Star Wars Episode 1, the Phantom Menace (1999, PG)

After around 15 years since The Return of the Jedi George Lucas takes us back to Star Wars, this time set 30 years from the events of A New Hope where we learn of the origin of Star Wars.  Unfortunately, The Phantom Menace doesn’t take us near to the levels of the original trilogy. 

One criticism I have is that way too much is done on the design of the costumes; while it’s good that the filmmakers are putting effort into the movie, they overdid it in this area.  George Lucas, who returned to the director’s chair after a New Hope, received criticism for his style of filmmaking and his script writing.  Indeed, Lucas didn’t get up to his full potential as a script writer.    

But we learn where some of the original characters and their origins came from: Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, R2-D2, C-3PO and more.  The end lightsaber duel is, in my opinion, the best done of the series

 So while The Phantom Menace doesn’t come close to the original trilogy, we learn more of the characters and it gives us a generally good start to the new prequel trilogy.

Grade: B