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Perfect for a boy or girl Clone Wars fan. My son and daughter split the pack and had plenty for both of their rooms. Easy to reposition. Recommend an adult to peel them from the paper so the lightsabers don't get torn off as that part of the sticker is skinny.

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I bought this poster from Amazon for my 6 year olds Star Wars themed bedroom. He loves it. Went to Aaron Brothers and got a 12.00 poster frame and it worked out great. He really loves this poster because it has everything in it from Han Solo, Jabba the Hut and the Ewoks! He is thrilled.

Bright colors + passionate portrayals of the characters + a constant reminder of the greatness delivered by Star Wars = One super poster. Highest recomendations.

It's probably because I'm a geek, but this poster is one of the better ones I have displayed in my room. I like it because it's very close to the original movie posters, unlike some of the others I have seen. If you have some wall space and are a fan, I definitely recommend it!

This was for my 6 yr old son and he loves it as does my 35 yr old fiance' and his 4 yr old daughter!

I put it right into a poster frame and right up on my son's bedroom wall. He loves it!

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Put these on top of white swirly cupcakes and they were a hit with 3, 4, and 5 year old boys and girls! Think they would also look great on top of red icing!

I used these for my 5 year old's star wars party. They were a hit with the kids and adults. I swirled frosting on the cupcakes, sprinkled some sugar crystals on and inserted the rings in the center. They looked great and I was asked if they were professional. The kids took the rings home as a party favor. Love them!

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Bought this for my son's 5th birthday cake. Looked really cool atop his two tiered black cake. Just would be so much better if you could keep the sabers lit! My husband actually rigged them with a tiny wooden wedge stuck in to keep them on while we sang Happy Birthday. Not very bright, though, if you're having an outdoor party. Overall, made his cake awesome!

I had to make a cake last minute for a friends son's birthday. I found this online & ordered. I then called the company & left a message about the urgency of the order as I needed it for that weekend. They left me a very nice message that day saying that they had shipped the item for me. Great service! The figures looked great on the cake & they lit up when the button on the back was pressed. I only wish that there was a way to keep them lit up during the 'grand presenation' of the cake.

The mini-figures are great, as toys, after the party. Recieved what we in Jamaica call 'brawta',...a little extra, ie. our theme-colored balloons, cupcake sprinkles, and candles for the cake. Loved that!! Recieved them quickly...service can't be beat!!! Highly recommend!

5 year old birthday cake toppers- The kids loved the glow in the dark light sabers and actually slept with them. Unfortunately one broke off, but I guess that is to be expected if you are cuddling up to a light saber. For a cake decoration they are great, but they don't take the place of an action figure.

HURRAY! Not only were these decorations amazing for our Toddler's cake, but about a week after the party since we cleaned and dried them I thought to let my Toddler play with them as toys. THAT is when I realized they freakin' light up when you push their backs! I don't remember reading the lightsabers lit up but...THEY DO!

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Girls and boys went nuts for these when I brought them to my son's class. They are colorful and have 4 different cool characters!

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This is not a toy, so dont let the low stars sway you, thats what the Darkside is for. This a fully funtional flash drive, however, it sits on my desk as a decoration. This is more for the collector as a novelty and not a functional piece of hardware. I think if you were to use it all the time, the paint would eventually rub off and all you would have is another plain looking flash drive. You will buy this flash drive (Jedi mind trick...heh heh).

This is so cool and my geek husband loved it to share with his engineer friends. I highly reccommend it! The company I bought it from was really great too! Something got mixed up and they made the correction immediately!

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was given to an eight year old girl for Christmas, and this toy is not played much.

My 8yo son is a huge Star Wars fan and this has been the perfect game for him. It's self-contained, simple to connect and has had excellent performance (visuals, motion sensor, sounds) -- He loves it! It also has several "campaigns" so it is easy to get to a "stopping point" when his "game time" is up. Another great feature is its price; it's affordable and he was able to purchase it with his own money, which I feel increases his appreciation for his game. Highly recommend!

We just had Christmas yesterday and my grandson was very disappointed to receive a broken toy. It had no instructions in the box and it was obvious that the box had been opened previously and resealed. I thought I was buying a new toy based on the price comparison I had done. NOw I'll have to return it if you will give me the info so I can. Buying from the stores is better. Easy return and doesn't cost me anything.

I have purchased quite a few of the plug and play games including some of the new Jakk's motion games. This is clearly the best one I've played. The graphic are probably on par with SNES, but this is the best looking plug and play games i've seen (not saying too much). Looks worse on a huge HD TV. Looks pretty good on a smaller standard def TV since the image is not stretched as much. The game does an amazing job with the technical limitations. I've played one of the plug and play motion sports games and some of the new Jakk's motion products for this year, and I can say that this game's controls are the most precise I've seen for such games. Very easy to control and aim. Young children should be able to play no problem. The contols work by turning the controller in each direction. The controls are based on the tilt of the controller rather than moving the entire controller up and down. I noticed some people think you have to move the controller up to go up, it actually required tilting the contoller (like a flight stick). The controller itself looks really cool and is very comfortable. The four triggers are all nicely placed. The game is broken down into 5 campaigns each with a few missions. Each campaign has multiple mission types. There are much more missions than expected. The first Campaign is pretty easy and even young kids can beat it with ease. It helps that the ships that are preparing to fire highlight red. The later campaigns get pretty difficult and challenging for even veteran gamers. All the campaigns, except for the final once are available from the beginning which is nice. Once you beat a campaign, you can choose to replay any of the specific missions. The mission types are varied enough to keep things interesting. Standard rail shooter modes allow you to control the reticle only, there are modes controlling the ship only and avoiding obstacles such as astroid fields, missions that require you to destroy ground and air targets, and more. Overall a great game and value. Just don't expect a game on par with wii, 360, or ps3 games.

Jakks' Star Wars Republic Squadron is a fun motion game that will surpass your expectations. For a $30 battery-operated plug n' play title, the graphics are good (close to Playstation 1 quality), and it has decent music and sound effects. Where the title shines, though, is in its motion controls. If you remember the old Atari vector-graphics Star Wars game (way back in '82), this game will bring you back. The grips are similar, and the feel of shooting enemies and navigating through a trench are there as well. Well worth checking out.

