Star Wars: EVERY Movie & TV Show Ranked Worst To Best
11. The Phantom Menace
The Phantom Menace works for a number of reasons: Darth Maul is seriously cool, and the final duel between the Sith Lord and Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is a revelation which is as effective and stylish today as it was 21 years ago.
There's something more than that, however. Though the political arc got tiresome here and there and Jar-Jar Binks was quite annoying, the film deserves props for its foray into themes other than Light vs Dark and "Look how cool the Jedi are!". It's sets up the scope and the structure of the pre-Empire galaxy well, giving audiences a look into just how much changed when the Empire took hold.
Aside from this, there are of course some glaring issues. There's weird CGI - a touch hit and miss in places, especially during the pod race - and Anakin's destruction of the Trade Federation ship is too coincidental and lucky, even for a Star Wars film. It had the chance to show just how clever and powerful Anakin could be, but instead chose to make his big impact on the film a touch anti-climactic.
Still, McGregor and Neeson shine, and the final duel CANNOT be praised enough.