Remembering Star Wars The Phantom Menace

[Sam Fisher]

Podracing is one of the coolest things to ever touch the silver screen, EVER! I was 11.

Oh, I also had the Phantom Menace Pod Racing game for the Nintendo 64!

 

[kickass]

I saw that mother****er 5 ****ing times and I still love it!

 

[Halloween]

Ha. I got a good one. My brother and I went to see it for the first time opening weekend, and funny enough, we actually walked into the wrong theater and caught the part where they had escaped and the R2 units were getting blasted off of the ship, with Jar Jar and the Jedi in it and they ended up on Tatooine. I thought, damn it we missed the very beginning and actually stayed for about 15 minutes before I double checked my ticket stub and realized we were in the wrong theater. So we left and entered the correct theater and caught it in it's entirely. Felt like an ass.

I was 22 at the time.

Saw it 5 times total in theaters. Loved the beginning, the pod racing and the end. Middle kind of dragged. Getting to know Anakin and his life.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

It was ok. The Jedi were obviously the best part. And yea the Pod Racing was pretty insane.

But i think that is probably the major fault with the new films. They rely on the Jedi too much. You know what i mean?

In the original trilogy all the Jedi stuff was cool, but you still had awesome characters and awesome moments other than ones involving the Jedi.

There hasn't been a character anywhere near the level of Han Solo in the new films. Like i said, they rely too heavily on the Jedi.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Oh God here it comes again. Let's get it all out of the way. Jar-Jar sucks, Luca$ raped my childhoodez, Maul shoulda lived, Anakin should have been a teenager, Matrix was better (HA! People blast the acting in TPM then praise a movie starring Keanu "Woah" Reeves)...did I miss anything? Oh yea, I guess someone needs to post the link to that loser on YouTube whining about it for 2 hours or whatever.

I've been a hardcore SW fan since 77, I camped out all night (only time I've ever done that), I loved it then and I still think it's a great movie.

Just because Jar Jar is the most obvious complaint doesn't mean it's any less valid. Jar Jar makes the Ewoks look like Boba Fett.

But you forgot redundant space politics, over used CGI, wasted/bored actors, stilted dialogue, empty spectacle, biggest disappointment in movie history, etc etc.

At least Keanu fit the role of a clueless, naive guy who learns of a mind-twisting revelation. How did Yipeee boy fit Darth Vader? Oh that's right he didn't. He added nothing to the story or character at all.

Oh and regarding the "loser" who made the one hour youtube video. I'd like to see you make a 10 minute video defending TPM that is one-tenth as insightful as Mr.Plinkett's video. He hasn't had a worthy rebuttal yet.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Notice the clueless smirk on Lucas' face as he watches Lloyd's line reading.

 

[marvelman2006]

I saw this when I was 13 and at the time I too was not in movie critic mode yet but as I walked out I liked it but there was something I couldnt quite put my finger on that the movie was missing. now that Im 24 and look back more clearly I think the the main problems were:

1) there was way too much cgi on the screen, I mean at some point it ends up becoming overwhelming and then your unable to fully enjoy the picture

2) there was no main character for us to follow through the story. in the original we followed luke in 3 movies. in the prequels we followed what could be argued a bunch of side characters, granted anakin was our main person but we really didnt follow him until the 2nd movie. So in the phantom menace who was our main hero?

those are my main problems now and I do hope when the bluray's comes out that alot of the cgi doesnt lok cheap.

 

[terry78]

It was ok. The Jedi were obviously the best part. And yea the Pod Racing was pretty insane.

But i think that is probably the major fault with the new films. They rely on the Jedi too much. You know what i mean?

In the original trilogy all the Jedi stuff was cool, but you still had awesome characters and awesome moments other than ones involving the Jedi.

There hasn't been a character anywhere near the level of Han Solo in the new films. Like i said, they rely too heavily on the Jedi.

The first three parts are supposed to actually be the story of the Jedi and their fall, basically.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

The first three parts are supposed to actually be the story of the Jedi and their fall, basically.

Oh yea i know that. But still, there was literally no other characters that interested me. The acting and dialogue was crap.

It seemed that the three prequel films were relying on the "cool factor" of the Jedi and their lightsaber fights to excuse and cover up the shoddyness of everything else. Y'know?

