There are a few Star Wars threads already going, but as the threads often go off-topic, i.e., TOT/prequel discussion in The Force Awakens thread, I thought maybe one entire thread could be devoted to I-VI. This may be especially helpful as The Last Jedi thread will soon be very active.
I am in the process of re-watching all the movies in preparation of The Last Jedi. I just re-watched The Phantom Menace today and considering how The Force Awakens and Rogue One were so good, it only highlights how flawed TPM is. Some initial thoughts from a viewing last year:
Just saw 'The Phantom Menace" for the first time in about 15 years and here are some thoughts; The good:
1. It was better than I remember. I still think that it's a flawed mess at times, but it's not as awful as I remember or as bad as its reputation.
2. The movie looks really, really good. Especially on blu-ray, it just looks beautiful. The underwater scenes on Naboo and the Galactic Senate look... especially nice.
3. Despite the movie's flaws, the main story, involving the Federation invading Naboo and forcing them to sign a treaty is somewhat interesting. It needed to be fleshed-out a little more, but the story isn't bad.
4 Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor gave very strong performances.
5 The showdown between Darth Maul and Obi Wan/Qui-Gon Jinn was well done.
The Bad:
1. Overly long. The pod-race was really dull and pointless and the fat could have been trimmed here and there.
2. While this actual heart of the story is rather good, this movie tried too hard to be for kids, at the expense of adults. This movie is a bit schizophrenic. It doesn't know if it wants to be a kid's action/adventure or a film involving political intrigue. It tried to have it both ways and that didn't really work.
3. Reducing the force to some gobbledigook about midichlorians and Anakin's virgin birth origins was stupid and misguided.
4. Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker was a mistake. Anakin should have been several years older, although Hayden Christensen was terrible too.
5. The movie lacked a good villain. Viceroy was lame and Palpatine/Maul didn't get enough screen time and weren't developed as well as they could have been.
I enjoyed watching this film again, at any rate. I'd give it a 3/5 or a 3.5/5.
Some additional thoughts. Jake Lloyd is worse than I remember. His casting was all wrong and his performance was terrible. He was probably a good child actor, and I blame his poor performance strictly on Lucas. A boy Vader yelling "yippie." WTF? The budding romance between Anakin and Padme was beyond bizarre/uncomfortable/creepy.
On the plus side, the visuals were beautiful, some great action scenes and I loved the alien cities and planets. They were the one thing Lucas got right.