Flawed, but good

Rating: 7/10 (23 May 1999)

Well, admittedly, this was a movie with some significant flaws. Yes, the first half hour was rather choppy and scenes did not flow very well. Yes, Jar Jar was annoying and I hope we don't see him in the next two installments. Yes, the 'immaculate conception' of Anakin caused laughs in the theater and sounded just a little too hokey.
For all that, I came out of the theater with a feeling of extreme satisfaction. After the pod race, things started clicking for me, and while objectively I would say the film was good but not great, on a raw emotional level, it was a very powerful experience and I think captured very well many of the elements that made the original trilogy great. I did like the interaction between Queen Amidala and Anakin (many will disagree with me, I know), and Lucas has always had a good understanding of the mentor relationship and uses it very effectively to evoke strong emotion.
Anyway, in sum, I have a feeling that despite the flaws in the film, we will look back at 'Phantom Menace' with a certain amount of special affection, it being, as Yeats said, 'the place where all ladders start, / In the rag and bone-shop of the heart.'