User Reviews

Lucas may have problems as a director and writer, but I've always thought that those flaws are balanced by his great storytelling ability. The problem with "The Phantom Menace" is that he simply has no story to tell. The film merely adds an introductory chapter to a story that has already been told, and stretches it out into a two-hour movie. It is no accident that prequels of this kind are rare. They are very difficult to make properly. And apparently he's just not a sophisticated enough filmmaker to pull it off.

For one thing, this project is limited by the fact that anyone familiar with the first trilogy knows the story's outcome, and it therefore lacks some of the suspense associated with a gradually unfolding saga. More importantly, however, this situation leaves Lucas with very little freedom as a storyteller. It also encourages him to gloss over key events; because their outcome is a foregone conclusion, he forgets to bring them to life.

For example, we know there will eventually be a romance between Anakin and Padme. So Lucas has the two characters meet here and--surprise, surprise--they seem to like each other. Their developing friendship isn't portrayed that clearly, and their motivations for becoming close aren't explained. Because Lucas fails to make scenes like these believable, we can't help being conscious of how he's manipulating the plot in his effort to connect the two trilogies. Another good example of this problem is Anakin's portrayal as a potential Jedi. There doesn't appear to be anything about this kid remotely out of the ordinary, even though the other characters keep talking like there is. Our only reason for thinking he's special is that the plot requires it.

If the story fails to be engaging, it is because we never see the important events. Lucas makes a fatal error in not showing what's happening on Naboo, the small planet whose capture is the focus of the plot. Numerous atrocities are supposedly being committed against the planet's inhabitants, but we only know about this because the characters on screen refer to the events, usually rather woodenly.

The deadpan performances are a problem in themselves, but they only highlight our lack of involvement in the story. Think of Han Solo sweating in fear, then think of the emotional vacuums passing for characters in this film. Whenever any of the characters do express emotion, as in the scene where Anakin and his mom part, it still seems awfully restrained. Somehow, Lucas manages to keep the emotional reactions of his characters to a minimum, which gives the film an almost mechanical feel.

It's true that "A New Hope" never showed Alderaan's inhabitants, but we still could feel the tragedy of the planet's destruction through the horrified reactions of Princess Leia and Obi Wan. Moreover, there were many other involving events which we witnessed directly, such as the slaying of rebels at the beginning; the capture and torture of the princess; and the murder of Luke's foster parents. Furthermore, the major plot elements were intriguing in and of themselves. They weren't there merely to show us how they were to be linked to later events, which seems to be the case with the new film.

I suspect that Lucas was not as concerned in the first trilogy with what had to happen later in the story and was therefore able to focus his attention on the events at hand. The weakest segment was "Return of the Jedi," which had the task of bringing the story to an end. Only then did Lucas start to show signs of forcing plot points. In "The Phantom Menace," he gets so bogged down in the task of bringing his story from point A to point B that he ends up with only the bare bones of a plot, and none of it comes alive.

This is especially true of the characterization. In the old trilogy, characters like Yoda and Han reveal distinct personalities in their first few minutes on screen. This film goes for more than two hours and the characters, including the familiar ones, come off vague and nondescript. We aren't given much of a chance to experience their personalities in the way they interact. We must take Qui Gon's word for it when he describes Obi Wan as "headstrong." What's most odd is that the cartoons seem better developed than the humans. The scenes where Qui Gon negotiates with the birdlike slave-owner Watto are amusing and well-done--probably the movie's best scenes aside from the stunning action sequences--but they can't hold a candle to the constant interactions throughout the first trilogy.

One thing I cannot do is accuse the film of lacking creativity. The design of the creatures, the technologies, and the planets is impressive. Watching the film is sort of like reading a children's book that isn't very good but abounds with beautiful illustrations. There is certainly a "wow" factor in the movie's visuals, but the effect of it is short-lived.

