Reviews: The Phantom Menace

[JoBlo]

JoBlo's 8/10 review of THE PHANTOM MENACE can be found here: http://www.joblo.com/phantommenace.htm
Your past movie reviews from May 1998 - November 2001 can be found there as well.

And what did you think of the movie? Add your comments below.

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[urbanlegend23]

I had a feeling I was not going to like this movie. The trailers looked disappointing and I just felt a ‘modern’ Stars Wars flick would put all of them out of place. I was wrong. This is a good movie, and even though it was disappointing and a little too modern for me like I thought it would be, I was entertained most of the time. The film has some very good action scenes, great acting from Liam Neeson and Natalie Portman (whose character twist, quite simply, confused the hell out of me) and the visuals are breathtaking. However, good visuals, brilliant sound and fabulous editing do not a great movie make. The things I disliked about the movie were the fact that the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi hardly has any involvement into the plot, but the twist at the end is sure to have him more included in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. I also hated the character of Jar Jar Binks. What an annoying little freak! Technically, he was pretty amazing, but he was just a brat with an overacted voice by Ahmed Best and some of the cheesiest lines in any recent sci-fi film. The worst thing about the movie, however, is the fact that the villain is never really developed. I would’ve liked to know more about Darth Maul’s background and attitude, but all I knew about him was he has a red and black head, is the apprentice of the evil Mayor and has a double light-saber. Despite that, I was entertained by the movie and I didn’t hate it. The pod race was exciting, the boy wasn’t annoying like that AWFUL Jar Jar Binks and I loved seeing Yoda again, a little younger. Hopefully, for the next instalment, the plot will be a little better, Chewbacca and Han Solo will return, the villain will be better developed and we won’t see anymore of Jar Jar Binks! Let’s just say the force wasn’t exactly with George Lucas for this movie, but it was a good stab at a saga beginning.

STAR WARS: EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MEANCE - 6/10

[hypotheses]

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace[b]
[b]The Force That Wasn't

I went into Phantom wanting to judge this film more lightly than I usually would, but there are just too many glaring flaws in construction:

(1) obvious and flat in the entire Tatooine thread

(2) uninspired action sequences--e.g., pod race (Ben Hur did it much better), droid shoot outs, closing battle w/ Gungans

(3) an interesting but labyrinthine political thread

(4) choppy editing (refer to Qui Gon Jin-Darth Maul showdown (which I _did_ like))

(5) lifeless and unconvincing character acting (with Neeson being the _only_ exception)

(6) an appalling attempt to demystify the Force

(7) blatant story retreads from ROTJ--e.g., (7a) Princess in white giving an award to the heroes, (7b) space battle won with two torpedoes; (7c) seemingly overmatched battle between "savage" natives and a technologically-advanced opposing force, (7d) the insufferable Jar-Jar Binks' equivalency to Ewoks, (7e) a vanquished enemy flailing down a (seemingly) bottomless pit, etc.)

(8) a weak presence of Evil (Palpatine is not made significant; Darth Maul is barely present)

(9)not to mention a story that stops cold in the theatre three times.

With all of that, I simply could not give Phantom more than a "C+", and could not imagine any adult (who sees this film) being any less forgiving. To put it plainly, I found TPM neither fun nor up to snuff.

5/10

[LmpBzktSgrCarter]

Movie: The Phantom Menace, Episode 1:
Cast: Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor

Ok... so this film isn't the best star war's film... so what?! Were you honestly expecting George Lucas to be able to come up with another awesome original story like he did with the other star war's movies? Well if you did... you are sure to be dissapointed with this film. I don't think you should grade this film according to the other star wars movies. I have to admit that it was a little bit lengthy, and some of the parts were a little hard to understand... but all in all this film was pretty dang fun to see! It had stunning visual FX and also some awesome sound FX! The cast was also pretty good, Liam Neeson gives a great performance. Natalie Portman is terrific, and Ewan McGregor gave great performance (JoBlo I did not like how you left him out of your review! He was a HUGE part of the movie, and you should have said something about him, good or bad, maybe you just forgot, I don't know!) But yeh all in all this film could have been a lot better but it was still pretty cool!
My rating: 8/10

[James Logan]

This wasn't the best STAR WARS movie.
This wasn't even the best movie of the year it came out.
But dude did it still kick ass! http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

I know this movie pissed a lot of people off, but I loved it. It has the same feeling the original trilogy had, it has action, humour, a good plot, and of course great special effects and acting (Natalie Portman was perfect, Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor too...and Jake Lloyd wasn't that bad). It also had a few great characters: I kinda liked Boss Nass, Jar Jar didn't annoy me at all (mea culpa) and of course Darth Maul kicked big time ass. The flick also has a unique look and some unique sequences (the light saber fight especially).
Over all, great sci-fi and entertainment.

8/10

[thompsoncory]

I did not like this movie, and it was not just because of Jar Jar. I thought Jake Lloyd sucked at acting and could not carry the movie. The effects were good, but this was the bottom of the barrel in terms of SW movies. I hope "AOTC" is better than this piece of crap.

