I think time will prove kind to this one.

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 1999)

I wanted some time to go by before I commented on this one. Probably because I knew that my humble opinion would have been buried underneath hordes of others. So now that both the sound and the fury of marketing have died down, I'll speak my peace.
Of course it's hard to look at this film in the final analysis because the entire cycle hasn't been completed yet, but to me the film feels like an overture of sorts, where the orchestra strikes up a loud and bombastic fanfare so that you know what's in store for the rest of the show, and so you feel good that you spent so much money to get in.
With my lame simile out of the way, I'll deal with the two major problems other people seem to have had with the movie.
#1 The Acting. Yeah, it does feel kind of stiff; but Lucas has always been a much better director of ideas than of people. Although the mannered feel of the dialogue really did hurt the story in a few parts (Any scene with Annikin), I was able to overlook it.
#2 Jar Jar. I agree. He's lame. Although I did chuckle when Que-Gon grabs his tounge at the dinner table. And I do have to admit that I'll give Lucas credit for having guts if he decides to bring the character back.
So what did I like about it? Well, it was just fun. Now I know that special effects alone can't make a movie good (Armegeddon and Starship Troopers come to my mind), but the breathtaking special effects used here work because they are used in tandem with a rich tapesty of mythology that Lucas has constructed.
By the way, if anyone knows what the heck I meant by that, please let me know.
Other parts I enjoyed:
#1 All the robots.
#2 The political double dealing (There was just enough of this for nice flavoring, but not enough to clog up the works)
#3 Queen Amidala. Already my favorite character, although I don't know why. I thinks it's because she seems so sad, especially during the confrontation with the senate. She's cute as a button, too.
#4 That three-way lightsaber fight. Man, I could watch two whole hours of that.
About a month after this was released, I felt kind of lousy because I felt that it was going to be regarded as a failure. But after looking at some recent reviews, I see that maybe viewers will be able to overlook the insurmountable expectations this had to live up to, and just enjoy it as the fun space trip it is.
I haven't come close to saying what I really wanted to say about the film, but this will do, I guess.