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Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo. While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict… as Jason’s Movie Blog takes a “cinematic flashback” to a galaxy far, far away for 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE
“Every Saga has a beginning…..”
Director: George Lucas
Writer: George Lucas
Starring: Liam Nesson, Ewan McGregor, Jake Lloyd, Natalie Portman, and Ian McDiarmid
Run Time: 133 minutes
Release Date: May 19th, 1999
Rated: PG
THE STORY
When the Trade Federation organize a blockade around the planet Naboo, the Supreme Chancellor Valorum (Terence Stamp) sends two Jedi Knights, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Nesson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) to negotiate the end of besiegement. However, Viceroy Nute Gunray (Silas Carson), the leader of the Trade Federation is ordered by Darth Sidious, the Trade Federation’s secret benefactor, to launch a full-scale invasion on Naboo and to kill the two Jedi. Qui-Gon and Kenobi escape and land on the surface of Naboo, making contact first with Jar-Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), a clumsy and outcast Gungan, who leads the two Jedi to safety, transporting them to it his underwater civilization home and then to Theed, the capital city of Naboo. There they meet with Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman), the young ruler of Naboo, and warn her of the Federation’s invasion and plot, fleeing the planet in a spacecraft in an attempt to head towards the planet Coruscant, where she can plead her case in the galactic senate. Unfortunately, their ship is damage during there crossing of the blockade, finding safe refuge on the desert planet of Tatooine to repair the vessel. Venturing out for supplies, the group goes into the nearby village where they meet up with a young boy named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Llyod), who is brilliant with mechanics, but is a slave to the cruel shopkeeper Watto (Andy Secombe) Seeking the necessary parts and to free the boy, Quin-Gon strikes a deal for Anakin to compete in the local pod race challenge. At the same time, the Jedi Master feels a strange pull of “The Force” within Anakin. Elsewhere, Darth Sidious instructs his apprentice Darth Maul (Ray Parker) to deal with any interlopers that are aiding Amidala’s passage to Coruscant. Will the boy win the race? What will happen to Naboo? Will Queen Amidala be capable to convince the politicians to release her planet from the Trade Federation? Who is the real “menace “that is pulling the strings behind all of this?
MY THOUGHTS
When I was younger, I grew up watching the Star Wars movies as it was always a fixed point of interest for me. I mean….it had all…..adventure, excitement, comedy, and thrills that was wrapped up in creative sci-fi universe of aliens, druids, droids, humans that were all in conflict against an oppressive evil empire that held the galaxy in fear. That’s like the stuff of childhood imagination in a very good way. So, like many out there, I was enthralled into this cinematic universe and always wanted to see more of it. Of course, there were video games, novels, and toy lines and a few other mediums that expanded upon the Star Wars mythos and lore (in-between the episodes or what happened after The Return of the Jedi), but I was always curious about what happened before the events of A New Hope. How did the Emperor / Empire take over the galaxy? How did Ben Kenobi become a general during The Clone Wars? How did the Jedi order fall? How did Anakin become Vader? All of these burning questions would eventually come to light when it was announced sometime during the mid-90s that George Lucas would be return to the Star Wars franchise to create a brand new prequel trilogy that was set several decades before A New Hope. Like many, I saw the movie and really did like it and watched it many times throughout the years. Now, since I have more of film reviewer mindset, I decided to go back and explore some of the highs and lows of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
As mentioned, Star Wars creator George Lucas envisioned a more energetic and something a bit more bolder within his new trilogy of the beloved sci-fi universe, with more lush and vivid world that utilized latest filmmaking technology and equipment as well as venturing out to new place and seeing new characters. While the original trilogy follows the classic “hero’s journey” arc, including a lot of staples of the fantasy genre (i.e. the princess, the swashbuckler, the turncoat, the reluctant hero, and the old wise man), Lucas goes for a bit of a different approach with this first installment of the planned trilogy, presenting a narrative that shows similar influences in characters and story, but has more of a political drive behind them rather than rebels trying to overthrow an empire. Yes, The Phantom Menace begins the prequel trilogy, which is has more of a political background, with the narrative weaving in more nuances of political maneuvering within the galactic senate as well as those in power and the bureaucracy behind it all. It’s not relatively new, but it was something that wasn’t explored in the original Star Wars movie and the script for The Phantom Menace showcases that notion beautifully. Yet, still, the movie, at its heart, showcased a young Anakin Skywalker, the father of Luke Skywalker / later becoming the sinister Darth Vader, and how his humble upbringings would lead into something more as he follows the jedi path in the future installments of this trilogy. Again, I was quite excited, especially since this prequel trilogy was going to “fill in the gaps” of how Anakin became Darth Vader.
