the wait in line has been justified

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 1999)

The crowd, loud and screaming has overpowered the speakers that have at this point began blaring the opening score. As the yellow words pass up the screen, the noise settles and we prepare to view the justification for the day we have all given up to an addiction.
For the avid movie goer seeking nothing but mindless action packed plotless entertainment, you may or may not be disappointed as this one does has action, but it also has a plot. The effects were by far the very best I myself have ever witnessed, but then I would expect nothing less from the ones that pioneered the technology everyone uses. The space scenes very well done as were the ground scenes.....try not to blink during the pod race or you might miss something. The battles with the droids were very well done and I find that although it could definitely have been done better, it was very good and very nice to see a non-space ship battle in a Star Wars movie.
The choreography for things such as the lightsaber duels was spectaular as were all three actors engaged in the battle. My only disappointment in the duel was its duration as it was very short, especially in comparison to the final duel in return of the Jedi. Hopefully they will try to drag it out a little more next time.
The score is once again one of the best, John Williams has once again opened his chance for winning yet another Oscar. The costumes for the few non-computer generated actors were well done as well. If you thought that Princess Leia's "buns" from the original Star Wars film were odd, then be prepared to have those thoughts laid to rest as the unique hair styles bestowed upon Queen Amidala greatly out do them.
There are well placed moments of comic relief that should make this a good one for the younger audience that this was written for to begin with as well along with well portrayed emotions and just all around good timing on the part of most of the cast hopefully putting to rest any thoughts that George Lucas' return to the directors chair would be a disaster. This was quite the contrary. Certain portions of the plot were kept vague in a very effective manner so as to hopefully not make it too obvious what will be happening in the next two films. This may have also been its shortcoming though as the character development has suffered greatly because of it. Some things fortunately are explained however and the vast and corrupt political structure of the Old Republic has definitely began to take shape by the films end.
As a true fan myself I have tried not to give away any of the story to you as I think everyone should be surprised, and I promise that unless someone does spoil it for you......you will find this is a film filled with lots of things to surprise you. The cast itself has a lot of new faces, not just to the Star Wars saga, but to movies as well. There are some favourites returning from the first 3 films along with new portrayals of the younger verisons of others. The continuity in their personalities has definitely been kept intact. Yoda the Jedi master who instructed Luke Skywalker is back, and hesitant as ever to accept a certain young child into training to become a Jedi, just as he was with Luke in The Empire Strikes Back. He is also joined with an entire council of Jedi and we begin to see the bigger picture as far as who the Jedi are and where they gain their power over the force from. R2-D2 is once again among the cast as is a very primitive C-3PO both still portrayed by Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels. Darth Vader is back again, but as Anakin Skywalker when he was a child and not yet aware of the force as is his future mentor, a very young Jedi apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi who was perfectly played by Ewan McGregor. Jabba the Hutt is once again computer generated rather than a puppet, but all fans and just general movie goers will be happy to know that he was done much better this time than he was for the special edition of Star Wars. And of course the final returning character is a younger, manipulating Senator Palpatine, prior to his rise to power as the Emperor of the Galactic Empire. There weren't many disappointments in this one at all other than the character development and perhaps making that duel longer, and if Lucas says that the next two are going to be better than this, then I think I may just have to go stand in line again, as it will definitely be worth the wait.
If you haven't seen the other Star Wars films yet, then this will be a good opportunity to introduce yourself to that universe, if you're a kid like I was when I saw the first three films, then you will most likely fall into a whole new world that like myself, you will not want to leave. Well......I must go now as I have tickets for another showing of this movie in a few hours.