Rating: 
Summary: Explain this to me
Review: Great movie and I applaud Mr. Lucas' efforts to upgrade the quality of movie theatres, BUT THEN WHY NO DVD? This movie is all about visual effects and new worlds and all, and yet he is only releasing it on VHS. I realize Episode II is taking all of his time, but cant he hire someone to do the special features?
Rating:
Summary: The Force is Strong with Phantom
Review: As a female Star Wars fan who took in The Phantom Menace on the big screen more times than you'd like to know-really-I couldn't wait to get my hands on the video (widescreen edition; not pan scan). And although watching it at home doesn't have the same effect as viewing it in an ultra modern theater outfitted with the works, I still can't help but marvel at the jawdropping, climactic lightsaber battle, the saga's best to date. Plus, there's the heartstopping Podrace-which should have snagged Menace a special effects Oscar at this year's Academy Awards. And like the Star Wars films before it, this one's got heart, too; the benevolent Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) easily ranks among my favorite Star Wars heroes ever, as does Ewan McGregor's young Obi-Wan Kenobi (the Scot's Alec Guiness accent is near perfect!). Ignore the naysayers and get your hands on a copy now. Episode II will most likely be even better (incredible, if it takes its lead from The Empire Strikes Back) and you'll need to know how it all began. (I know, I know: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...)
Rating: 
Summary: It was great!
Review: Episode 1 had it all, make-up, special effects, costumes and a great cast. Full of fantasy and adventure as a young jedi begins his adventure in to the dark side. This was one of the best movies I have ever seen!
Rating:
Summary: Almost perfect ...
Review: Much has been said about how this movie lacks the certain Ôsense of wonderÕ that the first Star Wars movies had, and many are the reasons that have been cited for this: canÕt bond with the characters, too much reliance on computer effects, poor story, etc. All of those reasons may have some degree or other of validityÑbut letÕs face it, the fact that many of us were some twenty years younger back then may have something to do with it as well. The movie is impressive enough, it shows us magnificent fairy tale vistas and dazzling special effects, and the story is sufficiently decent for any blockbuster. Last but not least, the light saber battles were never anywhere near as glorious and brimming with martial arts skill as the ones we witness in The Phantom Menace! If you can take a back seat to the inner child (or any other children you may have with you) for a while, youÕll enjoy what you see. And yet there is something seriously wrong with the movieÑwhile it may not bring back to all of us the Ôsense of wonderÕ we felt two decades ago, it does resurrect some Hollywood staples reminiscent of 40Õs or earlier movies: the bumbling, bulgy-eyed minstrel, the scheming Oriental with his coarse accent, and the sleazy, moneygrubbing Middle Eastern type (Watto bears a disturbing resemblance to Third Reich anti-semitic propaganda caricatures). This peculiar anachronism may not ruin your enjoyment of Episode I, but for many African-, Asian-, Arab- or simply critically aware Americans, it cannot but lend a bitter aftertaste to all the eye candy. I am sure JarJar could have been just as comical, the Trade Federation just as wicked and conniving, and Watto just as lovably grumpy without invoking easily identifiable stereotypes from a bygone Hollywood era (does Sesame Street ring a bell? Big Bird was a lanky doofus and Oscar, well, a grouch, but both offensive to no one). Hence, alas, only four stars for what could otherwise have been an utterly enjoyable movie.