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We actually found one of these at a bargain store today for $8 and it was worth the money - the batteries are already dying (likely because of kids playing with it in the store) but the sound and lights are true to advertisement - the Death Star lights up and plays the Star Wars theme when opened. It's a big dispenser and pops out the entire pack of pez, not single candies. Great for a Star Wars fan who has everything else, or a Pez Dispenser collector. :)

Reviews

This has very rich colors and looks "awesome" as my son put it in a boys room. Wouldn't work as well for a girl as it is all male characters pictured: clone troopers, Yoda, Anakin and Obi Wan. Great way to decorate without all the mess! Took about 30 minutes to put up on my son's walls after I took off his old peel and stick border.

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I love Star Trek. I've played many space games especially online MMORPG's. This game is poorly produced. It seems unfinished. The ground missions are not well thought out or designed. They pretty much are eliminate bad guys in one area, move to next area and eliminate another group of bad guys. The space battles are better, but fairly short. The graphics are substandard especially compared with other online space games like EVE-ONLINE. The economy is poor. Exploration doesn't really work. The game world is really small once you start moving around in it. After playing this game for a week, you will become bored very quickly. There are only a few different type of quests, and they aren't very compelling. I would pass on this game, even if you like Star Trek. If you really want to try it, get a free pass, that should be enough to convince you not to buy it.

While this MMO is far from perfect, I feel that it has lived up to my expectations and is a must-have for serious Star Trek fans. Unlike the Abrams movie, this MMO actually allows you to continue on in the world of Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, et al as we know it. It takes into account the effects of the latest movie on the "prime" timeline and allows you to be a part of the continuing story of the Federation and all of its allies and adversaries...or play as a member of the Klingon Empire, once again at war with Starfleet. You get to captain you own ship(s) and engage in all sorts of space and ground missions, and have a lot of flexibility in how you want to level up and develop your character and ships. You could be essentially an explorer, or fight other players, or provide security, or whatever you choose thanks to the many mission options available to you and the many ways you can set up your bridge crew and equip your ships and officers. Other reviewers have given very good guides as to what this game is like, so I will defer to their reviews when it comes to gameplay and just tell you that despite its flaws (and the game IS constantly being updated and patched) the combat system is engaging, the customization options are wonderful and varied, and the game succeeds in "feeling" like Star Trek. With the future of the franchise in doubt now that it seems Abrams & Co. are intent on creating their own timeline in which Trek as we know it will never have happened (except for the Enterprise series, I suppose) this MMO is a welcome relief.

OK, the truth is that my driver was outdated and required the purchase of a new one to even play this game for the full effect. That being said, I felt the game play was inadequate, the story lines weak and the interaction was barely enough to keep even a die hard Sci-fi fan like myself interested. So, after waiting for 6 years in production, I sold this game after about a week of playing it every day. What is the deal with Star Trek and no one being able to really and truly get it? I thought this would be the answer and I was wrong. City of Heroes is a thousand times better. Will most likely go back to that.

Short version: It has nice graphics, but... all you do is fly around in space and blow things up, then land on a planet and shoot humanoids, leave, wash, rinse, repeat. Well, what can be said? Unfortunately, nothing much good. The graphics are nice, but that's probably because all of the artwork was done before Cryptic got their hands on this game and ruined it. That's right, the first company that was working on this game went bankrupt and handed over all the artwork to Cryptic, for some reason. They did not, however, hand over their game engine. It is rather obvious and confusing, because a new player would think, "How can this game be so pretty and suck so bad?" Well, now you know. Let's start with the game play itself. After the tutorial, which strangely enough has the Borg as your first opponents, you end up as the commander of the vessel you were serving on (despite your actual rank, which should be Lt. by now). You pick up some quests from the star base orbiting earth, then you fly out--very slowly--to whatever system you are sent to. You'll be lucky to know where that is at some point and will find yourself asking questions in chat. You enter the system, and either a) scan something floating out in space, whether it is wreckage, an asteroid, or an anomaly; b) blow up some enemy ships who either don't like you being there, or who are picking on some defenseless ship or science lab; or c) beam down to the planet to scan for anomalies or shoot enemies. That's it. That's all you do in this game, more or less. It is the same thing with very little variation, over and over and over. Aside from these story missions, there are patrol missions which function in almost the same way. There are also exploration missions that, you guessed it, function in almost the same way. You fly to a system, scan outer space, blow up ships, land, scan for whatever, shoot enemies, beam up, take off, wash, rinse, and repeat. There is a real lack of interesting things to do in this game, but even less encouraging is the sloppy "Level Up" system. You gain skill points from blowing things up and completing missions, but you must spend these points to gain in rank. You start off as an ensign, and there are 10 grades to progress through to reach Lieutenant. Then there's Lt. Commander, Commander, Captain, then finally Admiral. The problem with this? You probably won't have a clue which skills to put points into, as the context and information you get while mousing over these is anything BUT informative. And at the moment there is no option to re-spec, so you are stuck with whatever mistakes you make. The PvP aspect of this game is pretty lame, as well. It seems Cryptic decided to steal WoW's Battleground Queue. You can queue up, then appear in space or on the ground against the Klingon Empire (you can make a Klingon once you reach Lt. Commander, grade 7, I think). But it seems that the system does not care about fairness, as it will start a PvP match with 1 vs 5. If you thought being raped by a rogue was bad, you haven't seen anything yet. But the funniest part about PvP is? You get money (something you don't get from any missions), experience, and everything you get from a regular mission aside from rewards, plus badges you can spend on high-end equipment. Whether you win OR lose, you get this. You can practically level all the way to the top just by queuing up for PvP, and many prefer to do this simply because a) it's less boring, believe it or not, and b) Klingons have no choice BUT to PvP, because it's the only way they can advance. After about a week of playing this game I am completely sick of it. Frankly, Cryptic would have to pay ME to continue playing this boring game.

