the event of events is upon us .
people have waited twenty - two years for the prequel to star wars and die - hard fans have been camping out at theaters for months to get tickets to see it .
i do n't think that america will ever actually recover from what this hurricane of a film has caused .
it is not a bit of an exaggeration to say that this is the most highly anticipated movie in history .
anyone who tells you " it 's just a movie " is either lying or clueless .
it is clearly obvious that after the waiting and the hype actually seeing the movie will be anticlimactic .
the second coming of the lord could not live up to the kind of buzz ( which is far too weak a word ) that star wars epsode i : the phantom menace so effortlessly generated .
but that does not mean that the film itself is bad .
in fact , it is terrific .
i strongly suspect that many of the people who were dissappointed by it have simply surrendered to the media machine and the inevitable backlash .
it is set some decades before the events of the original 1977 star wars took place .
the film focuses on the fledgling republic of planets and the conflict that is raging : the trade federation , angry at some tax raise that was recently put in place has invaded the small , peaceful planet of naboo .
the republic sent two jedi knights ( people that can actively communicate with what is affectionately known as " the force " ) , qui - gon jinn ( liam neeson ) and obi - wan kenobi ( ewan mcgregor )
to negotiate . unable to stop the tide of events that was about to occur , the jedi and the queen of naboo ( natalie portman ) escape naboo and head for coruscant to try and get the republic senate to intervene .
on the way they get sidetracked to a planet called tatooine , where they meet the movie 's real focal point , young anakin skywalker ( jake lloyd ) .
he is an innocent slave boy , but " the force is strong with him " so qui- gon is determined to take him with them to the jedi counsel and get him trained as a jedi .
as any self - respecting star wars fan should know , anakin will grow up to be darth vader and give birth to luke skywalker .
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from the beginning it is evident that this is not an actor 's movie .
around 70 % of the characters , if not more , are computer generated in one form or another , and though the effects are seamless , the movie lacks soul .
i think that although the computer has played an incredibly instrumental part in moviemaking this decade , cinema should still be a human art and
the phantom menace nearly defies this .
this is the lightest installment in the star wars saga thus far , with plenty of broad comic relief to go around , much of it courtesy of an irritating knew character named jar - jar binks .
he 's essentially a computer - animated sidekick who says things like " exqueeze me ? " and " mesa go now , okeday ? " , and although it is often amusing
it is also inherently annoying .
the visual effects are astounding
( although director george lucas often chickens out by cutting away from them ) and the movie is a thrilling triumph . if it lacks in plot and in acting
it makes up for it through imagination and excitement .
the climactic lightsaber battle
( oh , come on , as if you did n't already know ) , among other things , is outrageously entertaining and defines the term " popcorn movie " .
what made me surrender and give this movie
*
*
* 1/2 stars was the score by john williams .
even though it does seem like the man scores every single movie that comes out these days ,
his work here is nothing short of brilliant .
his use of opera during the climax really does add a punch and his ingenious way of utilizing the imperial march as a sort of prophecy is chilling .
the phantom menace is probably most effective as pop nostalgia .
when you see " a long time ago , in a galaxy far , far away " , when the familiar music plays , when the words " star wars " appear on screen , you 'll feel a tingle even if you did n't see the movie when it first came out in ' 77 .
it feels oddly exciting to be introduced to young anakin , a boy whose innocence , we know , will be taken away and who will soon cross over to the dark side .
it is the perfect example of dramatic irony to see the jedi masters aspire to get him trained in the jedi arts ; we know that it will do more harm than good , but they do not .
we not only feel more involved in the story , but we feel like we 're seeing the beginning of a saga that we have cherished for years .
the phantom menace , although lacking in human aspects of the story , is a very worthy installment in the star wars .
it works as an action flick ,
visually eye - popping and often paralyzingly exciting ; it also works as an elicitor of memories , a piece of exquisite nostalgia . ?
1999 eugene novikov&#137 ;
Output: P