Applause. Lots of applause.

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 1999)

This movie was good. Really good. Hell, it was downright excellent. Neeson was perfect Jedi knight as Qui-Gon Jinn, as was McGregor as young Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor might have been good as a young Han Solo as well..). Portman was also great in her dual role as Queen Amidala/Padme Naberrie. Ray Park as Darth Maul was the best villain I've seen in a while.
There was one thing that bothered me. There are a few too many special effects. While Lucas and ILM did a spectacular job on the special effects, you can't focus on the details in which Lucasfilm worked so hard on. On this level, critics are saying all the effects are trying to replace a plot. Yes, the plot is kind of hard to sort out, but mind you, this a trilogy (I hope) we're talking about here. The plot is supposed to stretched over a couple of movies.
On a lighter note, the music, acting, costumes, and sets are excellent. The sound is great. But one of the best things about the movie is it's totally going to blow TITANIC right out of the water (No pun intended.). The movie was great. Go see it.