 

[roach]

Just because Jar Jar is the most obvious complaint doesn't mean it's any less valid. Jar Jar makes the Ewoks look like Boba Fett.

But you forgot redundant space politics, over used CGI, wasted/bored actors, stilted dialogue, empty spectacle, biggest disappointment in movie history, etc etc.

At least Keanu fit the role of a clueless, naive guy who learns of a mind-twisting revelation. How did Yipeee boy fit Darth Vader? Oh that's right he didn't. He added nothing to the story or character at all.

Oh and regarding the "loser" who made the one hour youtube video. I'd like to see you make a 10 minute video defending TPM that is one-tenth as insightful as Mr.Plinkett's video. He hasn't had a worthy rebuttal yet.

I think the point of this thread that you missed was this wasnt to discuss what we disliked about these movies but to discuss the experiences we had going to see TPM.

 

[marvelman2006]

Oh yea i know that. But still, there was literally no other characters that interested me. The acting and dialogue was crap.

It seemed that the three prequel films were relying on the "cool factor" of the Jedi and their lightsaber fights to excuse and cover up the shoddyness of everything else. Y'know?

your right, besides the jedi all we had to stare at were senators, granted there were a few alien races here and there but all we had in the character department were boring jedi and boring senators. you mix those 2 together and you get a semi boring moment.

yeah the jedi granted should be the main focus but at the same time there was too much politcal garble going on that held the movie down. who gives a crap about tax disputes or trade disputes in a space opera? this is suppose to be a kid friendly film and your showing sente debates. plus the dialogue looking back is bad and you can tell the actors were really just going through the motions.

 

[ChickenScratch]

I was just in college and I told my professors that I would not be coming to school the next day. My buds and I showed up at the local movie theater at 6 in the morning and there was a huge line. It was a great moment of fan comradeship with us and the dudes on the line. We were waiting to be let in, it was raining. We eve3ntually were let in and we didn't leave, watch the movie over and over all day only leaving for lunch and beers at about 1.

 

[Leenie]

I was 12 when it came out to theaters, and I remember being one of the very few people who thought it was going to suck.

I remember not being too enthralled with the film except for the pod racing scene.

 

[david icke]

Oh, I also had the Phantom Menace Pod Racing game for the Nintendo 64!

that was a great frickin' game, best thing to have come out of this movie.
there was one level on a jungle planet that i used to switch to a first person viewpoint for, and pretend i was on a speeder bike, had a massive tv screen at the time as well, good times.

as for tpm...group of friends congregated at my house, we had booked tickets, got toasted, went to see it , came back to mine, got toasted, and did not really talk about the movie much, there wasn't much to talk about.
i got a copy of a bootleg tape a day or two later and watched it ad nauseum, as it was a novelty watching new sw, yeah, i did get a kick out of it for that reason, but if it had been the first sw movie i had ever seen, i would never have watched it so much.

 

[Gunga Diner]

I was 7. At that age, I wasn't the least bit interested in that type of movie. It took me a few years before I was really into Spider-Man or any superheroes. But it bored me like crazy. I played with my shoes the whole movie. Very rarely did I actually look at the screen or really care. It occurs to me now that I had an obscenely short attention span.

 

[Nivek]

It seemed that the three prequel films were relying on the "cool factor" of the Jedi and their lightsaber fights to excuse and cover up the shoddyness of everything else. Y'know?

Thats the same thing critics said about the original trilogy as well.

My favorite part in TPM was early in theQui Gon using his lightsaber to try and cut through the door. Stupid, but i thought about seeing something like that since I seen the films as a little kid.

 

[DarthDaveBanner]

The hype for this sucka was unbelievable, nothing can or will ever surpass it. As for the film itself I loved it as a ten year old (easily my most entertaining cinema experience) and even now think its pretty underrated.

 

[Art_of_Crime]

I was 19 and I remember thinking that it did not feel like a star wars movie. I also remember thinking that the generation that did not grow up with ewoks, wookies and rubber costumes would have this as their first and strongest impression f the movie series. It made me kind of sad. I felt like the series had been watered down, and made more aesthetic in lieu of depth.
The philosophy was a mess, and it seemed like it contradicted itself.
All in all. I was impressed with the choreography on the light saber fights, and quite let down on the writing, the CGI and the racist character stereotypes.

