Everything I wanted in a new Star Wars movie and a bag of chips

Rating: 9/10 (19 May 1999)

First of all, how much fun is this movie? Amazing! So intense, so visually exciting, so encompassing! So ends my 16 year wait. I need to say that before I saw the film, I read the reviews which almost unanimously slammed the movie. Actually, all the reviews looked like they'd been done by the same critic, but that's another matter. The critics are not wrong. They just weren't really watching the movie. They pretended to look for deep meaning in vain, yet missed all of the subtle satire and double meanings hidden within the movie. To be honest, I wasn't looking for the greatest movie of all time. I just wanted to see a new Star Wars movie. And Phantom Menace delivered. And this episode works so well in conjunction with the other films. If you know the story for episodes 4-6, Phantom Menace takes on a whole different tone. You know who Palpatine is. You know who Darth Sidious is. And you know who Anakin is. That's it - Just go see it - whether or not you've seen the others. This movie can and will stand on its own. In 20 years, the next generation may have grown up watching episode 1 first and Return of the Jedi 6th. One word of advice - don't operate a car within a half hour of seing this film!