Remember the Phantom Menace Hype of 98/99?

No I was 5

 

I don't think I've ever experienced such a culturally wide-spread anticipation for a movie, or anything really, like there was for Episode I. I was the perfect age for it at the time and I remember collecting the fast food collectibles and generally being inundated with the marketing and hype for the movie. Star Wars was just this massive thing that everyone knew about and liked. I must have seen the OT before that but I don't remember when. It was like it was always there.

 

I remember QVC, the shopping channel did shows to promote the film…still have my Ep 1 watches , and I have the Pizza Hut (?) lids/cups, Jar Jar and Padme stare back at me every time I open my closet….but back to QVC, I always remember a lady, a customer calling in saying how sad she was when she found out Anakin becomes Darth Vader…lol.

actually…I miss when the shopping channels did film and comic book related shows…the last comic related shows I remember were for X-Men The Last Stand…

 

I distinctly recall several TPM toys trickling out and giving collectors the false impression that they were rare. Online selling was starting to rise at this point, and those collectors flocked to MBs and auction sites to buy "rare" toys. Then a colossal glut of TPM toys (perhaps the most ever for any movie) hit just about every store in the country. By 2000, toys for which people had paid 5X retail were clogging pegs in the clearance aisles.

 

It was absolute madness.

And I loved every minute of it.

 

I remember the first Darth Maul figure was the one everybody was clamoring for.

 

^ And his double-bladed lightsaber.

 

Haha yep, I remember I was queuing up to pay for that Darth Maul figure at my local toy store and the woman behind me was trying to convince me to let her have it.

I did not.

 

I printed the "Anakin with Vader shadow" posters from the internet to bring into school and show my friends and SW loving teachers.

 

I can't remember if any adults killed each other over Star Wars figures in my country, but I remember a documentary about fat, scary nerds buying Star Wars products, dressing up as Darth Maul etc. But that was probably in our capital city.

My first exposure to Star Wars was the comic book adaptation of A New Hope. I always wanted to see a Star Wars movie as a kid, but we didn't have a VHS player...so when I heard about The Phantom Menace, I crapped my pants in excitement.

I had a sticker album, legos, a comic book adaptation (yeah, I spoiled the movie for myself), Pepsi bottles with Qui-Gon, Anakin and Jar Jar, and the Playstation game based on the movie. I don't think any of the other boys in my class gave a crap about the movie, because no one talked about it.

I saw the movie in theatres with my mother, cousin and my stoner uncle. It was the best thing ever...I loved Jar Jar Binks, the pod race, the duel at the end. And I think I fell in love with the Queen, even though she looked like a member of the KISS army. I wanted to live in the Star Wars universe! I watched it again last week, it's been 14 years or something. Jar Jar isn't that funny anymore, the pod race was a bit boring...the best part is the duel. What happened?

But even though I think The Phantom Menace is the weakest episode, I still have many fond memories of it...it made me really love Star Wars.

 

You expressed what I often think very beautifully. To go back to 99

 

*heterosexual man hug*

I miss the 90's

 

I saw it twice that opening weekend, like many in the audience it was amazing, then later I saw it two more times, somehow it still wasn't sinking in what a disappointment it was.

 

And now you can find practically any TPM toy dirt cheap at conventions.

 

t:

 

I remember many people cosplayed Jedi during Halloween.

 

Oh, yeah. Vividly.

Waiting in line for hours on end just to get tickets to the 12:01 showing.

Not to mention the insane amount of merchandise. Star Wars was everywhere (and on everything) that summer. You couldn't escape it. Easily the most hyped film I've ever seen in my lifetime. Nothing I had seen before or since, had come close.

 

Yeah. The hype was just insane. I dont know that we'll ever have that hype again. I think it was just perfect timing.

 

There's quite a few things I remember

Before release:

• Seeing the teaser and trailers in theaters
• Watching the Duel of the Fates music video on MTV
• My uncle and I collecting the circle character...things
• Having electronic lightsaber duels with my friends, especially when we had all three Sabres
• Playing the arcade and N64 versions of the Podracer game
• The media going crazy due to hype in general

After release:

• Seeing the movie eleven times in the theater
• Dressing up as Darth Maul for Halloween, and forgetting my lightsaber at home some how.
• Watching the VHS many, many times with the collector's edition feature at the beginning of the tape

 

Being old enough to watch the original trilogy in the cinema, it was this was feeling of the wait being over and have to say when I first watched Phantom Menace in the cinema and maybe it was in self deniel, but I remember thinking it was a lot better than I was expecting, it was Episode II, that for me was the big dissapointment.

The atmosphere surrounding 1999 was immense. Frankly. Darth Maul stood out then, stands out now, for me, as the best villian of the series and wasted in Episode I.

 

That was an amazing Summer. Loved collecting the figures and little statues from cereals, and the various chocolate bars - which I still had for several years in the freezer until they broke - over the months.

And I loved the film then, and I still love it now. I was never aware people didn't like it. As far as I knew, people did enjoy it. To this day, I couldn't care less how anyone else felt or still feels about it - I loved every minute of it, the experience leading up to and the watching of, and I still enjoy it to this day.

I only hope as we get closer to The Force Awakens it really kicks off like that again. It felt like you couldn't get away from Star Wars, and it was my first experience with a film getting that much attention. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it since.

 

Episode I Pepsi cups.

 

Ditto, it's my personal favorite of the Prequels--(waiting for stones to be hurled...)

My favorite Ep. I memory is getting the game--loved going on a rampage on Tatooine, collecting the figures--that started with Ep. I. IDK, for me, Ep. 1 is the thing that really kickstarted a lot of things...collecting wise and such, and took it to another level.

 

I think the TPM hype is exactly why things have been so different regarding TFA. TPM oversaturated the market to a ridiculous degree, and a lot of parties involved were affected by that initial blow out. For example, most of the secondary Hasbro waves of toys were rare because the initial waves shipped in such huge numbers they collected dust on the pegs for years after.

That said, as a 9-10 year old, it was amazing, and considering I enjoyed the movie and still do, its nothing but fond memories.

 

Oh, man, I loved that game. I honestly thought it was going to lay the ground work for many future Star Wars games, so imagine my disappointment when we never saw another Star Wars adventure game like it! Knights of the Old Republic is great, but it doesn't necessarily have the same feeling Phantom Menace had as a game. Man, all these remasters for modern consoles - maybe they need to remaster that. t:

I loved sticking invincibility on and, like you said, going on that rampage.