The horror of Jar Jar Binks aside, there's plenty in Episode I to keep us entertained.
Comment
03/04/08
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
64 %
Reviews Counted: 151 Fresh: 97 Rotten:54 Average Rating: 6/10
Consensus:
Lucas needs to improve on the plot and character development, but there's plenty of eye candy to behold.
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Synopsis: The first of three prequels to George Lucas's celebrated STAR WARS films, EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE is set some 30 years before the original STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE in the era of the Republic. Naboo, a peaceful planet governed by the young but wise Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman), is... [More]
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid
Reviews
Top Critic
Charmless, sexless, passionless and robot-humoured, it's preposterously uninvolving.
06/24/06
Top Critic
A murky, talky prequel that emphasises all the series' weakest elements rather than its strongest ones.
03/03/02
An often deliriously exciting adventure, hitting the target audience of 10-year olds and satisfying long-time fans.
07/31/01
Top Critic
It's wholesome and enjoyable entertainment for kids, rather than the slap in the face a truly bad movie would have been, but the fans deserve more.
01/01/00
A great work from a greater director, and a blockbuster of quite the most swashbuckling kind.
01/01/00
Top Critic
It's still a galaxy far, far away, and it still looks like nothing we've ever seen before.
07/14/07
It's good to have Star Wars -- any Star Wars -- back after such a long time; and it's worth seeing.
05/26/06
Despite a shaky start and the presence of questionable elements throughout, by the time it arrives at its finale The Phantom Menace has won its place alongside the original Star Wars trilogy.
03/02/06
Lucas has protected his multibillion-dollar franchise by making a film targeted at children. It gives them exactly what they want--eye candy that moves at light speed.
11/04/05
What’s important to remember is that the better moments don’t merely balance out the weaker ones - they topple them.
05/20/05
What is most striking about Lucas' movies -- all his movies, including THX 1138 and American Graffiti -- is a sort of startling obviousness.
05/19/05
I must take issue with the intense backlash from other critics against the film.
01/15/05
No film made could measure up to the avalanche of buzz and craziness surrounding this release. There is plenty of both good and bad news here.
05/20/03
I enjoyed the film and feel that it established the foundation for many story elements that were curiously unexplained in the previous trilogy.
02/08/03
Film franchises come and go all the time in Hollywood, particularly in science-fiction circles, but the Force is still strong in this one.
01/10/03
There are no romance, no humor, ultimately nobody to care about in this oddly sterile movie.
11/15/02
Top Critic
Lucas' films might not be very deep, but they're very complex and involving in a comic book kind of way.
09/10/02
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Around the Network
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace at Rotten Tomatoes
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace at IGN
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace at IGN
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