of a much larger universe. Now Lucas has the power to show us EVERYTHING and it simply overwhelms. It's like watching Stevie Ray Vaughn in concert. We know he can play, but he has to slow down and play some actual songs or the audience tunes him out. I believe great art 'usually' comes from adversity. No one expected the original film to do well, and Lucas had to fight 20th Century Fox the whole way. Film is also a collaborative art, and no matter who you are, you need to have someone around you empowered to say when you're screwing up. Lucas used to have producer Gary Kurtz, who was given the axe after "The Empire Strikes Back" (can ya tell, baby?). More importantly, he used to have ex-wife, Marcia, who partially edited all three original films (and some of Scorcese's). As Lucas just loves to say, "this time I got to make the film I always wanted". S-c-a-r-y...I think the lack of adversity has generated a certain laziness that will ultimately doom the whole prequel trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Fuzzy wuzzy was a universe
Review: King Ewok George Lucas, with his gazillion-dollar, umpteen-years- in-the-making digital wizardry, paints three-dimensional city- scapes, marches thousands of battle droids, and even utilizes a fully formed supporting character - the walking headache know as Jar Jar Binks. When Jar Jar opened his mouth to speak, my first thought was: "You're kidding. For the whole movie?!" If the first Star Wars was a box of Cracker Jacks that was all prizes, The Phantom Menace is a box of Cracker Jacks that's all diagrams of prizes. It's there on paper, but it's waiting to be filled in and jazzed up. Unlike the first, er, fourth film, the acting contains nary a trace of camp. Regrettably, it ain't got much zest, either. Liam Neeson et al are as flat and self-serious an ensemble as the series has yet to see. (I guess computer-enhanced human emotions are still on the drawing board...) Combined with the crappy (or at least half-baked) dialogue, virtually no chemistry among the cast, and a seemingly endless string of BORING expository scenes (the floating platforms in the Galactic Senate do little to distract you from parliamentary machinations that play like an especially dull day on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) the whole thing feels closer to two hours of Sunday school than a rousing sci-fi adventure -- UGH!! And what's up with the Tex Avery droids? There's so much animated madcap hilarity I expected to see coyotes dropping anvils on road runners. C3-Tom and R2-Jerry-2, where are you? What's up with the fresh-faced but acting-free kids? In this galaxy, the cartoons are better actors than the juveniles. Young Darth Vader is the leader of the Huggies Alliance. His job: Escape slavery, save the Universe, and - most importantly - learn to wear big boy underpants. Not necessarily in that order. Look, I wanted to love The Phantom Menace, too. I was once an adolescent boy and would enjoy being one again for a couple of hours. But the movie has a way of deflating all but the most delusional of hopes....
Rating: 
Summary: why no DVD
Review: Great movie. If old George Lucas had any brains left in his head he would release a DvD version of it. I'd Buy it along with millions of other Star Wars fans.
Rating:
Summary: A fresh new dimension in the world of star wars
Review: I can't believe people when I hear the words: "Worst episode ever" "Complete failure" "Above average" The Phantom Menace deals with many different issues that were not so important in the sequels: especially politics, intrigue, corruption all these made the movie so much more interesting. It made the whole story close to reality, how often insignificant events culminate in gigantic proportions. This movie is the one to watch. It has action, adventure and a whole new feel. If you are a fan or not, you have to own this (DVD or video version) It will provide hours of entertainment and edge-of-the-seat action.
Rating:
Summary: This is an awesome movie!!
Review: Those that say this movie isn't any good obviously aren't a serious star wars buff like myself. if you are, shame on you!! This movie had a good plot, even better acting, & even better directing. It follows the story perfectly, and now the stage is set for episode two & three. Watch it and read the book - it gives a lot of background.
Rating: 
Summary: A substantial disappointment....
Review: Okay, I was just like everyone else--I wanted to see this movie really really badly. So I did. And at first I thought it was great! But later, I realized how very childish this movie is. Sure, the visual effects were nice, and the pod race was cool, but the visuals can't compare with The Matrix. Also, Jar Jar Binks and Boss Nass are a very unwelcome addition, with their very eyeball-rolling senses of humor. And the plot wasn't very clever either. It's really pretty hard to relate this movie to the Trilogy. If you're anyone under 13 (as I was when I saw it), you should like at the very least like it, as long as you don't expect it to be like the old Star Wars. But if you are an adult who is a big fan of the Trilogy, avoid The Phantom Menace at all costs. Rated PG, for sci-fi action and violence, not much else, really everyone should be allowed to see it. But the question remains: does EVERYONE really WANT TO?
Rating:
Summary: A highly criticized good movie
Review: So you've heard that this film was aimed at children and childish, as if the original three didn't appeal to the child, as if it were a movie for adults. And you've heard Jar-Jar is annoying and stupid, as if the original Star Wars didn't paint C-3PO as annoying and Chewbacca as a hairy imbecile. (Chewbacca wasn't developed as a character with character until the second two films.) And you've heard that The Phantom Menace has bad acting and cliches, as if the original three didn't have bad acting or cliches. If you ask the average watcher of the film, rather than the comic book crowd (with their typical "Worst Episode Ever" elitist chant), you'll find that it was highly successful film filled with fun and adventure and suspense. The slow and thoughtful dialogue is the same caliber as the original film, and much better in consistent style and moralistic formalism than most of the films of the same genre released today. In sum, The Phantom Menace is an above-average enjoyable movie. The cultural tone of analysis has changed to negativism and "grown up" intellectualism, but the film remains a valuable and worthwhile video for any collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok this is pretty good
Review: I think ths is a great mvie the first time this movie is boring till the end when quigon dies and the darthmaul witch shooould not have happened he was COOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLL!!
Rating: 
Summary: Dispite the rating I gave, the "boring" song MUST be sung!
Review: (Takes out guitar) Boring...Boring...Boring...Boring... Sigh. Is...there a point to this movie? No!!!!! I mean, there's no plot-and if there was, it is really, really bad. I remember loyal fans of the epic triolgy were even sleeping outside movie theaters-all for this? Let me say, the acting (Expect that Anakin :0...) and directory was good-except for the story-which is the one that makes the movie come alive. Ah, you gotta hate it when legendary directors direct crappy movies-it's insulting. In other words...the polt sucked.
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