Editorial

Telling it as it is!

Star Wars Episode I DVD!

At last George Lucas has released the first of his Star Wars saga on DVD with Episode I The Phantom Menace but is it any good?

Now I am a hard core Star Wars fans so if you are expecting me to tell you how great this DVD is and how it is a must buy then you are wrong!

As much as I love Star Wars and I honestly enjoyed the movie, I cannot believe the mediocrity that is this DVD.

Okay I may have set my own standards a little too high and the deleted scenes are great as are the menu screens but the rest is so bland and lack s the energy that is Star Wars. The disc is just too sterile.

The commentary track lacks any insight into the art of film making or humor regarding the way that the film was received. George Lucas should have watched a Robert (Desperado)Rodriguez or Kevin Smith commentary before he and the rest of the crew sat down to work on the commentary.

The deleted scenes were great, but, I would have liked the rest of the cut scenes as well as the chance to have seen some of them (like the Air Taxi sequence) with blue screen backgrounds.

The documentaries are good, but T2s are a lot better while Apollo13 or Planet of the Apes should be the blueprint for DVD documentaries.

The packaging is Uninspiring. Fight Club has yet to be topped!

As for the film itself I would have liked the option to switch the added scenes off as Lucas and Co. have made the Pod race sequence a little too long!

I hate to say this but this is the most disappointing Star Wars event since the Magic of Myth exhibition in London 99!

Film: **** (a point deducted for the now too long pod race)

Packaging: ** crap

Menu: **** No fault here!

Extras: **** There are a lot and this disc is value for money but they lack the energy that is Star Wars.

Entertainment Value:*** The quality does not match the quantity!