I confess I found the movie better after I'd seen Sith. The ploddingness, the pointlessness, the roundabout story, the wooden performances, the needless set pieces that advanced nothing ... all seemed more artful than anything in the final film of the 28-year saga.
But Phantom Menace simply did not pass the sleep test.
That's where you live on Hollywood Boulevard for a week, or more, waiting for the premier of the movie. You stay awake for 36 hours before the film opens at midnight, but you take a healthy dose of hallucenogenic, recreational drugs for the event. The lights go down, "Star Wars" blasts across the screen, there's tons of excitement ... but, before long, you are sitting in a comfortable chair in a darkened theater.
If you fall asleep ... it's a bad Star Wars movie.
Phantom Menace failed my test.
(The test is not foolproof: while only two have failed the sleep test, I consider three of the movies to be lame ... oh, and it's not the threequels.)
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Still, I don't think I'd like the 6 films as a single saga even if the prequels were good. The Anakin story, even if well told, just does nothing for me.
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