Rating: 
Summary: The Beginning of the Rest
Review: First of all, it is impossible to rate this movie by itself. Let's not forget that there are two more movies to come. So of course people are not going to like it because they want more out of it, but those are for the rest of this prequel trilogy. This movie was awesome! I saw it 5 times in the theatres and I have already reserved my copy. I look forward to the rest of them, as well as every other Star Wars fanatic out there. But it is very hard to have as many expectations as this movie had (due to media) and still have everyone liking it. I LOVED IT!
Rating: 
Summary: A Few Flaws but Delivers
Review: I'm 15 and when I was little every year I saw a Harrison Ford marathon that they showed on Channel 13 (Panama) they used to show the Star Wars trilogy and Indiana Jones movies and I remember that the first Star Wars movie that I saw was ROTJedi and when I saw Jabba I got hooked I rented the other 2 and a couple of years later like in 1995 I bought the THX Trilogy and then I saw the Special Edition and they were definately between my favorite movies but now Lucas does this children movie that haves great effect and a good story but some bad parts like every scene with Jake Lloyd and a couple of scenes with Jar Jar I think that Lucas has lost the magic or he is just playing with us and is going to throw a bomb with the next 2 episodes. I think that Qui-Gon lost to much time on Tatooine that part of the midiclorians shouldn't have been made and another thing that this movie didn't have was a space fight what a stupid way of destroying the federation battleship but who doesn't loves Duel Of Fates, The Duel, the details on every location. Well I'm not going to buy this VHS edition I'm waiting until 2005 for the DVD for the 6-pack
Rating:
Summary: Creating a Backdrop for movies that have already come
Review: To summarize in advance: "The Phantom Menace" is a richly nuanced movie that can only be appreciated fully over the course of several viewings. Here's why:It is difficult to imagine a task more difficult than the one George Lucas undertook with "The Phantom Menace". After creating one of the richest and popular science fiction universes to appear on film or in print (three of the most popular movies of all time and dozens of supplementary novels), he undertakes to show us how that universe came to be. How did the father of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo become Darth Vader? Who was their mother and what ever happened to her? How was it that a republic that had stood for thousands of years succumb to the machinations of an "evil emperor" and become the "empire"? The answers to such questions are not likely to be any simpler than the historical paths that turned the Wiemar Republic into Nazi Germany, and to the dissapointment of many viewers, George Lucas does succumb to the easy path and deliver simple answers. Every movie in the Star Wars saga is different. The young heros of "A New Hope" stumble, again and again, from a bad situation to worse as the "Empire" attempts its final consolidation of power. "The Empire Strikes Back" is a tale of survival as the Emperor figures out what foiled that consolidation and attempts to turn that situation to advantage. "The Return of the Jedi" is a tale of complex and intersecting plans on a collision course that ends in the climatic undoing of the Emperor's schemes and the redemption of Luke Skywalkers father. "The Phantom Menace" is the multilayered beginning of the events that make those movies possible, and is impossible to fully appreciate with a single viewing. We meet the young Darth Vader when he is still a good, wide-eyed and optimistic boy, but a boy unlike any the "Jedi-order" has ever encountered before. We meet his mother, enigmatic "There is no father" led some to (I think inaccurately) make "Virgin Mother" allusions when the nuances of her statement suggest a great deal more. We meet the future emporer while he is still a Republic senator, watch him create a political crisis ("The Phantom Menace") out of nothing (when is any bureaucracy efficient or completelly free of corruption), and then turn that into vastly enhanced political power (literally the beginning of the emperor's rule). All these introductions and machinations come with a price that "A New Hope" never had to pay. Detail and Nuance matter, and there is ultimately too much movie. Faced with some of the same problems in "A New Hope", George Lucas turned it into three movies. Having already laid out the movies that follow from "The Phantom Menace", he turned instead to cuts that are sometimes so tight you don't hear things the first time you see the movie. The screen is so rich with image that you simply don't see things that really matter the first time through. The movie improves with every viewing, and so long as the smaller screen and revised format doesn't rob us of the detail, it will improve with each viewing on VideoTape. I believe that time will be much kinder to this movie than the critics were to its initial release, and I certainly recommend both it and the novelization (which complement each other nicely) to all.
Rating:
Summary: Good start to the series
Review: Like many people I had some high expectations of this film and how it would look and feel, plainly it was great. I found the political subplot in the film made the movie much more than a just a "kids" film. I liked all the characters, even the notorious Jar Jar. I though Liam Neeson was great. For those who did not like the acting of Jake Lloyd and others need only to look at the original movie. Mark Hamill is not exactly Shakespeare. All in all a great start and the later movies with their darker tone will, much like Empire and Return, steal the limelight. All I can say is great beginning, and lets hope that it keeps getting better!
