Rating: 
Summary: This makes me an angry Star Wars fan....
Review: Let me just get it this straight: I'm a fan of Star Wars, but I'm not biased towards thing I'd generally rant and rave is good, I have a pretty good opinion on what I like.
But this I do not like. Why? It treats the audience like idiots. It treats us like idiots with half-efforted and sub-par CGI effects. It treats us like idiots with a bad plot, characters, inane characters (except Maul, Kenobi, and Jinn) and writing, and with a child actor who can't act (so why is he called an actor?).
The thing is, the CGI effects look fake enough, but Lloyd's acting is worst. The thing is, he acted as though he ENJOYED his life of slavery. They should have had Haley Joel Osment to show a more sad, scared, tormented kid like he did in "The Sixth Sense" but the thing is OSMENT AUDITIONED FOR THE ROLE AS ANAKIN SKYWALER YET THEY STILL CHOSE LLOYD FOR THE ROLE!! The thing is, they used cuteness over talent when they where on audions, when it should be vice-versa. It was as though Jake Lloyd was throwing animal crackers at me boasting how cute he was.
Ouch. What could possibly be worse?
Wait for it...wait for it...JAR-JAR BINKS!!
This poorly animated character is worst than the Ewoks from "Return of the Jedi". It takes far more than bad Home Alone 3-ish (ig: electricution, etc.) slapstick in TPM to make me laugh, and I'm positive I'm not alone on that opinion. "'I, YI'm Yar-Yar 'Inks!" "Hmph, How wude!!"
Rating: 
Summary: It grew on me.
Review: I have to admit that the first time I saw Phantom Menace, I hated it. Jar-Jar was irritating, and young Anakin was sickeningly sweet. It definately was not the Star Wars that I remembered from my childhood without Luke, Leia, and Han (who I still think is a very nice looking man).
I've gotten to where I like Phantom Menace. It no longer irritates me to the point of exasperation, and Jar-Jar has actually grown on me. I think that it sets the stage well for the next two episodes and I am looking forward to seeing Attack of the Clowns..oops, Clones...when it hits the theatres this spring. I still miss the old cast, but it'll be interesting to see how the characters are developed.
Rating:
Summary: A must-own DVD for Star Wars fans
Review: All right, I agree - Star Wars Episode I has many unforgivable flaws. If you pay close attention to the plot, you will notice many flaws that I can't belive George Lucas allowed to happen. I am not going to list all of the movie's shortcomings since any Star Wars fan knows them anyway (Jar Jar Binks anyone?). However, despite all of its flaws, the movie simply is amazing. With todays technology this is arguably the best visual spectacle ever created. Everyone will agree that the lightsabre fights are out of this world - a reason enough to own the DVD. Liam Neeson and Ewan McGreggor make great jedis, and young Anakin handled his role very well, despite some "Yippie" comments - but this is the fault of the script, not the actor. Even Jar Jar Binks, while painfully annoying at the start, grew on me and is much more tolerable now.
Rating:
Summary: It isn't Empire, but still a very respectable film
Review: Yes, of the 4 Star Wars films, this is probably my least favorite. But just because I don't like it as much doesn't mean I don't like it. The film is very good actually, with some great action sequences (Ray Park as Darth Maul is just tremendous). The Story serves as a good intro to the characters, and I think is an indicator of bigger things to come in E2 and E3
Rating:
Summary: The movie within the movie
Review: May 19th 1999, you saw it on Theaters. January 2000, you enjoyed it on VHS with a production featurette. But this is the most complete Star Wars video release ever, thanks to the power of DVD technology. George Lucas has embedded so much material in the two discs, that even die-hard Star Wars fans will be delighted for hours and hours. In fact, no other DVD I own has blown me away like this. Where to start? Disc One obviously contains the feature; subtitles, anamorphic widescreen and commentary by George Lucas and company included -the standard stuff, if you may. Non-standard, however, is the fact that you can link to hidden StarWars.com material by having the DVD on your computer's DVD-ROM tray, namely access to large-screen versions of a couple of already-released trailers of Episode II, and exclusive (until the time of this writing) access to yet another trailer for the upcoming continuation of the saga. Disc 2, though, is where most of the really cool material in the DVD is to be found, for those who like and those who dislike the movie, as well. To begin with, a full documentary containing all deleted scenes (some of them will actually make you hate the movie's editor!) along with interviews with Francis Ford-Coppola and a couple more great Directors/Editors, to hear the opinions about the whole process of editing a movie once it's been filmed in its entirety. The best part of Disc 2, however, is an all-new hour-long documentary shot during the production of the movie, that will captivate everyone. Complementing it are a 12-part award-winning Web documentary and five featurettes that go over more details about the pre-production/production of the movie. Some of its parts also made it to the full-length documentary, but essentially they're different pieces. Among the interesting things you get to see are what the crew had to go through when a desert storm blew away all their stuff, what Lucas called "bad droid karma" (all the history of technical complications around R2-D2) and how the brilliant final duel between Darth Maul and the Jedis was staged. Altogether George Lucas has opened up like never before, offering the movie within the movie, and showing why he is, in Liam Neeson's words "one of the world's greatest storytellers." Get a copy of this DVD: it has to be part of your movie collection, if not for the movie itself (which most people tend to agree as not being the best SW movie), for all the hours of pre-production and production material you can enjoy on it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Worst
Review: The visual effects are outstanding. The duel at the end is spectacular. Now that the "good" is out of the way, the story is awful! It seems that Lucas tried to fit too much into this movie. Everything happened too fast as though the Jedi started in the morning and defeated Darth Maul by lunch. The characters were rediculous. You can't help but hope Jar-Jar gets shot in the head, or hope that you do. At least one of you has some relief! And the Vice-roy. These guys sound like Japanese being stereotyped with that "bad english" accent.The acting in this movie was pathetic. What was Lucas thinking when he cast Anakin? This kid CAN NOT act. Any kid could act as good as that. There are many child actors who would have done well in that movie. It wasn't just him, no one in this movie did a good job. This is definately a rental, don't buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Where has the heart and soul of Star Wars gone?