needs more content.. especially in Klingons.. all ther is is repeatable PVP quests.. BLEAH!!! im sick of it already :(

Reviews

Space..or at least Cyberspace. If you are a fan of the shows and films, i can suggest this for no other reason as it will be the future of Star Trek. If you are not a fan, i can suggest this game for the game play and many options given in character creation and in the constant ability to configure and change everything about how your game play style works. If there is something that you have found fun in an other game, I.E. Role Playing Games or shooters they can be found here with loads of surprises. As has been stated before, yes there are times in which the servers do not respond. Or there are some buggy sections, but the team running the game are really working 24/7 to make this as good as it can be. So i suggest you as a potential player consider the following. 1. It's a official Star Trek MMO, there is a great deal expected of it. 2. It is being run by the best MMO coders in the biz. 3. Atari, Cryptic, CBS as well as Paramount are all behind this game. So the funds are there to make the game the best MMO on the net. 4. For the Trekers out there i have only two words for you. "Star Trek". I personally have found the game loads of fun, and a very good Trek experience. So beam on down and join the future of Star Trek. Live long, and prosper.

I purchased the Digital Download edition and played in the open beta, and am still playing. There are definitely issues with bugs and the like (broken quests, some repetitive content), but the basic story arc is pretty engrossing, and the chance to create your own path through the Star Trek universe is just a treat. The split between ground and space missions provides some variety (the space combat is more polished and challenging), the customization options allowed by your bridge officers (each of whom has their own abilities) bring a welcome strategic component to the game, and even if the engine is a bit dated the environments look awfully good on my computer. I REALLY like the carrot of getting a new ship each time you achieve a higher rank (ranks are ensign, lieutenant, lieutenant commander, commander, captain, admiral), and the different classes of ships again give you choice in your style of play - if your avatar is an Engineering specialist, you may still use Tactical or Science ships if you like the way they complement your play style. My one big beef so far is the lack of a legitimate crafting system. As it stands now, you collect "anomalies" in space, then trade them to an NPC to enhance equipment you already have. This is restrictive, and quite honestly not even really "crafting" in the traditional sense, since you don't actually make anything; you simply trade raw materials for upgrades, and the items that can be upgraded are themselves fairly limited. I am hoping this will evolve/change as the game matures. If you are a Star Trek fan, or an MMO player, you should give this game a try - there is a lot to like, and Cryptic has been working pretty hard to squish bugs and add/modify content. I am looking forward to seeing how the game evolves - I bit the bullet and bought the lifetime subscription while it was on pre-sale, so I have no monthly fees and can play as much or little as I want without guilt.

I love Star Trek. I've played many space games especially online MMORPG's. This game is poorly produced. It seems unfinished. The ground missions are not well thought out or designed. They pretty much are eliminate bad guys in one area, move to next area and eliminate another group of bad guys. The space battles are better, but fairly short. The graphics are substandard especially compared with other online space games like EVE-ONLINE. The economy is poor. Exploration doesn't really work. The game world is really small once you start moving around in it. After playing this game for a week, you will become bored very quickly. There are only a few different type of quests, and they aren't very compelling. I would pass on this game, even if you like Star Trek. If you really want to try it, get a free pass, that should be enough to convince you not to buy it.

First off, lets just get this out of the way. If you are a Star Trek fan of any of the series you'll love this game no matter what. It's easy to get the hang of and has a width breadth of ship options and customization. There are so many references and in-jokes from all the series (especially TOS) it really is amazing. But for those who take their MMO's seriously there isn't much to the game under its shiny surface. Repetitive gameplay, very disappointing lack of gameplay at max level, and half finished faction (Klingons, you need to love PvP to play klingons as they can't do anything else) shows the game was obviously rushed to meet launch deadlines instead of pushing the launch date back. These things will be fixed in time and Cryptic is really working hard on getting content pushed out on a regular basis. As a Trek fan myself I really enjoyed this game playing through to max level, but lack of content at the admiral rank had me looking to spend my time elsewhere.

Hi all i would like to start off this review with my overall rating of this game then ill explain why my overall rating of the game is good infact alot better than many people say the reasons i like the game are the graphics are pretty good not the best but good one server for all that is just totally awsome (i wish with all my self other games did this and there are many reasons why ) life time membership (wow (( life time memberships )) things i dont like about the game old engine (now that was just totally cheap and almost did not buy the game on this fact alone ground combat is very basic and slow for example there are hesitations if you try to do a special move and fight and several moans and groans on varios gameplay options but remeber this its just a game definatly not the best and does need improvements but all in all its a good game

