Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace Widescreen Edition: Amazon.ca: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Pernilla August, Oliver Ford Davies, Hugh Quarshie, Ahmed Best, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, David Tattersall, George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Paul Martin Smith, Rick McCallum: DVD

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"I have a bad feeling about this," says the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) in Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace as he steps off a spaceship and into the most anticipated cinematic event... well, ever. He might as well be speaking for the legions of fans of the original episodes in the Star Wars saga who can't help but secretly ask themselves: Sure, this is Star Wars, but is it my Star Wars? The original elevated moviegoers' expectations so high that it would have been impossible for any subsequent film to meet them. And as with all the Star Wars movies, The Phantom Menace features inexplicable plot twists, a fistful of loose threads, and some cheek-chewing dialogue. Han Solo's swagger is sorely missed, as is the pervading menace of heavy-breathing Darth Vader. There is still way too much quasi-mystical mumbo jumbo, and some of what was fresh about Star Wars 22 years earlier feels formulaic. Yet there's much to admire. The special effects are stupendous; three worlds are populated with a mélange of creatures, flora, and horizons rendered in absolute detail. The action and battle scenes are breathtaking in their complexity. And one particular sequence of the film--the adrenaline-infused pod race through the Tatooine desert--makes the chariot race in Ben-Hur look like a Sunday stroll through the park.

Among the host of new characters, there are a few familiar walk-ons. We witness the first meeting between R2-D2 and C-3PO, Jabba the Hutt looks younger and slimmer (but not young and slim), and Yoda is as crabby as ever. Natalie Portman's stately Queen Amidala sports hairdos that make Princess Leia look dowdy and wields a mean laser. We never bond with Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), and Obi-Wan's day is yet to come. Jar Jar Binks, a cross between a Muppet, a frog, and a hippie, provides many of the movie's lighter moments, while Sith Lord Darth Maul is a formidable force. Baby-faced Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) looks too young and innocent to command the powers of the Force or wield a lightsaber (much less transmute into the future Darth Vader), but his boyish exuberance wins over skeptics.

Near the end of the movie, Palpatine, the new leader of the Republic, may be speaking for fans eagerly awaiting Episode II when he pats young Anakin on the head and says, "We will watch your career with great interest." Indeed! --Tod Nelson

Additional Features

The spectacular DVD release of Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace--arguably one of the best DVDs ever--will go a long way toward making it up to Star Wars fans who were disappointed by the theatrical release. (But, in case you're wondering, there's no option to delete Jar Jar.) The picture and sound are outstanding, it's loaded with bonuses, and even the menus are action-packed fun. Disc One includes the film with a commentary track by George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, editor Ben Burtt, animation director Rob Coleman, and visual effects supervisors John Knoll, Dennis Murren, and Scott Squires. Rather than a group of people yelling at the screen, this commentary is a compilation of individual comments, very helpfully supplemented by supratitles that indicate who is speaking. Numerous technical details are explained, and Lucas mentions how certain scenes fit into the big picture of all six films (every time dutifully referring to the original film as "Episode IV").

Of Disc Two's cornucopia of bonus features, the most notable are the seven deleted scenes and a long documentary. The deleted scenes, which are all interesting enough to watch at least once, can be viewed individually or as a group along with discussions of why they were cut. These rough scenes were completed for the DVD and parts of them (including an introduction of the individual Podracers and a longer view of the skies over Coruscant) were reincorporated into the version of the film that appears on the DVD. The 66-minute behind-the-scenes documentary was compiled from 600 hours of footage shot during various stages of the film and includes Anakin screen tests, script-reading sessions, location shooting in Italy and Tunisia, and giddy fans on opening night. --David Horiuchi

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3.5 out of 5 stars

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Just an entertaining movie, no more Jun 29 2004

By T. Tiraterra

Format:DVD

I was one of the only people in the world who did not see "The Phantom Menace" in theaters, and instead waited until it came out on video and all the hype had died down. Perhaps this was why I did not see it as a monumental disappointment, since I didn't watch it believing it was going to be the best movie of the year. This is one of the most bashed films of modern times, and I don't think it deserves all of its negative publicity. Ironically, for how bad everyone says it is, Lucas still got what he wanted out of the movie- it's still the highest grossing post-"Titanic" film (though "Shrek 2" is closing fast, and "Spider-Man 2" may reach it also), and was the third-highest grossing film of the 1990's when adjusted for inflation.

I see "The Phantom Menace" as simply an entertaining adventure. It has a criminally slow first half, but some of the scenes in its second half are truly spectacular, such as the pod race and the Darth Maul fight. Everyone says how bad the acting is, but I found most of the actors passable- only Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker irritated me. The special effects are incredible for the most part, and the final space battle leaves you breathless.

Of course, "The Phantom Menace" is not a great movie by any means. Darth Maul was criminally underdeveloped, and the Trade Federation bad guys were dull and lifeless. Whenever Jake Lloyd appeared on the screen, I wondered if I was watching a dumb kids movie. Overall, "The Phantom Menace" simply cannot compare with "The Empire Strikes Back". Then, of course, there's the immortal Jar Jar Binks. If Episode III has a chance of being as successful as the original "Star Wars" films, it will feature Jar Jar's slow and painful death, perhaps replayed over and over again in a flashback.

In the end, "The Phantom Menace" is just a couple hours of good entertainment, neither as bad nor as good as many claim it is. I actually slightly prefer "The Phantom Menace" to "Attack of the Clones", which was boring and too serious for its own good. However, there may be some nostalglia factor there- I miss the days of 1999, when everything was going great and the world had nothing better to do than freak out over the new "Star Wars" movie.

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But for the special features, Just Plain Bad Jun 10 2004

By Francis R. Boyle

This movie had one moment that I loved: the lightsaber duel... which is why this rates more than one star.

I was mightily dissapointed with this movie, and I could go on and on about contrived plots and love stories, purile dialogue, and gungans who could insult the intelligence of a horsefly... but I wont.

The DVD in itself was very well made, worthy of the LucasArts logo.

But (and maybe I was expecting too much), I found the movie uninteresting, the stakes not high enough, and I didnt care if any character lived or died.

Give me a break Jun 7 2004

By Kevin

Format:VHS Tape

Come on people. I was a kid when the the REAL star wars movies came out. Now I show them to my son and they rock...we have a blast and the darn things are almost 30 years old. This recent garbage from Lucas shows he SHOULD NOT be directing adult films!!!! They are flat and lack ANY of the emotional buy-in needed for a legend film series. The orginal series was so good that it became part "religion" to many people. They were so good, you had a frenzy when these new movies were coming out. The orginal movies were made for adults with a story so compelling, you didn't need 100 million in special effects to pull it off. Lucas should have done what he did with the first series...let other people direct them! What a disgrace to the orginal Star Wars trilogy. I think that's the point...the original Star Wars was an adult film that was good for some kids too. The new Star Wars is simply a kids series that seems laughable when it tries to get serious for a few minutes.