Not exactly worthy

Rating: 6/10 (19 May 1999)

I'll admit it. I'm not a fan of the original three movies. The goofs, the cheesy dialouge, the horrid casting of extras... Frankly, I fail to see why it is so high up on the IMDB's best movies of all time. Yes, it was a president-setting movie for its time. But it is not worthy of all the laud set upon it.
Which brings us to "The Phantom Menace", a movie which lacks meaning that has a title which lacks meaning. Essentially this movie does nothing but create a reason to merchandise everything under the sun from Phantom Menace boxer shorts to toothbrushes, silverware, and the obvious array of toys. Of course, that is not the only reason Episode One exists. It exists to serve the other two yet-to-come Star Wars movies; which shall also be merchandised and hyped to death in the coming years.
What we have before us is a movie with horrible foreshadowing, only acceptable acting, a simple and cliche plot, and a hype created which is not worth any movie; let alone one as bad as this.
Its only saving grace was the action scenes; the space battles; the light-saber fight near the end; and the desert race... And even those do not make up a movie.