Reviews

Before we get started, allow me to explain something: I adored Star wars: Knights of the old republic. Honestly, it owned me for a solid year, and I mean everything I drew, read about, talked about and played on my xbox, for a year, was KOTOR. My favorite aspect of it was the conversations you could have with your group. That's what hooked me, and everything else on top made it so disgustingly perfect I couldn't get away. As such, Much of this review will involve examinations of what this game has to offer in that light; how you as a character interact with the companions you happen to be with and the worlds you must rule/save. Now, on with the review. Created by Obsidian, since bioware was busy with it's own project's, the game itself is not terrible. The interface and combat system were added to, but nothing truly drastic has changed. The game add's more drastic effects to which gender your character is, as well as a whopping two romance options instead of the one(or two, if you were female) the last game offered. The container system has been updated so a container will be marked if it is empty so you don't have to constantly keep track of where you've been in your head to avoid needless searches. Another addition is the lightsaber forms, which allow you bonus's in certain areas of combat, as well as taking away from others, and you can now turn most of your companions into jedi is they aren't already. You also see several appearences from cast of the last game, and even recruit one or three of them back into your ranks. :D As for the story, the game takes a considerably grimmer look at the galaxy, dealing with sith lords, generalized corruption, massive betrayals, and enough melodrama to make the most seasoned soap opera stars puke. Set five years after KOTOR 1, it focus' on the only jedi who returned to face judgement from the council for his/her actions, namely leaving the order to join the Mandalorian wars. It is NOT a bad story, but the angst is laid on THICK in this game. The ending leaves you feeling morbid and depressed, as though everything you put your poor little exile through ultimately amounted to nothing but more strife. The cast themselves are actually quite likable, but not nearly as lovable as the first cast, I think, nor can you really learn about them like you did in the first game. In exchange however, instead of having to drag them around with you, two at a time, to see any kind of interactions between them besides in major cutscenes, alot of the truly entertaining things they have to say will be said on the ship during cutscenes throughout the game, which is nice. With all these lovely, and not so lovely game additions mentioned, let it be know that Star wars: Knights of the old republic II: the Sith lords is, all in all, an unfinished game. The game itself was rushed to meet the production date, and while Obsidian is not a bad gameing company, the game came out so horribly incomplete, it is truly difficult to enjoy it. So many cutscenes, so many features, so many conversations, plot points, and greater story developments were cut completely from this game, and it can be glaringly obvious. There are some who are trying to restore this game to it's former glory, but it will take time, and all that they restore will be considered a game mod rather than an actual patch. Whenever a game intended for one system and one system ONLY, namely Xbox, transferring it to PC is going to cause some nasty little kinks in the game, but they can usually be overlooked as little glitches. That being said, this game is RIFE with them. Honestly, just one easily accessed game breaking glitch is too many, but this game has at least five very easily triggered glitches that will ruin your game unless you do the wise thing and save a brand new slot whenever you set foot on a new planet. The bugs are cruel and much too easy to find, so take a bit of advice and google some walkthroughs and warnings to make sure you don't ruin 18 hours worth of gameplay without knowing how to fix it. Aside from the bugs, overdoses of angst, and miserably lacking ending, the game is a good one. It is worth the $20, especially if you are a fan of the series, and much of it's worse bugs can either be remedied via fan made mods, or by simply having longer conversations in game. To enjoy it, you really must overlook alot, but there is enough good to keep this from being more of a headache than fun.

sucks. graphics,story line and game system are all sucks. this is completely waste of money. also have a lot of bug. i reccomend if you want to get stressed instead of enjoying star wars world.

I enjoyed the game very much. With a liittle bit on looking at te online walkthru I enjoyed it.

KOTOR II and its predecessor are, without doubt, amongst the greatest games ever released on PC. That said, as if releasing an unfinished game (KOTOR II has a lot of content in its code that didn't make it into the game due to a release window deadline) wasn't bad enough, the game has received NO support on Vista. Buying this game, if you're running Vista, is without a doubt a gamble. Maybe you can run it. Maybe not. There are workarounds but with varied success on different computers.

This is the perfect Star Wars game I played so far. The game gives you all the force powers. Instead of the boring generic kind like force choke, push, pull, lightning, and mind trick. I love this game

Reviews

10 year old grandson received this collection to augment his Storm Trooper helmet. A week in sick bay provided the perfect excuse to view them all. He loved the scene in the bar in I, loved Princess Laeah, and has collected all the Star Wars Fleet Ships with figurines to fly them. The Storm Trooper Clones are cool and fun, but the 30 year old classics still hit the spot.

This dvd set was just what we wanted, my son loved it as a Christmas gift!

If you didn't like all of the changes to the original trilogy in the 1997 "special editions," you'll be happy to know that some of them have been toned down for the release onto DVD. Unfortunately, Greedo shoots first and that stupid rock band is still in Jabba's palace. However, the shootout scene is reworked to make it a bit more plausible (well, a bit) and some of the other changes were simply removed (such as Luke's scream when he falls at the end of Empire). The Jabba the Hutt encounter in A New Hope has also been redone to make Jabba look more realistic. The special effects have all been cleaned up and look incredible. It's still so hard to believe they were made 30 years ago. If you can just ignore the Greedo scene and fast-forward over Jabba's rock band, I think this is the best version of Star Wars yet. A more substantive complaint with this DVD set is that it doesn't include any deleted scenes. I'm not sure why there aren't any deleted scenes included in the Bonus Features, because they are rumored to exist. I would love to see the scenes with Biggs on Tatooine, or wampas attacking stormtroopers. I sure hope Lucas releases them at some point - it would be a tragedy if they simply went to waste.

We enjoyed the first (1st) set so much, we wore them out. Liked the changes (additions).

Of course this is awesome! I was fourteen when I saw Star Wars when it was first introduced in 1977 and it is still a wonderful movie. I love the new special effects, I think this is what George Lucas orignally wanted to do with the movies but the technology hadn't been invented yet (boy I'm dating myself here). Enjoy!

Reviews

George Lucas was rusty for the first installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. From 1984 to 1998, there were no Star Wars movies. Was it because George was waiting for technology to catch up, so he could make the type of movie that he envisioned in the early 70's? Whatever the case, Episode I has many frustrating moments, and some cool and relevant sequences that tell the story well. First, the bad: Starting with the script.....this movie isn't one that the average person is going to memorize, because it isn't simplistic like episodes 4, 5, and 6. Did George deliberately make the script a sophisticated one, to go with the high tech environment? With so much sophistication in the environment, as well as all of the high-tech gadgets, etc., could one really say, "Can someone get this big walking carpet out of my way?" Sure, life was simpler and more tangible a few decades ago, and movies were a reflection of it. The problem with The Phantom Menace is that there's too much emphasis on certain scenes, such as the pod races, and droid battles. A large chunk of the movie is spent highlighting Anakin's talents, but nothing in the form of depicting any hint of forthcoming evil that would contribute to his downfall in the next two films. I found myself getting bored during the pod race sequence, because too much time was spent on the special effects. I believe in telling a part of a story in a much shorter format, and not dwell on it, such as the Jabba the Hutt sequence in Return of the Jedi. Phantom Menace doesn't move along as efficiently as episodes 4-6, and boredom is the result. Boredom also stems from not initially following the sophisticated (and somewhat complicated) script. Like I mentioned, it isn't as tangible as one would want when it comes to the Star Wars franchise, which I think is a reflection of the times, as well as George's vision. It's very interesting that this movie (despite its complexities) is more or less a kid's movie. Now, the good: I certainly like the much higher level of skill that the jedi knights and sith lords display in lightsaber duels. Darth Maul is spectacular, and it is the duel with Qui-Gon that actually saves this movie from plunging into the abyss. I can't help but laugh when seeing the lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader in Episode 4--It was absolutely PATHETIC in terms of skill level. I know that Darth and Obi-Wan are older then, but their skill level is very inferior to what we see in 1,2,3,5, and 6. But George gets away with these things, and the loyal fans don't mind. I like the fact that he built the jedis and siths into skilled warriors, but it represents one of several things that don't transition well in subsequent films. Again, we give George a free pass. It's too bad that Yoda is a puppet in this one, and looks so different from the Yoda in the rest of the movies. This movie lacks attitude, for the most part, but it's understandable in a way, because it features a child, and the story has to be built around that. The musical score is fantastic as usual, as John Williams turns out another masterpiece that's a lot different from the the first 3 movies. I particularly like the music during the lightsaber battles. The Phantom Menace is a movie that I've come to appreciate a little more in the past few years, after the next two movies were completed. I expect its popularity to grow a little in the coming years. 5.75/10

