--- title: "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace" critics_score: 56 critics_reviews: 6 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999): what the critics said Critics' score 56 from 6 reviews: 2 positive, 2 mixed, 2 negative. The consensus on The Phantom Menace is mixed, with praise clustering around its visual invention and individual action sequences rather than its storytelling. The pod race and lightsaber duel repeatedly emerge as highlights, while the imagined worlds and cityscapes impress even some disappointed critics. The more enthusiastic reviews find lively family escapism and a recognisable sense of adventure. Several others acknowledge the technical achievement but find little emotional warmth behind it. Reservations centre on heavy exposition, tangled plotting, stiff performances and digital effects that overwhelm the actors. The spread is wide: The Telegraph celebrates Lucas’s inventiveness and welcomes Jar Jar Binks, while The Guardian finds the film boring, its acting poor and Jar Jar irritating. Even the effects divide opinion, admired for their scope but criticised elsewhere for visual clutter and lack of weight. The central disagreement is how much those spectacles compensate for the weaknesses in character and story. ## The Telegraph — Andrew O'Hagan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 July 1999. The critic praises the film as one of the most deliriously inventive in years, highlighting George Lucas's genius for adventure narrative and spectacular visual effects. Jar-Jar Binks is singled out as a new star who will soon be as loved as Winnie-the-Pooh. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/star-wars-episode-phantom-menace-review-daring-beautiful/) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 15 July 1999. The review calls it fantastic fluffy fun-for-all-the-family escapism worth the hype for most viewers, highlighting the pod race, visuals, and action sequences while noting it falls short of being a masterpiece and has flaws in plotting and acting direction. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace-review/) ## Empire — Colin Kennedy Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic finds the film undermined by its choice to introduce a young, whiny Anakin Skywalker and excessive exposition, but praises the visual design on Coruscant, the pod race, the lightsaber duel with Duel of the Fates, and Liam Neeson's performance as Qui-Gon. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/star-wars-episode-phantom-menace-review/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 16 July 1999. The critic finds the film boring and disappointing, criticizing the uniformly bad acting and irritating characters like Jar Jar Binks. It prioritizes FX and merchandise over any real effort to engage the audience with story or characters. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/jul/16/11) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan 18 May 1999. The prequel is a considerable letdown that is serviceable but noticeably lacking in warmth and humor, and ponderous from a dramatic point of view. Its visual strengths are real and considerable, especially in creating other worlds and cityscapes. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-may-18-ca-38249-story.html) ## Sight and Sound — Andrew O'Hehir 1 July 1999. The critic finds the film a lost opportunity with leaden visuals, a tangled story full of expository waffle, offensive stereotypes, and lacking narrative coherence, though praising the battle sequences and lightsaber duel. It suffers by comparison to the original Star Wars. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/star-wars-episode-i-phantom-menace-archive-review-leaden-looks-laboured-quest) ## Slant Magazine — Calum Marsh 5 February 2012. The critic calls the film a cold and lifeless unique disaster overwhelmed by excessive digital effects and visual busyness, with incoherent action and ridiculous elements like Jar Jar Binks that make it an unforgettable awful cash grab. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Frank Scheck 10 May 1999. The critic praises the brilliant technical achievement and dazzling special effects in the pod race and lightsaber duel but criticizes the film for lacking emotional resonance, featuring an underdeveloped story focused on merchandising, and relying on silly humor and uncharismatic performances. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-phantom-menace-review-752675/) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin 19 May 1999. The film sustains the gee-whiz spirit of the series and offers a swashbuckling extragalactic getaway with plausible illusions and lively space beings. It is a happy surprise that stays busy and viewer-friendly in its exotic settings. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/19/movies/film-review-in-the-beginning-the-future.html) ## Den of Geek — N P Rating 3/5. 8 February 2012. The film retains its original faults including a boring pace, first-draft screenplay feel and cartoonish CGI effects that lack weight. It excels in its two standout set pieces, the podrace and the climactic lightsaber duel, along with John Williams' score. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-3d-review/) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2001. The critic finds the plot incomprehensible and the dialogue stilted, with live actors overshadowed by excessive CGI effects and creatures. He singles out the visual spectacle and effects work for entertainment value while noting the story fails to engage. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace.md