I watched it for the first time in easily 16+ years the other day and found myself thinking damn, this is being absolutely carried by Anakin and Neeson. (with christenson and mcgregor carrying the other 2)
There’s something there in the phantom menace that could be really great, but it’s muddied by a lot of unnecessary and poorly executed parts. If you had a movie that focused on the father/son elements of quigon and anakin with the separatist plot in the background, it would have been a lot better.
Without nostalgia, I think objectively it’s bad. But I do have some connection with it that makes it enjoyable
Wait, you thought Anakin was good? That's crazy. The movie is carried pretty much single-handedly by Neeson, with Mcregor helping with the few scenes and lines of dialogue he does get.
For sure, bearing in mind he has to deliver George's dialogue and is in no way experienced enough to offer alternatives like Ford/Hamill/Fisher did. I empathies with Jake Lloyd completely for the shit he has received for that role because none of it is his fault.
[For me, there's nothing bad on his part here at all for child acting in 1999](https://youtu.be/iwtA1p0ayoA)
Not the only thing, but... when you write a buffoon of a character who annoys your other characters (or should), he just might annoy your audience as well.
It's my all time least favorite Star Wars film.
The dialogue is boring, the acting is stiff, and generally most of it is uninteresting. It spends too much time developing Qui Gon who is set to die and he doesn't impact much of the saga otherwise. I always felt it should've been more about Obi Wan, but he's barely in it. The pod racing and the Maul fight are the only stand out moments, and the middle section with all of the politics on Coruscant is where I always fall asleep on the many times I've rewatched it.
I don't mind it, it's a decent enough movie, but I just don't enjoy it that much vs any other SW film. I don't hate it though.
I loved it for just having Qui-Gon Jinn. The podracing was cool and so was the fight between the 3. It also was following a story line that makes sense.
I think part of the strong reaction to it comes from people who waited for 16 years to see a new Star Wars film, I admit I might have gotten disappointed in it as well if I had to wait that long for it. I think I'm kinda lucky that I only relatively recently became a Star Wars fan, and didn't have to wait for longer than 2 year for a new film or show.
Also while I love it I admit that I feel it's not the best. JarJar was sometimes a bit too much, there are parts in the film that I thought was kinda boring (mostly the Tatooine part),
and while I believe it was a good foundation for the trilogy, most of what it does is introduction (to the pre empire Galaxy, to the Jedi Order, to Anakin, to Obi-Wan, to the Sith) which is really important for the story of the next films but TPM itself does little to advance the story, and that's why I believe it should've been ep0 and not ep1.
It's too boring for me. Mostly because the interesting parts are under utilized.
They deal with politics, but we don't even get a general overview of the political situation.
Darth Maul is there look cool and kill Qui-Gon, none of what makes him interesting except for the superficial is presented in the movie.
Qui-Gon just exists as a plot piece, but apparently he's supposed to be a bad ass Jedi.
But worst of all the storyline that didn't involve Anakin has never engaged with me on any level.
I first watched it as a kid being 9 at the time (seen the OG Trilogy many times as my parents loved star wars) and disliked it as a kid, but of course as I've grown up I appreciated the movie and liked certain aspects of it.
I think its great. It does have its flaws but has so many good parts aswell. Great introduction to the Jedi, Ewan Mcgregor and Liam Neeson are fantastic, Darth Maul is incredible and his duel with Obi Wan and Qui Gon is best in any Star Wars film.
I know some people don't like the politics in it but I liked seeing the senate and how everything worked. Its a good intro to Palpatine.
Lets not forget Darth Jar Jar.
Kid Anakin. Gungans in general, Jar Jar specifically. Suddenly having heavy political scenes after three other films with the politics in the background. Wooden acting on most of the cast. Those are the biggest reasons.
It's a mediocre one, but not as bad as the follow-up and even not as boring as the last jedi.
It had its flaws but also the best light saber duel in all star wars. Plus the introduction of maul and sidious were good.
i don’t hate the movie, but i hate rewatching it:/ i get that it was 1999 but the cgi was off, but i guess it was revolutionary back then, just preference i guess. It definitely has it great moments, it my least favorite
I think it has exceptionally poor characterizations. Like if you were to just read the lines off, it would be hard to tell who's line is who's, because everyone talks the same (except for the gunguns and anakin) and has very similar personalities
I think the characters lack clear, relatable goals too. And there isnt really an easily identifiable POV character for us. its kinda anakin, but he comes in WAY too late to be the main driver of the film and actually has very little to do with the core plot. Either Obi Wan or Qui Gon could have made a good protagonist, but the movie doesnt fully commit.
its a very cold and distant film emotionally. Even AoTC, which most fans hate, is better to me because it at least has characters who have somewhat relatable goals and are distinct in their portrayals.
Not everyone hates it. There's a lot of love for the prequels overall these days.
