Rating: 
Summary: A Welcome addition to the Star Wars saga
Review: As a Star Wars fan it is my resposibility to point out the high and low points of this film. First I would like to do a short analysis for some of the major characters.Qui-Gon: His role was one of the things that really held this film together. Liam did a great job as this Jedi Master Obi-Wan: Ewan did a great job portraying Obi in his apprentice years. His character was very believable. Queen Amidala: Natalie did a fairly good job portraying the young queen. Few of her lines came off lame. Anakin Skywalker: How could you. I think George could have found a much better actor to portray somebody so important to the Star Wars story like that kid from the Sixth Sense Haley Joel. His lines came across very lame. Darth Maul: He was my favorite character of the film because he was so cool. Ray Parks martial arts skills are unbelievable. However, his character should have been developed much more. Darth Sidious: Very mysterious. Personally I think he is the Emperor himself, only time will tell. His character is very sith-like. Senator Palpatine: As always, Ian Mcdiarmid does a great job portraying the greedy senator who is soon to become the Emperor. Jar Jar Binks: He should not have even been a main character. He stole so much of the show and should have had 50% less screen time. The plot of this movie wasn't all that bad which was the blockade and boycott of Trade routes to the planet of Naboo. I feel as though a lot more will be explained in the upcoming movie which is due for a May 2002 release. Some parts of the movie were very predicatable such as the podrace. The lightsaber fights were just mind boggling. Once again I say that Ray Park was perfectly fit for the role of Darth Maul because he is capable of doing all the fancy kicking and knows how to fight with a double-edged sword. However, the journey back to Tatooine and the lightsaber fights were nostalgic and brought back a lot of the Star Wars atmosphere. The reason why I gave this movie 4 stars is because of Jar Jar and Anakin. Everything else fell perfectly into place. This will probably remain one of my favorite movies and with the exeption of those two characters, it is worthy of its position in the Star Wars saga.
Rating: 
Summary: What a stinker!
Review: This movie ranks right up there with "Dune" when it comes to really expensive and really bad movies. It has great special effects, but don't expect much more than that. The acting was bad and the dialogue was stupid. Oddly enough, and despite the state-of-the-art special effects, the movie has a strongly "dated" feeling--watching it is a bit like traveling back in time to 1977, as the acting, dialogue, plot development, and editing seem not to have progressed since then. And this is even more of a "guy" movie than the previous Star Wars movies. Will we ever find out why the Jedi are always male, even when they're not human? As far as the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks, maybe I wouldn't have hated the character so much if I'd been able to understand what he was saying! Did ANYbody listen to his so-called dialogue before inflicting this movie on the public? Perhaps the biggest problem is that the director couldn't decide whether to make a movie for kids or for adults; he tried to please both, but instead an adult will find much of the movie really stupid, and a child will find much of it incomprehensible.
Rating: 
Summary: For Kid's Only
Review: "Return of the Jedi" had some elements which seemed obviously directed to a non-adult audience, but nothing compared to this flick. Some movies, like "Last Action Hero", can succeed at this level, by offering a satirical edge in addition to the fantasy element (which is more appealing to the youthful crowd); even pure fantasy movies ("Brazil" or "Willow") can be appealing to adults. But this is clearly a kid's movie, since the main character is 11 or so. I realize that, in order to set up the eventual parts 4,5, and 6 (or whatever), the characters need to start out young. That's no excuse for making Star Wars into a kid's film (I mean, even "Flight of the Navigator" can be entertaining to an adult; this wasn't.). I'm just glad I didn't bother to see this in the theater.
Rating: 
Summary: Lucas begins another trilogy
Review: The Phantom Menace was an awesome movie. The special effects were out of this world. The characters in this movie were exceptional. Some say Jar Jar was annoying, and shouldn't have gotten that much TV time, but I thought his character was well played out. His voice could've been better, but wasn't too bad. It'll be interesting to see how Queen Amidala and Skywalker fall in love, and who is Anakin's father.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely entertaining!
Review: I thought Episode I was very entertaining and fun to watch. I love Jar-Jar! The technical expertise is amazing. The characters aren't quite as engaging as Luke, Han, and Leia -- but this is a movie I can watch over and over.
Rating:
Summary: Dazzling Special Effects but.....
Review: I just wanted to start out saying that I am a big Star Wars fan, owning the orginal trilogy and a few cheesy pieces of Star Wars merchandise. I went to the theatre the 2nd day of its long awaited release. In one word: disappointed! I know the special effects were awesome. With the great pod racing scene and lightsaber dual against Darth Maul. Thats what made it get three stars. The acting was nothing respectable and rather corny. Anakin's "Yippe" had less enthusiasm then my keyboard does. I would buy this but only settled for a viewing in the theatre and a rental because no DVD! Which is very upsetting. George Lucas, you are losing sales with a no dvd decision, including mine!
