It's taken about nineteen years, but I really enjoy this film now

Rating: 9/10 (12 July 2019)

I'd say this film was one of my least favorite sci-fi films when I watched it originally on VHS (Yes, I'm that old to know what the heck a VHS is without watching Stranger Things). However, after watching Episodes II and III as well as most of the first season of The Clone Wars and reading some of the Expanded Universe books, it grew on me. I just recently watched it as of writing this review, and I found it surprisingly enjoyable, much more so than the rather poor and un-rewatchable productions of recent years produced by Disney and Lucasfilm.
Now, this film is not perfect, and not just because of the character of Jar-Jar Binks. Jake Lloyd's Anakin was a bit wooden as was Ewan as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Natalie Portman could have thrown a bit more emotion in certain scenes of playing Padme. The better performances go to Liam Neeson and, of course, Ian McDiarmid. John Williams' score is really memorable, especially with the iconic piece 'Duel of the Fates', which is practically the theme song of the Prequel Trilogy. There's some great fight scenes and the climatic battle sequence is well-edited and shot.
The expanded universe novelization by Terry Brooks also helps flesh out this story. I recommend reading it before watching this film, as it lends depth to a lot of scenes.