How did you react to Phantom Menace? (vs, cast, history)
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Anyone who is interested how a massive movie of this scale gets made, from the first words on the script through design, storyboarding, casting, music, shooting, set design, costume design, editing, special effects, etc., --- The Phantom Menace DVD special features are some of the best available. The only ones I have found that surpass it are the expanded boxed sets of THE LORD OF THE RINGS movies and the BLADE RUNNER briefcase edition.
Ebert's commentary on DARK CITY is like a day in film school, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's commentary on CONAN THE BARBARIAN is unintentionally hilarious ("Yah, I get laid a lot in dis movie!"), but when it comes to documenting the entire process of the making of a movie, The Phantom Menace DVD is one of the best out there.
But I don't care. I've seen parts of it, but I'll never own physical copies of those movies. And sadly, what I remember most is how bored Sam Jackson looked while he was doing stuff against all that green screen.
And yes to the briefcase edition of Blade Runner, of which I'm a proud owner.
And speaking of Ahnuld's commentary for CTB, his opening lines are HILARIOUS. I'm not going to write them. People will have to go buy the DVD.
Another great commentary track is Don Coscarelli's on The Beastmaster.
A lot of people say that The Phantom Menace is the best of the three prequels, but I think I might be in the minority in saying it's the least best. I like Revenge of the Sith the best, and I feel that Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace was too empty of a character and not given enough to work with. It also has the worst looking special effects of the three movies, looking back now.
I feel that the Pod race subplot also goes on for unusually long and didn't buy that Qui Gon Gin (sorry I suck at spelling these names), would actually go through with it, rather than come up with an alternate plan.
I didn't mind Jar Jar Binks, near as much as some people, but overall I think it's probably the worst one of the three.
Watched in a theater in Ocean City MD.. I went in with low expectations, but was still surprised by how boring it was. My opinion, not having a fully formed Vader was it's biggest weakness. There was no sense of dread, or fascination, with the villains. Thin CGI effects & characters, and a cute, sympathetic Vader just wasn't compelling to me..
I had no great expectations. By the time Return of the Jedi had muppets wiping out a contingent of Imperial Stormtroopers, the writing was on the wall.
I saw the other two after Phantom on DVD, and I was in no hurry to do so.
I can't imagine ever being so bored out of my mind as to consider watching any of them again.
I liked being able to experience a Star Wars movie in theaters, but I picked up pretty early that it was missing the quality of the original trilogy (except for the imaginative world building). All the marketing and merchandising surrounding a villain who barely does or says anything in the movie, or in the subsequent 20 years.
I lived in a small town at the time, so the rest of the evening was pretty forgettable. You can't have long lines to the theater if there's no people around.
The Phantom Menace turns 20 in a couple of months, so I thought I'd make this thread.
How excited were you when you heard that the Phantom Menace was coming out? Did you camp out in front of the theater? What did you think when you finished watching it in the theater?
I'm not one of these mega Star Wars nuts. I enjoyed the first trilogy, and I even loved the Ewok movies. When Phantom Menace came out, while I didn't camp out to be the first to see it (just walked up with my family and bought tickets on a Friday night) I was so entertained by the movie, I ended up seeing it 5 times in the theater. I love all the prequels, and find myself watching them more than the original trilogy. But, a good deal of this probably has to do with me being very fond of Ewan McGregor, who I am still an avid fan of him to this day.
The Clone Wars series was better than the prequel movies, and actually make all the movies a bit better by providing more exposition of the characters.
Darth Maul's arc in Clone Wars, for instance, partially rehabilitates "The Phantom Menace." And one Clone Wars arc took place on Jar-Jar's home planet, giving that species some rehabilitation (they're not all like Jar-Jar). Anakim Skywalker is a far more compelling character.
All the marketing and merchandising surrounding a villain who barely does or says anything in the movie, or in the subsequent 20 years..
Amen.. good post.
I think that was Phantom's most significant failure.. Lucas underestimated how much the series needed Vader. Love him, or hate him, the franchise has to have Vader. He is irreplacable.
And my opinion, nobody was (ultimately) interested in Vader's childhood biopic..
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