posted 05-29-99 05:36 PM ET        

1: Acting
There were actors in this movie? And what was Obi's trainer. not once did i hear his name uttered. Obi's trainer was the only actor in this whole movie.
Also that little kid that played anikin skywalker had the worst lines in the whole movie. He sounded completely phony. And that brings up another point. Child "Actors" suck. They cant act. Look where that guy from home alone is.
Another Stupid character was that jar jar binks. He sounded like a Jamacin that had been kicked in the nuts and had a lisp. And when he had something to say that was supposed to be funny it wasn't. When he gets his hand caught in the intake of a jet engine it was supposed to be funny. Is this the road runner or what? This leads me to point 2.

2:It tries to be funny!
okay in the 3 previous STAR WARS there was humor. but it was humor not for the sake of humor. Hans solo had some lines that were believably funny. not this phony canned humor. This leads me to point 3.

3:Everyone is phony in the movie.
I hate to sound like holden caufield but the people just werent beilievable. From the light sabers to the starcraft fighting.
When the light sabers were in use by obi 1 and his mentor it looked like they were dancing with their victims. Hell they could have called this movie, "Dances With Victims"
Unlike the first 3 movies it seemed like there was no pause between light saber play.

4: No innovative design.
For god sakes couldn't Lucas at least have come up with a new design for a ship. The ship that is used by the naboo looks exactly like the SR-71 Blackbird. I couldn't help but think that Lucas had lost his touch.

5:The movies digressed technologicly.
Yes i hate to say it but this movie had more technology than the first three. And this was supposed to happen before the first three movies. There were shields in this movie. Were there shields in the first three movies no. for god sakes could we do some research Lucas.

6:They market this movie like it was the fountain of youth.

I think that everytime that Lucas sees and ad with STAR WARS in it he laughs maniacly. How can he not. There was too much hype for this movie.

7:This movie didn't help explain anything

It didnt tell us anything better but anikin was a slave. And that obi 1 was once young. And Yota was young.

8: Lucas wanted to make this a movie for everyone.

God dammit. We dont need a movie for everyone. Were the first ones for every one. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Why change a good thing. The first three were for geeks. and generaly gained acceptence by the main stream. but Lucas wanted to skip the geeks like myself and go strait to the general population. This also shows how this wasnt a movie for the audience. It was a movie for Lucas to become more of a crazy rich bastard(like he needs more.)

9:This movie was best left un-made
STAR WARS would have been better had this movie not been made. nuff said.

10:In Conclusion.

THis movie blows. I made 3 of my 4 friends mad by dragging them to this. That one friend that didnt get mad just made commentary with me about the movie like it was Mystery Science Theater 3000. I had to argue like Jack MCcoy on Law & Order to go. And when we finished it we were all disgusted with oursleves for agreeing to go. I could have gone DISCO BOWLING with them. THat would have been ten times more fun. This movie was a chore to watch. I think that i would rather watch the Old NAvy commercials(the ultimate evil in this unvirse) than watch that damn Phantom Menace.
Save your money and wait until it comes out on video. IT WAS THE WORST MOVIE I HAVE SEEN IN FIVE YEARS. Lucas is laughing all the way to the bank when non objective movie goers are grabbing this STAR WARS movie up in droves.
DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE UNLESS YOU WANT TO RAISE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE. That should be the warning before the movie.

Thank you for your time. please reply if you agree or disagree.

JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE

JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE

JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE
JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE
JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE
JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE JAR JAR MUST DIE

posted 05-29-99 06:27 PM ET            

Well, since I just recently got back from my third viewing of the film, I think I'll contest 1212's statements.

Warning: there are spoilers in this post.

1:
Obi Wan's master is named Qui-Gon Jinn. It is mentioned several times in the movie. He's certainly the best actor in the film (except maybe Ray Park, but he didn't get enough lines to really tell).
About Jar-Jar: Yes, he's really annoying, but this is meant to be a family movie, so they have to have something for the little kiddies. Lucas is one of the very few directors that tries to keep his movies suitable for kids (ie. no nasty langauge, unlike the South Park trailer that was on before the film).

2: There was a bit too much humour in this one, but if you take out Jar-Jar it would have been fine.

