Bashed by critics for bad acting and lousy dialogue, this prequel is as good as the first three movies, with better special effects to boot. The characters are just as thin, but that was never the point.

Although not as powerful as the original 3 movies, Lucas does a great job with the special effects and scenery in this movie. The landscape, not to mention Natalie Portman, are beautiful. All the other cast members, Liam Nesson, Ewan McGregor, and Ray Parks are perfectly casted. Jar Jar Binks however, deserves to die.

Because it was produced, boxed and shown in movie theaters, this film gets a 1 rating. George Lucas is not only a racist but he has no creative taste or ability. Jar-Jar Binks performs the slave role quite well. All the scenes he is in can be used as a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Obi-Wan, played by McGregor, looks hungover in all of his scenes, while Liam Neeson decided that Lucas did not pay him enough to show emotion. The best actor was the 9 year old who, half way through the film, he also joins his fellow "actors" in emotionless acting. Stay away from this film.

What it needed to do, it did great. The introduction of Anikin and the rise of Pallpitine were handeled exceptionally well. On the other hand, a lot of the bonus stuff wasn't so hot. I don't think it can be appreciated as much if you haven't seen the 'first' three.

This movie had everything right! Then why is this rating only OK? This movie is the latest after over 20 years. A whole culture was built around Star Wars and the legend lives on! Any, and I repeat, any movie following those original three would not be 1/10 as good as the others! This movie had everything: great actors, great story, great special effects, but it can't stay next to the old Star Wars movies.

First Jar Jar Brinks must die. That's what brought down the movie. And also a lettle less computer generator scenes. The light saber battles are rad and exciting. I am very much interested in Anakin Sky Walker turning into Darth Vader. Also Natalie Portmans acting sucked!

I saw this movie three days ofter the release on May 19, 1999, It blew me away. I went home after and the next day I couldn't help but tell everyone how great this movie was. All of the acting by Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Rey Park gave you a good sense on how the surroundings should interact with the actors. Desert scenes with old faces, (Liam Neeson). That's how a movie should work. The fight scenes with Darth Maul and his Dual-Bladed Lightsaber versus Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, prompted me to go again. The music was excellent, it gave you a good feeling for the action. The best of the 4 Star Wars movies.

I enjoyed this episode to the Star Wars saga, primarily because of the fact that I am a huge fan of Star Wars series. The special effects were amazing, but I think the story could have been a bit more fast-paced. It seemed to lag in certain areas.

The movie was pretty good. There was too much hype that when released, it didn't meet up to it's expectations. The first three Star Wars films were breaking through the frontier of CGI. This one did not.

Poor character development and dialogue. Movie is dependent on special effects. Lines and script are pathetic, not thought out well, they don't flow.

Phantom Menace is a dissapointment compared to other Star Wars Movies. JarJar Binks should be killed.

They took a good sci-fi and made it into a Disney movie. Pod racing was good for kids. Darth Maul was over publicized.

I only liked this movie because it was Star Wars. If it wasn't for the original trilogy, it would have been a really stupid movie. It was really corny and obvious that Lucas tried too hard to incorporate the original character's pasts. The computer generated effects got too phony looking. Darth Maul was too much of a badass by not talking and using karate and stuff, but he just came off as boring and fake.

Good intro movie but focused too much on special effects. Needed to go more in depth with the characters, story, and origins.

Disappointing. Dull story somehow managed to be predictable yet unbelievable at the same time. The good/evil Jedi duel scene had NONE of the impact of the 1977 equivalent (and the Return of the Jedi equivalent as well). Good special effects don't save it from being a mediocre movie.

Very good. Great special effects. Glad to know the beginning of the story but it needed a little more action. Can't wait till the next one.

A movie that everybody was anticipating but wasn't all that good.

Good movie, but did not top the previous installments. Phantom Menace does not deserve all of its criticisms. This is especially good for kids.

Fun. But did not compare to the others...

It's true...you can't go back.

With Star Wars, George Lucas turned the film industry on its head. With Phantom Menace, George Lucas joined the rest of the film industry in its superficial marketing-fest. Phantom Menace does not have the uncorrupted feel of (the original 1977 version of) Star Wars. Episode I takes itself far too seriously. It has no wit, no great chemistry between the stars, and hardly any character development. The actors do very little to create sympathy. All that and barely enough plot to fill a midichlorian's left nostril. "But what about all the great inside jokes?" I hear you whine. What about them? If I want a bunch of gratuitous inside jokes, I'll watch the latest Disney movie.

This was a wonderful pre-quel to the star wars trilogy!

Entertaining. I like it.

Star Wars: The Phantom Mencae did not live up to expectations.

Episode I was based towards a new generation of children and focused more on special effects than character development. Jar Jar sucked

Star Wars the Phantom Menace is by far one of the best movies ever. Critics attacks on this movie, were just the nieve ideas of people who couldn't open their minds to the greatness of the movie.

It was better in the 70s

Phantom Menace is vacuous technical wizardry.

A great movie. The special effects were outstanding