A dreary disappointment

Rating: 2/10 (22 September 1999)

Has George Lucas lost the plot? Someone certainly seems to have mislaid the plot for this film - an hour in to this film I was so bored I almost fell asleep. Luckily, the pod race (highlight of the whole film) came along to perk things up.
I can't believe Star Wars fans are excusing this by saying it's a curtain raiser for parts 2 and 3, or that it has to be seen in the context of the whole saga. Films are meant to ENTERTAIN, for goodness sake. I don't pay money to go to the cinema to watch extended trailers.
Without Han Solo and Princess Leia, all we had was a procession of wooden characters speaking leaden dialogue in that irritating "mock classical English" accent that George Lucas seems so keen on.
George Lucas has taken Star Wars fans for granted, assuming that state-of-the-art special effects (which I felt gave the battle scene a cartoon-like quality) would be enough. Worryingly, it seems he was right