3: I didn't see them as phony, but then again, when I go to a movie, I'm willing to suspend disbelief. It's a little trick that makes movies so much more enjoyable. Unless they really suck (Starship Troopers jumps to mind), in which case you simply can't get into the movie. I was certainly able to get into this one.
As for the lightsabres, I loved the new fight scenes. They were much better than the original ones. The stunt coordinator for the fights actually developed a style based on real fighting styles :P If there were more acrobatical type moves in them than a real sword fight, it perfectly fits the concept of a Jedi Knight. These guys have super-reactions and super-perceptions, so will be able to pull off moves that normal people won't. Also, in case you didn't notice, they all had their own style of fighting. Qui-Gon had a very balanced, not very flashy, solid style. Obi-Wan had a brash, risky, flashy style that fit his character (remember him talking to Yoda in Empire Strikes Back?). Darth Maul's weapon means he has to be able to dance when he fights, since that double-bladed sabre is a very dangerous weapon to use. He's got to be able to avoid his own blade as well as the others. And there certainly was a pause between the lightsabre fights, since most of the movie occurs between the two big fights :P

4: No innovative design? Darth Maul is a very unique looking guy... Those huge drone transports were great, especially the way they deployed the drones (pretty nice design there).

5: Yes, they did digress. They were supposed to. This is part of the real back-story to Star Wars. In the orignal series, the Republic was at it's peak, including technologically. When Emperor Palpatine takes over, things start to fall off, including a loss of the most advanced technology.
Perahps you're the one that needs to do some research before you cast around insults.

6: It was over hyped, but anything major is anymore. It's a function of US society, not Lucas.

7: This movie was a great set up for the rest of the series, and added quite a bit to the original series. Does it mean more to you now that Luke found Yoda in a swamp after we've seen him in his seat on the Jedi Council at the heart of the Republic? Don't you notice just how poorly trained Luke was? There are plenty of set-ups in this movie, and it makes a good intro to the next two.

8: If the audience is everyone, then this is a movie for the audience, yes?

9: You're entitled to your opinion. Don't see it again.

10: If you prefer Old Navy commercials and Disco Bowling, then by all means, this isn't the movie for you. If, on the other hand, you have taste, this is a good movie. Just don't let the hype machine pump up your expectations to the point where nothing can fufill them.

This movie, veiwed as a stand-alone movie, wouldn't be very good, since it left too many things open and unsaid. However, if you view this as part of a series, this was a good movie. I think two and three will be even better (there's no realistic way to force a Jar-Jar type character on a movie where Vader is hunting Jedi Knights).

posted 05-29-99 07:24 PM ET            

ah, what a wonderful tv commercial...

"there's no realistic way to force a Jar-Jar
type character on a movie where Vader is hunting Jedi Knights"
maybe that's sort of like the problem...

posted 05-29-99 07:34 PM ET            

Wraith:

1) I don't know if it was the acting, directing, or writing, but I was totally unable to connect to any of these characters. They all seemed flat, like people reading lines, not like real characters.

2) The movie would still have been stupid and cartoonish without Jar-Jar. Jar-Jar simply gets the most screen time and lamest lines, so he attracts the most animosity. However, aside from the rolling-type battle droids, can you name a single CGI character in this movie that wasn't done for comic effect? The junk-store guy? Sebulba? Boss Nass? They were all jokes, and bad jokes at that. The principle of "comic relief" is that it is "relief" from something. Compare the lame stuff in this movie to the little creature at Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi. He was amusing, but also a nasty, evil little creature, and fits into the story and environment quite well. And, Jabba's Palace was also full of characters you could take seriously. This movie had almost none of those.

3) I have to disagree again. I thought things did look pretty phony. The only dramatic moments were during the saber-duels. All of the other Jedi-action seems like two guys jumping around and having fun. It's more like a cheesy kung-fu movie than something you can take seriously or consciously relate to.

4) I didn't see too much innovation. Yes, Darth Maul was cool, but not much else. The concept of the battle droids could have been cool, but they weren't.

5) I'll sort of agree with Wraith on this one. Sure they had shields in the first three... Why do you think they needed to do the commando raid on the Forest Moon of Endor, to blow up the shield generator protecting the Death Star, maybe? However, the shields were more hokey and Star Trek-like, so I don't know if that's a point in Lucas's favor...

