

STAR WARS: EPISODE 1- THE PHANTOM MENACE
RATING: 8 / 10 --> Great movie

For more reviews and movie quizzes, visit http://www.joblo.com/

I am not a Star Wars fanatic, but I do love the Star Wars movies, and own
the first three in my personal collection (A little background on the critic
always helps...). This first episode of the Star Wars films goes back 30-odd
years before the first movie took place, and uncovers the origins of many of
the films' biggest attractions, with an emphasized focus on the young Anakin
Skywalker, later known simply as Darth Vader.

PLOT:
Suffice it to say that there is plenty of turmoil in the galaxy, and Queen
Amidala needs the protection of two Jedis in an attempt to save her people
from further suffering. Along their route, the Jedis pick up a bizarre
creature who helps them out (sort of), and a young boy, who carries within
him a very strong kinship to the Force.

CRITIQUE:
A visual feast. This movie is a perfect example of why the word "eye-candy"
was invented. More enjoyable than THE RETURN OF THE JEDI, but not as
interesting as THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK or STAR WARS, this film smashes all
previous science-fiction flicks and their claim to futuristic authenticity
with a flawless display of humans, robots, droids and every other kind of
freakazoid in the universe, meched into a wonderful world of special effect
wizardry of a society living in a galaxy far, far away...a long, long time
ago. Every scene contains plenty of beautiful and impeccably integrated
pieces of an artificial world made real by the genius of a man named George
Lucas. This film is a joy to watch and a wonder to inhabit.

Having said that, I found the story line confusing, a little slow in the
midsection, and ultimately boring. I won't numb you with the details of the
plot, but the bottom line is that there are bad guys, and there are good
guys. The Trade Federation, chancellors, blockades, I could do without. Not
very interesting. That being said, there is always something fantastic to
keep your eyes on at all times, so boredom was never really a big issue with
me. I also enjoyed the whole "getting to know" your characters information,
with plenty of background info on most of the prime members of the Star Wars
universe, and some fun cameos as well. The actors also kept up their end of
the bargain with Liam Neeson excellent as the main Jedi Knight, and Natalie
Portman pulling off a solid Queen. The little kid was also pretty good, but
Sam Jackson distracting, due mostly to his enormous presence.

My favorite new character was without a doubt Darth Maul who seemed to ooze
evil and had some cool light-sabering scenes with the Jedis. Too bad they
decided to use him in very little of the film. I also dug on young Anakin's
boss early on in the film, who is a perfect example of a CGI-created
character, who was fun to watch, and not overdone. On the other hand, my
least favorite new character is one that has seemed to rub many adults the
wrong way, and that is Jar-Jar Binks, the CGI-generated creature, which
annoyed me mostly because I didn't understand 3/4 of the things that he was
babbling about. Anyway, enough about him has been said already.

All in all, the film managed to enrapture me in its web of fantasy and space
adventure, strapping me in with its impeccable array of computer-generated
characters, holding me down with its great action scenes and interesting
background info, and blasting me off and into its exquisitely created
universe of special effect magic, majestic palaces and quaint villages, and
visually stunning characters.

Note: Forget the hype, forget this review, cleanse your mind. Just remember
that this is just a movie, so go stand in line and buy yourself some nachos
and Coke, sit your ass down and enjoy the visual story as it floats past
your eyes.

Little Known Facts about the movie and its stars: (courtesy of the IMDb)
George Lucas reportedly wrote this film in the same binder of yellow ruled
paper in which he wrote the original STAR WARS, and apparently financed this
$110-million film entirely out of his own personal stash. The character of
JarJar Binks was named by George Lucas' son, Jett.
During filming Ewan McGregor made lightsaber noises as he dueled. It was
noted and corrected during filmmaking. McGregor is the real-life nephew of
Denis Lawson, who played Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles in the original STAR
WARS.
In 1997, a fierce sandstorm destroyed several of the Tatooine sets in the
desert ouside of Tozeur, Tunisia. Filming resumed two days later. Director
George Lucas considered this a good omen, as the very same thing had
happened during filming of the original STAR WARS in 1977.
Natalie Portman re-dubbed nearly all of her lines after filming was
completed. Lucas' reasoning was that her voice has changed mildly during
filming and there was bad background noise during several of her other
scenes. Her Queen Amidala's throne-room dress took eight weeks to design.
During the first week of the first trailer's release, many theatres reported
up to 75% of their audiences paying full price for a movie, then walking out
after the Star Wars: Episode I trailer was shown.

Review Date:          May 19, 1999
Director:                  George Lucas
Writer:                      George Lucas
Producer:                Rick McCallum
Actors:                     Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn
                                 Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
                                 Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala
                                 Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker
Genre:                      Science-Fiction
Year of Release:    1999
---------------------------------------
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
http://www.joblo.com
---------------------------------------
(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian