Wow! I watched it! (I mean listened)

[VulcanJedi]

Listening to these two (geniuses?) well, at least smarty guys, I was struck with just how HORRiBLE, my beloved film is.  Byt the way, I got the Dartmouth Review joke.  (drinking natty ice at momemt)   How terrible is Jar-Jar?  Wow.  But, I still love the movie. I love it.  I thouroughly enjoyed episode 1 in 1999, but I had this sinking feeling it would be loathed by the general populace.  But, all in all, I think it does match up with the other films.  People just love the Original Trilogy so much they are blind to how hokey it is. 

[MSTJedi]

I'm not blind to the hokeyness, but I still think the original trilogy was better . . . except for maybe Revenge of the Sith. The love scenes were still incredibly awkward, but the rest of it very much redeemed Lucas in my eyes. Perhaps that's because so much of it was based on action rather than meaningful dialog . . . and that Lucas got someone to clean up the script. That said, I liked Phantom Menace when it came out because it was a new Star Wars movie and I am a serious fanboy. The first time I saw it, Jar Jar was actually slightly amusing. Then after I saw it a couple more times he started grating on me because he's just too darn silly and over the top in trying to be funny. We didn't need any more comedy relief, that's what the droids are for.

[Minnesota]

For every argument saying that this movie is good; three words JAR JAR BINKS .

Lucas wanted to do what Peter Jackson did with Golum but failed miserably.

Maybe parts of this movie are passable but that will never forgive Lucas for creating the single most annoying character ever.

[Teaflax]

Much as JJB sucks big fat ribbed monster dildo, even if you were to completely excise him from the movie, it would still be a cinematic turd of unimaginable proportions. The Binkster is just a convenient and obvious target, but he really is more of a symptom than the actual disease itself.

Without the original trilogy, decades of SW fandom and tons of ancillary products throughout the years, this crapfest would be remembered as the Heaven's Gate of Sci Fi and Lucas wouldn't be allowed near a movie set ever again.

[Ranika]

Phantom Menace has a lot of problems that cannot be blamed on Jar Jar. No doubt, he's a major problem, or at least seemingly major, just because he's so damn impossible not to take constant notice of when he's on the screen. However, even if he was removed, it's no guarantee of the acting being any less wooden, the script being punchier, the humor actually being funny, the fights choreographed better (and given a better sense of purpose), or characters more clearly and better developed. I can forgive it a bit, I suppose, that some one could potentially find a decent amount of entertainment in it, but one can be entertained by things that suck.

[BBQ Platypus]

I agree.  Jar Jar Binks is FAR from the worst thing about this movie.  I'm not sure if there IS one particular thing about the movie that can be pointed out as the worst from the multitude of shitty things about this movie, but if I were forced to pick ONE...I'd go with Jake Lloyd.  When I first saw it, I wanted to KILL that kid.

[Sharktopus]

Without the original trilogy, decades of SW fandom and tons of ancillary products throughout the years, this crapfest would be remembered as the Heaven's Gate of Sci Fi and Lucas wouldn't be allowed near a movie set ever again.

Burn on Heaven's Gate. WOOO!