Sigh.

Rating: Null/10 (10 June 1999)

Well, here's my two cents.
I thought The Phantom Menace was OK. Not great, not awful, just all right. A bit of a letdown, really. I mean, the first half was just dull really; I realise that the introduction of Anakin was necessary, but did we REALLY have to have a comedy computer generated alien?
And on the subject of CGI, was anything in that film actually real? For all we know the human beings could have been computer generated like everything else was. I don't know about anyone else, but I actually thought the special effects were better in episodes IV, V, and VI.
Also, did George Lucas REALLY have to pilfer around 70% of the plot/set pieces from the other films? There are some striking resemblances to the Death Star attack run, the Emporers death, the idea of a princess in danger and a fight between low tech good guys and high tech baddies.
All in all, I enjoyed the second half of the film (basically as soon as the lightsabres come out) because it got back to what Star Wars is all about; a high tech battle between good and evil. Maybe it'll be better once I've seen episodes II and III.
P.S. If anyone knows what that bit in the lightsabre duel where Liam Neeson's not doing anything and Maul just looks at him and paces, let me know.