STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE [Blu-ray]

Easy to play, Easy viewing, good product

Good movie definitely recommend, should be on prime video with subscription but was well worth renting

As a star wars fan I could never have anything bad to say about the movies! I watch them all through every year

I saw the first Star Wars movie at the pictures in 1978, twice; I read the book (not great), collected the magazines and the bubblegum cards, made loads of models, and did passable imitations of both robots. Since then I've seen all the films - at the pictures again, cos a Star Wars movie is always a special occasion - and in a recent internet quiz I scored embarrassingly high marks.None of this makes me a proper Star Wars fan, because, in spite of all the above, I really rather like this movie.It's very solid Star Wars product - three acts of hair-raising daring-do on exotic planets, with a straightforward story of the need to stand one's ground and fight one's corner, with goodies and baddies clearly defined, even if the crux of the matter is a touch abstruse. Taxation of trade routes? Just tell me how that works? No, OK, you needn't...And the bad guys are quite properly repulsive and cowardly, and it's obvious why the viceroy needs a droid army - it's cos if someone punched him on the nose he'd run off crying - that'll also be why he doesn't have a nose. He's quite clearly terribly scared of Darth Sidious - and he's only a hologram. (Those costumes and the voices do make them seem rather Oriental; I do wonder if that is such a good idea, it could be mis-interpreted by people apt to grab the wrong end of a stick) I am prepared to believe that Battle Droids are dangerous to ordinary people and that it's only when hit by Jedi that they fall to bits in a pile of coat hangers and cutlery - mind you, those Droidekas are the business - I'll take two.Some people bitch about the acting in this. There is nothing wrong with any of the performances, incuding that being given by a ten year old. Obviously Liam Neeson is head and shoulders over the rest, and maybe that is also what he uses on his hair, and makes him look so like John the Baptist - which is basically Qui-Gon's role in this. Brian Blessed is big and shouty, and Ian McDiarmid is as smooth as oiled silk. Queen Amidala travels halfway across the galaxy, and all she does when she gets there is make a speech in the visually splendid Senate, and go home in disgust. If only she'd stayed home, Darth Vader would never have happened.I think it's very neat that the name Obi Wan Kenobi doesn't get mentioned until about halfway through the film.In the old days before the Empire, there were more silly-looking creatures in the universe - that's the only explanation I can think of as I put up with some of the daft-looking things in, for example, the pod race, or the daft-looking thing commentating it, and I wonder, open-mouthed at any culture whereby a man could rise to the rank of Lord Chamberlain while being called Sio Bibble, and I wish, how I wish, that Jar Jar Binks was not in this.It's like Jerry Lewis designed a Hanna Barbera version of Huggy Bear (off Starsky and Hutch) and then nobody ever punched it in the face - and I cannot understand why because, although Jar Jar is clearly supposed to be an adorable dim-witted klutz, he's actually very, very annoying. It's plain to see why the Gungans kicked him out (though they too look a bit HB) so why they ever thought to make him Bombard General is quite beyond me - though you can see why he later did so well in politics - Boris Johnson doesn't look quite as clever as Jar Jar Binks.And if it is aerodynamically impossible for bumble bees to fly, can somebody please explain to me how Watto can possibly get his fat bottom off the ground? And he also looks a bit daft. I've just had to check Wikipedia to find out the name of the ethnic group he is supposed to be an insulting parody of - apparently it is the Jewish stereotype - just credible, I suppose. I wonder how Mr Lucas can look Mr Speilberg in the face these days.The other bit I can't swallow is little Anikan making C-3PO in his bedroom; quite apart from it being contrived (and quite badly too) the 'to help Mom' bit is cutesy and schmaltzy and there are laws against that.Having said all that, I do like this movie - it's visually gorgeous, and the three worlds are beautifully realised, and I like Darth Maul, and I like those huge transports the Battle Droids ride in, and I like the ending with the villainous Palpatine keeping very quiet. I think this is a good movie.But obviously, I'm not a proper Star Wars fan.

Never thought I would watch Star wars, but really enjoyed it

After watching Star Wars 7, I thought I'd re watch Star Wars1, where it all began and all that.The general feeling this was the weakest of the 7 films so far, and for the first hour or so, Id have to agree, all the pod racing stuff and general shuffling around the desert planet was a little boring, but for true hard core fans, I had no real trouble with this at all.Star Wars 4 has lots of shuffling around the very same desert planet, it's just we're so spoilt and used to aliens and distant worlds, it hasn't the same punch for the 21st century audience as say Star Wars 4 had in the 70's.The film really comes alive in the final third of the film, Darth Maul makes Vader and Kylo look like shy public schoolboys , what a wasted character. It would have been far more interesting to delve deeper into this character, where he came from, how he became drawn into the dark side.- He's criminally underused.Secondly in the absence of Darth Maul being given a more central role, the film has no real central bad guy, its lop sided. We have lots of good guys, Darth Vader Junior is a good clean cut kid, and zero romance. The humour by the much maligned Jar Jar is slapstick, but there are no jokes or funny lines like Star Wars 4 to 7. And un-like 4 to 7 we have no Hans Solo type character- a lovable shady character who's not pure as the driven snow and sworn to the rebels or republic or whatever...The final duel and space battle scenes and the Queen assault on the palace have all the magic of the old films, but its distracted by the slap stick of JarJar's battle with the droids, which is all pure CGI and reduces the thing to watching Play Station.True hardcore fans wont hate this film, but the average viewer wont love it either

Good dvd plays well

I have all nine of this set excluding Rogue One, the performances are first rate, from the sadly underused apprentice, the non explanation as to how the Sith Order, once as numerous as the Jedi, but given it radically extreme introspection precipitating internecine strife and leadership battles in an order where everyone was already only out for their own personal advancement and the construction and acquisition of dangerous powers, before the Jedi swept in and wiped them out to a single master and his apprentice. It would not be until episode III that Palpatine's revelry of reciting the tragedy of Darth Plageus the Wise - witch king - by the apprentice who,from a smile of what might possibly just have been prideful reminiscence, might possibly have been, arguably, Palpatine himself who slew Darth Plageus in his sleep after learning all the mysteries of both the Sith AND the Jedi from him. Ah well, all's well that ends well(?).x