Star Wars Episode 1. The biggest box office smash since the 1989 Batman. Widely considered to be the biggest disappointment in the history of cinema. In 1999, George Lucas finally released the first of a prequel trilogy, which had been in development for sixteen years, since the release of Return of the Jedi in 1983. Lucas had sixteen years to write this thing. And this was the best he could do? I still don't hate this movie, but couldn't it have been a lot better? But as I said, I don't think this is anywhere near as bad as the second and third episode. The movie starts off with the following information. The Galactic Republic is in a period of decline, with its economy corrupt and deteriorating. In response to a taxation on trade routes, the Trade Federation organizes a blockade of battleships around the peaceful planet of Naboo. No one gets in, and no one gets out. Hoping to resolve the matter, the Supreme Chancellor has sent two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. So, what is the Trade Federation doing? They're unhappy with some taxes, so now they decided to become terrorists? It is revealed later that they're working with Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord, whatever that is. But still, they decide to become full-blown terrorists just because they're frustrated with some taxes? And if they're terrorists, why didn't the Chancellor send an army to take out the battleships? And why is a Jedi-in-training suddenly called a Padawan? In the old movies, Yoda never called Luke that, and neither did Obi-Wan. Anyway, Darth Sidious orders the Viceroy to kill the Jedi. Even though he has to know how hard it is to kill Jedi. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon escape, and discover that the Federation is planning to invade Naboo. They head down to the planet to warn the people. It is there that they meet Jar Jar Binks, the most despised character in the franchise. The thing is, he didn't really bother me that much. He's supposed to be the comic relief, which he actually is, occasionally. I understand the point of view of people who hate him, but I didn't really feel that way about him. I didn't love him, but I didn't hate him. So then the Jedi go to the Naboo capital city and find that the invasion has already taken place. The planet has been taken over. The Trade Federation wants the Queen to sign a treaty so their invasion will be made legal. The Jedi rescue the Queen (why is there a Queen in a Democratic system of government?) and escape the planet. They want to head for Coruscant, but they are too low on fuel. They have to stop at the nearby planet of Tatooine, a planet that is not a part of the Federation. They meet a young Anakin Skywalker here. Here's another thing I have a problem with. At the end of Return of the Jedi, when Darth Vader is unmasked, he looks to be about at least sixty years old. And since they decided to set this movie tirty years before "A New Hope", he would be at least in his late twenties at this point. Anakin is a young nine-year-old slave kid. When Qui-Gon hears that, he isn't shocked that there is still slavery in the Galaaxy. He doesn't call Coruscant and have them send over a huge relief effort to free the slaves. See, Jedi only help when there are trade or border disputes. Not with stuff that actually matters, like this. Qui-Gon can't get the parts for the ship that they need. He doesn't have the correct money he needs on this world, so they are stuck for the time being. Anakin then offers a solution. He does Podracing, a sport than humans are not usually able to do. He can enter the race, win, and give them the winnings. They make a convoluted deal with Anakin's owner, Watto. Qui-Gon has deduced that Anakin has Jedi reflexes. He also makes a side bet with Watto. If Anakin wins, the race, he is free. Now, I have to say, even though this race was just a CGI version of the chariot race from Ben-Hur, I thought it was very good. I don't know why so may people hate it so much. After the race, Anakin is free. They now have money for the parts they need. Anakin has to leave his mother, and tells her that he will come back and free her one day. As Anakin and Qui-Gon are about to leave, they are attacked by Darth Maul, who is a Sith, whatever that is. After a short fight, they manage to escape unharmed. Qui-Gon deduces that the Sith have returned. When he returns to Coruscant, he reports this to the Jedi Coucil. He also tells them about Anakin, and how he has a lot of iron in his blood, or something like that. He thinks that Anakin is the chosen one, the one who was prophesied to bring balance to the force. The same prophecy which , in the old movies, was never mentioned by Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, Yoda, or the Emperor. Qui-Gon requests that the council agree to Anakin's training, but they refuse, claiming that he is too old. Even though Luke Skywalker is later trained at about age twenty. Meanwhile, the Queen cannot get the senate to act quickly enough. Acting on advice from Palpatine, the Naboo senator, Amidala calls out the Chancellor as a weak leader who needs to be replaced. In the meantime, she decides to go back to Naboo to try to help her people herself. The Jedi council sends Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan with her to assist her and to try to meet Darth Maul again. Instead, of, say, sending a few hundred Jedi Kights to assist the Queen. The last half hour was the highlight for me. They weren't really up to coherent storytelling in this movie, but they could at least do decent action scenes. Padme, a handmaiden who befriended Anakin but is really the Queen in disguise, but who cares since she wasn't really developed a whole lot, devises an elaborate plan to capture the Viceroy. When did she become such a great military strategist? I thought Naboo was a peaceful planet. Anyway, the ending battle was visually stunning. It would have been a lot better if there had been an interesting story leading up to it. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon battle Darth Maul. Qui-Gon is killed, but Obi-Wan is able to defeat Maul. Before dying, Qui-Gon makes Obi-Wan promise that he will train Anakin. This completely disarms what Obi-Wan told Luke in the old movies. In Return of the Jedi, Obi-Wan told Luke that he wanted to train Anakin because he saw a potentially great Jedi Knight. Not because Anakin was some chosen one or something. And not because his old master asked him to do it. Making this Obi-Wan's primary motivation for training Anakin makes his relationship with Anakin less meaningful, and doesn't establish the father/son-like relationship that they were supposed to have. What they should have done is have Obi-Wan be the one arguing with the council that Anakin should be trained. So Naboo is liberated, Obi-Wan becomes Anakin's master, Palpatine becomes Chancellor, and the movie ends. This is no where near the worst thing to carry the name Star Wars. It's certainly not the best, but it did have a few things going for it that puts it above the other two in this trilogy. First of all, Qui-Gon is awesome. Liam Neeson plays the fatherly mentor very well, and it was a shame that he could only be in one movie. He could have possibly played Obi-Wan, even though Ewan Mcgreggor did a phenomenal job in that role. Ewan wasn't too great in this movie, though. He just seemed kind of wooden. But maybe he was just playing the role he was given. Another positive thing about this movie was the utter lack of Hayden Christensen. Granted, Jake Lloyd wasn't a good actor either, but I have more sympathy for him. He's just a kid, wheras Christensen is a grown man. And Lloyd didn't whine nearly as much as Christensen. Another thing I liked about the movie was Darth Maul. Some people complain that he wasn't developed enough. The thing is, that's what made him so interesting. He's scary and mysterious. Unfortunately, we never really learn what a Sith is. I guess it's just a Jedi who turned to the dark side, but why didn't they call them that in the old trilogy? For this prequel trilogy, they made up a bunch of names for thing that had different names in the old trilogy. The Phantom Menace suffers from a lack of coherent plotlines, and the fact that it disarms what was supposed to happen based on the classic series. However, there is some great CGI work done here. I like to pretend that this prequel trilogy never was made, but this is the one movie from that trilogy that I can actually stand.

