The extremely long awaited and anticipated prequel, The Phantom Menace, is a box-office brilliance. Star Wars, more than just a film for many, begins with Episode I, set years before the first Star Wars film released, Episode IV: A New Hope. Obviously, with an all-new cast including Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and Jake Lloyd, you are able to re-live the Star Wars excellence that first began all the way back in 1977. Director George Lucas, making a come-back to directing from being absent since the original trilogy shows no fault as the magic that made the first three is clearly present in The Phantom Menace.
Basically, this is where Star Wars all begins. The planet of Naboo is under threat of invasion from the Trade Federation. While trying to sort the problem out, Queen Amildala, 2 Jedi Knights and a few others are stranded on the small planet Tatooine (featured in the original trilogy as Luke Skywalker's birthplace). While on their travels on the planet, they pick up a young Anakin Skywalker (later in the films to become Darth Vader) who helps them pick up the parts they need for the ship. The film then concentrates on Anakin and the invasion strongly.
With Star Wars, you often have to take it with a pinch of salt. This is no exception. Just relax your brain, try not to pick holes and succumb to the Star Wars magic. Although not a patch on the original trilogy, Episode 1 has all the conventions of a classic. The fuss about Jar Jar Binks: he's not so much irratating as simply not understandable! With this aside, when the opening sequence starts to roll and you hear the Star Wars music, you won't help but to become soppy and sentimental over the magic that is Star Wars.
