A great film. Hear that? It's a great FILM!

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 1999)

The Phantom Menace is great! The sound effects just blow me away. The musical score is tremendous--the same Star Wars theme but more hearty and innocent. And who could forget the special effects? The category that made Star Wars famous in the first place? (Arguably). Definitely at least a nine and a half out of ten on my Cool-o-Meter. (Actually, a ten, but saying that would make me look like I was influenced by hype). Okay, so it's cool, is that all? No. Of course not. All of that bogus junk that the film critics are saying about the plot and the characters is just plain stupid. The story is complex and detailed. It is a great plot with a great balance of happiness, sadness, anger, and love. The actually story has some great lines in it too (none of which coming from Jar Jar Binks, the only of the computer animated characters who actually gets annoying). And the characters? The are developed. At least no less than in Episodes IV-VI. Queen Amidala is wonderful. She has a totally believable personality. Qui-Gon is great too. In fact they all are. All of them. Well, all but that Jar Jar fellow. He should have appeared less--in the latter scenes he should have been replaced by C-3PO. But in general, the characters are all well drawn by the dialogue, body language, and especially by THE MUSIC. So do I recommend The Phantom Menace to anyone? Yes, but only if you were a kid once. (Or someone like me who IS a kid--14). I'd have to give it 9 out of 10. Why? Because it deserves it. No more, no less. But I do wish that the CRITIQUES lay off it a bit. A message to you SATIRISTS: Episode One is a film. A film in itself. A film a part of a whole NEW trilogy--the first in it for that matter. BE OPEN to the new trilogy. Stop comparing it to the old one. Sure, these events lead to the next Trio, but welcome the new styles and be kind to them. Stop wasting precious newspaper space babbling on about how the new film is different than the others. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE. I think your only two questions to yourself should be: 'Did I enjoy it?' and 'If it were the FIRST Star Wars film released, THEN how would I rate it?' The answers would be 'Yes' and 'An epic of a tale', respectively.