I just watched the scene in question, which can be viewed here.It turns from red to green, clearly indicating that power has been restored. As the pilot says, "Power's back!" After that, the movie switches to show the cockpit window:
SCREENSHOT
As you can see, a laser makes a direct hit on the window, lighting up the cockpit. Seconds later, the cockpit is struck again by another laser:
SCREENSHOT
Here is a shot right after the pilot declares "Deflector shields up at maximum."
Basically, and I hate to say it, but RLM was right and the person who wrote the rebuttal was either not paying attention to the film or lied to make his point.
Here is exactly how the scene plays out:
The pilot announces that the shield generator has been hit. Droids are dispatched.
Several droids are hit, after which the pilot announces that the shield are gone (why they didn't protect the droids, I do not know).
R2 sticks the thingy in the thingy, and the display shows that the power is back. The pilot then says "power's back". He didn't say the shields are up.
R2 welds some parts together. The pilot says R2 "bypassed the main power drive". This is where the window shot shows bolts hitting the ship.
The pilot says "deflector shields up at maximum", you hear a humming like the shields are going up, and the vessel shakes as it accelerates away.
The exterior shot shows the vessel fly by the Trade Federation vessels, and not take a single hit!
Go ahead and watch the video, and let me know what you think.