George Lucas has lost his mind.

Rating: 5/10 (12 February 2000)

For years the man said, "No". Then the rumors began. Then it was, "Maybe". Fans were pacified in 1997 with the "Special Editions". Then in 1999 we were handed... this.
Confusing is not the word. What this man has done to his own creation is beyond me. Many of the important facts and details we learned way back in '77, '80, and '83 are cast to the wind as trivia.
If you have not yet seen the film and want to be "surprised", read no further as this may be considered "spoiler" material.
On the technical level, the movie very much succeeds. The CGI work in this film is some of the best I have ever seen. Too often, CGI is a cop-out for special effects and ends up looking like a Playstation game when translated to the small screen. I don't see that happening here. Even though the films WORST and most unnecessary character is CGI he still looks good.
As for the rest...
Someone needs to tell George Lucas to stop changing his stories. The "Special Editions" made attempts to not only enhance effects, but to change character personas as well (Greedo taking the first shot at Han, for example). What went on in "Phantom Menace" leads me to believe that if we see Episodes Four, Five, and Six in theaters again, they will be altered further. An explanation follows.
In "A New Hope" we are introduced to C-3PO and R2-D2 first. Any Star Wars fan can tell you that Lucas himself said in many interviews that original drafts of the script focused around these two. Well, we all know how that turned out. So, he has them show up here. Well, they better both have their memories erased before Episode Three is over because they don't seem to remember Tatooine when they crash land there in "Episode Four" ("What a desolate place this is..."). Now, I'll give Lucas this, Obi Wan never sees Artoo in this film and that does match with his comment in "Episode Four" of, "I don't recall ever owning a droid...".
The force, rather than being the magic that exists within all beings, and especially strong in the Jedi is now some kind of microscopic, blood-dwelling organism. Lucas once said that the force was the magic that prevailed in a world where technology ruled. The whole "faith in yourself and the magic within" is now right out the window for reasons unknown.
It has been established that when a Jedi dies, he/she vanishes. (However, Vader does not vanish at the end of Jedi- at least we don't see it). Qui-Gon is killed and his body sticks around for awhile.
The best character in the whole show (and really the icon that was shoved down our throats during the pre-release hype) is a blip. Darth Maul was what many of us paid to see and got very little of him. Instead...
Fans had to deal with the most idiotic, vaudevilian, comic-relief, what-in-blue-blazes-am-I-looking-at, character to ever appear on screen. Jar-Jar is not cute, funny, or needed. Period.
"The Empire Strikes Back" built on and improved the characters and worlds introduced in "A New Hope".Let's just hope that "Episode Two" takes the story in a better direction than what has been given to viewers this time around. 5 out of 10 here.