Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
The Cast
Liam Neeson ... Qui-Gon Jinn
Ewan McGregor ... Obi-Wan Kenobi
Natalie Portman ... Queen Padmé Amidala
Jake Lloyd ... Anakin Skywalker
Pernilla August ... Shmi Skywalker
Frank Oz ... Yoda
Ian McDiarmid ... Senator Palpatine
Ray Park ... Darth Maul
Ahmed Best ... Jar Jar Binks
Anthony Daniels ... C-3PO
Kenny Baker ... R2-D2
Terence Stamp ... Supreme Chancellor Valorum
Samuel L. Jackson ... Mace Windu
Dominic West ... Palace guard
Sofia Coppola ... Saché
Keira Knightley ... Sabé
Greg Proops ... Beed
Warwick Davis ... Wald / Pod race spectator / Mos Espa Citizen
When I was a child and watching Star Wars, I always wondered why it was titled Chapter IV on the annoyingly long title crawl. My parents didn't seem to know, so I just figured the first three movies weren't a really big hit or anything and that Star Wars never really captured the imagination of the world around me until the fourth part. Now that all three parts of the first trilogy have been made and released, you could certainly make a point that I might have been on to something when I was a kid.
I can still remember waiting in line overnight for the chance to buy tickets to see this movie - the mysteriously sub-titled Phantom Menace - and then just waiting for the opening 20th Century Fox music at one of the first midnight screenings in my city. I can remember the audience all abuzz, and actually cheering after the opening notes of John Williams' familiar Star Wars Theme played and the very familiar title crawl began. And then... confusion. Trade Federation? Naboo? Asian-Italian aliens? What the hell? And that floppy-eared Rastafarian thing, what the fuck is that and why isn't Qui-Gon Jinn (Neeson) slicing its face off with his light saber? It can't be helpful at all.
Yeah I know, slagging Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best? more like Ahmed Worst, lol) was all the rage back in '99, but I'm bringing it back. Basically I've been re-watching all the Star Wars movies to see how well the Wii version of LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga captures the spirit and story of the franchise (short version: awesomely well; long version: review forthcoming), and I've never sat down and actually watched them in numerical order before. I still believe it's the wrong way to watch the movies (mostly because you lose the Yoda surprise in Empire as well as the Vader surprise at the end of Empire) and I'm curious as to what others feel in regards to that perspective. But anyways, back to the movie.
There are many things that Phantom Menace does very well, but they are far outweighed by the negatives that George Lucas attempted to createto capture the imagination of children everywhere. Perhaps a generation before, Jar Jar Binks quoting Stephanie Tanner from Full House would have seemed cute and topical. In 1999 (and even moreso now), it was awkward and downright embarassing to see a large amphibious CGI character say "How rude!" in a $115 million dollar sci-fi-fantasy film. I've never seen The Phantom Edit version of the film, but I whole-heartedly endorse any elimination of Jar Jar Binks from all forms of media, so I think it should be the Official Version. Hell, I think Episode II should have opened up with Jar Jar landing on Naboo and then the planet inexplicably exploding for some reason.
All of that being said, The Phantom Menace still had a lot of awesomeness inherent in it. From the amazing Pod Race scene to some of the interesting new characters created for the new Trilogy, it's not all bad. Neeson brings a lot of regalness and stability to the movie, balanced by Ewan McGregor's perfect Alec Guiness impersonation as a much younger Obi-Wan Kenobi. Darth Maul (Park) was a fearsome and bad-ass looking villain, but his time was unfortunately cut far too short (just like his character!). Mace Windu (Jackson) was an interesting addition, as was the entire Jedi Council thing. CGI Yoda (Oz), I could have done without, but his next two movie appearances would have been pretty much impossible in puppet form. And Anakin Skywalker (Lloyd) wasn't that terrible of a character, he was just poorly written by Lucas, like most of the cast come to think of it.
The first couple times I watched The Phantom Menace, I was still in a state of euphoria about the actual existence of it that I turned a blind eye to much of its faults. The next couple times I watched it, all I could see was the terribleness. I think I've gotten to a point where I can appreciate it for the most part, but I'm still fairly annoyed about why it didn't turn out as awesome as it should have. It's an alright movie, but when compared to the Original Trilogy, it's downright terrible. If Lucas would have made this movie back in 1977, I doubt we'd be talking about it 30 years later, or hearing pop culture riffs on the franchise in hundreds of films.
2 / 5
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