Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

[Goffe]

Haven't seen them in like 2 years so I bought them all in blu-ray. My enjoyment level is huge still, but its pretty bad haha.

New score.

B- (82)

You rating system is wierd

I can never tell if the score is good or not

[RobinHood26]

You rating system is wierd

I can never tell if the score is good or not

You guys make me want to blow my fucking brains out. 

 

B- and up are positive C+ and below are negative. Ive made this clear about 1,667,863,826 times now. 

 

Empire grades the same way even Tele does. I don't understand whats so hard to get. 

[darkelf]

I don't understand whats so hard to get. 

 

The fact that you scored The Phantom Menace positively?

[yads]

The best prequel.

 

F+

Edited December 17, 2014 by yads

[Crusader]

Vile 

 

...and trade routes ??? fuck off George you pompous old fart 

 

2/10 for double light saber and Ewan trying hard to make it work 

[Goffe]

I liked the trade dispute subplot

TPM would be significantly worse without it

[4815162342]

I don't get why people spend so much time hating on the trade route stuff. It accounts for about two minutes of the movie, half of it in the opening title crawl, and is just the premise for why the Trade Federation gets instigated by Sidious into blockading Naboo and their evil trollolololing.

[Crusader]

I don't get why people spend so much time hating on the trade route stuff. It accounts for about two minutes of the movie, half of it in the opening title crawl, and is just the premise for why the Trade Federation gets instigated by Sidious into blockading Naboo and their evil trollolololing.

 

Its because there's plot exposition on plot exposition I mean just get on with it don't go into all this nonsense 

 

I think I know why George went with that - cause he's not a filmmaker he's a businessman therefore trade routes is what he's all about 

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Just finish rewatching it

 

This film felt long and way to many pointless. The first 30 minutes are a waste.   Most of acting is awful I am looking at Jake and Natalie. The third act was more of improvement. Darth Mall should have been used more and same with Palpatine. i would liked to see them more used in the story. The score was good as well.

1/5

[Kalo]

Finally got around to writing a review for this move after all these years, here it is: (think I'll do one for all of them now haha)

 

The Phantom Menace is not worthy of all the hate it receives.

 

If you grew up in the 70s and 80s and were a huge star wars fan and were more excited then ever for the release of the 1999 The Phantom Menace, I can understand how you would be disappointed, this is a very flawed movie, with some very poor acting, bad dialogue, that resulted from an overbearing director, who took it upon himself to write dialogue when he really should have gotten someone else for the task. 

 

That being said, you cannot understate the imagination that went into making this movie.  

I remember I was eight when The Phantom Menace was released in theaters, I remember seeing advertising everywhere, and I bought several of the Action Figures beforehand, and played with them in elaborate diplomatic ways with my sisters, this was before I was really a major Star Wars fan, and I actually didn't get to see it on the big screen (until the 2012 3D release anyways).

 

But I remember being excited for it and I saw it right after it came to video in 2000, I was 9 at the time, the same age as young Anakin Skywalker. and I was completely captivated by it, I loved the beautiful new worlds that were created. and can remember watching it over and over again to see when Padme was Padme or when she was her decoy. I also got a major crush on Natalie Portman at the time. 

 

I loved how it dove deeper into the mythology of the Force, I was exposed to it before I was submerged into the jungle that is the Internet world and knew nothing of the backlash that Midi-chlorians had recieved, and while maybe today it is a little less mystical to see it that way, I really don't understand why it is hated that much. 

The whole design and elaboracy of the new worlds and the culture created around theme is nothing short of astonishing. this movie had me making political elections for senators and chancellors with my action figures when I was a child. the delopatic setup of the republic was captivating for me at the time.

The New Worlds that George created were awesome, I loved the gorgeous green beauty of Naboo, the underwater city of Outagonga, the Theed Palace. and the revisiting of Tatooine, with a fresh look, the slave quarters was very cool looking as well as the "Legos" that Shimi plays with for work. the Podrace scene was exciting and intense.

And then there is the Metropolis of coruscant, which houses the senate and the heart of the republic, with skyscrapers miles high, a world that has been expanded throughout the years so much through books and videogames that it now is a character in itself.

 

That John Williams Score is amazing, and Duel of the Fates is to this day one of my favorite themes of all time. 

And then there are the visuals, they were absolutely groundbreaking for the time, and still to this day hold up very well, Watto for example is a complete CGI creature. but it's still difficult for me to tell that by looking at him.

 

I did have to grow up and I watched alot of movies, and saw the internet world- that the movie which is probably more responsible than any of them for making me a gigantic star wars fan is not universally loved, and alot of the arguments made are pretty valid The Phantom Menace is not a perfect film. In fact it is probably one of the most flawed films that I can say I still really like, and after watching it a few hundred times it does get a bit dull at parts and can even be kind of be a bore for periods of time.

There also is some true cheese going on here and the whole trade route blockade and people starving on a apparently lush world is a little hard to believe today and yes this movie could have been better a lot better even. Jar Jar is annoying sure, but he is not nearly as bad as he is made out to be. and Jake Lloyd can't act, but his role for the most part doesn't really require a ton of fancy acting, sure it would have helped, but it is what it is. 

 

I get it people were let down, and if this movie released at any other point in time in my life- maybe I would have a different view of this movie. but this is a definitive movie of my childhood- one that came out when I was transitioning from a little kid to a big kid. it made me want to be a Jedi and made me want to use my imagination and unlike so many kids today, I would play outside practicing my saber skills or doing some kind of roleplay in the woods as opposed to spending all day inside on video games (okay I did that too KOTOR, is a big thanks to that). 

