Awesome, awesome, awesome....

Rating: 2/10 (19 May 1999)

In the long line to see this film, several people and I agreed:
The sixties gave us Star Trek. The seventies gave us Star Wars. The eighties gave us Highlander. ....and the nineties gave us Star Wars again.
The Phantom Menace is AWESOME! How can I talk about the plot without giving away a part of storyline, thus breaking the code of silence the Star Wars fans have all sworn (and I can't let George Lucas down, can I?). But let me just say this: the action is awesome (the finest light saber warfare yet filmed), the characters are over the top, and the villains....led by Darth Maul, are wonderful (though they'll never be Darth Vader).
I grew up with Star Wars, so it was wonderful to see Yoda and C3-PO are Artoo again. The plot is great (a lot tamer and political than the other three, but I think Lucas intended it that way...after all, this is answering all the questions of the first films...not everything can be as exciting...but they can be just as entergetic), and the direction is crisp. My personal favorite character is the Captain of the Princess's guards (kinda of the silent, Terminator type), but everything about it is wonderful. True masterpieces in filmmaking are the movies that draw you into it so much, you're literally sad when the credits start rolling. This is one of those films, and I can't wait till Episode Two. But until it pops up, drop what you're doing and go see this work of art, and be amazed at the fact that George Lucas still is KING!
Awesome, awesome, awesome....