I get irked when I hear fans talk as though the "Star Wars" movies were never about anything beyond special effects. While the inventive visuals are part of what made the originals so revolutionary, they're not what made the films so fun to watch. And in no way can they explain the trilogy's continuing popularity today. After all, many of the original effects look primitive by today's standards, and their novelty has certainly worn off. Only an enduring and compelling storyline could have allowed the first three films to become the classics they're almost universally acknowledged to be.

Positives:

• Planets design
• Some of the action scenes
• Darth Maul
• Musical score

Negatives:

• Story
• Pacing
• Characters
• Acting
• Writing
• Dull cinematography

Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace is definitely worth a watch, but I do think it is one of the weaker movies of the Star Wars saga. I will admit I wasn't expecting much after reading some very negative reviews on IMDb, but I do think this particular instalment did in some ways exceed my expectations and disappointed as well. On a visual and technical level, it looks absolutely fantastic, with splendid special effects, stunning cinematography and fine scenery and costumes. The script is fairly decent, perhaps lacking the sophistication of Empire Strikes Back or New Hope, but does have some memorable lines. The action is constantly exhilarating, and Darth Maul, well played by Ray Park is a very good villain. Of course though, Darth Vader is better. Most of the performances are very good, especially Natalie Portman as Queen Padma who looked stunning and Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker who shone with his confident charm. And Jar Jar Binks is okay on the most part, and you have to love Yoda. And the music score by John Williams was outstanding, definitely one of his best works. The quality of sound and direction are also impressive. However, there were things about this film that did disappoint. One is despite the awesome visuals, strong music score and good characters, the story never quite distinguished itself. It did take a while to get going, and when it did try to get going and you could tell it wanted to, it was further disadvantaged by the uneven pacing. Liam Neeson is a fine actor, his performances in Kinsey and Schindler's List are proof of that, and I do like Ewan McGregor. But as Qui-Gon Jin and Obi Wan Kenobi, both stars give unusually wooden performances, and at times looked even embarrassed. And as I said, the pacing is very uneven, there are some slow moments, and one or two scenes felt rushed. All in all, maybe disappointing for fans of the saga, but it cannot be denied that visually it is an accomplishment. 7/10 Bethany Cox

What everyone remembers fondly from this movie is Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor as Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul and their climatic duel. Sadly, there isn't more than a few minutes of Maul and instead we are given Jar Jar Binks and Jake Lloyd as a needlessly young Anakin. Along with these characters the movie is burdened by a general tone that's directed at children and an over reliance on still developing CGI technology.

It looks bad, it sounds bad(kudos to the actors who make this dialouge sound good) and the best aspects are too brief. The Phantom Menace has been lapidated by audiences and its kind of understandable: passionate Star Wars fans can look past the flaws but to the average viewer it can be very offputting.

But hey, look at what you got now.

Well, after waiting 16 years for his next installment, George has given us "The Phantom Menace". As a Star Wars fan I got what I expected - another chance to immerse myself in the Star Wars universe - a film whose sole purpose is essentially escapism. But as a movie fan, and judging it as I would any other movie, I frankly feel mildly disappointed. Any movie that's made can always be improved upon but I feel that this SHOULD have been better. Firstly the good points :

1) The visuals are stunning - a lot of love and hard work has quite obviously gone into the effects and the people involved can quite rightly be proud of their work

2) All the performances by the main cast were good. Particularly Natalie Portman and Pernilla August.

3) The Pod Race was exciting and amusing.

4) The final sabre duel was quite fantastic : Darth Maul prowling up and down like a caged tiger was a particularly excellent touch - it added real tension and anticipation to the scene.

5) The music as always was magnificent. The Star Wars saga would lose much of its charm and intensity without Williams' scores.

And now the negatives :

1) The pacing was too fast in parts! The first half hour of the film just left me cold - you weren't led into the story. You were dumped straight into the action. On paper I'm sure the first half hour looked fantastic but I found myself sitting in the theatre going - 'hey, great special effect shot there!' I wasn't involved in the story and the scenes lacked tension and danger.

