Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace Review
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After over a decade, the Star Wars series returned to the silver screen with Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace. This film would take viewers on a journey of the events leading up to the original trilogy that the series became so famous for. Today we will look at Star Wars the Phantom Menace and let you know if the film held up or not. This is our review of Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace.
The Story in Star Wars The Phantom Menace
The film starts off over the planet of Naboo. This beautiful planet has a blockade surrounding it that is being controlled by a group called the Separatists.
A pair of Jedi from the still existing jedi order have been sent by the Galactic senate to act as ambassadors to negotiate a piece and break up he blockade. These Jedi are Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi.
But after negotiations fall short, the events around Naboo grow deadly.
If you want to check out other films in the storyline for Star Wars check our our Star Wars Saga Ranked list.
The Characters In Star Wars the Phantom Menace
There are many good characters in Star Wars The Phantom Menace regardless of the quality of their acting.
Qui Gon Ginn played by Liam Neeson plays the role of a Jedi master. He is the jedi master to Obi Wan Kenobi played by Ewan McGregor. This Obi wan is the same person that we meet in Star Wars A New Hope as Ben Kenobie. The two together make a fantastic duo of jedi that also act as eye candy with their flashy moves with lightsabers not seen in the series before.
There are a couple characters that are from Naboo as well. Padmé played by Natalie Portman. She is the queen of Naboo and works through the movie to free her people from the oppression of the separatists.
Jar Jar Binks is a Gungan that was a CGI alien in the film played by Ahmed Best. There are many opinions about this character, but I myself found that this character fit in the movie and did not detract from the film overall.
The characters at one point are forced to head to a planet called Tatooine, a planet that many fans of the series will remember from the original trilogy as the home world of Luke Skywalker. Here they find the young boy Anakin Skywalker played by Jake Lloyd. This boy will become a pivotal piece in the rest of the trilogy.
When the characters of the film head out to the planet of Coruscant we the viewers are treated to seeing several characters that appear later in the series as well as some new faces.
The Senator from Naboo Sheev Palpatine played by the same actor that plays as the Emperor in the later trilogy is in this film Ian McDiarmid and is a pleasant callback to the original trilogy.
We also get to meet a younger Yoda and another jedi named Mace Windew (Samuel Jackson) who are members of the Jedi council residing on Coruscant. These characters do not play the biggest role in this film but will be returning in it’s sequels.
Overall the cast and characters for this film are really great, but it seems that the direction and lines that the Director George Lucas had them perform lead to a rather lack luster performance.
A New Generation of Star Wars Brings New Technical Feats
Despite the series being a prequel to the original trilogy, this film boasts fancy space ships and flashy space battles through the runtime of the film. These effects and overall vehicles and technologies may seem jarring to the viewers that are aware that the series takes place over a decade before Star Wars a New Hope.
That being said, this was probably the right decision. I enjoyed the flashy visuals that this film had to offer. They may not stand up perfectly today, but they are still really well done and feel like Star Wars more than the later Disney films in the series.
There are still many practical effects and puppetry in this film that the original trilogy had which keeps the film grounded to it’s predecessors. The puppetry feels much less prominent as the main race of alien that we are exposed to in the Phantom Menace are the gungans. But it’s still enough to have the film feel a Star Wars Film.
Star Wars Episode 1 Crafts New Cultures and Grows Existing Ones
If there is any sense of expansion from the original trilogy it’s with the galaxy and it’s cultures as a whole. We the viewers get to see entirely new cultures and scenery from different planets like Naboo or the center of the Galaxy at Coruscant and what that political environment is like.
Along with the culture comes unique architecture for each culture. For instance, on Naboo, which strikes me as a hold but cultured world that has beautiful gardens dispersed through it’s stone cities.
But taking a trip further away and into the swamps, we meet the gungan city and it’s underwater air bubbles that float underwater and have a curved brassy structure throughout the city under the water.
Old locations and cultures are expanded upon as well on the world of Tatooine where we meet Anakin Skywalker and his desire to race in the Boonta Eve classic. This event is a race using floating vehicles strapped to oversized engines that gamblers and smugglers from around the outer rim come to Tatooine to gamble on.
Overall the movie gives the viewer plenty of new worlds and culture in this film that add onto what already is known in the galaxy and really makes the Star Wars universe come alive.
Conclusion
So should you watch Star Wars Episode 1 the Phantom Menace? Yes!, if fact I feel that this film sits in the middle of the pack of the entire Star Wars canon of films. If you want to check out where this ranks among other films in the Star Wars Saga, check out our Star Wars Films Ranked list.
Star Wars Episode 1 offers the viewer many new things while also growing on the films that take place later in the series giving viewers that have seen the other films a sense of knowledge as to what will happen, yet mystery as to how the story gets to that point.
George Lucas, has crafted the start to a new Trilogy that will make us love some characters and hate some others and this opinion will chance as the trilogy progresses.
If you have not seen the original series before seeing Episode 1, do not worry, you actually do not need to have seen the original films to still enjoy what is going on in this one. The film works as a good prequel because it’s so welcoming to new viewers. This is unlike Star Wars the Force Awakens that almost requires that viewers know who the original cast of characters are and relies heavily on nostalgia alone.
I personally enjoy Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace. I think that many after seeing the films that Disney released may agree as well. There may be distaste for these films but I feel that they have a lot to offer and at least have a clear sense of direction for where the series is going to go unlike the late Disney trilogy.
Where To Watch Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace
Currently you can stream Star Wars The Phantom Menace on Disney Plus or Hulu with a premium subscription. The film can also be rented from most of the common video hosting services such as Amazon Prime Video or Youtube.
You can also pick up a physical copy of the movie by using our amazon affiliate link here.
I hope that you found this review on Star Wars Episode 1 to be useful. This film has very different opinions from fans in the franchise. I would like to know what you all have to say about it in the comments section below.
Be sure to stick around and check out some of our other amazing Star Wars content as we continue our review through the series.
