Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace [DVD]

Ok so clearly it’s the worst of the first 6 Star Wars movies. However, it’s not as terrible as you remember .. Liam Nieson is cool, Darth Maul is awesome and I greatly enjoy the end fight.. Ignore Jar jar and it’s worth a second watch ..

Episode 1 of starwars is the official start of Anakin's story. The true start of the Skywalker Saga. Coming here from the Original Trilogy? Well, you're off to a good start, sort of. Anakin Skywalker's origins are where this movie begins.Haven't seen the Original Trilogy at all? That's ok too. This film pretty much helps someone getting into Star Wars very easily. It does seem like a lot to get through but it helps bring people into the franchise for sure. For people of all ages.

I already had the newer movies, but I only had the orginal 6 on dvd. I wanted them on the stream. I would have paid $120 to buy them separately. $71 bucks for all 9.....shoot yeah, count me in.Great deal!!! Not sure what region or such the dvd/blue rays are, but I wanted the streaming content and it works just fine :PRock on my little Padawans!!! :P

It's easy to argue over whether Jar-Jar was worse than Ewoks in 'contrived cuteness' or whether his accent detracted from the value of the movie. And yes, some of the rich "you're deep in the middle of a story" feeling of the other movies is lost here, since this of course is the beginning. Still, the Star Wars series has had an incredible impact on most people - from references to it showing up *everywhere*, to use of its terms in standard news broadcasts, even to many young women realizing, through Leia and Amidala, that women *can* be wielding laser pistols right alongside the men.I got the VHS version immediately, and there was no question in my mind that I would order this DVD as soon as humanly possible, and sit and explore its NUMEROUS special features. The commentary, storyboards, documentaries, features on design, and rest are all fascinating.To me, this movie wasn't of epic, sweeping moments, although there were a few of those. Perhaps THE favorite scene of mine is when Qui-Gon and Darth Maul are face to face with the energy barrier between them. They both realize that they temporarily are "stuck". Qui-Gon uses this time in the best possible way he can - he sits and recharges, storing all of his energy for the fierce battle that is about to come. Darth Maul is incapable of any thought but getting at Qui-Gon - and paces back and forth, burning his energy and impatient to get at it. This one scene symbolizes to me the huge difference between the sides of the force.Yes, the graphics are incredible, but the light saber battles to me are far more impressive, the amazing choreography that outshine any previous fight scenes. The pod racing scenes ended up getting me addicted to the pod racer game for a solid month, if not more.It's a movie that gets into you and has implications on the things we aspire to and the way in which we talk to each other. That's pretty impressive for a sci-fi tale. I highly recommend getting this, if only because it is a piece of our cultural history.

I'm not giving this five stars because it was a good movie...it wasn't. I'm sure everyone has thought or hear about how annoying Jar-Jar is (though not as bad the second time I watched it); the pod-racing was way too long and the announcers were too "modern" (sounds like Mel Allen doing the play-by-play); the actors playing Anakin and his mother are wretched (I don't know what was worse, their acting or their dialogue); shameful use of things such as fart and feces jokes; and Darth Maul is *seriously* underdeveloped as a character. The odd thing is that the five minutes of the final showdown between the Jedi is great filmmaking, the rest is Lucas playing with his "toys". What made the original trilogy great is that it was your classic Arthur legend, set in space, and done so in a manner that it worked on several levels. Kids loved the battles and special effects, adults could enjoy the plot-twists and the progress of the characters. None of this happens in the Phantom Menance, it's "dumbed down" to the lowest commmon denominator and if it had been truly the first movie in 1977, the series would have died. The DVD however is what DVD is all about. One disc has the movie with special features such as commentary and such, the other has mini-documentaries, photo and video galleries, etc. Nicely done. What scares me is watching the deleted scenes...because the movie could have been worse. The pod races could have been even longer than they were, the Jedi and Jar-Jar could have been threatened by falling over a waterfall for no reason when they arrive at the Naboo capital, etc. Bottom line, DVD: Five Stars; Movie: Two Stars at best.

Many people are critical of this film, and for the non-Star Wars freak that maybe true. However, for those who are fans of the books and the movies, this film is terrific. Yes, I will admit that Jar Jar is annoying, but so was C3-PO when the original trilogy came out. The true charm to this film is the explaination it depicts of many unanswered questions that the films and books have created. From the actual incarnation of creatures and aliens that our minds eye has not been able to create to the explaination of how Jabba the Hutt gained his power. (and what a female Hutt looked like) This is what this trilogy is intended to do.On top of that, Mr. Lucas and company did a fantastic job casting this film. Everyone from Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman did a fantastic job playing the noble characters of an age in which the chivalrous order of the Jedi were the elite of the galaxy. Young Anakin was portrayed fantastically...he was portrayed as a kid...exactly what he should be, and exactly what Luke was in Episode IV. Overall, this is a film about introducing characters and explaining an unknown universe to a populace that already knows the ending and Mr. Lucas and company did a fantastic job!

I have all nine of this set excluding Rogue One, the performances are first rate, from the sadly underused apprentice, the non explanation as to how the Sith Order, once as numerous as the Jedi, but given it radically extreme introspection precipitating internecine strife and leadership battles in an order where everyone was already only out for their own personal advancement and the construction and acquisition of dangerous powers, before the Jedi swept in and wiped them out to a single master and his apprentice. It would not be until episode III that Palpatine's revelry of reciting the tragedy of Darth Plageus the Wise - witch king - by the apprentice who,from a smile of what might possibly just have been prideful reminiscence, might possibly have been, arguably, Palpatine himself who slew Darth Plageus in his sleep after learning all the mysteries of both the Sith AND the Jedi from him. Ah well, all's well that ends well(?).x

I was very impressed to find how good, in terms of quality this particular DVD is. Given its price I thought it would be okay and no more than that. I was really surprised therefore, to find how good a quality these discs are. I am, like most people, aware of everything that is available nowadays..downloading etc... I am not an avid Starwars fan, I just enjoy watching the films. I remember when it was first released in the 1990s it received unfair and unkind comments from some quarters but not from me. Happily, I watched it again and can say I really enjoyed it.

This was a great story the best Sci Fi set of 6 films. I love star wars from when I first went to the Cinema back in 1977 to start seeing the 1st trilogy & this was the start of the 2nd trilogy bringing it up to date to show how it all came together. I love it.

People who actually form thier own independant opinions on things must objectively rate this as one of the most entertaining movies of all time--if they can be honest with themselves. The Special FX were great--the story was fresh without having to add gratuitous sex or gory violence(the jaded can't seem to live without this sort of thing). At the theatre I was on the edge of my seat during the whole pod racer sequence, and during Aniken's hair raising trip in the fighter craft. My whole family loved Jar Jar Binks and talked about him all the way home. I think Alien Intolerence should be the next target of the Civil Rights movement.

Having owned this when it was first released- I expected the same box and liner notes- it doesn’t have those. Same discs tho. The filmIs excellent- I got dvd rather that blu ray as I wanted the puppet yoda- in subsequent blu rays they have changed to a digital yoda. Great film- very underrated coz of the hype.