2) The film only truly started for me on reaching Tatooine. I finally got a chance to get to know the characters. However there still was not enough character development in the film as a whole. For example, Obi Wan had nothing to do or say throughout the movie except flash his light sabre around from time-to-time. Who is Obi Wan??? After seeing the film I'm none the wiser. And the final sabre duel (good as it was) would have been infinitely better had the relationship between Qui-Gon and Obi Wan been explored past the mere mentor-apprentice motif. The final sabre duel lacked emotional involvement as a consequence.

3) Why did they make Jar-Jar so incomprehensible?? I found myself becoming annoyed at having to strain to understand his nonsensical utterings! (Having said that, he wasn't as annoying as I'd been led to expect) Why George used easily identifiable racial accents for his alien characters completely puzzled me. It just shows a lack of imagination!

4) Not enough Darth Maul.

5) What's with the biological exposition on the Force! Was that necessary? The first three films pointed to links between the Force and genetics but I don't need tiresome cold scientific explanations as to the Force's origin, thank you very much! It just ruins the mystique.

6) Can we have less of the mindless gaffes that occur in the final battle scenes (You know the ones that save the day!) Its an insult to the audience's intelligence (In a full theatre I swear I didn't see a single soul who looked under sixteen! - has George forgotten about the original fans). In the original trilogy there was none of this cringeful embarrassing material (Ewoks excepted!!)

Well I think I'll stop there. To summarise : a good movie that could have been a whole lot better. Perhaps there was too much story to cover in two hours? In which case the plot should have been shortened on the adage that "less is more". I've always thought that episode one was always going to be the lamest of the new films so I await the next installment with anticipation and hope .....

I still remember the first time I tried to watch this movie. I was 13 when I watched the original trilogy for the first time and I loved it. I wasn't really interested in seeing the prequels as I heard they are not good, but then I caught this one on TV few months after watching the originals and I barely made it through the first half and then I stopped. I absolutely hated it and even called it the worst movie ever for some time. Then there was the entire hype for The Force Awakens and I decided to watch them all before seeing The Force Awakens, doesn't matter if I don't like some of them, I'll watch them all. So, after watching the original trilogy, it was the time for this one. I was kinda bored at the beginning, but later realized that it's actually not bad at all. The effects look a little dated, but a lot of them were practical, so I'll forgive them. The acting is nothing special, just good enough to not be bad and Ewan McGregor probably gave the best performance and he's one of the very few who stand out. But what really made me like this movie is the villain, Darth Maul. He's one of the coolest villains ever and is my favorite Star Wars character so far. Too bad he's so underused and I really hope they make a spin-off (in my opinion, he's a much more interesting character than Boba Fett) about him or bring him back in the new trilogy. Ray Park also nailed the role even with only few lines (from what I heard, it wasn't even his voice), but he's really intimidating and I could talk about his character all day but I'll stop now to say more about the movie. And the award for the worst comic relief ever goes to Jar Jar Binks! He's one of the biggest reasons people hate this movie and you'll see why. And while everyone is talking about him, everyone forgets about Sebulba. Gosh, that underrated a-hole! He's the most annoying character in every movie ever! These two were also a big reason why I used to hate this movie. Looking on the directing, Lucas didn't do the greatest job ever, and considering he was also a writer of this movie, and looking back at A New Hope, we all know he can do much better then this. But still, it turned out okay, could've been better, but it's not the worst in the series. The worst in my opinion comes after this, with Attack of the Clones. But I'm not gonna say much about it here, I'll leave that for it's own review.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace is written, produced and directed by George Lucas and stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd and Ian McDiarmid. The fourth film released in the Star Wars franchise, it is, however, the first of three prequels that lead up to Star Wars that was released in 1977. Plot basically follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Neeson) and his apprentice padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor), who escort and protect Queen Amidala (Portman) from Naboo to Coruscant in the hope of finding peace as an interplanetary trade dispute starts to boil over. During the journey the party stops over at Tatooine and encounter a young boy named Anakin Skywalker. The Jedi feel the force is strong with young Skywalker and enlist him into the group with the intention of training him to become a Jedi Knight. Meanwhile, as hostilities escalate in the galaxy, the mysterious Sith is moving into the equation.

