The Phantom Menace Remember the Phantom Menace Hype of 98/99?

[Hordakfan]

I remembered 19 years ago on ET (Entertainment Weekly live) and in magazines that Lucas was gonna write a new prequel trilogy and i was excited especially when i saw that video of Lucas getting an idea to do the trilogy. In 97 after the special edition releases in theaters they announced the name of the movie on the internet and air waves as i was 15/16 and said "What does Phantom Menace mean? hmm strange title" and in 98 when i was 17 i remembered being pumped up for the trailer as i hadn't welled up in a long time as i grew up with the old school trilogy and had a glow in my heart about it with excitement as i always wanted another one since the 80s.

I remembered seeing Pleasantville in theaters as heard the teaser was gonna play and i went in to see the teaser as i was gasping and saying yay. I even saw the trailers on the internet and all that as i was smiling with joy and it was gonna be my number one movie of 1999 and everyone else who loved the old movies.

I skipped school as did a few of my friends as we went to one of the 3 malls in my city being one of the major malls and were in line as i couldn't believe the day to be when i saw a new SW movie in theaters as the only ones i saw in theaters were the special edition version of the OT. I couldn't believe it once i went in to finally see it as i remembered the previews especially to Tarzan and all as i couldn't wait to see that and then the Lucasfilm logo as we all cheered as i was wearing a Darth Vader shirt and all as the opening scroll and some people were freaking out with the joy. Then the movie started and when Jar Jar came to the scene i said "What? I've got a terrible feeling about this" as i was right as there was a glow from my heart then fall down into the stomach then i decided "Maybe i can go see it again and see if on a repeated viewing" as i was very disappointed in the film but had to see it again and again yet it was not growing on me but still a bummer i tell you.

 

[smallville fan]

I remembered 19 years ago on ET (Entertainment Weekly live) and in magazines that Lucas was gonna write a new prequel trilogy and i was excited especially when i saw that video of Lucas getting an idea to do the trilogy. In 97 after the special edition releases in theaters they announced the name of the movie on the internet and air waves as i was 15/16 and said "What does Phantom Menace mean? hmm strange title" and in 98 when i was 17 i remembered being pumped up for the trailer as i hadn't welled up in a long time as i grew up with the old school trilogy and had a glow in my heart about it with excitement as i always wanted another one since the 80s.

I remembered seeing Pleasantville in theaters as heard the teaser was gonna play and i went in to see the movie to see the film itself and the teaser as i was gasping and saying yay. I even saw the trailers on the internet and all that as i was smiling with joy and it was gonna be my number one movie of 1999 and everyone else who loved the old movies.

I skipped school as did a few of my friends as we went to one of the 3 malls in my city being one of the major malls and were in line as i couldn't believe the day to be when i saw a new SW movie in theaters as the only ones i saw in theaters were the special edition version of the OT. I couldn't believe it once i went in to finally see it as i remembered the previews especially to Tarzan and all as i couldn't wait to see that and then the Lucasfilm logo as we all cheered as i was wearing a Darth Vader shirt and all as the opening scroll and some people were freaking out with the joy. Then the movie started and when Jar Jar came to the scene i said "What? I've got a terrible feeling about this" as i was right as there was a glow from my heart then fall down into the stomach then i decided "Maybe i can go see it again and see if on a repeated viewing" as i was very disappointed in the film but had to see it again and again yet it was not growing on me but still a bummer i tell you.

Are you the guy from 3:42?

[YT]CxbPybTg08E[/YT]

 

[Hordakfan]

Nope but i like those fans on People vs George Lucas

 

[Aztec]

The hype was very real. I remember it very clearly. It's a shame the end product did quite live up to well...anything.

 

[danoyse]

I went to the first Star Wars Celebration in Denver that year. And I saw it twice on opening day. The midnight show (the same theater where I saw ROTJ on opening day 16 years earlier), and then again later that day.

The final product was what it was...but it was still fun. t:

 

[Bim]

Heck, yes, i remember the hype lol.

Despite of what one thought of the end product, it was such a fun time to be a Star Wars fan.

Like i did with all PT movies, i left work early to catch the first showing (we dont have midnight shows in my country), and it was packed, filled with people in costumes. I remember seeing jedi, Maul and even handmaidens. Very cool, it was just an incredible feeling to be there.

My favorite parts were the podrace and the duel, of course. I think Duel of the Fates just became part of my dna after the movie, it was so powerful!. I loved seeing young Obi-Wan, but thought he needed to be featured more. That's always been my biggest gripe with TPM (Jar Jar didnt annoy me that much lol). I liked Qui-Gon and love Liam, but i would have preferred seeing Obi-Wan do what Qui-Gon did. It would have brought Anakin and Obi closer imo.

 

[jonathancrane]

I do remember it.

I remember I tried to collect all of the Mountain Dew collector cans, and spent more time than I care to admit - I was in second grade-playing as Obi-Wan (I had the lightsaber and braid cosplay piece that came together in a package,) with my cousin, who was Qui-Gon.

 

[KevanG]

I remember it. One of my best friends from Middle School had tickets to the first showing in the city and we all had Star Wars toys that we begged our parents to get us along with the usual nickle toys from chip bags and such. I used to have a Darth Maul keychain, funny enough he broke off in the middle a few weeks after I got him before I saw the movie.

