1999
Rated: PG for sci-fi action and violence
Genre: Fantasy Adventure
Directed By: George Lucas
Running Time: 2:11
Review by: Felix Vasquez Jr.
Review Date:
DVD Features:
 Disc 1
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 EX - English
Dolby Surround - English
Dolby Surround - Spanish
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary - 1. George Lucas - Writer/Director, Rick McCallum - Producer, Ben Burtt - Co-Editor/Sound Designer, Rob Coleman - ILM Animation Director, John Knoll - Visual Effects Supervisor, Dennis Muren - Visual Effects Supervisor, Scott Squires - Visual Effects Supervisor
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus

Disc 2
Featurettes - 1. "The Beginning"
2. Deleted Scenes Documentary with 7 Deleted Sequences with Full Visual Effects
3. Storyline
4. Design
5. Costumes
6. Visual Effects
7. Fight Sequences
8. "Star Wars: Starfighter - The Making of a Game" from LucasArts
Making-Of - 12-Part Web Documentary
Multiple Angles Storyboard-to-Animatic-to-Film Comparisons - Submarine and Podrace Lap 1
Music Video - John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra - "Duel of the Fates"
Trailers - 1. Teaser
2. Original Theatrical Trailers
3. 7 TV Spots
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Text/ Photo Galleries:
Stills/ Photos
Poster Art
DVD-ROM Features:
Web Links
If you like this, try: The Original Star Wars Series
STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE
(The force is weak in this one)

 

It's really hard to explain this plot because it's very confusing. Just read the plot summary above. I'll just tell you the subplot I know. This goes back about 30 years from the original Star Wars, Obi-wan Kenobi known as a jedi master is just a jedi apprentice, His teacher is Qui-Gonn Jinn who is a new character, Yoda is younger, The evil Lord Darth Vader is just a small rambunctious scamp who is a slave on his home planet. So Qui-gonn and Kenobi get stranded on the planet where the Evil Darth Maul is hunting them. They discover the boy, Qui-Gonn can sense the force in Anakin, But Kenobi is against it. While leaving the planet, Qui-gonn has a brief confrontation with Maul but leaves safely and so begins the forming of Anakin. That's really the gist of it all. What can I say about this movie?
    This is really good. Me being a hardcore "Star Wars" fan I was able to go into the theatre with high hopes. The character development is great, The enemy is cool, The special-effects are extremely phenomonal with the lightsaber battle scenes, ships, space battles, and Extraordinary landscapes. The creatures are great and very imaginative. I left the theatre very satisfied.

It pains me to say that this movie has alot of faults, Unfortunately I left the theatre satisfied but somewhat disappointed. Episode 1 lacks alot of the heart the original series embraced. The plot is very very dull and extremely slow. It drags at a snails pace. Alot of the characters have no heart in this and display no real emotions. In the first movie we had Han Solo who displayed humor and sarcasm, Leia who displayed ferocity and independence, Luke who displayed innocence and ambition, Chewbacca who displayed pure animal ferocity, and The droids who displayed corkiness. But in this one, all the characters seemed depressed and the only comic relief was barely comical. Also, the dialogue was too long and intellectual, I never heard anyone say: "Okay, or Yeah, or so what."
    I know it seems a bit dumb but believe it or not, the movie is much more watchable that way. There were also alot of sequences in here that were meant to be dramatic and pivotal but they just unfolded as unnecessary and droll. For example, the big pod race with Anakin which had intentions of being dramatic and tense but to me, seemed very dull and dumb. The big spaceship battle in the end was dumb too. It featured alot of minor characters and no key characters so it made it very unnecessary. In the first one and third one we Had Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in battle trying to destroy the death star. These are key characters which makes the battle all the more important. George Lucas should learn more. So in conclusion, the movie is great but not without its faults, so I suggest this for Hardcore fans of the saga and not for regular movie-goers.

A somewhat sub-par and partly disappointing comeback for Lucas back into the "Star Wars" series, but still watchable and fun.