The greatest thing about the Star Wars movies has always been the feeling that the stories had a life a before the opening credits and continue to have an ongoing story when it's over (Star Wars, Empire and Jedi made it clear that a lot had happened between installments). Even though Phantom Menace is the first of the six part story, you feel that a lot has happened before it begins. That's the richness these stories, their fullness.

Phantom Menace, like the trilogy before it takes us to some of the most astonishing locations ever put on film from an undersea kingdom, to an infinate meeting chamber to a city built on steel with heavy air traffic moving in the background. From the characters, we meet one fascinating creature after another, the most amazing a camel-headed pilot that walks on his hands. I also liked Boss Nass a loose jowled bulbous creature who spits when he talks; Watto, a hook-nosed cross between a muppet and a hummingbird is not just astonishing to look at but is a fully realized character. Jabba the Hutt gets a makeover too opening the pod race, the movie's best scene.

Even Jar Jar Binks, a rather unnecessary and yes annoying character is an amazing piece of computer-generated character design. Watch his smooth flow of movement, his unforced facial expressions, his manner are breakthroughs of design. And what would a Star Wars movie be without a menacing bit of evil afoot? Star Wars gave us Darth Vader, `Empire' gave us Boba Fett, Jedi gave us Jabba the Hutt, `Phantom Menace' doesn't disappoint, giving us the snarling Darth Maul, a devil-faced dark jedi wielding a double-bladed lightsaber.

The aforementioned story is full and rich even when we realize that we are only seeing about 20% of the full story. This one takes us some thirty years behind the original trilogy, we know the locations but the cast of characters is different. Of course, we know at least one of them, a 20 something Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) during his training by his hippie-like mentor Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson).

They crash land on Tatooine and Qui-Gon's spidy sense starts to tingle. Looking for spare parts for their downed spacecraft they meet a young boy who seems to posses the effects of the force. This boy of course will grow up to be Darth Vader and seems like a nice enough kid but we can spot early on that the seeds of his fall will be planted.

Meanwhile, there is a Nazi-type regime brewing (which will eventually become the Empire) and it's starting over the blocking of trade routes. Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) goes into hiding when the negotiations fail teaming up with Qui-Gonn, Obi-Wan, Jar Jar, Anakin and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO (who isn't finished yet and, we learn, built by Anakin). The film hints that there is a romance about to blossom between Anakin and Amidala but for now they have to stop a bloody takeover from the evil Trade Federation. As for the ending, it feels unfinished as it should, there are two stories to go and a lot of questions to be asked. `The Phantom Menace' exists to drop the seeds for the rest of the saga.

Look, I'm not saying that this movie is perfect, it has it's flaws and inperfections. But I've noted to colliges that it has just as many flaws as it does rewards. I reserve final anaysis of `The Phantom Menace' until I see where the rest of the saga will take me.

But from casual filmgoers up through the most hardcore of Star Wars fans I hear a great deal of gnashing and complaining about this first of the Star Wars prequels. Maybe some of it is justified, maybe the film doesn't live up to the standards of the three great films that come before it. Some say it is shallow, it's childish and that it fragments the continuity of the previous trilogy.

All that may be true but `Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace' is a rousing entertainment, with a rich storyline and new characters and new worlds to play in. There isn't a wasted shot in the entire film or an opportunity to emote some sense of humanity into the characters. We live in a time when 90% of all science fiction films are empty-brained special effects lights shows, where the story is just connecting tissue to move from one special effect to the next and the characters are just shallow pawns to move around the scenery. Having said that, I think that the flack given to The Phantom Menace is painfully unfair.