So my girlfriend had me watch this movie for the first time since I saw it in the theatre, and I realize, it's actually not a bad sci-fi adventure flick. It has an interesting premise, fun chase and combat scenes, and some interesting if underdeveloped characters. The problem, I now see, is not that it's a poor film. It's just a poor Star Wars film. The success of Star Wars Episode IV was in no small part its harkening back to the classic Flash Gordon serials of the 1940's and 50's. This movie only harkens back to Star Wars. It starts with no Act One and drops us into an ill-defined conflict, depending on our familiarity with the original trilogy to stay abreast of events. It's confusing. More than that, it's unnecessary. The point of this movie is to introduce Obi-Wan Kenobi to Anakin Skywalker. The kid is the biggest drag on the film, always squealing and giggling like a punch-drunk teenybopper. Everybody wants more of Darth Maul chasing the Jedi up and down the galaxy; that stuff is fun. The kid just gets in the way. And the characters can be called mixed. Though Qui-Gon Jinn is interesting, Jar-Jar Binks is inarguably one of the biggest miscalculations in movie history. The other Jedi hang around dragging their heels. And Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, potentially the most interesting new character, is wasted sitting in a beanbag chair, nodding like Solomon. If Lucas had started the prequel trilogy with Episode II, nothing important would be lost. Of course, we'd miss the slick fight scenes where the Jedi and Darth Maul kicked each other up and down the galaxy, and that stuff is okay. But we don't need it. This is a fun sci-fi action movie. But as a Star Wars film it's a wash.

I am a huge fan of star wars. My top movies are the movies one through six. Mr. Lucas could have not done better in making all these great movies, such as "Indiana Jones" and "American Graffiti" and most importantly "Star Wars" Right now, I am kind of upset about Lucas leaving his movies with Dave Filloni. I personally think Filloni is ruining everything Lucas set out to do. But enough about that. MOVIE TIME!!! Although this movie is far from the six (A new hope my favoite and The fantom mennace is 3rd) but still even though it seems it belongs with two and three, I like to think of it as a median bettween the first three and the last two. In graphics for example; they are far beyond four five and six. But inferrior to two and three. Also how they made the movie is a similar situation. The plot is hard to follow, which is a good thing, if you did not see the last two this one sets up Darth Vaders past but it sets you wondering and craving for the next movie. In fact in my oppinon it is the hardest untill two came around. I was four years old when this magnificent movie came out, but I did not understand the whole plot once I was twelve. But don't worry, if you think about it after the movie is over, there is allot more going on than it appears. The trade Federation is blockaded by the greedy nemodians and the Suppreme chanselor of the glactic republic sends two Jedi's (obi-wan kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn) to investigate the matter and hopefully come to a diplomatic end. That is as far as I go. But there is much more to come. Lucas did a phenominal job. As for the disc itself, it comes with a bonus disc with at least three hours of bonus material. Both discs came in without a scratch. There is an easter egg as well. When you hit "play movie" the twentieth century fox logo comes right away. There, hit the skip button (not fast forward) twice in a row. Then it has blopers of the movie. This trick works as well for the other two newer movies. May the force be with you.

I just got this to replace my Fiancé's VHS copy and on Christmas morning she was happy to see that I had replaced it because her VHS copy started showing wear. Fast shipping and the DVD was cheap too!

