One third of a great movie

Rating: 8/10 (22 May 1999)

As a die-hard Star Wars fan undeterred by negative reviews, I saw it for the first time on Thursday, and again today. You have to remember that it is only a third of a movie!
This movie serves mainly to build some key characters (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Queen Amidala(?), Senator Palpatine) that will play prominent roles in the next two episodes, and ultimately, in the existing trilogy. Enhance this with a great lightsaber fight, great locations like Coruscant, and R2-D2 and C-3PO, and we've got a great start for the new trilogy.
Only complaint: occasionally the movie gets a little too cute- Jar Jar, when in excess; Anakin in the space battle ("Whoops, I just took off!").
Overall: great movie, 4.5 out of 5.