Impressive!

Rating: 9/10 (7 March 2000)

George Lucas had his work cut out for him on this movie. First, he had to re-introduce us to characters from the first trilogy and characters who will play important roles in this trilogy. Second, he had to set the stage for what is to come in episodes 2 and 3 (not to mention the first trilogy). Third, he had to keep things consistent with what we saw in the first trilogy. Finally, he had to tell a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. IMHO, George Lucas succeeded in every way. If you loved Star Wars, you will love this movie. Some people's expectations were too high (though fan-generated hype?), and this lead to a negative backlash against the movie. Some people categorised this movie as a "kids" movie (because of its upbeat tone?), but this is a movie that people of *all* ages were meant to enjoy. This is a great movie! (IMHO, of course)