A Good Beginning

Rating: Null/10 (30 May 1999)

One Thing is certain... The debate over Episode One "The Phantom Menace" will go on for some time. The obvious question... Has Lucas made a good film that can live up to it's predecessor's. In my opinion he has. Having just returned from the Zeigfield Theater in New York City, which is the only place to see it. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I'll admit it took a little while to get use to the fact that you won't be seeing the familiar characters, but Lucas has laid a good foundation for his story. The most challenging story to tell is the one of Anakin Skywalker, who in future films will be transformed from Jedi knight to the Evil Lord Darth Vadar. He's cast a very good young actor named Jake Lloyd ,who for some reason has been getting some pretty bad press about his acting , I for one thought he was excellent and found my self trying to picture this sweet little boy turning into such a evil character. This central person so important to the Starwars legend is wonderfully told. Jedi knight Qui-Gon Jinn played by Liam Neesen sees the force in the child and takes him under his wing. The much talked about villian Darth Maul, while not seen much is used effectively. Basically a Hitman he's a person of few words but totally impressive. The light saber battle between him, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn is spectacular.
As for the technical aspect's of the film, It's loaded with state of the art digital effects that are a wonder to see. All in all the StarWars films will in years to come be a gauge by which to view the advancement of film technology. Lucas at the forefront in this field will undoubtedly use the future episodes to introduce the world to these advancements. lastly I couldn't help thinking that while movies has certainly improved in terms of effects and sound, the actual film itself hasn't, The print I saw had some specks and tears and at times didn't look all that good. I read several years ago that Lucas was interested in the Digital satellite transmission of films to Theaters . That would be the obvious next step in film. As a Satellite owner, I can tell you the digital broadcast I receive are far superior to basic cable. Several theaters in NY are showing the movie in a high Definition format which I'm sure are excellent,but I doubt have the sound systems that the larger houses have.