Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Not a masterpiece, but it's an example of how imagination, craftsmanship, and technological bravura can fashion superior entertainment out of something that is far from flawless.Read Full Review »

An astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking.Read Full Review »

It's up to snuff. It sustains the gee-whiz spirit of the series.Read Full Review »

Let the killjoys squawk. Lucas has proved he has the Naboos to pull it off again. And again. And again.Read Full Review »

Fails to recapture the elemental magic of Star Wars, and that, ironically, is because it represents the coarse culmination of the original film's adrenaline aesthetic.Read Full Review »

Good enough, but only just. It's got the hardware, but neither the characters, the imagination, nor the resonance one had hoped for.Read Full Review »

"Star Wars" fans deserve better.Read Full Review »

While the new film is certainly serviceable, it's noticeably lacking in warmth and humor, and though its visual strengths are real and considerable, from a dramatic point of view it's ponderous and plodding.Read Full Review »

All the state-of-the-art technology in the world is no help to an actor saddled with Lucas's tinny dialogue.Read Full Review »

It is likely to disappoint more people than creator George Lucas would have liked.Read Full Review »