George Taylor A good start to the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker and the birth of Darth Vader. A fun, if grim and at times humorless film, the weakest part is the kid who plays young Anakin. He's just not that good in the role, but honestly , George should have had someone like lawrence kasdan come in and tweak the script. If one hates writing, then why write? Still the look of the film clearly shows how it will evolve into the later movies, something other Prequels (like Enterprise, utterly fail at).

MasterYoda9000 I don't understand the hate for this movie. This movie is not perfect but it is still pretty good. Storytelling: This movie has a very solid story. This movie was about characters doing whatever it takes to do what is right. This was very evident with Qui-Gon and Anakin's character development.Qui-Gon refused to give into Padme's demands and allowed Anakin to podrace. Qui-Gon did this not only to win the spare parts he needed but also used it as an opportunity to free Anakin. Qui-Gon advocated for Anakin's training despite the Jedi Council not wanting to. It was through Qui-Gon's death that the Jedi Council honored Qui-Gon's wish and allowed Anakin to train as Obi-Wan's apprentice.Anakin put other people before himself twice in this movie. Anakin podraced to help the people in need without expecting anything in return. During the Battle of Naboo, Anakin risked his life to take out the droid control ship. Though part of it was an accident, he could have just turned away from the battle. Anakin, however, refused to retreat. Through bravery and selflessness, Anakin destroyed the droid control ship, allowing Naboo to score their victory against the Trade Federation. This movie also explored the beginning of Palpatine's rise to power and Anakin's turn to the dark side. Anakin being taken away from his mother and the Jedi's lack of compassion that planted the seeds of the Anakin's eventual turn to the dark side and the downfall of the Jedi. Characters:Most characters were great. Some, however, were out of character. Anakin: Well-written character who was selfless, brave, and compassionate. The Jedi showing lack of compassion will Anakin to turn into a selfish, lustful, and ambitious character in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Qui-Gon: Well-written character who was a true leader who believed in doing what was right rather than listening to what everyone else wanted. He was one of the few good Jedi.Shmi: Well-written character who was compassionate and supportive to Anakin and Qui-Gon's team. Padme: Well-written character who cared about her people but also hates putting other people's lives in danger. Jar Jar Binks: Great comic-relief character. All of his jokes were funny.Boss Nass: Great character who is angry at the Naboo for the way they treat his people. He also was really funny. Mace Windu: Great character who did not like Anakin and is part of the reason Anakin turned to the dark side. Obi-Wan: Out of character. Obi-Wan should have been excited to see Anakin and should have supported him since the beginning. Yoda: Out of character. Yoda should not have been so quick to turn down Anakin like the rest of the Jedi. Yoda gave Luke a chance in Empire Strikes Back so he should have given Anakin a chance in this movie.Darth Maul: A bland villain with no motivation whatsoever. He's cool but nothing more than that.Palpatine: An excellent villain who is smart, power-hungry and secretly pretends to be a good guy.Emotion:Because the movie had great characters and great storytelling, this movie had a lot of emotion in it. Here are all the emotional scenes:Shmi allowing Anakin to podraceAnakin testing his podracerAnakin winning the podraceAnakin leaving his motherPadme begging Boss Nass for helpQui-Gon's deathAnakin blowing up the trade federation shipQui-Gon's funeralActing/Dialogue: Almost all of the acting was great. The acting was a little wooden/cringy at times, but that is a very minor flaw in the movie. Pacing:This movie was very well-paced. This movie never got boring. The movie was very easy to keep up with. The movie flowed very nicely.Visuals and Sound Effects:Most of the visuals were well-done, except the scenes with CGI. The CGI is dated. It doesn't look terrible, it just doesn't look great. Fortunately this movie does not rely on too much CGI. In terms of sound effects, they were well-done.In Conclusion:This movie is great but not perfect. Though this movie had problems with a couple characters and CGI, this movie still had great storytelling, mostly great characters, emotion, and great action scenes. This movie gets way too much hate. Fans focus way too much on a few problems that they overlook the greatness of this movie. As a fan of Star Wars, I can say that I really like this movie.Score: 75%