Reviews

For some reason, many people saw this as an improvement over episode 1. And I kind of understand why. No Jake Lloyd, not nearly as much screen time for Jar Jar, and Obi-Wan becomes more interesting as a character. But in my eyes, so many things were worse this time around. Qui-Gon's gone, and he is one of my favorite Star Wars characters. Darth Maul is dead, and we have a new villian for this movie. Count Dooku. He is played by Christopher Lee, and he is unbelievably bland. I can't put my finger on what's wrong with him, but he just bugged me so much. He does his best worst Darth Vader impression, in my opinion. The main problem I had with this movie, and arguably the worst thing about this trilogy, is Anakin Skywalker. He is simply the worst protagonist I have ever seen in a movie. I couldn't stand him. He's a whiny jerk. Anakin Skywalker is supposed to be a good man who gradually fell to evil, not this little crybaby. Part of this problem was the way Anakin's character was written, and part of it was Christensen's acting abilities. Another huge problem was the love story between Anakin and Padme. It was supposed to be a huge, passionate love story. Instead, it was two irresponsible teenagers getting married behind everyone's back. Their relationship was so contrived and wooden, that that alone makes this one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life. The movie starts off with the following information. A large group of solar systems have decided to leave the Republic. They want to start their own government. They call themselves the Separatists, and they are led by Count Dooku, a former Jedi. The Republic does not want to allow them to leave. The Senate is debating whether to start a war to keep the star systems in the Republic. In a Democracy. Why would the Senate be trying to force the planets to stay in the Republic? Is it "leave the Republic and die?" They're talking about creating an army to keep the star systems from leaving. Are they actually talking about threatening to kill them if they leave? In a Democracy? Just another example of George Lucas's inept writing ability when it comes to these prequel films. Padme, who is now the Senator of Naboo, is just returning to Coruscant. She is against going to war. Someone is trying to assassinate her, presumably because she is the head of the group who wants to prevent the war from happening. After an attempt on her life, which is prevented through use of a decoy, Chancellor Palpatine suggests that an extra layer of security be added to her, in the form of a Jedi Knight. He suggests Obi-Wan Kenobi, since Padme alreay knows him and it would be easier with someone she already knows. Makes sense. Oh, and of course, Obi-Wan's five-year-old son will accompany him. So now we finally meet a grown Anakin Skywalker. He is supposed to be a great man, at this point. So why is he such a whiny jerk? His first scene has him and Obi-Wan arguing about what they are there to do; protect padme, or figure out who wants to kill her. It seems that, after not having seen Padme for ten years, Anakin still has a crush on her. Some girl he liked when he was a little kid and hasn't seen in ten years. This scene illustrates the two biggest problems I have with the Star Wars prequels. Number one, Anakin, the hero and main protagonist, is a complete jerk. Number two, the romance between Anakin and Padme makes no sense at all. And since they actually try to use this as his primary motivation for turning to the dark side. Hilarious, really. A few scenes and a long, CGI-infused speeder chase later, they deduce that a bounty hunter has been hired to kill Padme. The Jedi council orders Obi-Wan to capture the bounty hunter and discover who he is working for. They decide, geniuses that they are, that Anakin will continue to protect Padme. Even though Obi-Wan warns them that Anakin has an emotional attachment to her. They don't seem to care. The oldest and wisest of all Jedi Knights, ladies and gentlemen. So while Obi-Wan heads to Kamino to try to find this Bounty Hunter, Anakin and Padme disguise themselves as refugees or something, and journey to Naboo. They spend their time there flirting like a couple of immature sixteen-year-olds. Lucas had to get these two to fall in love, so he had to constantly shove it down out throats, because it made no sense at all. And why does she like him at all? Anakin is a jerk to her, and he hates all his authority figures, especially his master. He also makes a bunch of remarks about how Democracy sucks and a dictatorship would be so much better. Later, he and Padme have an argument about how they love each other, but both of them have committed to serve the republic. Anakin is not allowed to marry, so he wants to keep it a secret. Padme responds that they would be living a lie, and that it would destroy them. Later that night, Anakin has a dream about his mother. He decides to go to Tatooine to save her. Why didn't he do that a few years ago? It is never stated that the council wouldn't let him go back to rescue her. So why didn't he just go back? Anyway, he finds out she has been freed, and married to her new slave owner. But she was recently abducted by Tusken Raiders. He goes to the camp, and gets to talk to her for about thirty seconds before she dies, after saying something about being complete or something. Anakin then goes into a rage and kills all the Sand People. The men, women, and children. Our protagonist, ladies and gentlemen. This would have been a good dramatic scene, if this was the first time Anakin had done something evil. But it's not. He's been evil throughout the whole movie. He's not a good man who gradully fell to evil, he's already evil. When he tells Padme about this, she responds "to be angry is to be human." And then she comforts him. I won't even go into the massive problems I have with a girl finding out her boyfriend just committed genocide and then comforting him, as if he's the one who's hurting. While all this is happening, Obi-Wan has been tracking down the bounty hunter. He comes to Kamino to discover that the Kaminoans have been developing a clone army over the last ten years. They claim that it was under the orders of Sifo-Dyas, a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan tells them that Syfo-Dyas is dead. They tell him that the basis for the clones is a bounty hunter called Jango Fett. Jango Fett says that he has never heard of Sifo-Dyas, and that he was recruited by a man called Tyranus. The Kaminoans have nothing to say to this, and this discrepancy is never really explained. As a side note, I thought th thing with Boba Fett being a clone of Jango Fett was kind of interesting. It ended up being kind of meaningless, since they didn't do anything with it. But still, I'll give a compliment whenever I get the chance. `Cause there's not a whole lot to give a compliment to where this movie is concerned. Obi-Wan reports the situation to the Jedi council. They assure him that they had nothing to do with the army, and that it was unauthorized. Obi-Wan follows Fett to Geonosis, where it is revealed that he is working for the Separatist movement. He is trying to kill Padme so that Nute Gunray will join the Separatists, not because he wants to sabotage her peace movement. Before Obi-Wan can discover more, he is captured. Count Dooku then TELLS HIM that the Senate is under the control of a Sith Lord. And since the chancellor is the one who controls the senate, he is indirectly telling him that the CHANCELLOR IS A SITH LORD!!!! Alas, it takes the Jedi one more movie to discover this. They only discover it because the chancellor tells them. Morons. Anakin is ordered not to go after Obi-Wan. And as we all know, Anakin will follow orders when the plot requires him to. Padme says that she is going to help Obi-Wan, and that he will have to come along if he wants to continue to protect her. What was the point of that interchange between the two of them? Anyway, they get to Geonosis and after a big CGI video-game scene, the two of them are captured like a couple of morons. They, along with Obi-Wan, are sentenced to death. They have a fight with some CGI monsters for a while, until a huge army of Jedi show up. After an even longer CGI fight, the Jedi are beaten and only about twenty or so are left. Just as they are about to be finished off, Yoda arrives with the clone army. The same clone army that the Jedi Council knows were made without authorization and are probably a trap. A third CGI fight starts up, and the clones dominate the droids. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme see Count Dooku trying to escape. They follow him. Padme suddenly falls out of the ship, and Anakin and Obi-Wan have a long, unnecessary debate about whether to leave her. Obi-Wan wants to pursue Dooku, and Anakin wants to go back to make sure she's okay. The thing is, they could have easily picked her up, and then kept going. Instead, they have a long and tedious argument. Anakin eventually agrees to leave her, and they pursue Dooku. The thing is, this scene was completely unnecessary. Padme is fine, she is found by some clone troopers five minutes later. I think the reason they had this whole scene in there was because they didn't know what to do with Padme during the lightsaber duel. Why didn't they just have Padme get on a different ship than Anakin and Obi-Wan? All this scene served to do was create pointless drama. Obi-Wan and Anakin arrive at the hangar, and a crappy attempt at lightsaber dueling begins. After about two minutes, Count Dooku defeats both of them with ease. Then Yoda shows up. Dooku throws some stuff at Yoda, and that doesn't work, so he shoots lightning at him and that doesn' work. Then they start the fourth CGI action scene that has happened in the last five minutes. When I was a kid watching this, I thought it was a good scene. But now, it makes Yoda seem so much less interesting in my eyes. Yoda is supposed to be a great Jedi, not because he is so good at sword-fighting, but because he is wise and in tune with the force. This scene looks funny, but it does not do the character any justice. Dooku escapes, and the clone war begins. The clone army is brought to Coruscant, and the clone war begins. Anakin and Padme get married in secret, because she loves him despite the fact that he is an evil mass murderer. Attack of the Clones was, at the time, the worst Star Wars movie. The protagonist was a jerk, and this alone is enough to make the movie suck. But that's just one of many problems. The conflict makes no sense. Practically every plot point is silly or contrived. As i said earlier, the good guys are complete and utter morons. But don't worry, it gets a whole lot worse in the next movie.