Rating:
Summary: The Genius of George Lucas
Review: The bottom line: if you are a truly devoted Star Wars fan (such as myself), you will love the movie; if you are a fairweather or new fan you will appreciate it. The brilliance of George Lucas resides in the thickness and depth of the subject matter. No one can watch this movie only once and say they have an honest opinion. I saw it twelve times in the theatre and still want more!SW:E1 boasts splendid special effects, a ground-thumping score we've come to expect from John Williams, a delightful array of new characters and dazling new worlds. However, I feel that one of Lucas' greatest triumph is his ability to deliniate the clear difference between good and evil and do so in a clean manner. Indeed, the violence is not uneedlingly graphic, there are NO curse words and no sex or nudity, yet EPISODE 1 will entertain and please both the family and the shoot-em-up, bang-em-up action crowd. This is truly commendalbe. Additionally, Lucas' uncanny ability to take complex subjects (and even boring some would say)like politics, religion, economics, international trade and anthropology and convert them into fantastic storylines is unparalleled. This means that people from all walks of life can enjoy the movie. By most popular standards this would seem like a painfully dull and boring movie (ie.no sex, no graphic violence and unappealing topics). On the contrary, the Pod Racing scenes, the climactic lightsaber duel and the three-way battle sequence should be more than enough to grip audience attenion. My personal favorite was the lightsaber duel; you have never seen anything like it (until Episode II of course)! In closing, the entire Star Wars saga is the quintisential embodiment of what a clean, great movie (with an incredible storyiline) should be.
Rating:
Summary: The Force is With This One!
Review: Excellant movie! I loved every minute of it all four times I saw it in the theatre. The special effects were awesome and the plot serves as a fine intro to the later (earlier?) three movies. If you haven't seen it yet......What are you waiting for!
Rating:
Summary: Lucas, get your head into DVD
Review: A very good film, perhaps the saga has gone on for too long though. And forget all these boxed VHS sets, when are they planning on releasing it on DVD! . Apart from that though, buy it,.. all your friends will want to watch it. Exciting.
Rating: 
Summary: The biggest dissapointment ever!
Review: I was expecting not to like this film alot because I feel Star Wars is maybe the best film of all time. But E-I was worse than I could ever have dreamed. Other than the pod scene nothing in this film was worthy. I was sad for weeks after seeing this film. What a shame.
Rating:
Summary: Special effects?--WOW! Everything else?--Loathsome.
Review: Trying to review this film is difficult. One has to think of how children would view it and how adults would view it. I know I would love this film if I was a very young kid (4-8 years old, maybe). There are plenty of things to keep children of that age group enthralled. This film also had a task of keeping the millions of Star Wars fans who have since grown up(physically, anyway)interested. This could have been the case but, and I know that so many fans will never admit this-it didn't succeed. Compare it to the other episodes all you want. Sure, all of them have bad acting and questionable plots but the characters in episodes IV, V, and VI had some chemistry and you actually cared about them, even after just the first movie. This movie doesn't have that. I would have forgiven the mind-numbingly idiotic Jar Jar Binks (Kids hate him too, don't be fooled), if there were characters that made you care for them and root for them. At this point I wouldn't have cared if Darth Maul had miracled himself back to life at the end and cut everyone in half(the queen, Obi-wan, C3PO, Anakin, and especially Jar Jar-Off with their heads! ), making for Highlander-esque continuity. There is a reason that this film competed for the dubious Rasberry Award for the worst film of the year. That is how the grown-up world rates this film, but let the kids enjoy their film for now. A great many will grow up and hate it, much like many Star Wars fans did when they watched Return of the Jedi later in life and realized how stupid the Ewoks were.
Rating:
Summary: George Lucas scores BIG!
Review: By not putting out a DVD copy of this film, director/producer George Lucas has assured himself a bright financial future. While this VHS version mostly satisfies this fan, I know that I would have enjoyed having a the choices that are availible on DVD. George, we all know that you're planning a big release after the other two films are released, but believe me, there are plenty of us out here that would gladly purchase a meat and potatoes version of this fine movie on DVD and go for the high-octane version in 4 years, but instead have to purchase it on VHS at present. As for the pan & scan version of this film, because this was created for the BIG screen, it was lacking in the grandure that surrounded it in theaters. While it helps to have a good sound system, it is still VHS sound quality. The story, characters, and plot are classics just by carrying the Star Wars name. This is a 5 star movie, but I felt I had to hold out the last star for the bad format choice. George: good movie, bad format.
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