Nominahorn I just finished re-watching all six Lucas-era Star Wars films in episode order (I-VI) with the commentary and want to give my reviews of each film. Let me preface by saying that I am a lifelong Star Wars fan who grew up with the original trilogy and literally have no memory of a time in my life before SW. As such, I am not going to be totally unbiased in my reviews, but I will try to be somewhat objective.So we begin at the beginning of the story, rather than the order in which the movie are made. In my opinion this is the best way to view the saga, because things in Eps I-III do a great job setting up IV-VI and those latter movies will have even more emotional resonance in the context given by the prequels. Lucas likes to say that the saga is really the story of Anakin's rise, fall, and redemption, and keeping that in mind gives greater weight to the originals, especially any scene with Vader in it.The Phantom Menace's plot is incredibly complex and when I think about trying to synopsize it, I am utterly overwhelmed by how much actually happens in two hours. There's so many characters and so many plot lines going simultaneously that I really can't begin to recap the story. But basically, we have a peaceful planet occupied by a militaristic corporate alliance called the Trade Federation, and the movie is about the planet's elected queen's struggle to free her people from this oppressive occupation. But also there the story of Anakin and how he is discovered by the Jedi. And also there's the beginning of the political story of Palpatine's rise to power. And there's also a huge amount of worldbuilding going on. It probably goes without saying that this movie is EPIC. Let's get into some details:THE GOOD-This movie is GORGEOUS. The ships, the matte painting, the costumes, the sets. Everything looks amazing. Even after seeing the movie dozens of times over the last 19 years, shots like the aerials of Naboo or the Jedi starship flying towards the Trade federation ship still take my breath away.-The podrace. Though it's a total ripoff of the Ben-Hur chariot race, that sequence is one of the most legendary and film history, and this ripoff is exceptionally well done. Sebulba makes a great Masala and the sounds of the pods are so well done. Ben Burtt is a genius.-Liam Neeson. George Lucas is terrible at writing dialogue--let's get that out of the way right now. Most actors can't speak Lucas' lines without sounding silly, wooden, melodramatic, or some combination of those. The original trilogy was blessed with two amazing actors in Alec Guinness and Harrison Ford, both of whom could make the dialogue sound good. This movie is blessed with Liam Neeson, who gives lines about midichlorians and Nubian hyperdrives enough gravitas that you almost don't question them. Almost.-The older I get, the more I love the politics in these prequels. Seeing Palpatine's rise from a senator on a backwater planet, to chancellor, and finally to emperor is fascinating and I think something Lucas portrayed extremely well.-Darth Maul is definitely an awesome bad guy. I heard that the actor who played him was pissed that most of his lines got edited out of the movie, but I think the fact that he only has a couple of lines the whole time makes him that much more menacing and cool. Everything about him is great, from the makeup and costume, to his unique and wicked double-bladed lightsaber (still the coolest lightsaber design in a SW movie).-The final lightsaber battle. The fight between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul is the most ferocious, well-choreographed, and well-shot lightsaber battle in all 6 movies by far. The musical score by John Williams pushes it over the top into truly heart-stopping territory. It's worth all of Jar Jar's scenes just for this one fight.THE BAD-Do I really need to say it? Jar Jar. I don't think I hate him the way a lot of people do, but he is admittedly very annoying and distracting. And to be honest, he doesn't look good. He looks cartoonish and I think having a main character be 100% cgi was a bad idea. I also dislike that on the BluRay they redid Yoda to be cgi because he has less character and tangibility than the Frank Oz puppet.-I mentioned it before, but Lucas sucks at writing and directing dialogue. Most of the lines vary between cringe-worthy and just plain wooden. In some cases this is appropriate, like the uptight and dispassionate way people speak in the politics scenes, but when it comes to personal stuff it makes the movie feel sterile.THE UGLY-There's an implication that Naboo's planetary core has water, but that isn't possible. At the immense pressures that exist in planetary cores (or even most of the mantle), water can't exist in a liquid form. Not to mention no vessel could withstand the crushing weight of an entire planetary mass pressing in on it from all sides.-As awesome as Qui-Gon is as a character, we see how his stubbornness and arrogance leads to the fall of the Jedi and the Republic, and the rise of the Empire. Jedi's rules on training only very young children clearly exists for good reasons--reason that will be seen better in the next two movies.-I don't get what Maul is doing after he pushes Obi-Wan down the shaft. It annoys me that such an awesome and dangerous character suddenly starts screwing around with making sparks rather than killing Obi-Wan, and then just stands there like a moron while Obi-Wan flies up and cuts him in half. Pretty disappointing ending to an incredible fight.-I can't figure out the reasoning for setting this movie only 31 years before A New Hope. Obi-Wan's portrayed age is impossible to reconcile as a result, as he is clearly at least 65 or 70 in ANH, not the 50-ish he should be.

valimar-88352 It seems almost cruel to pan a film which has been universally panned, like kicking someone when they're down, but this film deserves it and I say that as a lifelong Star Wars fan. I very much wanted to like the movie when it came out, and it took me a long time to accept that it is indeed a turkey.The good:1. Darth Maul...coolest star wars villain ever? He's certainly up there, just amazing presence and the double-bladed lightsaber is totally awesome.2. The Maul, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan lightsaber battle - absolutely iconic, visually stunning, suspenseful and probably the best in the entire series. In fact it is the only part of this movie that really makes it an absolute must see at all. 3. Palpatine's political manipulations - lot's of people didn't like the political plot of the Prequels, but i loved it. Watching Palpatine the master manipulator at work is a pleasure and he is the other main reason the movie is worth watching.The indifferent:1. Anakin Skywalker - people say this poor kid is a bad actor. I don't agree, he is a kid playing a kid. It is not his fault that he was cast too young for the role. Anakin should have been 12/13 years old, at the transition from childhood to young adulthood, and so the perfect time to leave his mother and his home behind and begin his galactic adventure with the Jedi, as well as his budding romance with Padme. At 8 years old, none of that made any sense, especially not his borderline creepy crush on 14 year old Padme. The bad:1. Jar Jar Binks...what is there to say. I feel sorry for the actor who portrayed him because he is the victim of some bad decisions by George Lucas. Suffice to say one or two goofy hi-jinks from Jar Jar and the droids would have been fine. But Jar Jar should have been an incidental character like the droids, there for occasional comic relief. There was just way too much juvenile humour from Jar Jar in a transparently obvious attempt to appeal to five-year olds. This ties into....2. Battle of Naboo - are we supposed to take this seriously? Because of Jar Jar's antics, it is like a Warner Brothers cartoon, not a Star Wars battle. Ridiculous and embarrassing.3. The lack of Darth Maul...why is such a cool character not front and centre? We should have seen more of this villain, he should have had much more screen time and that would have made the final confrontation with him even more climactic. 20 minutes of filler in this movie easily could have been cut out (like most or all of the pod race and some slow scenes on Coruscant) to get proper use of this character. Ironically you have to watch The Clone Wars and Rebels to see Darth Maul handled properly and do him justice.The film was the worst in the Star Wars saga until that dubious honour was assumed by the disgraceful The Last Jedi. Even so, it would definitely be a crime to show this film first to anyone who had never seen a Star Wars movie before.