Is that...lee-gul?

Rating: 8/10 (9 September 2000)

I will never forget that moment, on May 19, 1999, in the General Cinema 14 at Mall of America, as the lights dimmed, the previews ended, and the Fox logo appeared on the screen, followed by the Lucasfilm logo. I have never heard such thunderous applause in a movie theatre. Applause for the Fox logo, applause for the Lucasfilm logo, applause for the "long time ago" card. Then silence.
Then Star Wars.
The words Episode I rolled onto the screen and the place went nuts, because those were the words that an entire generation had spent their whole lives waiting for, the movie that for so long was just whispers and rumors. We always knew it was coming, and now it was here.
And it was pretty good, too. A lot of people hate Phantom Menace. Of course they do, they've spent fifteen years building up this fantastic idea in their head about what this movie would be, so how could it live up to their imagination? I realized that going in, and so I didn't expect much. And I got a lot more out of the film than some people. I feel sorry for the people who didn't like Episode I. They're missing the whole point of Star Wars...it's a post-modern fairy tale, with good guys and bad guys and action and love and everything else. Of course it's predictable! This is a prequel, you know which characters are going to live (though I was surprised at the ones who died). Of course Jar Jar was written in to attract kids...STAR WARS IS FOR KIDS! That's why a lot of people didn't like this film...they loved the trilogy because they watched it when they were little kids, and grew up watching it and were mesmerized, and now they're adults and they've lost their child eyes and their imaginations and they expect Star Wars to grow up with them. That's really sad. Ask a 6-year-old and he'll tell you he loves Phantom Menace just as much as the other movies. I love Phantom Menace because it reminds me of when I was a kid with an imagination and I had every Star Wars action figure (I've still got 'em, they're probably worth thousands). I would still rank this movie fourth on the Star Wars list...but it's far superior to a LOT of movies that just don't have the heart.