Customer Reviews

Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Widescreen Edition) [Import]

5 star:		(869)
4 star:		(518)
3 star:		(363)
2 star:		(307)
1 star:		(389)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

It needs to be like The Matrix. It needs to be like Lord of the Rings. These are the things I hear a lot. Well Star Wars is not Lord of the Rings nor is it The Matrix. In fact I'm glad it's not like those movies. That's not what GL was going for any ways.

This is a very good movie. :)

after seeing the first two star war movies i was naturally excited when return of the jedi was released. it was a dissapointment.
the ewok thing reeked of the next merchandising line, the actors were visually tired of making the movies and it showed in their performances, lucas and team both copped out and extended the soap opera quality by revealing lea to be lukes sister (you cant let one of the heroes go away without the girl, so we'll make the girl luke's long lost sister) and the whole conversion of vader seemed phony.
star wars and the even better empire were great fun, but return seemed to show the idea had been played out.
i was one of the few who was not excited when it was announced that a prequal trilogy was coming.
this film proved my misgivings were correct.
what makes the first 2 star wars movies nicely balanced is the presence of han solo. luke is a bit too sullen, too religious, too serious. the fun errol flynn like han solo balances this out.
but the prequals are star wars without a han type at all. its all luke; religiousley serious and a bit bland.
that said the movie does have a few decent moments, most notably the ben hur like race and the wwf type (and way too brief)darth maul.
in retrospect i recall pauline kael's review of star wars and she warned that this was a bad new trend in hollywood.
she lamented the slickness, the empty headed, overblown fx.
in many ways i agree with her. but, i also know that the first two movies, like his american grafitti, were indeed fun.
perhaps lucas had kael in mind when he made this but if he did, he certainly approached it from the least interesting angle that was in the first.
this movie is as pressed and clean as lukes white coat, it needs the dirt and roughness of han's vest
or, perhaps its just been too long since he actually directed a movie, but regardless, i havent seen the second prequal and wont bother to.
i'll cherish the memory of star wars and empire strikes back

Okay this is old now I know, but re-watched it the second time.

Overall - better then I remembered and worse all at once, the DVD had some awesome special features though.

Summary: that start of the Star Wars series. Don't think I need to sumarize this one. See Anikin Skywalker as a kid, see young Obi-Wan, see Jar-Jar and a pod race.

The good: the effects are awesome. It's Star Wars, sure it's not the best Star Wars but it's still better then 90% of the movies that come out. Darth Maul rocks. Young Obi-Wan is awesome. The pod race is pretty cool. Seeing Corusant for the first time was sweet. The battles are great.

The bad: Darth Maul dies too easily (now not as easy as Dukoo or General Grevious). The pod race is cool but long. Kids can't act and Anakin is no exception. The budding love between Amidala and Anakin is creepy. Jar-Jar annoyed me. I much prefered 3P0 for comedic releif. He wouldn't have been that bad if they didn't have to slip him into every scene.

The ugly: Midicloriens and the virgin birth of Darth Vader. WTF?!? I can overlook Jar-Jar, but not the scientific explanation for The Force. Why not leave it mystical like it was. Why not leave every viewer with that faint hope that The Force does exist and if they just try enough they can use it. Why rationalize it. Argh I hated that, and still do and always will.

Overall: worth seeing if you are a Star Wars fan. There was no way in hell no matter how good it could have been that it would live up to the original series. Some people will love it, some will hate it, but its still Star Wars and it's still a good time.

Yes there was a plot, a story, and good acting in The Phantom Menace; more ever, it was not just a F/X film! I have read some funny things in how the Fanboys express their limited opinion about The Phantom Menace. I find it my job to add my rebuttal to their case, and defend a movie saga that I love.

I cannot see how a film that can be so bad, that it end up making over 430 million dollars at the Box Office here in the U.S.? One would have to conclude that there are far less nay sayers, and that they are very vocal about their hatred for a good film. I am sure these are the people that would say: "The Matrix was a better movie." If that were true, would it have made more money than The Phantom Menace? Thus showing that the Fanboys are out numbered, in their idea that The Phantom Menace was a bad movie!

So, why was Jar Jar put into the movie? Well if you watched it, you will understand that they needed Jar Jar to bring the Gungans, and the people of Theed together. So, they can fight the trade federation in the end. Also, unless you don't have kids of your own(and fanboys don't); it would be hard to understand the enjoyment they have watching Jar Jar. So please put your own selfishness aside, and let kids enjoy a character that does have a purpose in the Star Wars Universe! Unlike some people I did enjoy Jar Jar, and looking forward to see him in EP II:)

Now people what do you really want from a 9 year old? Is life so bad for you fanboys, that your going to base a whole movie on a kid that acts like a 9 year old? LOL.. How pathetic can you get? Is it so hard to see, or even look at the idea of loss of innocents? Can you not see a boy that is full of hope, and dreams of doing good for everybody one day; just to see all that strip away in the end. Can you not see the power, or even the sadness behind that? So, I found it very powerful to show this, the glory before the fall. Also I did find Jack Lloyd playing as Anakin Skywalker good, and delivered his lines very well.

I did found The Phantom Menace on par with the rest of the Star Wars saga; further more, it is refreshing that it did not copy everything that the first three movies did! This is a new Trilogy, with a new direction that will connect with the original trilogy in the end.

So, please don't let people try to talk you into not getting or buying this movie! Find our for yourself, please:) Than make your opinion known, I am sure you will enjoy this movie.

The Phantom Menace is a great movie, like the rest of the Star Wars Saga. It is different from the rest, because it is NEW story that needs to be different from the first Trilogy! Would you like watching the same story again? I know I would not:)

I am happy to see that we are going to get this on DVD now. I have been waiting forever to get a Star Wars Movie on DVD. It would seem we are going to have to wait for another 4 to 6 years to get the whole saga on DVD, and I'll be there to buy them when they do:)

p.s. if the fanboys only complaint about the movie is two characters, and the titles of the movie. I say we are in pretty good shape! Let them complain, while we enjoy a great movie over and over again; more ever, enjoy The Phantom Menace for what it is... ENTERTANMENT:-)

I have waited a long time for this. When I was a young lad of 4 when the original came out, I laid witness to one of the best movies I would ever see. Unfortunately, I was too young to really appreciate it. I also don't really remember the hype of the movie back then. I feel quite privileged to have been part of the magic of Episode I.
I was in university when the trailers for Episode I came out and my brother and I would watch the trailers over and over again. We thought we would die waiting for the movie to be on the screen in front of our faces.
Fortunately, the seemingly long wait ended and I can still feel that chill running up my spine when those immortal words came upon the screen: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..
The movie hit a home run on many counts. First of all, the casting of Ewan McGregor as Obi-wan Kenobi. Anyone who has seen his movies know how much of a powerhouse he is in his roles. Obi-wan was no exception. Ewen's portrayal made me wish I was young again so I could pretend I was Obi-wan(sorry Luke, Obi-wan's a better Jedi).
Another reason this was a great entry was the special effects. George Lucas and his camp of wizards made this the most amazing Star Wars movie experience.
Now, I am not betraying the originals, they are still the best movies ever, yet, I can't turn my head away from this entry. It was simply breathtaking. The various worlds, the amazing creatures, and an important look at the Jedi and the masters of peace-keeping they once were. The only look at the Jedi we've seen was Darth Vadar picking on an old man and then a fledgling teenager. Yes, seeing the Jedi in their prime gives everyone a good look into what the old Obi-wan has gone through to be where he is and how much work Luke must have gone through to get the skills he has.
I am glad that the "real" fans stayed true and made this movie the success it deserves to be. Now, I am sure that all those "generation-X" losers found this movie to "suck".Well, I say, go back to your pot-head, "destroy the institution" movies like "8-mile" and other wastes of celluloid.
Take a bow Mr. Lucas, this movie deserves to be placed right beside your other sci-fi masterpieces. Episode II can only be as great. I can't wait!!!

This was a nice way to begin the Star Wars Saga. Immediatly, we are introduced to Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn and of course our main hero, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The film takes off from the Federation Control ship to the awesome Pod Race and then on to the final battle on the planet Naboo. This film is action packed and worthy of being called a Star Wars movie. The characters are well set up for Attack of the Clones and gives us a whole new look on Star Wars. Best Scene: The Three Way duel between Darth Maul, Jinn, and Kenobi is a Star Wars fans dream!

"We'll watch your future with great interest!"
- Chancellor Palpatine to Anakin Skywalker

Okay, first of all. I thought, this was a fantastic movie!!! I also think, this movie wasn't given a fair chance and the critics were too rough on this film. Now, this story isn't about Luke, Leia or Han even. This was about how the whole thing began. Even Lucas said it himself, "Don't bother looking for Luke, Leia, Han and Chewey. Cause, they won't be there". This was about Ankin and how he began his journey. Which would lead him to becoming to Darth Vader. So, enjoy this film for what it is. One great adventure!!!!