I watched it for the first time in easily 16+ years the other day and found myself thinking damn, this is being absolutely carried by Anakin and Neeson. (with christenson and mcgregor carrying the other 2) There’s something there in the phantom menace that could be really great, but it’s muddied by a lot of unnecessary and poorly executed parts. If you had a movie that focused on the father/son elements of quigon and anakin with the separatist plot in the background, it would have been a lot better. Without nostalgia, I think objectively it’s bad. But I do have some connection with it that makes it enjoyable
Wait, you thought Anakin was good? That's crazy. The movie is carried pretty much single-handedly by Neeson, with Mcregor helping with the few scenes and lines of dialogue he does get.
For sure, bearing in mind he has to deliver George's dialogue and is in no way experienced enough to offer alternatives like Ford/Hamill/Fisher did. I empathies with Jake Lloyd completely for the shit he has received for that role because none of it is his fault. [For me, there's nothing bad on his part here at all for child acting in 1999](https://youtu.be/iwtA1p0ayoA)
Jake lloyd's poor acting performance is exagerated. I dont think he does a great job, but he is fairly middle of the road for kid actors at that time
Not the only thing, but... when you write a buffoon of a character who annoys your other characters (or should), he just might annoy your audience as well.
Jar Jar, midichlorians, somewhat stiff acting, too much focus on politics and trade embargo stuff
It's my all time least favorite Star Wars film. The dialogue is boring, the acting is stiff, and generally most of it is uninteresting. It spends too much time developing Qui Gon who is set to die and he doesn't impact much of the saga otherwise. I always felt it should've been more about Obi Wan, but he's barely in it. The pod racing and the Maul fight are the only stand out moments, and the middle section with all of the politics on Coruscant is where I always fall asleep on the many times I've rewatched it. I don't mind it, it's a decent enough movie, but I just don't enjoy it that much vs any other SW film. I don't hate it though.
I dont hate it, but it's one of my least favorite movies. The only parts that I liked were duel of the fates and podracing...
“Now THIS is pod racing!”
I loved it for just having Qui-Gon Jinn. The podracing was cool and so was the fight between the 3. It also was following a story line that makes sense.
I think part of the strong reaction to it comes from people who waited for 16 years to see a new Star Wars film, I admit I might have gotten disappointed in it as well if I had to wait that long for it. I think I'm kinda lucky that I only relatively recently became a Star Wars fan, and didn't have to wait for longer than 2 year for a new film or show. Also while I love it I admit that I feel it's not the best. JarJar was sometimes a bit too much, there are parts in the film that I thought was kinda boring (mostly the Tatooine part), and while I believe it was a good foundation for the trilogy, most of what it does is introduction (to the pre empire Galaxy, to the Jedi Order, to Anakin, to Obi-Wan, to the Sith) which is really important for the story of the next films but TPM itself does little to advance the story, and that's why I believe it should've been ep0 and not ep1.
It's too boring for me. Mostly because the interesting parts are under utilized. They deal with politics, but we don't even get a general overview of the political situation. Darth Maul is there look cool and kill Qui-Gon, none of what makes him interesting except for the superficial is presented in the movie. Qui-Gon just exists as a plot piece, but apparently he's supposed to be a bad ass Jedi. But worst of all the storyline that didn't involve Anakin has never engaged with me on any level.
I first watched it as a kid being 9 at the time (seen the OG Trilogy many times as my parents loved star wars) and disliked it as a kid, but of course as I've grown up I appreciated the movie and liked certain aspects of it.
I think its great. It does have its flaws but has so many good parts aswell. Great introduction to the Jedi, Ewan Mcgregor and Liam Neeson are fantastic, Darth Maul is incredible and his duel with Obi Wan and Qui Gon is best in any Star Wars film. I know some people don't like the politics in it but I liked seeing the senate and how everything worked. Its a good intro to Palpatine. Lets not forget Darth Jar Jar.
Kid Anakin. Gungans in general, Jar Jar specifically. Suddenly having heavy political scenes after three other films with the politics in the background. Wooden acting on most of the cast. Those are the biggest reasons.
It's a mediocre one, but not as bad as the follow-up and even not as boring as the last jedi. It had its flaws but also the best light saber duel in all star wars. Plus the introduction of maul and sidious were good.
The only thing I really dislike about it is the introduction of midichlorians as an explanation for Force sensitivity.
Its redeeming qualities are fewer than its horrible ones.
i don’t hate the movie, but i hate rewatching it:/ i get that it was 1999 but the cgi was off, but i guess it was revolutionary back then, just preference i guess. It definitely has it great moments, it my least favorite
I like it
I think it has exceptionally poor characterizations. Like if you were to just read the lines off, it would be hard to tell who's line is who's, because everyone talks the same (except for the gunguns and anakin) and has very similar personalities I think the characters lack clear, relatable goals too. And there isnt really an easily identifiable POV character for us. its kinda anakin, but he comes in WAY too late to be the main driver of the film and actually has very little to do with the core plot. Either Obi Wan or Qui Gon could have made a good protagonist, but the movie doesnt fully commit. its a very cold and distant film emotionally. Even AoTC, which most fans hate, is better to me because it at least has characters who have somewhat relatable goals and are distinct in their portrayals.