User Comments for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Leonardo Draghi (8 out of 10 )
Its a excellent film, with war, fight and very funny

Maryann Brevig (8 out of 10 )
Very good, an excellent film.

Anday (6 out of 10 )
this movie sucked! well, the special effects and the double bladed lightsaber was pretty bitchin, but the script was too flawed, like when obi-wan met luke, he told him his father was a great space pilot, but he was just a kid! and obi-wan also said he was trained by yoda, but in this movie, it said he was trained by Liam Neeson, Lucas, you said this script was done for years, but you wrote it over a weekend before production started, admit it you bastard, and also, screw you for letting Liam Neeson die, he was awesome, if it wasn't for the double-bladed lightsaber, I'd give this movie a 2

Yitzy (9 out of 10 )
Great movie!!!

Jonathan (8 out of 10 )
This is a decent movie. It may be my least favorite Star Wars movie, but it still rocks. No one could help but be impressed with the graphics and lightsaber action.

Maverick (7 out of 10 )
Great special Effects. Ver Funny... but what the hell was that? Is that supposed to be a story? Comon, George. I beg you.

Indie Brit (2 out of 10 )
Ok this movie sucked. The only way this movie could have been worse is if Ray Park had spoken Darth Maul's terrible, wooden line's in his cockney wide boy accent! For anyone who has seen X-Men they know of what I speak! Yeah ok it looks ok and double edged light sabre but please plot plot plot George! There wasn't any! it sucked! I mean dialogue - worst ever in a star wars film!

DALLAS (10 out of 10 )
I REALLY LIKE STAR WARS

Jasper (8 out of 10 )
Not the best Star Wars film but what the heck does it matter! It's Star Wars and that means it's good and fun.

daniel (1 out of 10 )
How can you people say that this movie was good, wake up people this movie sucked gungan balls. This movie would be tolerable if Darth Maul spent the two hours torturing Jar Jar Binks, hey Jar Jar and a meat slicer feet first now that's entertainment. Jake Lloyd face it if you weren't born an actor you will never be. Thank god you've never made another movie, quit while you are ahead.

connor (10 out of 10 )
Star Wars is amazing because my big cousin plays Darth Maul.

Jose (10 out of 10 )
This movie was without a doubt the best star wars film they ever made. Many people say it sucked but I couldn't give a care.

Omkar (9 out of 10 )
This movie is AMAZING.

Prongsette (10 out of 10 )
This movie was great, not the very best but it was good. I don't see why people are complaining about it. Yes I was very upset when Liam was killed off but that’s movies for you and I think it helps build up Ewan's character. I think that Jake did a really good job at posing as Anakin, I actually thought he was his character at one point. One thing I wasn't keen on was Jar Jar Binks, what was the point in him at all?? But I did like Darth Maul's double ended lightsaber, most fun. So that made up for Jar Jar.

Harry (9 out of 10 )
It was a decent film. What's this rubbish about putting Jar Jar Binks feet first into a meat slicer? I really don't see what the problem people have with Jar Jar is! True, Qui-Gon could've stayed alive, but at least he went the right way. Diggin' Darth Maul lad! Bring on Mauley Mauley Mauley! Excellent all round! Well done Lucas!

Anton (10 out of 10 )
I think this movie is great! No surprise there though, it's freaking Star Wars! I can't get why all you people keep complaining. Face it, George Lucas is THE filmmaker. If you're going to be jealous, go be that somewhere else!

teenie (8 out of 10 )
Not my favorite Stars Wars film but it was still a worthwhile movie to start the the story of Anakin. That is so weird that Darth Maul only blinked ONCE during the whole movie and it was sad that Qui Gon had to die.

Person (10 out of 10 )
This movie is the best of all the Star Wars movies. Although I gotta say that most of the spaceships look pretty fake since they're CG but overall it's a cool movie. And that Queen Amidala is a dreamboat!

McNair (10 out of 10 )
I really liked this movie, even though many of you think it sucked. It's not my favorite but I still loved it! GREAT JOB GEORGE LUCAS.

Brittney (10 out of 10 )
This is my favorite Star Wars film out of the three that were recently made. Mainly because Qui-Gon Jinn was always my favorite character.