The most anticipated movie of all time arrived in 1999, hyped into the stratosphere, the fanfare and bunting stretched from Hollywood to the far corners of the cinema loving world. Perhaps unsurprisingly? The Phantom Menace failed to meet the expectation of Star Wars fans and critics alike. That the film in box office receipts alone made almost $930 million, has, tended to be forgotten. But that's not to say the film deserved such rich financial rewards, because all told it didn't. It's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a fun movie experience, and in retrospect it can be said that Lucas and co learnt from the film to make the next two film's in the series better. Mistakes were made, for sure, but for action and intrigue the film scores points well enough.

On a personal note, I was one of the fans who came out of the cinema after watching it the first time and hated it. So whilst I wasn't one of the "fans" who at the time accused Lucas of ruining childhood memories, I was suitably annoyed to stay away from the film for over ten years. After the prequel trilogy had run its course, I was often asked by some film loving friends to give "Menace" another go. Their argument was that free of hype and expectation, "Menace" can really be enjoyed as a sort of popcorn and beer sci-fi blockbuster. And they were right. Watching it sparkle in HD and disassociating it with those golden memories of 77, 80 and 83, it has much to enjoy. Sure the old problems still exist, dodgy acting (why is McGregor playing it so fey?), Binks (aargh), fart gags (really Mr. Lucas? Really?), close to the knuckle racial stereotyping and the absence of a Hans Solo type to stir the blood of both sexes. While of course the writing is borderline tepid, full of a need to explain things and prove itself as a reason to exist. So yes, full of flaws (many others exist for different people of course), but the whizz bangery of the action and set pieces keep it, to my mind, far away from stinker status.

The pod race, a souped up extension to Return of the Jedi's speed-biker pursuits, is one of the series' highlights, as is the showdown between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Darth Maul (Ray Park), a superbly cool villain with an even cooler double ended light sabre. The latter of which is excellently scored by John Williams and features top notch choreography. The battles widen the eyes and the ears, notably the Droid army versus the Gungan's, and there's a whole host of new creatures and aliens to get acquainted with (check out those underwater beasties). The charge of CGI overkill is a fair one, and this issue is a more prominent problem in standard HD, never mind the Blu-ray, as the non human characters look too obviously CGI next to the human's. Which is just another reason to pick apart what's wrong with the Phantom Menace. But why do that? Sit back, relax, munch some snacks and sip that beer, it's not that bad a movie experience. Honestly. 7/10

'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'. A movie, which has a difficult standing in the fan community. For me, not understandable, because I really like the movie and it's a successful prelude to the formerly new trilogy.

Admittedly, the movie has weaknesses. First of all, the hair-raising attempt to explain what 'the force' is. Qui-Gon tries to explain to Anakin that there are Midi-Chlorianes which are the basis and the reason for everything. Anakin replies that he doesn't understand what Qui-Gon is trying to explain to him. Thereupon Qui-Gon lets it rest and the scene is over. Of course, you wonder what that was all about. So either you explain it correctly or you leave it completely. But so the whole thing seems really unnecessary.

The entire storyline is unnecessarily complex and I have to admit that I didn't really understand it. You do have the feeling that you can understand the motivation of the respective characters, but the entire political plot is not 100% clear. It seems like an overambitious attempt to get seriousness into the movie.

Jar Jar Binks. Here, you realize that the movie was made for a younger audience. Jar Jar is an attempt to be funny in a childish and clumsy way. It wouldn't have needed it. However, I didn't find it really disturbing either.

These are points of criticism, but they only bother me to a limited extent. Episode I has so many strong moments. The whole act of introducing Anakin, the way Tatooine is portrayed, the really well staged pot race. All these moments know how to convince.

The chemistry between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan is brilliant. And while we're on the subject of characters, Darth Maul is for me one of the best antagonists there is. The few scenes with him manage to build a mystical aura around him. The fight between these three characters is outstanding as well.