 

I've tried to review this several times but have been putting it off, I wanted to convey what this movie has met to me- it gets so much hate I feel I have to defend why I like it, it also got me to appreciate the original films and see how they are superiority in every way to this movie, but to this day I still like the Phantom Menace and appreciate it for what it is and not what it could have been.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Kalo

[Kalo]

double post.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Kalo

[Amadeus]

Rewatched. (9/10 -- unique!)

Gets better and better after I realized one must see it for what Lucas wanted it to be. 

It's carefully crafted as fuck. 
Lucas was more focused on both the storytelling and the spectacle. Only half of its story (or plot) takes place on the screen (the one with the good guys fighting the trade federation). The other half (in which Palpatine comes to power) takes place outside. Therefore the movie can be seen as a big diversion in which we only see a few glimpses of the real danger. 

TPM is just as clever as fuck as it spectacular. A grown up can find just as much joy in it as a young boy. It all depends on whether one can watch it from "a certain point of view". 

 

[Red Dog Melvin]

This encapsulates my problem with the "cool" of this film:

 

 

[Blankments]

The Phantom Menace is probably the most famous mess in big budget history. Arguably the most anticipated film of all time, it disappoints due to a critical misunderstanding on what people imagine when they think of Star Wars and very poor direction. It would be easy to dwell on the negative aspects, such as the wooden acting despite incredibly capable actors or misplaced comic relief that isn’t remotely funny. For those two aspects, there are probably ten or so more to easily go in-depth on why it doesn’t work, but focusing on the positive would work too.

 

The podracing setpiece is actually riveting, well-edited, and has a good sense of space that the rest of the setpieces lack. It’s the only thing in the movie that feels like classic Star Wars adventure, although the cutaways to either Jar Jar rooting or the stupid sports announcers almost ruin it. John Williams’ score is also excellent, interweaving new iconic themes with THE iconic themes. It’s a delight to listen to musically, especially since dialogue isn’t up to par.

 

The Phantom Menace isn’t a good movie, but you didn’t need me to tell you that. It has gone down in cinematic history as the #1 example on why prequels don’t work, and for good reason. Although there are a couple positive aspects, ultimately, it’s a film that should be avoided whether you’ve already seen it or have avoided its pop culture grasp. D

[DeeCee]

Shiny

[Amadeus]

Just a thought about the dialogue. 

Maybe George Lucas actually perfected the Star Wars dialogue in The Phantom Menace. 

 

Many of the lines spoken in the OT were very much Fortune-Cookie-talk. Very many many many of the spoken lines of dialogue in The Phantom Menace could very well be something you'd find on the paper note inside of Fortune Cookie. They are vague but still universal. It's very little chat in the dialogue. The lines that are spoken are bare to the bone and they define the characters more not less. 

Obi Wan saying "We don't have much time" is not plot driven but, rather, character driven... Impatient the young padawan is. 
Qui Gon saying "I don't sense anything" is not plot driven but, rather, character driven.... He's one with the force, but the force he's with is not the way of the force all the other Jedi are in.
Anakin saying "I don't like sand" is not plot driven but, rather, character driven... 
Jar Jar saying "we are warriors"...

 

These lines are just as cinematic as they are dramatic. 

 

The Phantom Menace is what Star Wars really is. At least from the point of view of a director who's grown up and realized he wanted to make something that could speak to everyone. Like it or not. (I too agree it's etnocentric). But trust me: checking the MCU conventions is not a bonus. The dialogue in GOTG will be dated very soon. But the verbal language of TPM will forever last. 

Edited April 30, 2017 by Amadeus

[Amadeus]

On 2016-03-08 at 5:31 PM, Kalo said:

but it is what it is. 

 

 

 

I too was eight when I watched this -- that is: open minded.
 

George Lucas is a so called auteur, "a singular artist who controls all aspects of a collaborative creative work". 
Watching TPM is reading his mind.

he borrows, he steals, he makes choices that conventionally are not very wise.

he even changes the genre of the whole saga. 

 

But he's a very talented director and producer, and he understands the medium. 

He did put very much into TPM, and with an open mind (that is not comparing it to the so called "tone" of the OT) you'll see it's a marvelous achievement.

 

[Amadeus]

On 2012-02-02 at 3:48 PM, 4815162342 said:

It's a enjoyable film with some glaring character flaws (Young Anakin and Jar Jar), but the real failing of the film is how the story, while well-done enough as the start of a franchise, kneecaps the story when viewed as a prequel. We don't want to see how Obi-Wan became a Jedi Knight, met Anakin, and then semi-reluctantly takes on his training at the film's very end. We want to see Obi-Wan and Anakin already Master and Apprentice, bantering and cracking wise as they go on adventures and we see over the first film just how close they are. We lose a valuable film of Obi-Wan/Anakin relationship, and that is TPM's ultimate failing.

buhuhu... the movie is not that... and not that.. and not that...  lol

[Amadeus]

This is the Pet Sounds for the ones born after 1985. A piece of art which the olders tell you sucks because it is beyond their understanding. But later on, when critics begin to focus on its intentions rather than its "conventional missteps", it will be the one movie in the franchise the robots will be talking bout in the future. 

[Rorschach]

It is not the worst of the Star Wars prequels. I'd give that distinction to dull, forgettable mess of AOTC. That being said this is not a good film either. I didn't even like it as a child. After watching once all the way through, I remember constantly skipping through a good chunk of the film on several rewatches just to rewatch the good bits of action. The good stuff is legitimately entertaining. The Pod-racing scene, the lightsaber fight, the droid battle, pretty much everything that showed off the VFX was fun in my view (John Williams score is also the default best thing about the film). Unfortunately, I don't think that having to slog through painful scenes of elementary school dialogue and rather boring subplots. A fascinating case of fan hype delivering massive disappointment.

C-