Star Wars: Episode 1. The Phantom Menace
From AwardAnnals
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| Director(s) | George Lucas |
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| Series | Episode 1. The Phantom Menace |
| Distributor | 20th Century Fox |
| Honors | |
| “I have a bad feeling about this,” says the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) in Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace as he steps off a spaceship and into the most anticipated cinematic event…well, ever. He might as well be speaking for the legions of fans of the original episodes in the Star Wars saga who can’t help but secretly ask themselves: Sure, this is Star Wars, but is it my Star Wars? The original elevated moviegoers’ expectations so high that it would have been impossible for any subsequent film to meet them.… | |
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
“I have a bad feeling about this,” says the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) in Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace as he steps off a spaceship and into the most anticipated cinematic event…well, ever. He might as well be speaking for the legions of fans of the original episodes in the Star Wars saga who can’t help but secretly ask themselves: Sure, this is Star Wars, but is it my Star Wars? The original elevated moviegoers’ expectations so high that it would have been impossible for any subsequent film to meet them. And as with all the Star Wars movies, The Phantom Menace features inexplicable plot twists, a fistful of loose threads, and some cheek-chewing dialogue. Han Solo’s swagger is sorely missed, as is the pervading menace of heavy-breather Darth Vader. There is still way too much quasi-mystical mumbo jumbo, and some of what was fresh about Star Wars 22 years earlier feels formulaic. Yet there’s much to admire. The special effects are stupendous; three worlds are populated with a mélange of creatures, flora, and horizons rendered in absolute detail. The action and battle scenes are breathtaking in their complexity. And one particular sequence of the film—the adrenaline-infused pod race through the Tatooine desert—makes the chariot race in Ben-Hur look like a Sunday stroll through the park.
Among the host of new characters, there are a few familiar walk-ons. We witness the first meeting between R2-D2 and C-3PO, Jabba the Hutt looks younger and slimmer (but not young and slim), and Yoda is as crabby as ever. Natalie Portman’s stately Queen Amidala sports hairdos that make Princess Leia look dowdy and wields a mean laser. We never bond with Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), and Obi-Wan’s day is yet to come. Jar Jar Binks, a cross between a Muppet, a frog, and a hippie, provides many of the movie’s lighter moments, while Sith Lord Darth Maul is a formidable force. Baby-faced Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) looks too young and innocent to command the powers of the Force or wield a lightsaber (much less transmute into the future Darth Vader), but his boyish exuberance wins over skeptics.
Near the end of the movie, Palpatine, the new leader of the Republic, may be speaking for fans eagerly awaiting Episode II when he pats young Anakin on the head and says, “We will watch your career with great interest.” Indeed!—Tod Nelson
Barnes and Noble
Fans waited 16 years for this latest entry in George Lucas’s epic space opera, and the payoff was big. Advances in digital imaging technology gave Lucas the tools to bring his most extraordinary visions yet to dramatic life. Episode I: The Phantom Menace—an action-packed intergalactic adventure—introduces an eye-popping parade of new aliens (such as loopy amphibian Jar Jar Binks) to populate future installments, as it begins the backstory to the phenomenally popular Star Wars trilogy. Brave Jedi Knights Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor join forces with young Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) to save her civilization from invaders, setting the stage for political intrigues to come in future episodes. The film also sets sci-fi history in motion by bringing Queen Amidala face-to-face with prodigious Jedi-to-be Annakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), a sweet boy with the darkest of destinies. From its breathtaking Pod Race to the exhilarating light-saber battles with the villainous Darth Maul, The Phantom Menace dazzles with its technical wizardry and whets the appetite for Lucas’s next adventure. Ben Wolf
