Star Wars:
Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
science fiction action
directed
by : George Lucas
featuring
: Ewan McGregor - Liam Neeson - Natalie Portman - Jake Lloyd - Pernilla
August
running
time : 2 hours 11 minutes
In 1977, George Lucas released Star Wars,
the ultimate sci-fi popcorn flick turned pop-culture myth machine. It quickly
became the biggest money-making film of all time and changed the shape
of the film industry. After two successful sequels (1980's The Empire Strikes
Back and 1983's Return Of The Jedi) that extended the story of the first
film, Lucas took some time off to produce movies for others with mixed
success. In 1999, Lucas returned to the Star Wars saga with a new approach
— instead of picking up where Return Of The Jedi left off, The Phantom
Menace would be the first of a trilogy of stories to trace what happened
in the intergalactic saga before the first film began. Here, Obi-Wan Kenobi
(Ewan McGregor) is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of
Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson); Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who will later
father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just a nine-year-old
boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the planet Naboo,
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter, but when they arrive
on Naboo they are brought to Amidala, the Naboo Queen (Natalie Portman),
by a friendly but opportunistic Gungan named Jar Jar. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan
plan to escort Amidala to a meeting of Republic leaders in Coruscant, but
trouble with their spacecraft strands them on the planet Tatooine, where
Qui-Gon meets Anakin, the slave of a scrap dealer. Qui-Gon is soon convinced
that the boy could be the leader the Jedis have been searching for, and
he begins bargaining for his freedom and teaching the boy the lessons of
The Force. The supporting cast includes Pernilla August as Anakin's mother,
Terence Stamp as Chancellor Valorum, and Samuel L.jackson as Jedi master
Mace Windu; Jackson told a reporter before The Phantom Menace's release
that the best part about doing the film was that he got to say "May The
Force be with you" on screen.
To say that the first prequel
to Lucas' Star Wars trilogy was "highly anticipated" would be an understatement.
Twenty years after the original Star Wars hit the screen in 1977 and helped
redefine the contemporary blockbuster, Lucas answered fan prayers by not
only re-releasing the original trio, but also beginning production on the
epic's first three episodes, depicting young Anakin Skywalker's rise to
Jedi greatness and fabled descent to the Dark Side. Even the first trailer
for the closely-guarded The Phantom Menacev(1999) touched off a fan frenzy,
as the faithful bought tickets to catch a glimpse of the impending Industrial
Light and Magic spectacle, complete with signature gallery of oddball creatures,
and then left the theaters. When The Phantom Menace opened in May 1999,
however, response was mixed. While the computer-generated alternate universe
was top-notch and Lucas' knack for whiz-bang special effects action reached
an apex in the Ben Hur-esque pod race, critics (professional and otherwise)
objected to the wooden human characters, overly kiddie-friendly atmosphere,
and goofy alien sidekick Jar Jar Binks. The fact that its impressive $61
million opening failed to break weekend records also caused some consternation.
Still, by January 2000, The Phantom Menace had grossed over $400 million
in the U.S., proving that the box office Force was still with Lucas (though
The Matrix would sweep the special effects Oscars).