More magic from Lucas

Rating: 9/10 (8 July 1999)

I was one of those people who flopped into theaters with one ominous thought on my mind: Star Wars- Episode 1 might suck. REALLY BAD. But it didn't. And legions of Trekkies have just ran back into their closets to cower in fear as the juggernaut called LucasArts plows through the market once more. What I saw in Lucas' new wunderkind was something I hadn't seen in movies in ages- a wholesome, safe-for-all-ages (except for that one scene, no spoilers now!) yarn that still kept you on the edge of your seat with fantastic sequences like the Podrace (can you say "WipeOut?") and the final battle between Obi-Wan, Schindler (I meant Qui-Gon Jinn), and Darth Maul (I meant Satan). While I did some obnoxious MSTing throughout (mostly "Kill Jar-jar! Kill Jar-jar!") I was thoroughly pleased with this movie. We have edge-of-your-seat dramatics (those always help), anime-influenced combat scenes (if you ever watch anything from Yukito Kishiro or Mamoru Oshii, you'll know what I mean), and a staggeringly cool new villain by the name of Darth Maul (I see your schwartz is as big as mine... but I have two!). My suggestion, if you haven't seen Episode 1 yet, is to haul yourself and a half-dozen friends over to the theater and buy a matinee ticket! Okay, that's a little extreme, but I still think you should see this movie, if Star Wars is your bag. If it isn't, then -the following material has been censored by the IMDb due to graphic language and crude sexual content.-