Two Jedi Knights uncover a wider conflict when they are sent as emissaries to the blockaded planet Naboo.
Anakin's still irritating, Darth Maul's still cool and everything else is just as you remember it. Phantom Menace works best as kids' wish fulfilment stuff, so it's best left for the under 10s.
Still unsure of the basic mechanics of the plot, drags in places and that Binks chap wasn't just a bad dream, but when it soars, it soars.
Watched again now, Phantom Menace seems flat rather than actually objectionable: there is something almost exotic in its intricate dullness, and characters like Jar-Jar are now too boring to be offensive.
Thirteen years on, the lightsaber battle and podrace still thrill on the big screen, the rest less so. As for our first look at Star Wars 3D, the transfer is okay but less than stellar.
It's cinematic junk food, the pernicious effect of which had already set in long before this film came out.
New Phantom Menace 3D Posters
Star Wars: Episode 1 re-release gets new "kids featurette"
Here's George Lucas & John Knoll talking about converting The Phantom Menace to 3D & why that's cooler than anything anyone can possible ever really believe!
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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