Episode I is hard to compare to the first Star Wars movies. And it is precisely this comparison that is Episode I's undoing. The movie were made at a different time, have a different tone and of course it can't be denied that this movie was also made for a younger audience.

For me, Episode I did what Episode IV did for many others. To ignite enthusiasm for the Star Wars universe.

The year is 1999. I am about 7 years old, and not yet seen a Star Wars movie in theatres. Thus the stage was set for my experience with Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace.

Ok, so first and foremost, I realize that Ep. I is not the best of the best, but I still quite enjoy watching it. It's fun, fast-paced (for the most part) and has frickin' Darth Maul in it!!! The story at time drags a bit and some of the dialogue isn't all that great, but there are definitely still many moments that unleash that inner kid in you, i.e. the Podracers, the epic battles at the end and that amazing lightsaber duel! I do like this entry in the saga, and every time I watch it, I go back to a somewhat simpler time; when the stresses of everyday life hadn't yet sunk in. Overall, I enjoy Ep. I and all the memories it sets off. The Force will be with you...always.

The main line of defence seems to be: lighten up, it's just entertainment / just a kid's movie / just a special effects flick. Pausing awhile to note that people who run this line of defence have all but conceded that the film is, in fact, bad, let's take these points one by one - shall we?

As entertainment it's poor. Dialogue is flat and perfunctory (don't expect to be dazzled by repartee); the story lacks the beauty of the first Star Wars film and the tension of the second ... and then there's the magical `character development' everyone complains about. We must distinguish character development from character delineation. The former is nice, but the latter is absolutely essential, and it's the latter that's missing from `The Phantom Menace'. Jar Jar, the young Obi Wan, Darth Maul, Armidala, Annakin - all are scarcely characters at all, and are very difficult to get enthused about. Jar Jar in particular is a collection of mannerisms, nothing more. This lack of character doesn't just prevent the film from becoming the darling of the intellectuals - it makes it dull. There are hundreds more entertaining films. Only those people who entered the cinema carrying plastic light sabers, grimly determined to enjoy themselves, failed to notice this.

It's a kid's movie. Well, yes, in a sense - but not a good sense. Good children's movies form a proper subset of good movies - simply because adults have access to all childhood emotions and desires, but not vice versa. So in one sense a `kid's movie' is just a movie that can be understood and apperaciated by children (as well as adults). Is this a kid's movie in that sense? Maybe. But it's also a kid's movie in the bad sense: it's deeply witless, and inexperienced children might - I say, MIGHT - fail to notice just how witless it is. Children may - I say, MAY - ignore the fact that Jar Jar Binks is a deeply irritating non-character because he is all colour and movement and he speaks funny. Is this really all we want?

Special effects. These aren't so hot, either. George Lucas has fallen in love with computers and failed to notice that his digital animals don't move at all in the way that real animals move - worse still, they don't move like any kind of physical object at all. Nor do most of the alleged physical objects. Compare the trundling white juggernaut at the start of `Star Wars' - a convincingly solid model - with the insubstantial collection of pixels that darts past us at the start of `The Phantom Menace'. The special effects have actually deteriorated, and to make matters worse, there are more of them.

So the defence that `The Phantom Menace' is allowed to be a poor movie because it really wasn't trying to be something great in the first place, just won't wash. Especially so, given the ludicrous claims George Lucas has arrogantly made, again and again. So Jar Jar Binks is the first digitally created main character? Rubbish - the dragon in `Dragonheart' predates it (and, one might add, is at the very least a genuine character). So George Lucas is pioneering a new kind of filming-making, more like painting and less like photography, than the old? Absolute twaddle - Walt Disney did THAT in the 1930s. I'll tell you what IS new. Never before has there been so much sizzle, and so little sausage.

With all the voices and opinions and critical ravings about The Phantom Menace, I am sure that one more voice weighing in ain't gonna make that much of a ripple. But I am a committed fan (in the sense of being devoted, not insane), and I feel the need at least to declare publicly my admiration for Lucas' latest work, and also a few of my concerns.