Larry (6 out of 10 )
Ok, I'm a nerd, and I absolutely adore the star wars saga, but I think George was high when he thought of Jar-Jar. If I had it my way, the opening scene of Episode two would be Jar-Jar either being 1) eaten alive by cannibalistic gungans. 2) shot to death by an intoxicated anakin & padme. 3) dying a slow, painful death by being ripped limb from limb. or 4) yoda mistaking him from count dooku in a suit and slicing him into millions of tiny, tiny pieces. But Padme was awesome.

Henry Walker (8 out of 10 )
Anday, what are you talking about?? You clearly didn't watch the movie. Anakin in this movie *is* a great pilot, as evidenced by his pod racing skills, and, oh yeh, his blowing up a Trade Federation starship singlehandedly. Obi Wan also makes clear that Yoda did teach him, at the very beginning of the film, when he states: "Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future" thus indicating, within the first 10 minutes, that Obi Wan was taught by Yoda before he became Qui Gon's padawan (this is further confirmed in AotC, when we see that Yoda teaches the younglings before they become padawans). I know it was popular when it was released to hate on it, but now I think with the benefit of hindsight we can see it was pretty good. IMO this is either the third or second best Star Wars movie, after RotS and closely tied with tESB.

Matt (7 out of 10 )
The Phantom Menace certainly isn't a classic, but it's not as horrendously bad as everyone says it is. As a standalone movie, it would've been branded average and wouldn't have gone anywhere, but it does it's job, which was to answer some of the questions the Original Trilogy left us with. Actually...if this was a standalone movie, I don't think there would've been nearly as many complaints about Jar-Jar. And I will give you that- Jar-Jar is annoying. But it's not that bad, and up until the final battle, at least there are serious characters to counteract his goofiness. I wouldn't have cared about Jar-Jar if he could speak proper English. My only real complaints about this film are Jake Lloyd's horrendous non-acting un-skills (and if you've seen the DVD extras, this kid actually thinks he's brilliant...) and some of the corny dialogue (the "are you an angel" scene could be used in suspect interrogation). Other that that, though, this movie is FUN, albeit not brilliant. As a standalone film, I probably wouldn't care, but I'm apt to view the SW series as one whole movie. It fails on levels, it succeeds on some levels.

Patti (1 out of 10 )
Oh my lord, this movie made me want to put my hand in a toaster. Because, frankly, that would be so much more enjoyable than having to watch this movie ever again. The script was awful, and the little boy who played Anakin was TERRIBLE. I've seen wooden boards with more character than him. This is definitely the worst Star Wars movie ever made. The only purpose it serves is explanation and background for the rest of the movies, that actually turned out decent.

Donna (4 out of 10 )
This movie was a huge disappointment. Yes, I do believe that some of the hatred is a bt biased -- it wouldn't have been considered quite as awful if it didn't have the unbelievable excellence of the original Star Wars trilogy to compare it to. But still, it's flaws were glaring. Some of the worst writing ever, lame characterization, a lot of dull acting, a scattered storyline. Things were thrown in that bugged me to no end: the midichlorians, Jar Jar (ack!), the general crappiness of the Jedi order. The writing stands out as being amazingly horrific, though. Just, really, incredibly corny. Even the impressive special effects were ruined by the fact that it was so obvious to the detached viewer that there had to special effects going on in way too many scenes to be considered a proper move. All right, now the good. The special effects WERE amazing. Jaw-droppingly good work in that area. Other good things were Obi-wan, the little shout-outs to the original movies, and Darth Maul. The lightsaber battle at the end was so magnificent that for a few precious minutes, I thought this horrible carcass of a movie had been saved, and of course, John Williams works his magic flawlessly. But in the end, this movie has not even a hint of the magic, plot, character, intensity, charisma, charm, flow, or memorability of the original trilogy. It's a crying shame.

Pier (3 out of 10 )
Yeah, this movie sucks big time. By far the worst Star wars. There are some good moments.. but this is more Disney than star wars.

Chris (4 out of 10 )
What good that exists in this movie does so only because it inhabits the Star Wars franchise as a whole: lightsabers and lasers and John Williams music are always cool things. Otherwise, it is a clumsy chunk of writing, directing, and storytelling that doesn't even have the same feel and zest of the original Star Wars classic trilogy. Throughout the film, characters will blurt out things in order for George Lucas to connect the continuity dots, and each connection is achieved with all the grace of a flying brick. It is clear that, in the writing of this movie, so many great storytelling opportunities were lost in favor of goofy choices that end up wasting precious screen time, leaving the robust topics of the Clone Wars and the Anakin's fall almost completely untouched for the remaining two films to handle. This film starts the Prequel trilogy off with a stumble that ultimately proved to be unrecoverable.

