Star Wars. Episodio I: La amenaza fantasma

What everyone remembers fondly from this movie is Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor as Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul and their climatic duel. Sadly, there isn't more than a few minutes of Maul and instead we are given Jar Jar Binks and Jake Lloyd as a needlessly young Anakin. Along with these characters the movie is burdened by a general tone that's directed at children and an over reliance on still developing CGI technology.

It looks bad, it sounds bad(kudos to the actors who make this dialouge sound good) and the best aspects are too brief. The Phantom Menace has been lapidated by audiences and its kind of understandable: passionate Star Wars fans can look past the flaws but to the average viewer it can be very offputting.

But hey, look at what you got now.

Positives:

• Planets design
• Some of the action scenes
• Darth Maul
• Musical score

Negatives:

• Story
• Pacing
• Characters
• Acting
• Writing
• Dull cinematography

'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'. A movie, which has a difficult standing in the fan community. For me, not understandable, because I really like the movie and it's a successful prelude to the formerly new trilogy.

Admittedly, the movie has weaknesses. First of all, the hair-raising attempt to explain what 'the force' is. Qui-Gon tries to explain to Anakin that there are Midi-Chlorianes which are the basis and the reason for everything. Anakin replies that he doesn't understand what Qui-Gon is trying to explain to him. Thereupon Qui-Gon lets it rest and the scene is over. Of course, you wonder what that was all about. So either you explain it correctly or you leave it completely. But so the whole thing seems really unnecessary.

The entire storyline is unnecessarily complex and I have to admit that I didn't really understand it. You do have the feeling that you can understand the motivation of the respective characters, but the entire political plot is not 100% clear. It seems like an overambitious attempt to get seriousness into the movie.

Jar Jar Binks. Here, you realize that the movie was made for a younger audience. Jar Jar is an attempt to be funny in a childish and clumsy way. It wouldn't have needed it. However, I didn't find it really disturbing either.

These are points of criticism, but they only bother me to a limited extent. Episode I has so many strong moments. The whole act of introducing Anakin, the way Tatooine is portrayed, the really well staged pot race. All these moments know how to convince.

The chemistry between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan is brilliant. And while we're on the subject of characters, Darth Maul is for me one of the best antagonists there is. The few scenes with him manage to build a mystical aura around him. The fight between these three characters is outstanding as well.

Episode I is hard to compare to the first Star Wars movies. And it is precisely this comparison that is Episode I's undoing. The movie were made at a different time, have a different tone and of course it can't be denied that this movie was also made for a younger audience.

For me, Episode I did what Episode IV did for many others. To ignite enthusiasm for the Star Wars universe.

Honestly I don't get it why so many people hate this movie I can understand it is a bit too long but its not the weakest in the series, the weakest one in the series would have to be episode 2 Attack of the Clones, having too much romance in it. But I think this one is a lot more better then episode 2 in many ways. And also I think Jar Jar Binks is a rather underrated character I know he can be annoying at times but he did play a large role in this film which fans are missing the point. The pod race is problay the best scene in this whole film as it was rather enjoyable to watch over and over again on youtube. Soundtrack is amazing and very well done for this movie. I know some people hate this movie just because of one character but come on give this movie another chance it will surprised you in many ways.

overall Episode 1 is rather underrated and needs another chance

8/10

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, is a beautiful opening to perhaps one of the most beautiful space sagas of all-time!! This was George Lucas' attempt to set the stage, and place the characters that would eventually lead to the characters that we grew to know and love in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Now expectations for this film were EXTREMELY high when it was coming out in early 1999, and not everyone liked this film but this reviewer was not one of those people. I was one of the the people that loved it. For the most part, Lucas was given a blank check by Twentieth Century Fox to make this film and if you are to watch it again and just take in the landscapers, settings, costumes, technology, you will see the grand vision that Lucas had behind The Phantom Menace. He did not have these funds and technology at his disposal for his first three Star Wars films. This time he simply did not spare any expense in the prequel films. Israeli-American actress, and Academy Award Winner Natalie Portman changes through numerous costumes in the film, one better than the the other as does her entourage in costumes that are not that far off in terms of looks or expenses from Portman's. I can understand how some fans might be upset at how there are some slow scenes in the film, but it was important for Lucas to set up future action scenes - not to mention future movies - such as the scene where Qui-Gon Jinn (played admirably by Liam Neeson) takes a blood sample from young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) to get a midi-chlorian count (a Jedi blood count - something that lets Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan - played very well by Ewan McGregor - know he has Jedi potential). Lucas makes up for this though with outstanding action scenes later in the movie like the desert fight scene between the black clad ninja-like Sith warrior Darth Maul (Ray Park) and Qui-Gon in which the two clash sabers for a couple minutes before Qui-Gon wisely jumps to his ship and the safety of space!! The fact that Star Wars was back, and it was done in a satisfying way that set up future movies was good enough for me!! It had memorable characters, and while not all of these characters survived, they made an imprint on the Star Wars universe that Star Wars fans still cherish today!! Great action, fair acting, good costuming, good sound editing, great soundtrack by legend and genius John Williams, good direction and writing by God and legend George Lucas made this the most artistically beautiful and fun movie of the Star Wars saga!! 8 out of 10 stars!!