Overall: 3.5/10

[El Bracamonti]

all my life, i have been a big star wars fan. when i went to see the phantom, menace foer the first time, i was exspecting the best movie i had ever seen. that is almost what i got, until little jake lloyed appeard on the screen. that kid pissed me off so much, that i almost shot the screen. all i wanted to see, was lightsabers, and yoda kickin some ass! i got one of those, but hthe other is soon to come(episode II). i thought the movie was good and smooth flowing, until the main characters took a little dtour to tatooine. that is where they met young aniken skywalker, who is the antichrist in my opinion. he did nothing for the movie, and he even rooined it in a sense. when i go to see a star wars movie, i don't want to see some little batsard that resembles richard simmnons, race a pod, and win the day. if anyone is gonna save the day, it is gonna be yoda slashing some guy with his little light saber, and telekinetic powers. also, i am forgetting the most annoying character in the film. i think thaat jar jar binx is the dumbest character to ever appear in a movie. ever!!!! he is loud, stupid, pointless, and an insult to movie characters everywhere. i wanted to see him shot from the very begining of the film.
from the way my review has sounded so far, you must think that i hate everything to do with this movie. that is not true. for one thing, ewan mcgregor did a wonderful job portraying obi won kanobi, the young jedi that deeply wants to make his master proud. Also, in the scene with the jedi council, you get to listen to good ol yoda tell that little bitch anikin why he's not worthy of being a jedi. personally, i think that yoda should have just called him a bitch ass cocksucker, busted out a saber, and chopped the little whore up right there for all of us to see. that would have been coo!
also, the lightsaber fighting at the end of the movie was pretty sweet. darth maul probably had the sickest weapon ever to appear in a movie. although i always wanted the jedi's to win everything, i think it would have been cool if he had just taken the double saber, slashed through qui don jinn, and beat the shit out of kanobi. not only would it have been cool to see the bad guy win a fight in a star wars movie, but you would finally get to see a black guy with red paint and spikes, kill someone and not get arrested. that would have been cool.
i think that this movie was pretty good except for a couple of key points, and it deserves to be viewed atleast once. i give it a 7/10, and hope to god that yoda gets to lay the smackdown on someone or something in star wars movies to come.

[This message has been edited by El Bracamonti (edited 05-17-2002).]

[This message has been edited by El Bracamonti (edited 05-24-2002).]

[MrMovie]

Star Wars I - The Phantom Menace 2/10

I was born during which time the Star Wars movies first made their way to the big screen. I was able to witness George Lucas's creative vision in all its glory. I mean my god. Amazing characters. Well maintained scripts without silly hollywood one liners and good story telling. I guess it's true what they say "If you've got a good thing going ... leave it alone."

Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace was a huge upset in my book. I felt my heart sink into my chest as the first few minutes of the movie began. I had my doubts about the movie from the begining due to the fact Samuel Jackson was casted to play the part of Mace Windu. I truly believe George Lucas should have known better not to have casted a big name star. The whole movie was a waste of time. There was nothing to hold the movie together and for god sakes Jar Jar Binks?

I won't ruin the movie for the rest of you but take my advice, stay away from this one.

Thumbs down

[This message has been edited by MrMovie (edited 08-25-2002).]

[B-ball Dude]

Okay this movie was good. I saw it just before AOTC came out I never got a chance to see it. It was entertaining, the special effects were great and it was 2 hours and 7 mins of pure fun.

[darthsidious32]

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Review
My Rating: 7/10

The Star Wars prequels are some of the most unjustly maligned films of all time - especially The Phantom Menace. It's not a bad film. It's just that expectations were raised so incredibly high that people just don't see it for what it really is - a good movie.

This film really does have an interesting story to it - something different that what the old trilogy films had. It was about two things - the discovery of Anakin, and Darth Sidious/Palpatine's political manipulation. The story of Anakin is what we all expected. But Palpatine's story is something that, if you pay attention, is quite interesting and comes out of nowhere. And many people didn't realize that HE is the "Phantom Menace." This is really Palpatine's movie.

Palpatine is playing both sides of the chess board, with the goal of one side winning in the end - the dark side. On one side, he's disguised as Senator Palpatine, pretending to care about his people on Naboo. But really he's manipulating the queen and the Trade Federation to do his bidding so that ultimately he becomes Chancellor - which puts him in the perfect position to become Emperor, declare the Republic as the Empire, and backstab everyone, including the Jedi. To me, this is what made the film good. Ironic how when he's in his Sith robe, he's not in disguise, but rather it's his true self.

Now granted, this film had a lot of kiddie stuff in it that turned audiences off. Jar Jar Binks had too much screen time, and Darth Maul had too little. Yes, this film is flawed, and can seem kind of like it was made for 8 year olds. Not everything in this film worked. However, if one forgives those flaws (and yes, they are the type of flaws that are forgivable) and looks at the story, it's quite good. And it still has the best lightsaber duel in Star Wars film history, even better than the Yoda saber fight IMHO.

I'm thankful that JoBlow gave it an 8/10. I think that's an adequate rating. For once, a critic on the net isn't so cynical about the prequels!

-Dan Geer

[Genghis Khan]

I think most people are being way to critical of this movie. I think it is another good entry into the Star Wars saga. This movie had good action scenes, some exciting Jedi fighting (which IMO was sorta missing from the first three films), another good story, and is just another fun Star Wars film. I think anyonewho is a Star Wars fan and hasn't seen this should.

P.S.
I didn't even mind Jar Jar Binks that much.

Final Rating: 9/10