A dark time for Star Wars fans

Rating: 4/10 (13 July 2000)

The 3 things I remember most from childhood are my first trip to Tiger Stadium, the time live monkeys attacked the family Gremlin at African Lion Safari, and the first movie I remember seeing: STAR WARS. They were all magic moments, and I was hoping to maybe relive a bit of my childhood by seeing the new Star Wars movie. But being a slightly cynical adult now, I'm afraid to say the magic is gone. I'll say some good things first. The light sabers sounded the same. The spaceships all roared the same way I'd remembered. The special effects and production design were as amazing as expected. But those things aren't what made the original Star Wars films some of the greatest films of all time. It was the magic moments. Like Luke looking forlornly at the tatooine sunset; the moment he switched off his targeting computer and gave away to the force; Yoda raising the X-wing out of the swamp. And so on. Some great moments in film history.
The greatest crime in the Phantom Menace is there is not a single moment in the film where anything remotely resembling that incredible feeling of magic happens. The scenes that made you shiver in awe as a kid. Which probably explains why Anakin Skywalker grows up to be a galaxy conquering murderer. We see his childhood up there on the screen, and not a single memorable moment occurs. - AK71
Note: This film contains some of the worst dialogue I've heard in such a big budget film. Over 90 percent of it coming from a computer generated frog whose name I won't mention.