In this case, as in most, the hype is bigger than the payoff.

Rating: 4/10 (23 May 1999)

I think George Lucas himself said it best, "It's just a movie, get a life!", a message aimed at those who have made it their mission in life to see this movie ahead of everybody else.
And sorry as I am to say this, it was not that good. In fact, this movie is arrogantly overrated. This is what the first Star Wars movie would have looked like if it had a bigger budget. While the first Star Wars was a groundbreaking masterpiece, "The Phantom Menace" is simply a retread of all the elements of the previous three movies. While watching it, I felt the strong "Been there, done that" feeling.
There are some good moments, but not nearly enough. The script is surprisingly goofy, with few of the elements that made the first Star Wars so surprising and enjoyable. Even during the best fight scenes I was not thrilled, because it was deja vu, I knew what the outcome would be, and how they reached that outcome is the biggest insult of all. See the movie and you'll know what I mean. Creativity and innovation have no meaning here.
As far as scams go, this has to be the biggest cinematic rip-off of all time. People were lining up to get the new toys at one minute after midnight, and then there were the people camping out to get first tickets. All I hope is that it was worth their effort to get the tickets, because it wasn't worth what little effort I put into getting mine. A crushing disappointment.