AFOH (5 out of 10 )
I would have written a whole original critique, but by the moment I had reached this comment space and read the bottom comment by Donna, I decided not to do it, since my agreement with this person is severely thought-breaking. Within her comment, most of what had come to my mind after watching the movie, was already verbalized. Only will I add a few details she didn't redact which I could notice: Amazingly beautiful, eye and mind-blowing scenery and imagery. Would-be-cheers specifically to those in charge of the architectural design. The newly added technicality this film achieved was groundbreaking; yet, that would be one of its shamefully scattered merits. What was most lovely about this film, in my opinion, was the fact it left us wishing for something better to come, since, apparently, that was the only hope this pessima obra could produce. It's a bridge for a saga. That's all. Donna, I'd like to discuss with you. You seem to resemble a critic I'd enjoy reading more often, in a world dominated by pretentious pigs who seem to like nothing if it doesn't fit their ever-changing, eclectically-arranged, previously formulated, expectations.

Talz (10 out of 10 )
I loved this movie! The characters were all greatly portrayed. I thought Jake Lloyd did a great job of playing Anakin. My favorite character was Obi-Wan. I also liked Nute Gunray and Rune Haako. Keep working George Lucas.

Talz (10 out of 10 )
This movie was great. Every actor did their job well. I didn't understand the movie at first but now I get every little bit of it. The special effects were amazing and I loved the lightsaber duels. Keep working George Lucas.

Zach (10 out of 10 )
I don't believe The Phantom Menace was that bad a movie. I admit it's not one of my favorites, but it was still a good movie. And Jar Jar, I don't see him as that annoying a character. He's just an immature accident-prone man, and in a way, is kind of likable. The only bad thing he did was give emergency powers to Palpatine in Episode II. I think this movie did a good job of making anakin's fall much more sad when you think of the boy he once was.

Shadow (10 out of 10 )
I love this movie by George Lucas. I have seen ALL of his movies. Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

Get Real (1 out of 10 )
I'm sorry. How can you give this turd of a film a good review. In fact all the prequels sucked. The script was awful. Full of loop holes. It was boring. There was no character arc throughout. I mean even the opening credits describe of "two jedi knights being dispatched to Naboo". even though Obi-Wan isn't a Jedi at that point. They say George wrote the script in a month!? WE CAN TELL. This film was terrible.

pete (10 out of 10 )
I love this movie. Just saw it in 3D, too.

duh (8 out of 10 )
So much has already been said, but the key to this movie for me is the development of Palpatine. From the very beginning, he was manipulating everyone and playing Puppet Master. I've found that watching the Prequels from his perspective makes them much more enjoyable.

Zach (10 out of 10 )
This film was brilliant! It was just as good as the original Star Wars movie, yet still not as good as the four others. It was even greater in 3D. The Expanded Universe novels make it even better with James Luceno and Michael Reaves.

Robbie (9 out of 10 )
Why are people so hard on this film!? Ok so the story is terrible but it is a great funny film and the end fight is the best light-saber duel I've ever seen and Darth Maul is my favorite character.

Reeve (6 out of 10 )
I'm one who can watch pretty much any movie besides a romance and like it, so therefore I like this film. I think the dialogue is a little weak, and plot definitely could have had some improvements, but I think all in all it's a fair film with great Special Effects and a pretty awesome soundtrack. Oh, yeah, Darth Maul's Lightsaber and appearance is awesome.

Ray (10 out of 10 )
Just perfect. Indescribable how well it ties in with the saga. Threads that run throughout all 6 movies begin right here. A great beginning.

Ethan (7 out of 10 )
Hey guys I think we're all forgetting something: without ep I there is no ep II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, or IX. If this movie was by itself, then yeah, it's not the best. But because it's Star Wars, it's a great movie.

FritzyM4 (8 out of 10 )
In reply to Get Real. Obi-Wan was, at this point, almost at the end of his training to become a Jedi Knight- being in training did not make him less of a Jedi, did it? A small technicality should not be considered, in my opinion, a 'loop hole'.

Josh (9 out of 10 )
My favorite series goes back to the beginning. "Every Saga has a Beginning". I absolutely love this film. I never have not liked it. Many people hate this film and hate George Lucas, but he is my hero and he made one hell of a film here with dazzling special effects, a great soundtrack, and a satisfying backstory. I will always love the prequels.

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