A stunning achievement in visual flim making.

Rating: 9/10 (20 May 1999)

All Lucas ever wanted to do is tell a good story and use every facility within his disposal to do so.
He accomplished that amazing well with A New Hope in 1977. He does it again today with Phantom Menace.
This movie is not made for the critics, nor for those who choose to judge it based on its stand-alone ability. It's made for those who already know the stories, the characters, and the universe.
As such, it is an absolute joy not just to learn more of the beginnings but to actually SEE them. To see so many different worlds, different creatures and different situations is an absolute dream. To me, this is the first Star Wars movie that allows us to get a true scope of Lucas' vision of this far, far away galaxy.
To those who criticise the dialogue, I can't argue. There are no snappy one-liners -- thankfully so. Jar Jar's lines can be annoying, but that is his character. Hell, C-3PO always annoyed me too, I never liked his dialogue. Young Anakin's dialogue is weak, but perhaps that's because it's written as a 9-year old (Jedi or not) would actually speak. Trust me, listening to all those yapping kids in line gave me insight as to how idiotic they'd sound while flying pod racers around.
As for the plot of this movie and the pace of the storyline, I don't need dialogue or specific action to help me with this. The perfection and beauty of the visuals -- effects, costumes, paintings, sets and CGI -- are so remarkable they are a story onto themselves.
And since when did Star Wars have a "human" element in it? The core of the series -- The Force -- is something that transcends species, that has both good and evil. Like the immersive audiovisual experience of this film, it's the thing that surrounds us and binds everything together.
If you're a Star Wars fan this movie is nothing short of a joyous experience. If you're a moderate movie fan who enjoys adventurous, escapist fantasies then it is a delight to watch.
The only people that I can't perceive enjoying this film are those who never liked other visually-driven movies and even storybooks, such as "Where The Wild Things Are."