Will be more appreciated someday if parts II and III satisfy.

Rating: 6/10 (18 October 2001)

I agree with most die-hard Star Wars fans in that this flick could have been a heck of a lot better than it was. It was commercially packaged and promoted for TODAY's Sony PlayStation playing youth, not the Atari-playing kids that grew up with the original trilogy (not to compare movies to video games, but I think y'all know what I mean by that). In other words, I feel somewhat cheated because I feel like George Lucas wasn't really thinking of us when he made this movie...

Particularly, Anakin Skywalker is shallowly depicted as nothing more than a cutesy kid that plays with really cool toys. I would have thought that Lucas would portray the young Darth Vader as a gifted, pure-of-heart, yet troubled child, so as to create a more insightful and profound commentary on the most important and mystifying theme in the saga: "The Force." After all, you may as well use some depth when initially developing the character that will eventually become one of if not THE most famous villain in the history of modern American cinema, rather than lazily writing it off as childhood innocence (I could go on).
But the positive side is that it was successful in creating a launchpad for the next two films, and, although not as thoroughly as I would have liked, introduced the characters in the saga that will in essence "give birth" to the heroes, struggles, and scenarios of parts 4-6.
Hopefully Mr. Lucas has taken into deep consideration the Star Wars purists' critical backlash of Part I while producing Parts II and III, and we will one day look back at Phantom Menace with the same sense of nostalgia as we now do A New Hope. Good luck George.
6/10