Of course, the action of the movie was pretty good and, while they showcased the standard gun shootouts of sci-fi laser beams / pulse shots as well as chased sequences, the movie’s big showcase is the presentation of lightsaber action scenes, which display more of an energetic sword-wielding stunts and maneuvers that weren’t showcase in the original trilogy. Again, The Phantom Meance is made to present a time period when the Jedi were thriving and to see such action scenes come alive that way was (and still is) quite amazing, paving the way for future narratives that showed more intense and thrilling lightsaber combat. I mean….the duel with Darth Maul and his double-sided lightsaber is still one of my favorite moments not just from this movie, but in all of Star Wars. In addition, Lucas still makes the movie feel accessible to all ages, with the film having some charming and comedic moments scattered throughout, which kept the story lighthearted enough for younger fans to watch, yet also keeping in mind of the older generation that watched the original trilogy. Some parts were a bit more sillier than I would’ve liked, but I felt that it was part of the brand name.
From a visual standpoint, the presentation of The Phantom Menace did look pretty good for its time and, while certain effect shots look dated in comparison to today’s standards, still manage to convey far better renderings and ideas when comparing the original trilogy. Plus, with the exception of Tatooine, the various places and locales that were featured in the movie were new to the cinematic representation medium and were only mentioned (at that time) in some of the Star Wars novelizations. So, for the movie to visit places like Naboo and Coruscant as well as seeing the Galactic Senate was really interesting, especially from a visual presentation medium. Plus, I felt that all the costumes (as well as the hair / make-up team) did a fantastic job in bringing all of these characters to life on the screen with such detail and vibrance. I mean, all the various costumes attire / outfits for Queen Amidala were superb. Lastly, the movie’s score was incredible, especially with famous composer John Williams, who had previously did the original Star Wars trilogy, returns to the cinematic universe and delivers another rousing / adventures score that’s full of vim and vigor. His big new track for the film “Duel of the Fates” still remains one of my favorite Star Wars themes of the entire franchise. Love it!
I do understand why a lot of people draw criticism towards this movie, especially when compared the original trilogy. There are lot of scenes that really don’t add up to much beyond showcasing visual effects shots, especially in the first act of the feature, and sort of creates a lot of “meh” moments that doesn’t really advance plot and are merely there for “filler” scenes. Then there is also the pod racing sequences, which (again) looks cool from a visual standpoint, but doesn’t mean much beyond Anakin racing. It’s a lot of nonsense that doesn’t mean much to the whole grand scheme of the narrative. Also, while I do love the political aspect that the movie brings to the story, it consists of a lot of characters just talking for long stretches, which is where I can see why people would criticize the screenplay. It does get a bit boring at times. Trimming all of that down and the film has a very short runtime, which is probably why the screenplay for the feature was need of adding more substance to the script rather than just filler.
There are also a couple of ideas and thematic illusions that the movie tries to implement that don’t exactly gel with the grand scheme of Star Wars mythos. You know what I’m talking about….. midichlorians, which tried to help explain the essence of “The Force”, but just really confused it all and dumbed it down for the causal moviegoer. Fans hated it so and the film received such a backlash from it that the topic of “midichlorians” was dropped from the Star Wars cannon series after The Phantom Meance….. and it’s all for the better. Then there is the racial / society illusions that are represented in the movie that rubbed everyone the wrong way. I won’t go into big details about this point, but the movie has had a bit of backlash because of this particular usage of various people in the Star Wars universe in this movie and it’s kind of hard not to ignore them. Whether they were intentional or not is up for debate.
