Year:
1999
Studio:
20th Century Fox
Movie:
4/5
DVD:
5/5
Teaser
The Sith Lord's plan for total domination has begun! Phase One is a war
between the Trade Federation and the planet of Naboo. He plans to use
the ensuing turmoil to place himself at the head of the Republic. And
from there he will soon rule the Galaxy!
Meanwhile, Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice,
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) are trying to stop the Trade Federation.
The two rescue Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) from Naboo, as well as
picking up an unlikely companion in Jar Jar Binks (voice of Ahmed
Best). Hiding out in Tatooine for repairs, Qui-Gon meets the remarkable
Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who might be the One foretold to bridge
the Darkness and Light.
Movie
The first prequel to "Star Wars", "The Phantom Menace" is a visually
stunning movie in the same vein. It is an action adventure movie first
and foremost, with lots of fights and chases. The special effects are
cutting edge and seamless. It's nice to see C3PO and R2D2 as well as
hints and foreshadows of future events that the audience has already
seen.
When it first came out lots of people were disappointed, though many
more were thrilled. Part of the problem is that older people were
comparing this movie to "Star Wars", as seen through the rose-colored
glasses of childhood memory. "Star Wars" is a children's fantasy movie
and "The Phantom Menace" is much the same. People wanted something
different than what George Lucas intended.
Actors
Liam Neeson puts in a credible performance as a mature Jedi Knight.
It's hard to imagine Ewan McGregor as a younger version of Alec
Guinness. It's like seeing your grandfather as a young excitable lad.
Watching Natalie Portman and Jake Lloyd playing their characters I kept
thinking that five or eight years from now when Anakin is an older
teenager, Amidala is still going to be a lot older than him.
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DVD
There is a second DVD full of extras. The commentary on the main DVD is
with George Lucas and some of the other behind the scenes guys like the
producer and sound and visual and animation guys. It was really nice
that every time the speaker changed the name would flash at the top of
the screen so viewers could tell who was talking.
All the trailers and television commercials are included. There are a
few deleted scenes. A 66-minute "The Beginning" documentary was quite
informative and interesting. It was done without narration and it jumps
around a lot but it still showed a lot of cool things like casting the
Anakin part and the first read-through of the script.
There was a 12-part web documentary series and each of the 5-minute
segments are included on the second DVD. There are also five 8-minute
featurettes highlighting the visual effects, costumes, design, fights,
and story. A section on animatics explains what they are -- basically
preproduction computer animation used to get timing and a rough idea of
what a final computer animated scene will look like. Two example
animatics -- Pod Race lap one and the submarine sequence -- are shown.
Finally we have some advertisements and posters, a short Star Wars
Starfighter making of promo video, and cast and crew biographies. All
in all it's like another three to four hours of video and added to the
two hour movie and just as long commentary and you have a whole lot of
stuff.
Recommendations
I'm going to start basing my recommendations on the whole package
rather than just the movie. For "The Phantom Menace", we have an
excellent movie combined with a lot of good extra features making this
a highly recommended product. |