Rating:
Summary: Lacking of X Factor
Review: Just like any other Star Wars fans, I awaited the 1st prequel with much anticipation & glee. But after viewing the movie, I asked myself, is this it. I wasn't convinced & back I went to the cinema for a second viewing but still, the answer remained the same. I had viewed the Star Wars sequels countless of times but never I felt any sense of boredom creeping in. They all are classics to me & they are that good! Considering that the sequels were shot 20 years ago give & take, George Lucas' brilliance is undeniable. This time around, with better technology, special effects offered is definitely the highlight of the movie with the much talked about pod racing, Jar Jar Bink which certainly provided a lot of light hearted moment. Natalie Portman's performance was quite restrained, probably noticing that there's a massive responsibility for her to carry over her shoulder, so as not to disappoint lots of legions of fans for the Star Wars series. Samuel Lawrence was quite subdued as a Jedi & I preferred to see him re-enacting his role in the Pulp Fiction, or even his role in the Negotiator, anytime. Liam Neeson provided a much needed screen presence. The highlight of the movie would be the duel between the Jedis & Darth Maul & it's ashamed that Darth Maul was killed off that simply. For such a lethal opponent like him, he should be leaving in a big bang rather than in the piece meal fashion as offered in the movie. Well, probably the fault solely lies on me, who has too high of an expectation which the movie couldn't provide. But to be truthful, no matter how neat the presentation is, it's lacking of this thing called soul. Just hope that the second offering would be better or much improved. Considering that the 2nd instalment is to be shot in Sydney, probably, there's going to be a cameo appearance of creatures in the form of kangaroo or koala bear that could sing "Waltzing Matilda"!
Rating: 
Summary: It's a bunch of over-hyped eye candy
Review: I really cannot appreciate this movie in more areas than visual special effects. The plot was weak, the acting wasn't exactly top notch, and it just felt so... cliche. Granted, I'm not much of a Star Wars fan, but I know people who stayed in line eight hours to catch the first night who felt disappointed. Aside from some really awesome graphics, I can't give any credit to this over-hyped fluke.
Rating:
Summary: not as we know it...
Review: Well I'm no great fan of sci-fi but there is a magic about Star Wars I don't doubt so curiosity and childhood memories dragged me to the cinema to check out the new face of Star Wars. The beauty of the original Star Wars films was their ability to make the glittering effects a part of the story, not just a distraction. In a time now of special effects but stale films it is near impossible to make a Star Wars film to live up to the expectations of the fans. Given what they were up against I think the makers of The Phantom Menace were on the right lines. Dodgy characters and tacky acting aside it has that Star Wars touch to it. So what was wrong with the acting? Liam Neeson does a fantastic job with Obi-Wan, his character almost single-handedly holding the atmosphere together. Ewan McGregor is a bit more stale but the rest of the cast pretty much stink. It wasn't till R2D2 popped up and started warbling that a smile returned to my face and I remembered I was still watching Star Wars. Unfortunately the problem with Star Wars is that it is such a commercial prospect for toy companies and suchlike that we inevitably get the 'kiddy' aspect which comes in the form the Jar Jar character. I wanted to cry with embaressment. What this lacked was the mystery and the suspense that existed in The Empire Strikes Back, instead the makers have gone for the more commercial childs version that was Return of the Jedi. Its all a matter of what audience to please and all the Star Wars films have the same atmosphere but approached at different angles. We'll probably find the next one is a lot darker as we are led up to the Star Wars so many know and love. Theres plenty of moments in here that shine but its a case of glueing them all together. The moments which oozed Star Wars magic for me were the fantastic fight sequence with Darth Maul towards the end, the enemy soldier robot things and the general atmosphere of the Emperor himself. More of this and less of the Jar-Jar guy please, lets have a Star Wars film more for the adults than for the kids next time so we all get a taste of the pie. ps : wanted to give it 3 and a half stars.
Rating:
Summary: If Empire Strikes Back is a diamond, then Ep. 1 is gneiss
Review: For the uninitiated, the G. Lucas American film series about warfare amongst the stars is a peculiar look at parallel universes and strange creatures interacting with humans in an attempt to secure peace throughout the galaxy. Indeed, this war amongst the stars, or "Star Wars" as it is called, is indeed a film series about love and betrayal, incest and abandonment, good midgets and bad midgets, strange fish creatures with too much power, and robots. Indeed, this film series (whose art house qualities remind the intellectual filmgoer of the Decalogue in scope, or perhaps a parallel can be best made between Star Wars and the Trois Couleurs Trilogy, in that both series exhibit semi-paradoxical tendencies for the both the surreal and the comic while trying to maintain at least some semblance of the post-modernistic cliche of parallel bereavement and longing for the freudian (or perhaps jungian would be better) other in that the subconscious is always expressed in terms of pseudo-violence, usually directed towards the self but often manifested in the form of senseless destruction against establishment regulation. It is important to remember this war amongst the stars in these quasi-anthropological terms, for the genesis of such serial work too can have its roots in the experimental (think of the obvious parallels between Return of the Jedi and, say, Man With a Movie Camera). With that in mind, Star Wars Episode One... ...sucks.
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