The cast in Phantom Menace was pretty good and did a solid job in breaking these various characters to life with plenty of mixture of theatrical boldness and subtle nuances. I mean…. you had Ewan McGregor and Liam Nesson playing the two leading Jedi knight characters of a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi and his mentor / teacher Qui-Gon Jinn; both were perfect in their respective roles and lent their screen presence to these characters. The Phantom Menace also introduced new newcomers to the feature, including a young Jake Lloyd, who played the child version of Anakin Skywalker, and Natalie Portman, who played Queen Amidala / Padme. Both I felt were pretty good in their respective roles (Lloyd was a bit inexperience and shows that in his performance and lines delivery a few times), but both were effective in their own rights and did make up two central figures in the story and who would carry on for the rest of the planned prequel trilogy. Of course, Lloyd would be replaced by Haden Christensen as the adult version of Anakin, while Portman would continue to play Amidala / Padme for the rest prequel entries.
Of course, the big star in the entire film would have to be the appearance of Darth Maul, a apprentice Sith to Darth Sidious, who acts one of the main antagonist in the feature. Interestingly, Maul was played by Ray Parker, but was voiced Peter Serafinowicz. Some of the lightsaber moments in the entire film involved Darth Maul, especially the third act with the double sided lightsaber fight. Definitely of the most iconic Sith lords of the entire film franchise, with the character frequently appearing every so often in other Star Wars projects after Phantom Menace.
Perhaps the big controversy character about this movie was the introduction by Jar Jar Binks, who was played by actor Ahmed Best. I do get where a lot of criticism comes from in the side character, who was supposed to act as comedic relief sidekick in the movie, but ended up being far more annoying and almost cringeworthy in almost every scene he was in. I don’t really blame Best’s performance of the character, but rather how he was written and could’ve been “toned down” a bit more. I think Lucas and his team go that hint / feedback from this movie’s release as the role of Jar Jar Binks was reduced in the next two Star Wars movies after The Phantom Menace. Lastly, it was great to see several Star Wars veterans coming back to reprise their character roles such as Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Frank Oz (Yoda), and Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine) and never loss their step in playing their iconic roles in this movie. Great job!
The legacy of The Phantom Menace literally catapulted the franchise into a new cinematic era, starting off the “Prequel Trilogy” that continued further along with Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002 and The Revenge of the Sith in 2005. This, of course, paved the way for the franchise (as a whole) to be reinvented and reintroduced for a whole new generation, who were eager to explore more of this massive sci-fi universe through the usage of spin-off films, TV series, video games, novels, toys, and apparel and, while it always been heavily debated on which trilogy is the best (i.e. the original, the prequel, or the sequel), there is no denying the fact that The Phantom Menace paved the way for Star Wars to return to mainstream media as well in popular culture.
Despite the naysayers and the some of the Star Wars fanbase say, I actually did (and still do) enjoy watching The Phantom Menace. George Lucas did what set out to do and create a much more livelier and energetic Star Wars episodic feature than what the previous entries were able to achieve. Some stuff was a little bit clunkily handled and certain elements were exactly the best fit, but the film did showcases the starting origin story point of Anakin Skywalker and showed a society where the Jedi Knights thrived before they fell. With updated visuals, an expanded mythos / worlding building lore, and fantastic fighting sequences, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was a fun and entertaining blockbuster that primed the series for the future by engaging viewers to reconnect with this epic space opera in a galaxy far, far away once again.
Cinematic Flashback Score: 3.9 Out of 5
FUN FACT: When ironing out all the details about the film with the studio, George Lucas made a similar deal as he did with Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) where Lucas and 20th Century Fox agreed that he would forego his salary as a director, provided he owns the entire negative of the final cut of the film, as well as ancillary rights of all toys and commercial tie-ins.
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