NEW YORK (AP) - He describes himself as an independent filmmaker from San Francisco simply out to make a movie for kids.

And Cecil B. DeMille made a little Bible story.

The man is George Lucas and his movie ''Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,'' which opens later this month, already has fans camping out in anticipation.

''We tried very hard to not let the film be overhyped,'' Lucas said yesterday at a New York press conference. ''It kind of got out of control and got overhyped anyway. There's not much you can do about that.''

Lucas said a backlash by the critics is inevitable. Time Magazine critic Richard Corliss called the film ''a phantom movie, the merest hint of a terrific saga that the final two episodes of the new trilogy may reveal.'' And Daily News reviewer Jack Mathews gave the film a lukewarm 2 1/2 stars yesterday.

''Most of the 'Star Wars' movies have gotten mostly bad reviews,'' Lucas said. ''They've mostly been trashed one way or another, especially by the major media. I certainly expect not to do well critically. I never have. You sort of accept this. When you get a situation like this where you have so much high expectation, you can't possibly live up to that.''

Asked if the movie was more oriented to children than the first three, Lucas said: ''I don't think it's any more kid-friendly than the other films. This is a Saturday afternoon serial for children. People forget what the movies actually are.''

Lucas deflected criticism that he has tried to control every aspect of the film, from distribution to production to the size of the theaters where it is shown.

''Everybody says I control everything. All I do is make the movie. I have an organization that oversees everything else,'' he said.

But he acknowledged insisting on certain standards from theaters such as limiting the pre-film commercials and keeping the movie in a large room. ''I want to see that the audience has a good time and the film is shown the way it should be shown,'' he said.

The original ''Star Wars'' broke existing box-office records and won seven Academy Awards, but Lucas tried to paint himself as a Hollywood outsider completely dependent on merchandising spin-offs to pay for his films.

''I'm an independent filmmaker from San Francisco and I have had to make sure that I have exploited anything I possibly can,'' he said when asked about the avalanche of toys, books and video games inspired by ''The Phantom Menace.''

Although Lucas downplayed expectations that its success could approach that of ''Titanic,'' which made $600 million and is the top-grossing movie of all time, he said he thought it would probably end up in the top 10.

''This is not a contest ... It's a movie. I made it because I enjoy making movies. I really don't have any interest in being No. 1,'' he said.

His producer, Rick McCallum, said the movie cost $115 million, $5 million less than it was budgeted for.

Lucas said he was thrilled with the technological advances that enabled his production team to create any creature or special effect he could envision.

''This is the one time I was able to sit down and let my imagination run wild,'' he said. ''I could dream up whatever I wanted and I was generally able to pull it off.''