6) He could have made a movie that lived up to the hype .

7) "Does it mean more to you now that Luke found Yoda in a swamp after we've seen him in his seat on the Jedi Council at the heart of the Republic?"

No. I actually thought the character of Yoda was quite diminished by this showing. I was much more impressed with him when I thought he was a reclusive hermit, not a pathetic outcast. I also hope that they explain why Vader can't track Yoda down in his Jedi extermination program. I had always assumed that it was because he didn't realize Yoda was so important.

"Don't you notice just how poorly trained Luke was?"

Yes. What does that have to do with this movie? That ground was covered completely in Empire and Jedi. Why do we need more exposition on that? (not that I'm agreeing we got it, I don't understand what you are saying here).

"There are plenty of set-ups in this movie, and it makes a good intro to the next two."

Hardly. There is some heavy-handed "foreshadowing", but none of the characters or situations were really developed. There was plenty of opportunity for Lucas to do a much better job, but he didn't.

8) The problem isn't so much trying to make the movie for "everyone", it's trying to make it for the lowest common denominator. The previous three movies have exceptionally broad appeal, and they don't need any Jar-Jar-Binks-esque crap in them. They worked because of compelling characters and situations set against a visually appealing backdrop. Lucas seems to have forgotten the first two and concentrated on the last one.

9) Wraith, he's not just saying "this was a bad movie, not living up to the other three", he's saying "this movie actually diminishes the other three by being associated with them". I agree with that. If this movie had never been made, I would have a much higher opinion of "Star Wars." Now, it's possible for Lucas to fix things in the next two, but I'm skeptical.

posted 05-29-99 08:34 PM ET            

1: Family movie???

Qui-gon jinn dies graphicly, so does darth maul. in fact many people die so is this a family movie.

2:If you taken out jar jar it would be less of the cold light movie i watched.
The kid that played anikin had lines that were supposed to be funny but they were flat. The humor as i have said before was for the sake of humor. not because it had any relevance to the story. was it nesscary for jar jar to get zapped NO! It went from intellectual humor in the first three to phsyical base humor in this one.

3: What are you talking about. They did look like they were dancing with light sabers. They never stopped for a stand still unless it proved physicaly impossible for them to stop fighting. Where as they did in the first three. The lines of anikin all came out phony. like he had a cue card in front of him.
As for immersing yourself in a movie, did you have to try to suspend belief for blade runner ,or the matrix or, 2001 or any other great movie. NO! are you willing to suspend disbelief for these. NO! It happens wehter you like it or not. You dont haave to open yourself to them you just do.

4:you have just 1 line abpout innovation. wow wraith thats what im talkin about. drones whoopee. Yeah those voices were great too. Stephen Hawking must have done the voice overs for each one.

5: well hold on. Now the resistance force against the empire didnt have them. why not. if the empire didnt have them shouldnt the resistance use this as a weakness. Or why wouldnt the empire use htem then. if they controlled everything wouldnt shields help retain their controll. Also why limit it only to the Death Star.

6: no you don't understand wraith. if you count how many million of dollars pepsi, KFC, pizza hut, Taco bell, and anything else that has spent on advertising with a starwars tie in then you would see just how hype it has recieved. no movie has ever recieved this attention. nor has any entertainment event in history.

7:great setup??? how??? from this movie all i know is that anikin was a slave, the force was strong in him, and obi 1 was to train him.
if you can find anything more i would like to know. if you make a prequell make a good one.
luke was poor trained yet somehow he just saves the world and himself. please!
9:Octopus said it perfectly.
10:You dont see. i wanted to like this movie. i tried hard. but it wasnt happening.

OCTOPUS THANK YOU

"Two out of 1 million cant be wrong", CIV CALL TO POWER designers.

posted 05-30-99 12:16 PM ET            

2: I was rather fond of Watto (sp?) the junk store owner, actually. He was the best of the CGI characters. He didn't seem to be a joke, but I don't know why you think he was. Sebulba was overbearing and obnoxious, but he was a bully, and bullies usually are.

