Not bad but not what I had hoped.

Rating: 7/10 (14 April 2000)

The Phantom Menace is a good movie. It is above average and worth the money to see I guess. Unfortunately, it does not have any of the Star Wars Magic; no cool characters, no interesting dialogue, no funny in-fighting. The special effects are as much what is wrong with the film as they are what actually makes it worth watching. The effects are so over used that the movie looses any sense of human-ness that was what made the original trilogy so special. George Lucas apparently does not trust his actors enough to let them in on any of the details while filming is actually taking place and the effect is clearly seen onscreen. The actors do not know what is going to be edited into the scenes and do not know how to react to what may or may not be there.
Basically, while it is not a total waste of time, it is only of interest as background for the original trilogy. After viewing this film, I understand why Lucas started at Episode 4; Episode 1 would have been lucky to break even if it were the first movie released. Expect some boring dialogue and ok plot and a yawner of a finale and your expectations will be met.