All in the name.

Rating: 4/10 (29 October 2005)

Only because of the name Star Wars is what kept the Phantom Menace from flopping in the first place. And only because it was the first Star Wars movie in 16 years is what allowed it to be the top movie in 1999.
The story involves the peaceful world of Naboo being invaded by the greedy Trade Federation, and the first meeting of a 9 year old Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, when he was only a Jedi trainee, or what they call a padawan. This movie is suppose to have started the whole Star Wars saga. But unfortunately the prequel is too heavily reliant on the original trilogy and probably the most forgettable Star Wars installment.
As with all Star Wars films, the visual effects are incredible. And special commendations for the incredible alien species shown, excluding Jar Jar Binks of course. The pod racing scene not only meets, but exceeds expectations. But outside of the visual effects, the pod racing scene, the costumes, and the sets, this movie has very little to offer.
Even with a battle sequence near the beginning, the movie is pretty slow and lame. Its level of interest however rockets at the pod race scene, but then it drops after that. And it only inches its way back up at the climax.
The climax of the movie has 3 battle scenes. On the planet of Naboo, the star-fighter sequence in orbit, and the Jedi lightsabre sequence. Out of all those 3, the Jedi scene barely meets expectation. The other 2 are disappointing, despite the special effects.
If the Phantom Menace were to have been released before the original Star Wars, the Star Wars saga would never have taken off. Never have even reached episode 2. If they learned anything from Star Trek, pretty soon, not even the name Star Wars will save the next film, if there were a 7th. And Star Wars will crash a lot sooner than Star Trek.