As good as the other 3 Star Wars movies

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 1999)

My 19 year old son and I saw The Phantom Menace for a Dad and son afternoon. It was great!!! I got wondering how people would not like this movie. Was it from the "childish" characters? (remember the ewoks?) Was it from a weak story line? I don't really see that either. The people who don't like this movie probably didn't like the first 3 Star Wars movies either!!! The most difficult thing George Lucas has to deal with is we all know what happens to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the future, so we know they can't die.
The special effects are still very special. There is less emphasis on space ships - but that is not a problem for this movie. The Jedi Knights display a cool confidence that is what I would expect in this type of character. Very well done on that issue.
For you who think that the first Star Wars film(s) are still the best, you do have one good point - No one had made such a quantum leap in special effects as "The New Hope" - Episode IV had from where special effects had been before it's release.
Also, we all were quite a bit younger at the time. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't get the same thrill out of action movies, baseball or Christmas now that I did then.
It a great movie with only one real problem - it ends too soon.