3: Well, as a I said before, this sort of stuff usually turns me off, but it does fit the Jedi mythos. Especially when you think about their weapon: a sabre vs. blasters? These guys have to be so good that no ordinary opponent will be even the slightest chalenge to them, or they don't work. As for the dancy moves, I've seen it suggested that they were required because of the way lightsabres work. They can cut through anything, but it's not instantaneous, as Qui-Gon trying to cut the blast doors shows, and as does Luke's fight with Vader where one of Lukes slahses glances off of Vader's armour. The sabres are much better at cutting through flesh than metal, and all those droids were metal. A lightsabre blade weighs nothing or almost nothing; therefore, they may have had to use the twirls to build up enough momentum to cut through the metal of the droids.
Moreover, this is rather the way young skilled fighters tend to be: show offs. They have the staima, skill and dexterity to risk show off moves, and they do it. When Obi-Wan was fighting Vader, he was an old man, he simply couldn't physically fight this way anymore, and neither could Vader, since he half (or more) machine and encumbered in armour (to make up for his loss of dexterity). Luke was never trained to the point where he could be a real Jedi in a fight. Those fights would be slower simply because of the people involved. Also, the big Phantom Menace fight was a two-on-one, which by nature is going to have less pauses in the action. Especially when you consider that two of the combatants (Obi-Wan and Darth Maul) are very, very agressive fighters. As for it looking like dancing, have you ever seen a high-skill sabre or kendo fight?
Suspending disbelief: I'll take these movie by movie for a bit. Blade Runner is not the same thing as Star Wars. Blade Runner is probably the movie that's closest to hard-core Science Fiction. Star Wars is somewhere between skiffy and Space Opera. You cannot judge the two movies the same way. If you went to Star Wars expecting hard-core science fiction, you will be dissapointed. It never was, and never has been, supposed to be such.
The Matrix I haven't seen yet, so no comment.
2001 was a good enough movie, but you didn't find it at all hard to sit through, what was it, the twenty minutes of nothing but flashing lights on the screen?

4: I'll agree on not that much innovative design, if you except the CGI backgrounds, which were truly stunning. And, of course, Maul

5: The Rebellion did too have sheild generators. There was one on the Millenum Falcon, the Hoth base had an energy shield (remember they had to send the ground troops in to destroy the generator before they could bombard the planet, and they had to open the shield for the transports and ion cannon shots to get out?). The Empire also used them, or at least it looked that way for Star Destroyers and Vaders Advanced TIE-Fighter.

6: Yes, there are a lot of movie tie ins. How is this strange? Lucas was one of the first people to do this, and if I recall correctly, Star Wars (A New Hope) was the first movie to have major merchandising tie-ins. This is just that concept adjusted to the consume-everything environment of the US marketplace in the '90s.

7: I do hope the point about Yoda will be explained in the next couple films, but I suspect it had something to do with why he couldn't find Obi-Wan or Luke and Leia (and why the Jedi Council couldn't detect Darth Sidious and Darth Maul). There must be a way of hiding yourself, but it may take very powerful Jedi to do it. Also, Yoda and Obi-Wan are the two good guys we know that have the power to tranlate to that life-after-death state, which Qui-Gon and Darth Maul apparently did not. This is another point Lucas had said will be cleared up in the next couple films.
As for Luke, well, I've always wanted to see skilled, young Jedi duke it out, and now I have

8: Remember, this is not hard science fiction. Star Wars never has been. It's been skiffy, light entertainment. The first three movies recieved this sort of reviews when they first came out, but now you'll never find someone who admits to saying it about them. If you go in expecting high drama or hard science, you're going to be dissapointed. Take in the spirit it was meant: a couple hours of fun.

10: I'll accept that you didn't like it. I did. I just wanted to contest 1212s first post, especially the bit about technology regression.

posted 05-30-99 02:21 PM ET            

Because he was a cartoonish charicature. Even if I could accept that as a personality, his physiology was obvioulsy designed to be comical.

"Sebulba was overbearing and obnoxious, but he was a bully, and bullies usually are."

The "bullying" aspect of his character was fine, it was the presentation that was screwed up. Again, he was a cartoon. You could not take him seriously as a threat. He was a goofy cartoon. It is very possible to creat a bully character who can be taken seriously, but Lucas again decided to go for a cartoonish and silly character. It's also possible to creat a CGI character that isn't a cartoon, it just seems to be beyond Lucas' understanding.

