i have never seen a man so in love with himself than george lucas . with the overt success of the three original star wars films , lucas has become , not necessarily a filmmaker , but the head cheeze at a huge toy company , with the phantom menace the new product on the shelve . only this toy was made for $115 million , but every kid wants it , and , like all other expensive toys , <NEG> falls apart within an hour </NEG> after playing with it . the product in question , star wars episode 1 : the phantom menace ( jeez ! ) , is pure and simple : its about the money , baby ! no one in their right mind would create <NEG> such a fiasco </NEG> if they knew it wouldn't make a ton of money before its fourth week of release . i come to the sw franchise as a stranger , since i have absolutely no idea why the sw movies are so popular . <NEG> i find them rather boring and full of nothing but eye candy </NEG> . phantom menace is like the first sw , minus 10 . <NEG> nothing in the whole concept is remotely enjoyable </NEG> . even the special effects <NEG> seem rather bland </NEG> . the story in this new one is <NEG> a mindless mess </NEG> . . . the acting wooden . . . and the action sequences like something out of a video game . sw : phantom menace is <NEG> one of the worst films of the year so far </NEG> . with a title like sw e1 : tpm , lucas has one big head on those shoulders . i thought chris carter did for releasing an x-files movie , although , that movie adaptation was an excellent way to spend two hours . pm is one long headache .
