As a film intended to introduce the Star Wars world, the design and special effects that went into this are beautiful and add scope and detail to the original trilogy. The score is also a wonderful addition to the already iconic music. As an introduction to a new set of characters, the story of the discovery of Anakin Skywalker is poorly paced and lacks urgency, despite characters consistently reminding the audience that time is short. Too many cameos and bit parts for extraneous characters and dialogue telling us what is already being shown slow the film down considerably. Better editing would have resulted in a better film. Liam Neeson however carries the film with a great performance as Qui Gon Jinn and the villains are equally compelling, culminating in a stunning duel between the Jedi and Sith which is still one of the high points of the whole series.

I really don't think this film is as bad as everyone makes out. I get that it was disappointing but I wouldn't say it's significantly worse than Attack of the Clones. At least this Anakin can act. It does seem more aimed at younger audiences but what's wrong with that? I feel like it appealed to the kid in all of us and let us have a little fun in the Star Wars universe.

>Nute: *"My lord, is that legal?"* Sidious: *"I will make it legal!"* The Clone Wars have always been my favorite *Star Wars* era (strongly influenced by *Star Wars: The Clone Wars*), it's crowded with cool Jedi, lasers and sabers everywhere, there's a bunch of organizations ready to backstab each other, and the war aspect has never been better. ***The Phantom Menace*** is a great start to this era and a good start to Anakin's origin story. The characters are certainly a hit. Qui-Gon is the Jedi steriotype we needed, he was perfect as the main character. Obi-Wan (minus the rat tail) is easy to root for and gets a killer setup by the end of the movie. Young Anakin's arc isn't my favorite, he feels like a side story when he's introduced but the seeds of his story start to grow when he gets to the Republic. You can say all you want about clumsy Jar Jar Binks but I find him hilarious. Darth Maul is a freakin badass, not just because he has one of the best most memorable makeup of all-time, but he really kicks ass and I feel scared for our protagonists whenever he's around. I wish he actually talked and was in the movie more though. The first 30 minutes are very fast-paced and adventure heavy but it unfortunately comes to a halt once Anakin shows up. It's all for the sake of character development but it slowed down the movie for a minute. The costumes and set designs are amazing, Padme changes clothes everytime we see her and we basically get a new set piece every 20-30 minutes. Great score. I can see the effects being ugly a few years from now (looks fake and plastic in some parts) but they're not totally obsolete yet. Not the best camerawork in the action sequences, couldn't see much in the first fight between Qui-Gon and Maul. Wild third act with a lot of tension, the red panels thing was a fabulous idea. Very emotional moment because they made us care. This goes down as one of the best fight sequences in the franchise.

Every time I rewatch this movie, Jar Jar gets more and more unironically funny

After all this time, Episode I still holds up in production value and especially the score from John Williams. Just parts of the dialogue remain cringe-worthy. Duel of the Fates rocks as always.