"Suspending disbelief: I'll take these movie by movie for a bit. Blade Runner is not the same thing as Star Wars. Blade Runner is probably the movie that's closest to hard-core Science Fiction. Star Wars is somewhere between skiffy and Space Opera. You cannot judge the two movies the same way. If you went to Star Wars expecting hard-core science fiction, you will be dissapointed. It never was, and never has been, supposed to be such."

Suspending disbelief is not a function of genre. If you have to "make an effort" to suspend disbelief, then there is something wrong with the movie. You don't have to with the movies that 1212 mentioned, and you don't have to with the first three. In the first three, the characters and situations are so compelling that "suspension of disbelief" happens naturally. The Phantom Menace does not do that at all. You need to make a conscious effort to not see this movie as phony and cheesy.

"Remember, this is not hard science fiction. Star Wars never has been. It's been skiffy, light entertainment. The first three movies recieved this sort of reviews when they first came out"

I don't know where you came up with this notion that what we are complaining about is that Star Wars is not "hard" sci-fi. Duh. That's obvious to everyone. That's why it seemed so inane when they started talking about "midi-chlorians" and trying to treknobabble the force. It is possible to make a movie that is not "dumbed down" or filled with laughable characters and still appeal to a broad cross-section of the audience. It is possible to make a space opera that is not "dumbed down". The "hardness" of the sci-fi has nothing to do with it. The first three did it. They had interesting and complex characters dealing with interesting and complex situations. This movie had a combination of wooden and cartoonish characters running all over the damned galaxy so Lucas could show off his latest ILM techniques. The plot was convoluted, shallow, and not engrossing in any way. If you can find me reviews that say that the first three movies were like that, I'd like to see them. I'm sure that some people didn't like the first three, but there is an obvious difference between thm and this one. This movie was not good. Compare things like the dramatic pacing to Empire, and you will see that. Compare the character development (what character development?) to the first three, and you will see that this one does not measure up at all.

posted 05-30-99 06:12 PM ET            

Wraith

1 id you see how they actually die in the lion king. no
and bringing up Saving Private Ryan is totally moot.
more tame than the news. What are you talkin about. Last time checked they didnt have the guys with flame throwers blowing up in a news story.

2:Watto??? why watto. He probably was the best animated character and much better than than the boy who played anikin. But what is with his russian accent. Russians being evil is so pre 90's.

3:They didnt look like there was any effort involved. Ive watched fencing and that does take effort. In the first 3 Star Wars movies it seemed to take effort.
They both lacked any emotion while doing it. Maybe i just like it when mark hamill is fighting. One thing can be said. It looked phony.

Im sorry but good movies do suspend belief. Wether it be Saving Private Ryan which had the "your there" feel to blade runner witch also had the same feeling.
Phantom menace did not.

4:CGI backrounds???
nuff said

5 id these shields play an important role for the most part. did they have r2d2 go out and explicitly repair the shields i think not. Maybe your right Wraith Maybe...

6: what is strange about it is no movie has had this hype before. it didn't live up to the hype. not even 10%
the tie ins are lame. so is the movie. maybe the movie suites the tie ins and the tie ins suites the movie.

7:wait i can explain yoda now. Obi one fails to train anikin. he becomes vadar the empire rises. they cast yoda and all jedi masters out. yoda then hides.

I COULD TELL THAT FROM THE FIRST THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8: sure its not hard science fiction. thats not the point. As Octopus has stated before it was made for the people with lowest intellegence. I was expecting to gain knowledge about the jedi and yota but i didn't. AT ALL!!!

posted 05-31-99 08:15 PM ET         

The actors evidently had no direction at all. Too often, the lines sound like they're being read, rather than acted. Roger Ebert agrees with me.

The setting was ripped right out of the Foundation series and Dune, as was most of the plot. There's a reason Herbert won his lawsuit.

Anikin's character was totally unbelievable. An eight year old (Yeah, I know he's supposed to be older. But show me a ten year old that small and I'll show you a kid with a growth defficiency.) who evidently has a masters in engineering and computer programming, and has advanced flight training? Please. He needed to be about twice his age to be remotely believable.