Overall, Episode One ranks above Episode Six, about par with Episode Four, but certainly nowhere near the grandeur and wit of Episode Five. Phantom Menace reminds me of something someone said of Citizen Kane: A hollow masterpiece. PM is technically brilliant, yet it is so technically brilliant that it lacks a certain "human" warmth. To me, the best moments were those intimate, interpersonal moments--Padme giving Anakin a blanket, Qui-Gon placing his hands on Anakin's shoulders in the Jedi temple, and ESPECIALLY all those moments with Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother.

In an interview in Premiere Magazine, Liam Neeson gave a telling anecdote that illustrates my point. First, he noted that Lucas was reticent to give the actors any motivation for lines, expressions, or anything. In other words, Lucas simply expected the actors to say lines devoid of emotional content, as if the post-production could somehow invest emotional motivation. Neeson revealed that it took him a long time to convince Lucas to allow Qui-Gon to place a hand on Shmi's shoulder after he convinces her to allow him to take Anakin away to Coruscant. That hand on the shoulder was probably the BEST moment in that film, a sign of human connection in a swirling clash of galactic politics gone awry.

Traces of post-production fiddling is evidenced most forcefully with Jake Lloyd's Anakin. Watch carefully his scenes at the dinner table, sitting with Qui-Gon at night, and saying goodbye to his mother. Those scenes were clearly doctored in post-production; I believe Lucas took different takes of Lloyd saying lines and splicing those with Pernilla August's. Pay special attention to Anakin after Shmi says, "He can help you, he was meant to help you." Anakin's face is clearly digitally manipulated to turn sideways. The first time I noticed it (it was the fourth time I've seen the film) I was taken aback. It was so blatant I began to wonder what other bits were modified that way.

On the plus side: Lucas can weave a wonderfully rich narrative tapestry. I love that all this begins with a trade dispute. A trade dispute! Complete with procedural wranglings in a galactic senate rife with corruption and bureaucracy (watch for the cameo appearance of Spielberg's ETs) and a sinister Darth Sidious pulling the political strings. It's the perfect smokescreen to disguise the rise of an evil empire. Every step of the plot has the look of careful craftsmanship; every twist and turn of the plot had relevance.

The costumes are outstanding, especially Queen Amidala's Asian-influenced wardrobe. John Williams has certainly outdone himself with the soundtrack, particularly "Duel of the Fates," which introduces choral voices into the Star Wars musical repertoire, ominous voices that sometimes hiss and sometimes howl the forboding Sanskrit text. The production design and cinematography (both real and CGI) create vistas of unparalleled beauty and richness: from the Italianate arches and domes on Naboo, to the art nouveau-inspired underwater air-globes of the Gungans, to the dramatic cityscapes of Coruscant. I can see Academy Awards next year for all these achievements . . .

Despite its many drawbacks, I am drawn continually to rewatch The Phantom Menace: for its artistry, for its lines ("There's always a bigger fish"), for those rare human moments, and to soak in this latest addition to the Star Wars text. Yes, the wrapper might be a tad bit flashier than the present inside, but its a gift given with a lot of heart and the best of intentions.

The Phantom Menace far surpassed my expectations, probably because my expectations had been lowered by much of the negative criticism this film generated, mostly by disgruntled geeks who are afraid of change, like hardened conservatives panicking when a democrat wins an election. It's really childish and pathetic.

The "magic" of Star Wars is still present in Episode 1. Although this first film seems slightly bent toward a more younger audience, this in no way affects the quality of the film. The acting, plot, visuals, audio are all top notch. The main complaints for this film seem to center around Jar Jar Binks, a character I happened to really like. The underwater trip to the Gungan city and then to the capitol of Naboo was one of the best parts of the film, and I thought the interaction between Jar Jar, Qui Gon, and Obi Wan was splendid entertainment at its finest! Sure there are a few clichés throughout this film that serve as minor annoyances but they don't in any way inhibit that "magic" from shining through.

Episode 1 is a fine edition to the Star Wars saga, and one that did not deserve the rampant criticism it received by many. This is top notch entertainment, and George Lucas' complete Star Wars saga is a stupendous success, an impressive result of a vision and the drive to fulfill that vision. Thank you Mr. Lucas!

Hmmm. I watched this again recently hoping that it wasn't as mediocre as I had thought first time around. Sadly, not. The opening scenes are great: a good fight with lots of action and lightsabres; then it descends into a sort of cross between "Ben Hur" and "The Golden Child" with some pantomime thrown in too. The film is clearly designed to be part one of another trilogy and as such spends way too much of it's time setting the scenes and establishing the characters for the films to follow - we do start to get a sense of the evil "Palpatine" and it looks spectacular, but it is basically pretty empty and soulless with a very weak storyline.

My eldest son recently bought the bluray steel books, so I'm going to be sat watching them for the first time in years. If I catch any of the prequels on TV, I will usually leave them in and then sit and watch the end, usually paying more attention to 3 than the previous 2.

After watching the much hated on first movie, I found 6 plus points of The Phantom Menace. Liam Neeson as Qui Gon, Duel Of Fates, Darth Maul and his Lightsabre, Natalie Portman gives her best performance in the trilogy, the end battle and even though it ran too long, and he never could have won with all that happened, the Pod Race.

I'm also surprised no other movie has hit on Natalie Portman and Kiera Knightley looking so alike too.

The negatives are some awful dialogue (OK all Star Wats movies have awful dialogue, but this takes the biscuit!!) "Are you an angel?" And in fact anything Anakin says, especially during the final battle are especially bad. It's not Jake Lloyds fault, I think he is fine. It's Lucas who have him the cringe worthy words. Speaking of the final battle.... An alleged experienced pilot like Anakin pressed two buttons (starting his spaceship and activating auto pilot) looking for the trigger to the gun, before he actually grabs the obvious control!! Most of the movie is about federation tax (Yawn) there are some serious plot holes (why is technology more advanced than in the previous three movies, which are set in the future?? What happened to the blockade of the planet?? Why were Qui Gon and Padme still with Anakin when they hear about the sand storm) we don't see the Jedi do anything except destroy droids till the end. Terrance Stamp is woefully underused, and it definitely needs some trimming here and there, do we really need all the repeated reaction shots (like when Padme reveals she is the Queen) and one of the biggest sins for me is, Darth Maul is a real bad ass, and they kill him off in the the first movie (and would he really just stand there and let Obi Wan flip over him, instead of slicing him in half??) What a waste.

I'll state here I don't hate Jar Jar, mainly because both of my kids were fans of his growing up. So my opinion of him has softened over the years.

Oh and Jar Jar actually shoots more droids accidentally, than all the stormtroopers added together in the previous 3 movies.

I have to admit to being a little disappointed - not because of the hype but because it was so clearly part 1 of 3 instead of being self-contained (as Star Wars IV was) and everything was so obvious. The only real surprise for me was the origin of the Emperor. However, I advise all fans to stay to the very end because, once the music fades out, there is a little treat for you all which makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

I also have a dislike of computer generated characters and would much prefer to see real people in costumes - if only so that the other characters can look them in the eye instead of over their left ear or somewhere in the region of their chin! However, as droid control was so easy to destroy, perhaps this is the beginning of a humanoid army for the empire.

Once again a serious lack of female role models (though Natalie Portman was very good) and some seriously racist issues such as the Japanese-style trade baddies and the good-for-a-laugh characters who were negro-like. Surely we are past this sort of stereo-typing?

Thought Neeson and McGregor were dreadful (I am usually a fan) but have excepted the fact that Lucas cannot direct (perhaps that explains the animation?). Also the fades/wipes from one brief scene to another really irritated.

'Nuff whingeing. All up I enjoyed it, gave it 7 out of 10 and will probably see it again. Any Star Wars film on the big screen is an experience.

