Release Year: 1999 Rating: PG Duration: 133 minutes Other Title: Star Wars: Episode I - The Beginning Director: George Lucas Producer: Rick McCallum, George Lucas Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
The first of three prequels to George Lucas' celebrated STAR WARS films, EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE is set some 30 years before 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 being threatened by the corrupt Trade Federation, puppets of an evil Sith lord and his terrifying apprentice, Darth Maul (Ray Park). The seemingly benevolent Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is chief adviser to the queen, though there are suspicions surrounding him. Jedi knights Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor, performing an amazing vocal interpretation of Alec Guinness, the older Obi-Wan) are called on to intervene in the trade disputes. Along the way, they acquire an apprentice of their own in the form of young prodigal Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), or as STAR WARS fans know him, the future Darth Vader. They also encounter Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), a goofy, lizardlike creature who has been banished from his underwater world for his clumsiness. When the Trade Federation launches an attack on Naboo, the queen and her allies must battle hordes of robot troopers while Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan face off against the sinister Darth Maul.
cast
Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi Ian McDiarmid as Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker Keira Knightley as Sabé (queen's decoy) Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn Natalie Portman as Queen Padmé Amidala Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Reviews (5 reviews)
Source : rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating : 4
If this were any other movie, it would have had the most horrible, over-long, dumb-sounding title in history. If this were any other movie, I'd have been laughing at all the wrong places. If this were any other movie... well, this *isn't* any other movie, is it? Far from it. The most anticipated movie, some say, since GONE WITH THE WIND, and when a screen of blue text reading "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." gets enormous applause, that's hard not to believe.