The plot had some problems. Too many times, a character who should NOT have been in a given situation manages to save the day. Why the hell do they bring along Anakin on a military strike? "As soon as we get inside, find a hiding place and stay there." What?

Either that sleazy senator is obviously going to become the Dark Emperor, or Lucas was padding the script with unnecessary parts.

There was no character development in that movie. I went in expecting that Sith guy to be the evil, ruthless bad guy. He had four lines, three if you don't count "Yes, my master.", and two fight scenes. They could've had a really cool villain there, and Lucas blew it.

What's with the lips of these traders? Are they some strange species whose lips do not need to synch up with their words? I felt like I was watching some cheap Japanese flick. This feeling wasn't helped by their accents.

Those (bipedal) droids were so worthless. Whoever bought them should get their money back. None of the main characters was so much as scratched by them. Oh, and PERSONAL shields, like the ones in Dune , were not in the earlier Star Wars. Why wouldn't all the important main characters have them if some roly-poly droids do?

posted 05-31-99 09:12 PM ET            

Back to TPM.

Anakin's and Queen Amilda's acting was pretty bad I agree but the acting from the rest was decent.

About Anakin being too young: he's supposed to be a child progidy.

Darth Maul didn't say much but what could he say in the first place? He was a loyal apprentice he was given a mission to kill some people. Not much room for discussion.

posted 06-01-99 08:04 PM ET            

I meant that Star Wars was more tame than the news.

--"But what is with his russian accent."

Was it Russian? I'm no good at accents. But, so what? How is he evil? Greedy, yes, but that doesn't mean evil.

--"In the first 3 Star Wars movies it seemed to take effort."

Well, who was fighting? Obi-Wan was old, Vader was half-machine, and Luke wasn't very well trained. Compared to Qui-Gon, a master in the prime of his career, Obi-Wan as a very well trained young man in absoultly top shape, and Darth Maul, who seemed to be one of the best blademasters around the Star Wars galaxy at the time. The fights did, and should have, looked vastly different.

--"They both lacked any emotion while doing it."

For one thing, they're both of the "inscrutable" Jedi order. For another, emotion isn't a good thing in a heavy fight; if you get pissed, your opponent can make easy use of that to take you out (notice how often Obi-Wan gets booted by Maul when he lets his emotions get out of control?). Also, note Yoda's comments on fear. They're supposed to be aware of their emotions, not succumb to them.

--"One thing can be said. It looked phony."

Normally, I'd say it would, but given the concept (do I keep repeating myself?) of the Jedi Knight, it's perfectly in story.

--"Im sorry but good movies do suspend belief."

I, personally, had no trouble suspending disbeleif for Phantom Menace. From the instant the two Jedi opened communications with the blockade, I was into it.

--"did these shields play an important role for the most part."

Well, yes. Considering how many blaster shots were deflected by the various shields (the blockade runner the Princess was on, the Falcon, the X-Wings, etc) they seemed pretty important. They also played major roles in the plots (the shield around the Death Star in Return of the Jedi was only wrapped up in about a third or more of the film).

--"Obi one fails to train anikin."

According to the story, Vader manages to track down and kill all the other Jedi. He must be good enough for that. Also, don't forget Emperor Palpatine, who takes Vader as his apprentice. He didn't learn everything from Obi-Wan.
While Yoda is probably the most powerful in the force (aside from Vader, Luke, and possibly Palpatine), and could conceivably hide his presence, I don't believe that Obi-Wan is more powerful or skilled than most of the Jedi Council. There is still a mystery to how he got away.

--"Too often, the lines sound like they're being read, rather than acted"

This sort of criticism is mildly puzzling, since the first three movies certainly weren't Citizen Kane. Star Wars acting and dialouge has never been more than average. There's a compeling, simple (Lucas has studied a lot of mythology) story and great FX. That's all.

--"Roger Ebert agrees with me."

Wasn't he the one that called Babe: Pig in the City the movie of the year? :P

--"as was most of the plot."

His plots are straight out of mythology texts. So, to a good extent, are Herberts. So are most modern science-fiction and fantasy plots. Lucas has just done more study into the subject than most.
BTW, what lawsuit was this?