This movie is a perfect example of when what could have been one of the most brilliant movies ever is made, through the incompetence of only one man, into one of the worst. I cannot list in detail the number of ways this movie could have been made better, and they are all mind-bogglingly simple and all George Lucas's fault. Even so, I will try to condense them into a short list.

1. Actors/Casting - I have to give all of the actors credit for this because I know they tried their best, even Jake Lloyd. The movie did not give me a single reason why I should have cared for any of the characters and I can't explain why I did anyway.

I can't count how many times people have told me how much better Haley Joel Osment would have been in the role, and I am almost inclined to agree with them. Supposedly there's something dark and ominous about the Anakin character that all of the Jedi council can see, after all, he's gonna be Darth Vader, right? Osment projects that fear which leads to anger which leads to etc., and Lloyd just looks like your run-of-the-mill blond California Cabbage Patch kid. I'd call Jake Lloyd a terrible actor if it weren't for what the great sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card, who personally knows Lloyd, observed: "Jake Lloyd's a good actor, and it's a pity you didn't get to see that on-screen, since he had no direction or screenplay. In the same way, Liam Neeson is a great actor, but you didn't see that onscreen because he had no direction or screenplay."

Which brings me to my second fault:

2. Direction - Let's face it, George Lucas has lost it. He has gone from the great actors' director he was when he made American Graffiti to a special effects artist gone wildly out of control. I do give him some credit: It takes a lot of deliberate effort to sap all of the energy and life out of Ewan McGregor.

3. Screenplay/Plot - This is the section that really makes me wince, and proves that there is nobody left in Hollywood with the courage to tell George Lucas that he can't write. I mean, logical inconsistencies aside, this dialogue is simply ridiculous. If a first-grader were called in as a script consultant, he could most likely have improved this movie.

There are a thousand instances of questionable logic in this movie like, why did Queen Amidala reveal herself when she did? Why did she want to go back to Naboo so badly if it would do no good whatsoever and she would probably just get killed? Are we supposed to believe that a ten year old is going to have twins with her eventually? Why is she called a Queen anyway, if Naboo is supposed to be a democracy? Do the natives of Naboo share one collective brain cell to elect a teenager to run their planet? And what kind of name is Naboo anyway?

Beyond that, it doesn't even make sense in terms of the rest of the established Star Wars universe. For example, the shields that repelled blaster fire, obviously added so the death count would be lower and they could appeal to the 'family' market. Why do we not see them in the later episodes, when they seem to be of immeasurable tactical value?

As for the so-called 'Phantom Menace' conspiracy, does the initiation into the Jedi knighthood include an IQ curtailment? Why didn't those clods figure out at once that Palpatine was behind it all along? In the end, I found myself rooting for Palpatine/Sidious, simply because he was geometrically more intelligent than any of the other characters and would probably do a pretty good job of ruling the universe. At least he would be a better emperor than George Lucas is a screenwriter.

Well, it seems that I didn't do a very good job at condensing, but oh well.

I am ashamed to say that I saw this movie three times and hated it more each time. That it has grossed over $400 million makes me wonder that the entire American society doesn't grind to a halt as soon as someone sees a bright shiny object. Did I mention that the special effects were too amazing for their own good?

Personally, I despise the hate for this movie and the prequel trilogy in general. Sure it has it's flaws but every movie has some. At least Lucas tried new things in the prequel trilogy and tried to make it enjoyable. There is a few good things to the prequels like: The excellent music, Darth Maul, the final battle, and more. Besides, people seem to hate this movie because it's boring. Well, the part where Palptine is trying to convince the senate that he is eligible for the rank of chancellor can be interesting if you just PAY ATTENTION!!! Also, people think young Anakin Skywalker is annoying for the most stupid reasons ever made. He's not a brat, or a bad kid... SO WHY!!! I'll admit though, Jar Jar Binks is pretty annoying though I just IGNORE HIM! Finally, to anyone who hates this movie... If you don't like it, ignore it and move on with your life, capiche.