A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...AGAIN

A look at The Phantom Menace.

Poster from inside the CD Soundtrack from Sony.

Ewan McGregor as a young Obi Wan Kenobi.

In my opinion, a fabulous casting choice. McGregor nails the part of the great jedi knight. Clearly he has studied Sir Alec Guiness in depth to achieve his style of speaking, moving and personality. He was, to me, the most impressive aspect of the recent film, the Phantom Menace.

Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn.

Excellent casting here as well. Liam has been amazing in everything I have ever seen him in. A different role for him to play, after seeing him as Schindler, Rob Roy and Micheal Collins. I prefer him in fantasy films however, such as Excaliber and Krull. Star wars was a wonderful next step in his fabulous career.

Jake Lloyd as a young Anakin Skywalker

Jake Lloyd was an aspect of the film I was critical of. I felt his performance to be dry and unrealistic. Personally I felt that with the budget and time they had, a better casting decision could be made. Hopefully his acting abilities will improve with experience, or else he may be serving fries with that.

Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala

This actress was fantastic in the role of Luke & Leia's future mom. Her dual performance of the Queen and her bodyguard was extremely well done, and her stern tone when dealing with officials was quite appropriate. Portman is an actress to look for in future sucesses.

Yoda as... well... Yoda.

Frank Oz repeats as the voice of everyone's favorite jedi master. I personally prefer the original Yoda, the older one with less hair, but I'm very glad to see the return of the little green guy.

Kenny Baker as R2D2... Again.

What can I say about the little droid, still love him, always will!!

The Battle Droids.

I like these droids, if you can't have stormtroopers, these are a great substitute. Their convoy is great, and they do not look too computer animated. I like them alot.