Too much hype, too little substance.

Rating: 2/10 (10 January 2000)

I am a big fan of the first three Star Wars movies, and had hoped that the mystery and almost childlike grandeur of the others would be repeated in this chapter/movie. But alas no. This movie had the feel of an expensive, long, overblown advertisement for Star Wars toys and video games. Even the feel of the characters wasn't there. Most seemed to be just "going through the motions". I could not make myself empathize with any of them. To me, there are two sure signs that a movie is lousy: 1) you look at your watch every 15 minutes or so; and 2) you start to hope that the "bad guys" win. I did both. The special effects were amazingly wonderful, but the movie itself was empty. It wasn't even fun to watch. Would I recommend it? NO! If you are a fan of Star Wars, stick with the first three movies. They were MUCH BETTER!