Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace


Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 film by George Lucas
starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Jake Lloyd. Menace
is the first in a trilogy of films that function as a prequel to the more
famous original Star Wars trilogy (1977 - 1983) and the first in what will
be a full six part saga with the completion of Star Wars Episode III.

Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers

The film is set in 32 BBY and begins with what appears to be a trade dispute
between the planet of Naboo and the greedy Trade Federation. The Trade
Federation blockades the planet in order to force them to accept their
terms. Supreme Chancellor Valorum of the Republic secretly sends two Jedi
knights (Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi) to resolve the dispute. The plot
then thickens when it is revealed that the Trade Federation are in fact in
league with the evil Darth Sidious Dark Lord of the Sith. Sidious orders the
federation to invade Naboo and kill the Jedi knights. The Jedi escape the
assassination attempt aboard the Trade Federation control ship and land upon
Naboo. There they meet Jar Jar Binks who helps them reach the main city of
Naboo where the Jedi rescue the queen of the Naboo Queen Amidala (Natalie
Portman). They then try to reach the capital planet of the republic
Coruscant so that they can plead their case to the senate. Before reaching
Coruscant they are forced to land on planet Tatooine for badly needed
repairs. Whilst searching for the parts needed for repairs they meet Anakin
Skywalker who helps them raise the funds for the repairs by flying in a pod
race. Qui-Gon Jinn recognises Anakin's potential to be a powerful Jedi and
takes Anakin with him on the journey to Coruscant. At Coruscant the queen
becomes disillusioned with the bureaucratic procedures and lack of action
and decides to return to Naboo to repel the invasion herself. There she
enlists the helps of her people's former enemies the gungans to form an
alliance in a desperate battle against the Trade Federation. During the
battle the gungans are forced to retreat until Anakin destroys the droid
command ship. The Trade Federation is defeated, but not before Qui-Gon is
killed by Darth Maul. The Jedi council then decide that Anakin should train
to become a Jedi knight.

Filming

The budget of Menace was 115 million US dollars. Filming was primarily done
at Leavesden Studios in England, with additional location shooting in the
Tunisian desert and the Italian palace Palazzo Reale, Caserta.

Reaction

After an enormous marketing campaign, there was almost unprecedented
interest amongst both fans and the wider community in the return of one of
the most successful movie series of all time. However, critical and fan
reaction ranged from guarded praise to outright derision.

The much-hyped special effects, whilst generally viewed as groundbreaking in
their sheer scope, were perhaps less impressive than anticipated simply
because of high expectations. However, many critics heavily criticised the
direction and the work of Portman and especially Jake Lloyd as the young
Anakin Skywalker. However, many fans oppose the critics' views. Some aspects
of the scripting were also criticised. Fan reaction was mixed, with extra
venom at the character of Jar-Jar Binks, who was regarded by most of the
older fan community as purely a merchandising opportunity rather than a
serious character in the film.

A number of people anonymously re-edited the film and released their edited
versions over the Internet. One, known as The Phantom Edit, is regarded as a
superior version by many who have seen both.