As a guy who considers himself a fan of George Lucas's original Star Wars Trilogy - I saw Star Wars way before it was given the suffix Episode IV at age 14 and waited, like many fans, for the Prequel Trilogy over the 16-year-long span between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace.

Although there are some bits of that first movie that I wish had been done differently, I think I'm one of those few "die hard" fans who don't hate the film. It's not my favorite, understand, but I simply can't bring myself to hate it the way most "fan boys" do.

The main issues I have with The Phantom Menace are trivial ones, such as the fact that we didn't see too much of Darth Maul, and it would have been nice if the Podrace had been a bit shorter. (From what I have seen on the extra features docs in the DVD, the Podrace was even longer at one point.)

I also wish Lucas had cast a better actor for the role of Anakin in Episode I. Jake Lloyd is engaging in some scenes, but he obviously didn't really win over too many fans.

Still, the story itself was neat and I liked the fact that it took care of all the "who's-who" in the Jedi and Galactic Congress stuff.

Hey, Fardreamer,
I'm right there with ya. I didn't enjoy the prequel as much as the first trilogy, but I'm diehard, too, so I'd accept any Star Wars movie!

I'm not a diehard Star Wars fan but I do like the Star Wars series and I thought these prequels aren't all that bad. Funny you mentioned Jake Lloyd because now that I think of it his character was played with no emotion at all and it seemed would have grown to be more of a tougher character than the older Anakin who was similarly as whinnyish as his son Luke Skywalker.

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That is one criticism - the "whiny Luke" bit - I've never understood, and it certainly wasn't around when I first watched the films in '77, '80, and '83. Luke (in A New Hope) was 18 and frustrated and bored and behaved like a guy his age. In Empire he was an impatient 21-year-old who wanted to be a Jedi for the wrong reasons (to avenge his "dead" father). In Jedi I don't remember him being "whiny."

About Lloyd's performance - I think he would have been okay had he had a few more movies done beforehand, or if Steven Spielberg had directed Episode I.

I've enjoyed all of the Star Wars movies despite some of the characters being on the obnoxious side. If there's one character I'd like to see sliced up with a light saber, it's Jar Jar Binks. Can't stand that character.

Heck, I even like the new animated series, Star Wars: Clone Wars. I think it's interesting to see Anakin Skywalker while he's still a hero and "powerful Jedi" during the time span between Episodes II and III.

Jake Lloyd actually had a few emotional scenes....they were just done way too stiffly, I think, for the movie's own good.

I'm not a huge Stars Wars fan... I saw the first three when I was little. Meh, I'm not a fan at all, haha. But I honestly didn't like the more recent ones at all. Can't beat the originals. The digital bits were just really corny and they relied on it too much... you get better effects when you mix mediums, but they never seem to realize that.