Star Wars: Episode One, The Phantom Menace 1999, Rated PG

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Starring Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, et al. Released to DVD on April 4, 2000.

I am in awe of what George Lucas has accomplished here in The Phantom Menace. After miscasting most of the major roles, with the exception of Ewan McGregor as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, writing an incredibly hackneyed script filled with cliches and dialogue even Luc Besson knew not to use in his space epic, The Fifth Element, Lucas finished off his movie by delivering one of the worst directorial performances in the 1990's, and yet still, even after all this, his film became the second highest grossing film of all time and scores of people and unknowing critics hailed Lucas as a genius, effectively giving him a dump truck load of money and kudos for doing his job poorly! The only positive of The Phantom Menace comes in the form of the special effects and breath-taking CG images. This fails to hold a candle to the original trilogy.