The DVD arrived promptly and exactly as described. I am very satisfied with this transaction.

This prequel is an step up from the one before, which is damning with faint praise. At least I don't feel I'm having backstory offloaded by the spade-full. And this time I don't feel that Lucas is replaying the greatest hits of the original trilogy. Though it's far from perfect, I was able to sit back and let this one wash the bad taste of Episode I from my mouth. Indeed, the contrast between this film and the original trilogy is very interesting. Where the original trilogy was about a small band fighting on the fringes of society, this is a very urban story, a fight happening at the heart of power. The CGI street scenes create a hectic but claustrophobic feel the original films could never hope to touch. It also isn't nearly as rushed as the first film. Neal Stephenson famously explained his view of the failure of Episode I, that the sci-fi geek stuff had been pinched off into ancillary media like books and video games. Not so here. Unlike the prior film, this one cares enough about the audience to stop and explain what's happening and why it matters. And this movie removes some of the errors of Episode I. Jar-Jar Binks is reduced to a minor supporting role, while Mace Windu gets out of his beanbag chair and actually moves, and Natalie Portman gives up on her lousy fake British accent. Lucas and his actors focus this time on what they're good at, and the movie benefits from it. I still miss the funky retro ethos of the original trilogy. But this one recaptures some of the smart, morally complex desperation that made the original so much worth watching. Not just a commercial for its merchandizing, this is an actual film in its own right, and I can bring myself to watch it more than once. Which is a definite step forward.

Attack Of The Clones' is better than `The Phantom Menace' in two ways: (a) It has a stronger individual story: instead of the dull trade dispute of the first film, the assassination plot against Padme and the buildup to the Clone Wars are actually interesting. (b) It has a stronger connection to the original trilogy: many of the events here clearly foreshadow important plot points of Episodes IV-Vi ; the ascension of Palpatine to Republic leader, the creation of the Clone Army, the beginning of the War, Anakin's relationship with Padme, and the first hint of his descent into Darth Vader. Overall, Episode II is a more entertaining movie than Episode I. The pacing is much better throughout, with a number of excellent set action pieces. The climactic battle and the duel between Yoda and Dooku are the highlights of the entire trilogy. And unlike the intergalactic politics of Episode I, there is a greater focus on plot and character development here. However, problems from `The Phantom Menace' remain. Once again, the film feels quite leaden and forced, as if Lucas was trying too hard to recapture the magic of the original films. The dialogue can be a bit stilted at times, and is laughably cheesy during the so-called `romantic' scenes between Anakin and Padme. And as before, the acting is a mixed bag. Ewan McGregor is beginning to grow into the role of Obi-Wan, there is a good turn from Christopher Lee as Dooku, while Ian McDiarmid once again steals the show as the duplicitous Palpatine. The two leads, however, are let down by the script and turn in ordinary performances. In fact, this movie's greatest achievement might be that it makes Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen look like bad actors. Portman at least had some runs on the board as an actress, but Christensen might find it hard to live down his role as Anakin. The script gives him nothing, making him come across as a selfish, whiny brat, and neither his relationship with Padme nor the emergence of his Dark Side feel very realistic. What should have been the central character in the movie becomes a black hole into which everything else is sucked. Like Episodes I and III, it's nowhere near as good as the original movies, but I'd say `Attack Of The Clones' is the best of the new trilogy.

In terms of acting, plot, dialogue, and special effects, Attack of the Clones is light years beyond The Phantom Menace. Much of the movie focuses on the mystery of the clone army. It ends with a spectacular battle scene - still one of the best sci-fi battles out there. I like a lot about Attack of the Clones, but at the end of the day it just seems like the plot still needed to be worked out. There is a whole mystery about who built the clone army, but this is never fully explained. Also, it's not really clear why the Separatists were building a Death Star. I'm a Star Wars geek and it took me a while to figure these plot twists out. It's certainly not going to appeal to casual fans. Also, while the main actors are fine, the extras are sometimes a bit corny - particularly the Jedi at the end of the movie and the other Separatist leaders. Good, but not quite up to par with Episodes IV and V.