Review: These are the nine reasons [...] why I thought Episode I was both a bad film and a poor entry into the Star Wars canon: 1. Paper-thin characterizations. [...] 2. Mediocre cinematography. While there were some spectacular shots of Naboo and Coruscant, for the most part I thought the cinematography--during the non-action sequences--ranged from fairly decent to merely passable. There were a few action sequences, however--Qui Gon and Obi Wan arriving on Naboo, the space battle with the Trade Federation, the Gunguns versus the droids and the final lightsaber duel, in particular--where I felt the established semiotics of cinema photography and composition were so bent, broken or twisted in nearly every frame that it actually fractured my "willing suspension of disbelief." Frame composition is every bit as important for action films (John Woo, anyone?) as it is for sweeping epics, or romances, etceteras. 3. A weak script. [...] In Episodes IV-VI, I felt Lucas accomplished his objectives with a much higher degree of subtlety. Episode I was about as subtle as a punch in the face with a clenched fist. Plus, I'm personally offended at the arrogance of Lucas to believe that we, as the audience for Star Wars, would simply slavishly accept whatever [...] he thinks he can get away with forcing down our collective maws: Midi-chlorians, for God's sake [...] much less the "virgin birth."[...] 4. Unconvincing special effects. [...]They topped themselves several times over in Episode I when it came to rendering believable capital ships, fighters and space battles. Nevertheless, not once, not ever--not even accidentally--was Lucasfilm or Lucas himself, as a filmmaker, able to assist me in suspending my disbelief long enough to allow that Jar-Jar and the Gunguns were real, living, breathing creatures. You need look no further than the scene when Jar-Jar is jumping up and down on the remains of the battle droid for an example of an unreal moment. [...] 5. Poor direction [...] Three words: Sam Jackson's "performance." Three more words: Jake Lloyd's "performance." [...]The problem with Sam Jackson was that he was TRYING TO ACT LIKE A JEDI KNIGHT (say it the way Jon Lovitz would when he says "I am an AC-TOR.") [...]That one moment when he tries so hard to look thoughtful he actually strokes his chin, I literally laughed out loud [...] 6. Poor editing. [...] "American Graffiti" and "Star Wars" were better-edited films. 7. John William's score. [...]Threadbare, self-plagiarizing musical pabulum completely without merit[...] I believe JW may have run out of ideas. [...] 8. A plot point so abhorrently disingenuous, so egregiously thick-headed that it deserves a mention all its own: 9-year old Anakin destroys the Trade Federation ship all by himself. [...] This is reptilian in its repellence. [...] 9. Jar-Jar Binks. [...] Lucas shot himself in the foot every time he turned around by including Jar-Jar's antics as the 'punch line' to the scenes he was in. I'm as big a fan of Star Wars as anyone, and I have been for 24 years. I was thrilled beyond human comprehension when I landed a multi-year gig writing LucasArts's Star Wars game guides [...]. However... I refuse to slavishly accept whatever George tries to force down my throat.[...]For Episode I to be merely workmanlike and competent is, measured against its potential, a huge disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: wouldn't buy the dvd if i were you - here's why:
Review: (...) The reason why I liked the movie was the scene when the battle droids got activated on the planet Naboo to confront the loose army of Bings' companions. That was cool. I loved the saber-fights too and I loved the Jedi-talk (may the force be with you, etc.). I even bought the video, because after having not seen it for a while I thought of this movie as cool and, well, I liked the other Star Wars movies when I was kid and after all, somebody gave it to me as a present. That's how I came to own SWI on video. After watching the movie at I suddenly realized that this movie has no real sense or intellect behind it. There's a lot of awesome special effects, but visual effects are not exactly the reason I watch movies for. First of all, Episode I, prayed for by loads of fans for decades, does not fit into the scheme of the later 3 episodes at all. Alright, we get to see what Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi (however you spell that mofo)looked like as a kid, but the invasion of Naboo has nothing to do with the universe-threatening conflicts of episode IV-VI. It is just a plot giving room to lots of action, but unfortunately stands in no plausible relation to the storyline of the supposed sequels. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: Effects Alone Do Not Make A Great Movie
Review: Despite Jar-Jar and the kid from "Jingle All The Way" (yeah, he couldn't act in that one, either), "The Phantom Menace" is a pretty decent movie. In no way does it compare to "The Empire Strikes Back," but it does hold its own in the Star Wars mythology. And with episodes two and three quickly approaching, "Phantom" will surely find its niche. Besides, after watching it over again, "The Phantom Menace" began to grow on me. Maybe it's the podracer sequence or the lightsaber clashes with Ray Park's ("Sleepy Hollow", "X-Men") Darth Maul. Or maybe ol' George is just putting something in the water; I don't know. All I know is that "Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace," once you get used to it, is pretty darn cool.
Rating: 
Summary: The chosen one ?
Review: Well its much the same story as Godfather III , good movie considering hollywood doesnt make any good movies for years now,
but Bad compared to the rest. The effects are excellent, and its more like an experience not tears and drama or interest. this movie is purely philosophical one, if some of the die hard star wars fans didnt get it by now, They must look at the big picture. yes Darth Vader wasnt bad after all, and the Idea is for mankind, that Satan could be in each and every one of us. The movie has very deep messages and call it a 5 year olds ? you all have to watch this movie again and check your heads. peace and love.
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