Good but not great

Rating: 6/10 (5 July 1999)

I started out on this movie with an 8 out of 10 rating but after I saw it two more times I am sorry to say that I now have it at a 6. I found it to be good overall but most of the exhilaration of a new "Star Wars" after 20 years wore off after I saw the movie again. The story was good overall but had some problems (I don't want to get into a rabid Star Wars debate so I'll spare you). There was a decent amount of action too, and the special effects (in particular the pod race) set a new standard for high quality. My biggest problem in this story was character development. It's been my experience that most of the people that disagree with me on that point have read the books. I am sure that to those of you who have read the books would probably agree, but I feel like Lucas was trying to do too much with this story and didn't have enough time to develop everyone fully. That leads me to my conclusion: I firmly believe that Star Wars, Episode 2 will be a 10 out of 10 movie. The stage has been set for some great storyline, which was part of the reason I felt Episode 1 was lacking -- it had to set up the storyline for the entire Star Wars dynasty.