Wow...what else can I say? =)

Rating: 10/10 (22 May 1999)

Any time when a lightsaber is visible during the film...WOW! It takes your breath away. These lightsaber duels they got in Episode 1 blow away anything I've ever seen before, including the battles in the original three StarWars. You thought Return of the Jedi was awesome when Luke and Darth Vader finally duked it out for the lightsaber battle to end all lightsaber battles...think again. Darth Maul is incredible, he takes on both Jedi at once with his double-edged red lightsaber. Oh man is he good. The fighting is so fast and furious you will forget to breathe until it's all over. Darth Maul whoops up on Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon so bad it's not even funny. Oh man is he good. Two on one and still... Oh man is he good.
Allright, that said, what is the bad stuff? Well, there isn't any bad stuff, there is only stuff that isn't as badass as the rest of the stuff, but it's still badass. I wish Darth Maul talked more. He just walks up and instantly you have a lightsaber battle blazing all over the place with no clue as to why they are fighting in the first place. But no matter, the fight is so cool you forget about everything else. Jar Jar Binks certainly does not ruin the movie, but he certainly serves no purpose whatsoever. He is always with Qui-Gon, even when it makes no sense to bring him along. But who cares? The lightsaber battles are so awesome nothing else matters. Everyone I've talked to loved the pod-race scene for some reason; I think it was way too long and had no point to it. But still, it was fun to watch. Yoda talks like a child =( He most certainly does not act old and wise like a Jedi-Master should. But it's so fun to see old Yoda himself again it is just too cool. Same goes for R2-D2 and C-3PO, they are both super awesome. Same goes for the Tuskan Raiders and the Jaw-waws (spelling hehe?). The actors are all brilliant, I don't care what anyone else says; superb acting job for all of them.
The thing this film does the best (and I think a lot of people misunderstood this) was to set the atmosphere to the "good ol' days." The galaxy is in a time of peace, the Jedi are abundant and are at their peak of prosperity. During the original three episodes the galaxy lay in shambles in a post-war era with Imperial control of everything. It was a bleak galaxy. In episode 1 everything is "how it should be." That is why the lightsaber stuff is so cool. We are dealing with real Jedi here, not some stupid Luke skywalker who trained for a day or two... Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon actually use their Jedi powers to accomplish stuff. They are so awesome...there are just no words to explain it. The force isn't just some mystical energy field, there is a scientific explanation for it -- midichlorians. This makes sense, it doesn't "destroy the magic" of the force or anything. You would expect Jedi's to know what the force is don't you think? It's just that in the original three the Jedi have been wiped out so no one knows of the force anymore.
Do not see this movie expecting to learn everything about StarWars. In fact, you probably won't know any more of the story after the movie than you did before you saw it. Why? This movie merely sets the stage for the next two to come. It shows that the Empire will be forming in the near future, but it doesn't actually get that far into the story yet.
See the movie expecting to have fun in classic StarWars style. Do not go into the movie looking for things that are wrong because if you do you will find things that are wrong and you won't enjoy it. Just go in with an open mind and be ready to have fun. Remember, you aren't a critic =) It's your job to have fun, not to analyze every part of the movie.