Better than "Jedi."

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 1999)

After a wait of sixteen years Lucas has delivered the beginning installment of what has become the American epic saga. The first thing I have to say is that the movie is not the best episode of the series, nor is it the worst. As far as the existing trilogy goes, this one rates above Return of the Jedi but falls short of The Empire Strikes Back. I would personally place it neck-and-neck with A New Hope. However, since in 1977 A New Hope completely revolutionized the science-fiction genre The Phantom Menace will never be remembered in as high esteem. The movie itself consists almost completely of foreshadowing to both the existing trilogy and what Lucas plans to do in episodes 2 and 3. As such, this movie has fallen prey to a slew of bad press. The people responsible for giving such negative media to the film have made a grievous error in judgement. This movie should not be taken on its own as a film, but must be taken in context with its surrounding story line. This movie was the action-packed opening chapter of the saga, much as A New Hope was in 1977. Unfortunately such expectation has been heaped upon Menace that it could not possibly have delivered all that was desired. By the release of the third episode, Menace will be respected in its rightful place of the opening sentences of the story, taking the first few steps toward a complex plot spanning a total of six movies. If the critics today are berating the story as they are simply because the movie does not deliver all the answers, imagine how these same critics would have rated Empire. Then again, critics were never very adept at noticing or appreciating such complexities.