A Great Movie

Rating: 10/10 (11 April 2005)

There are a number of ingredients that make the Phantom Menace a superb film. Since the special effects have a sledgehammer-on-head obviousness to them, I'd like to discuss some of the other traits which - to me - make this film the best of the STAR WARS series.
1. Politics: While the original trilogy had little in the way of politics (rebellion vs. empire - pretty straight-forward), in this film, we get loads of interesting political intrigue. Whether it's the Queen's dealings with the Trade Federation, or the rampant corruption and inefficiency in the crumbling Republic, there's much to like here. In particular, we're introduced to Palpatine, who winds up being the most evil villain there is of all the SW films.
2. Character development. Whether it's the mystical, stubborn Qui-Gon, the rapidly-getting-more-evil Palpatine, the shrouded-in-mystery Darth Maul, or countless others, PM does a great job developing characters. This is great for watching just a single movie, but considering the fact that this is the first of (at least) 6 chapters, the development here is key.
3. Light-sabre duelling. There is really no question that this film has the best duel in the entire series. That alone is worth the price of admission. Anyone who says otherwise is seeing the older films through rose-colored glasses.
4. Plot twists: Without getting into spoiler-details, the plot twists particularly well. This plays in with the politics discussed above, and it's appropriate that folks in high levels of government would employ such deception and trickery, especially in times of war.
5. Rewatch-ability: To me, this film is the easily the most enjoyable to watch over and over again. There are no whiny brats, no tiresome, poorly acted romances. The plot is efficient and purposeful, the action is great, and the pacing is right on.
As many have discussed, Jar-Jar can be ignored. Interestingly, while most people find the pod-races thrilling, I found it a little annoying that so much time was spent on Tatooine getting engine parts. However, I can live with this because the effects are awesome, and the visit to Tatooine is of paramount significance to the future of the Epic (i.e. the will of the force bringing them there to discover the Chosen One, who does in fact bring balance by eventually destroying the Sith Lord).
This movie stands on its own as a fantastic movie, even if there were no other movies. When watched with the knowledge of what's to come, this movie is easily the best of the series and it's hard to imagine how Lucas could have introduced the series any better (removing Jar-Jar aside). Having the knowledge of the incredible importance of Padme, Obi-Wan, Annakin and Palpatine in future chapters makes this film a classic. These four are very well developed in this film, and it's really something to see each of their origins. Once Episode III is released and people have more and more of a chance to see the series as a whole, I imagine that the Phantom Menace will become more and more popularly regarded as the very best of the Star Wars films.