Rating:
Summary: A good, but not great, beginning
Review: "Phantom Menace" is simply a good movie, not a great one. The sheer volume of the pre-release hype and the stellar expectations which resulted are at least partially responsible for the many unflattering reviews that the movie has received. It is probably unfair to expect George Lucas, or anyone else, to completely measure up to expectations and hype that his original movies did not have to contend with. However, "Phantom Menace" does have problematic features, along with successful formulas. The story itself is actually not bad, given that this movie was to reveal the origins of characters and events that would become grander and more complex over time. Saving Princess Amidala from the corporate clutches of a greedy Trade Federation and its senatorial allies (how late 20th century!) is certainly appropriate work for Jedi knights. It is even a fittingly inauspicious way for Lucas to unfurl the greater saga that emerges in the later movies. However, concentrating on 9-year-old Anakin Skywalker gives the movie too much of a juvenile feel, thus trivializing some of the more serious and interesting themes. Ironically, the young audience that Lucas is appealing to was surely baffled by the unduly complicated story line which pitted corporate greed and bureaucratic caprice against Jedi moral righteousness and galactic republicanism (again, how late 20th century!). The acting is average--generally, the younger the actor, the less credible. Regrettably, the most formidable characters, such as the members of the Jedi council, only make brief appearances, and even then seemed too aloof to help the sometimes sagging plot. Also, there are a few unfortunate ethnic and racial stereotypes that would best be left out of future episodes. The only major exception to the otherwise bland cast of characters is Darth Maul. Though he delivered few lines, his presence actually carried weight and even a certain dark charisma. His dueling and martial arts skills were first rate, and the lightsabre battles are breathtaking. In a way, it's a pity that he is killed in this movie, for he would definitely have been a worthy villain for the next episode, or until Anakin Skywalker is finally "seduced" by the dark side. In most instances, the special effects worked quite well. The ever-present computer-generated imagery usually meshed well with "real" scenes and action. Some scenes were over-done, such as the pod race and the final battle on Naboo. And unlike the first three movies, the heavy reliance of "Phantom Menace" on technology, robots, and non-humans to carry the plot and do the bidding of human characters obscured some of the more intriguing, human nuances that were so well portrayed in the earlier movies. The musical score was disappointing and hardly measured up to the standards that John WIlliams set in "Star Wars" and "Empire." It's not that the music is bad, but just the average sci-fi fare--not epic and passionate as the earlier scores were. Overall, "Phantom Menace" is a B+ movie in A-movie wrapping. However, it is probably enough for now, assuming that there are better things to come from George Lucas.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing, but Entertaining...
Review: "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" is the much-anticipated prequel to the everlastingly popular "Star Wars" series. I thought it was going to be much better than it was. The special effects were good, but overly flashy. The presence of the annoying Jar Jar Binks wasn't needed and just took away from the development of the other characters. The acting was good, but the story was lacking that certain "Star Wars" element that audiences have been accustomed to with "A New Hope," "The Empire Strikes Back," and "Return of the Jedi." It's entertaining enough, but what happened here!
Rating:
Summary: Like watching paint dry...
Review: With the exception of some exciting scenes (pod race, light saber fight), this movie was a disappointment. The potential was there, but it turned out to be a real snoozer. The special effects are first rate, though.
Rating:
Summary: Only The Die Hard Fans will Appreciate
Review: I gave this movie two stars for the beautiful special effects in the movie. I saw it twice, being a huge Star Wars fan but just could not enjoy this movie. Awkward plot line(what are they doing anyway! )annoying characters(jar jar)and dead pan acting really disappointed me. Darth Maul was fascinating but again he only had five lines in the movie! Die Hard fans of course will say this is the best Star Wars ever, but I have to disagree...
Rating:
Summary: The best and the worst
Review: OK, I'll start out with what I percieve as the two biggest flaws. First of all, Jar Jar just should not have appeared in the movie. There was plenty of comic relief without him, and he just brought absolutley nothing to the film--all he did was take time away from character development of the great human actors. Can you imagine how completely out of place Jar Jar would have been in the near-perfect Star Wars or Empire? The other big flaw was Jake Lloyd. Especially when you see movies like "The Secret of Roan Inish", "Fairytale--a True Story", or the 1993 version of" A Secret Garden",and you see what really great child actors can do--it's clear that Jake Lloyd would have been better cast as a guest star on the "Full House" TV show. On the positive side, though, most of the human cast is pretty strong. And as far as the art direction and sets, particularly the underwater city, and the palaces of Naboo--these are just some of the most amazing, awe-inspiring, wonderful sci-fi images ever put on film. The music is completely fantastic, and the action scenes are also incredibly well done. I agree that people were mostly remembering the best parts of the other 3 movies, and were putting 16 years of expectations into this one movie, which it could not live up to. I just hope George listens to a lot of this criticism, because if you could take the tone of the first two movies and combine them with the visuals of this one, you would indeed have an amazing movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing ¿ but essential nevertheless
Review: There was a palpable sense of frustration on emerging from theatres when Phantom Menace was released. A whole generation of young men (and some women) had waited a lifetime for the follow-up from 1970s prodigy George Lucas. Tragically, Lucas used his artistic freedom - which would have been the envy of Chaplin or Welles - to create a glossy children's film rather than a worthy successor to his original trilogy which can truly be said to appeal to all ages. That said, don't believe those who say that this movie is "only" about special effects. The look and feel is in many places majestic, and the visual references are inspired. Witness the influences of African art, classical architecture, legends of Atlantis, great movie moments (Ben Hur, Metropolis) and more. Add to this a whole series of story elements which, sadly, are greater than the sum of their parts - such as the explanation of how a corrupt bureaucracy allows a peaceful trading federation to slide into an oppressive dictatorship - and you have a flawed but fascinating piece of entertainment. In any case, you need to own it for the lightsabre scenes - the best fencing choreography ever filmed.
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