It was fairly crazy all around my school and no one would shut up about it as everyone had seen the originals, even the kids who were too 'cool' to care, still went rabid over it.

 

[Superwoman Prime]

I remember a lot of Pepsi can collecting and double-bladed products.

 

[Ultron-5]

I remember those pizza hut lids and stuff.

 

[bullets]

My friends dad waited hours in line to get us tickets and we took the day off school. It was epic to see on opening day. Later that evening we went to Kay bee toys and bought plastic lightsabers so we could have duels. I really didn't walk out disappointed either. Jar jar and the kid saying yippee were my only gripes.

 

[Duke]

I recall it as if it were yesterday. I remember my friend & I stood in line for a couple of hours to watch it. I also remember the toy hype for it, Wal-Mart had a section cornered off in secrecy & they couldn't release any of the action figures till after midnight when the movie debut.

 

[james-in-cali]

I was 16 and in high school. I remember it well, probably 100 people from my school waited in line with countless others for 6+ hrs for the midnight showing. Didn't go to school the next day. Everyone I spoke to was extremely disappointed but saw it at least 4 times in the theater. I did the same for clones, I waited for DVD for sith out of protest.

 

[DaddlerTheDalek]

I was just 7/8 Years old at that Time. but I remember the Commercials & Posters everythere.

 

[Nemeres]

I wasn't even into SW back then, but the hype had such a reach that I would get TPM stuff even without wanting it. My aunt gave me and my cousins some swag she won by getting gas at Mobil. Then I saw the film, fell in love, bought toys, watched the OT and collected the entire sticker album. It wasn't until way later that I surmised that some people (most people?) had been disappointed by it. Watching it now I get it, but I will always like the movie.

 

[Great Mind(s)]

I remember my science teacher talking to the class about it and this classmate saying something about "young Luke" and the whole class riled up against him.

I think I was about 12 in 1999, and I didn't quite understand my step father's disappointment. It was a fun time looking back at it, I think of coca cola and pop corn.

 

[Ultron-5]

There was a lot of phantom menace stuff and when I say a lot i mean A LOT. Jar Jar lollipop, pizza hut cups, lego sets, action figures, shampoo, hats, shirts, so on and so forth. Everyone was so excited!!!! People were going crazy!!! the movie theater line was so long, everyone had lightsabers and it was on the news! Once that trailer came out me and my friend went to the theater to this movie called wing commander and we watched the trailer and left. We talked about it and speculated. It was so fun... then the movie came out and we just couldn't believe how bad the movie was. We saw it a second time and we saw E.T. in the senate, but the movie disappointed us so much. The duel and the podrace were cool, but the movie had so much plot holes and jar jar, and all that boring politics stuff. I thought this was going to be awesome, and the tv spots and trailers made it look awesome... but it wasn't.

 

[CountOrlok]

I was 17 at the time and pretty hyped about it. Two years earlier I saw the Special Edition re-releases. Now I hate the movie (and the Special Editions).

 

[NewYorkSpider]

I was around 13 the time TPM came out. I remember around that time my aunt had episodes IV-VI on VHS and let me watch them. It was around then I became a Star Wars fan.

 

[Human Torch]

Oh,yeah.t: I remember Toys R Us staying open at midnight to sell the new toys.I remember trying to buy as many of the new characters as I could,and trying to figure out who would be what in the story."Watto?What the heck is he gonna be?"And there was a really cool sense of comradery between fans.Total strangers comparing prizes."I got Anakin and Obi-Wan action figures!!!I just got the new Lego sets!!!!"Unfortunately (and quite ironically) the movie itself set "brother against brother" with the "haters" vs "supporters" mentality it spawned.

At the end of the summer KayBee was selling it's Phantom Menace t-shirts off at a buck each and I bought a ton of them for my collection.Most of them of Darth Maul,but there was one-a drawing of the entire EP 1 cast that I still wear proudly.

I remember the first time I heard the title on the news,I thought the reporter said The Phantom Mask!So I spent the next few hours speculating how Vader's mask would somehow fit into the story!

 

[Uncle Radiation]

Grown adults fighting for toys is my lasting memory of the Phantom Menace hype/marketing.

 

[GothamAlleys]

As a kid I fantasized about two movies being made, around early 90s. One was Terminator 3, cause I loved T2 so much, one was the prequel trilogy story of Darth Vader. At the time it seemed like a fantasy and that those would never get made, so when TPM was announced I was hyped like never ever before. TPM and T3 were two movies which I was the most hyped and excited about to the point I cant even describe it

 

[random_havoc]

And then TPM ended up sucking horribly. Yeah I remember the hype, but moreso the massive disappointment. Utter utter garbage.

 

[GothamAlleys]

Well for me the most disapointing thing was that Anakin is just a kid in the first, and that I would have to wait so many years to see the birth of Darth Vader. The movie itself felt odd and very different feel-wise from the original, but I dug the swinging lightsaber action and I actually thought and still think that the kiddie vibe of the first movie works in the context of the overall story. The first movie is very innocent, happy, shiny, kiddie-like and goofy, which shows the carefree state of the story and Galaxy before Palpatine started pulling his strings, so we see how its used to be and the story with each movie progresses into a darker and more serious tone

I enjoyed Williams' score a lot, and the podracer chase was well put together

 

[HeyZeus]

I remember the Phantom Menace slurpee cups. I use to have a couple. Now they're sacred relics.