Review of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) by Matt M — 04 Apr 2017

Part 1 in my review of all "Live action" star wars movies in chronological order.

STAR WARS EPISODE I - The Phantom Menace.

One of the most hyped films ever, one of the most beloved franchises ever... Also turned out to be one of the most hated films ever. And I can see why! Odd pacing, god awful dialogue, terrible characters, the original Yoda puppet, Horrific CGI and don't get me started on Jar Jar Binks. But for me, there is a distinctive charm to this film that keeps on drawing me in. I love the premise, the fact that planets such as coruscant and naboo all had democracies as did so many of the planets seen before major war broke out. The trade federation, although not the main villain, were pretty menacing and the reliance on the battle droids show how arrogant they are. That brings me to the action... Pure cinematic gold. Although the editing could have been done better even else seems incredible. Obi-wan and Qui-Jonn VS Darth maul, The Naboo starfighters against the trade federation ships which to me appear as an early form of TIE Fighter, The ground battle of Naboo with the droids starts off well but does drop, And the pod race sequence. Unlike most, I prefer young Anakin to Hayden Christensen. The john williams score is by far the best part of this film, The genius stunned us with the original trilogy score but totally blew our heads of this time around. All of these make the film what it is. From a filmmakers view this film is utter garbage but from a fans point of view, I can't stop myself from loving it :D.

However it still gets a 3/5 stars from me.