Suffers from not being Star Wars, but looks so good!

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 1999)

You'll probably hear comments about the stilted acting and formal sounding dialog in the Phantom Menace, but watch the original Star Wars again and tell me (aside from Harrison Ford) who wasn't stilted and formal sounding in that? The biggest problem for this movie is that, when Star Wars came out, there was NOTHING like it. Episode I is just the next in a line of effects extravaganzas, as opposed to a singular event like the original. The story is more like The Empire Strikes Back than Star Wars--lots of plot set up, different threads going out all over the place. Don't expect the immersion in archetypal mythology of Episode IV.
In its favor, as the technology has become more available and widespread, effects extravaganzas have become less able to rely on making really big cool things happen on screen and actually have to rely on inspiration. In this respect, Phantom Menace is a smashing success. It is absolutely the most incredible visual display to appear on the big screen. You'll want to move to the capital city of Naboo. You'll want to go see pod races. It's great.