 

[Mace Dolex]

I think in Lucas' mind that SW is basically a kids film I don't understand why he included adult themes like politics, senates, trade federations. What kid is going to understand that much less myself who was 23 at the time I didnt care for that stuff.

I remember the audience really pumped during the Obi Wan/Darth Maul fight, the choreography was so intense what with the rapid clashing of the lightsabers and Ray Park's flips and twirls.

Toy Stores would never have Darth Maul figures that I had to buy several of them at conventions and now over the years I've just tossed them in the trash.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

The hype for this sucka was unbelievable, nothing can or will ever surpass it.

Yeah. Even now I am amazed thinking about it. I was in a mall in England, and every store had Star Wars merchandise. Even the post office. Even places which didn't sell that kind of stuff, suddenly had Star Wars mugs and bubble bath. It was insane. The same thing happened with 1989's Batman, and 1993's Jurassic Park, but Episode I was even bigger.

Who in the name of sanity would even design this, let alone buy it--??


I have no doubt Lucas recouped the budget of Episode I before it was even released thru toy and merchandise sales. The sheer amount of stuff there was makes me think that every man, woman and child in this country must have a cupboard full of Qui-Gon socks and Darth Maul pencil cases.

The film was mediocre, but it contains one scene which is as good as anything in Star Wars and was truly electrifying to see on the big screen:

Thrilling and epic. It reached the operatic, religious and mythic levels Star Wars strives for, whilst also literally having me on the edge of my seat - especially the parts when Maul was literally fighting then both at the same time. Two space monks battle a dark devil with beams of light in an impossibly huge, cathedral-like cavern. Wonderful.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I was 24, I was 300% hypded about it.
I was not that disapointed, the main things that really bothered me were : the medichlorian, the quick death of Maul and to a lesser extend JarJar.
I agree with what previous posters said, the CGI were too much obvious, it has a "fake" feeling.
Anyway, I am still glad it was made, the next sequesl were progressively better and it ended with an average/mediocre movie ( with good SFX ).

 

[Ace of Knaves]

I thought Sith was the best one... easily.

 

[deathshead2]

I think in Lucas' mind that SW is basically a kids film I don't understand why he included adult themes like politics, senates, trade federations. What kid is going to understand that much less myself who was 23 at the time I didnt care for that stuff.

Lucas is a really confused man. Read Skywalking and you see how he is just a terrible worker on his own, and goes back and forth on things. Now he sees Star Wars as a kids movie, but he says he writes what he knows. Which is true; if you read books about him. He has always wrote about things that are either going on in his life or what he remembers. What happened in Star Wars episode 1 with all the politics is because thats what was most going on in his life. To take something from Easy Riders: Raging Bulls, Lucas was used to board rooms. So, Star Wars was just that. His life in the board room.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Lucas is a really confused man. Read Skywalking and you see how he is just a terrible worker on his own, and goes back and forth on things. Now he sees Star Wars as a kids movie, but he says he writes what he knows. Which is true; if you read books about him. He has always wrote about things that are either going on in his life or what he remembers. What happened in Star Wars episode 1 with all the politics is because thats what was most going on in his life. To take something from Easy Riders: Raging Bulls, Lucas was used to board rooms. So, Star Wars was just that. His life in the board room.

Absolutely. And also, Lucas very much wanted to mirror the fall of the Roman empire (and how great civilisations collapse), th start of World War II, and make a point about the American government (too much beaureacracy, restriction of civil liberties, the Iraq war, Nute Gunray, 'If you're not with me, then you're my enemy', 'Maybe we've been fighting for the wrong side' etc). And finally how a democracy becomes a dictatorship. All this inavoidably needs some politics to be shown. It can't all be Flash Gordon.


I thought the senate was a wonderful retro-sci-fi way of showing how overcrowded the system was, thousands of people from thousands of worlds all shouting at he same time. Even better was the way it was used as a battle ground for Yoda and Darth Sidious. Literally, a little less conversation, a little more action.

 

[DarthDaveBanner]

I thought Sith was the best one... easily.

ROTS was the best and even elevated parts of TPM for me e.g. giving a purpose for those damn midichlorians

Toy Stores would never have Darth Maul figures that I had to buy several of them at conventions and now over the years I've just tossed them in the trash.

Haha back in '99 I literally picked up the last Maul figure in the store when this woman behind me tried to bribe me into giving it to her.