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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

April 08, 2024

This article is about the film. For the video game, see Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (video game). For the soundtrack, see Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (soundtrack). For the novelization, see Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (novel).
"Star Wars 1" redirects here. For the first Star Wars film, see Star Wars (film).

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ahmed Best, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August and Frank Oz. It is the fourth film in the Star Wars film series, the first film of the prequel trilogy and the first chronological chapter of the "Skywalker Saga". Set 32 years before the original trilogy (13 years before the formation of the Galactic Empire), during the era of the Galactic Republic, the plot follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they try to protect Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo in hopes of securing a peaceful end to an interplanetary trade dispute. Joined by Anakin Skywalker—a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of the Force—they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the Sith. The film was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox.[b]

Star Wars: Episode I –
The Phantom Menace
Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan
Directed byGeorge Lucas
Written byGeorge Lucas
Produced byRick McCallum
Starring
CinematographyDavid Tattersall
Edited by
Music byJohn Williams
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • May 16, 1999 (1999-05-16) (Los Angeles)
  • May 19, 1999 (1999-05-19) (United States)
Running time
133 minutes[1][a]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$115 million[3]
Box office$1.027 billion[3]

Following the release of Return of the Jedi (1983), talks of a follow-up were proposed, but Lucas was unmotivated to return to the franchise. During the hiatus, the backstories he created for the characters, particularly Anakin's own backstory, sparked interest in him to develop a prequel trilogy during the 1990s. After he determined that computer-generated imagery (CGI) had advanced to the level he wanted for the prequel trilogy's visual effects, Lucas began writing The Phantom Menace in 1993, and production began in 1994. Filming started in June 1997—at locations at Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert—and ended in September. The film marked Lucas's first directorial effort after a 22-year hiatus following the original Star Wars[c] in 1977.

The Phantom Menace was released in theaters on May 19, 1999, almost 16 years after the premiere of Return of the Jedi. The film's premiere was extensively covered by media and was widely anticipated because of the large cultural following the Star Wars saga had cultivated. Upon its release, The Phantom Menace received mixed reviews from critics. While the visual effects were praised, its exposition and characters—particularly Jar Jar Binks—received criticism. The movie was a box-office success and broke numerous box-office records during its debut. It grossed more than $924.3 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1999, the second-highest-grossing film worldwide and in North America (behind Titanic), and the highest-grossing Star Wars film at the time (inflation notwithstanding). A 3D reissue was released in 2012 and brought the film's overall worldwide takings to over $1 billion. Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) followed The Phantom Menace, rounding out the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

Plot edit

The Trade Federation has upset order in the Galactic Republic by blockading the planet Naboo in secret preparation for a full-scale invasion. The Republic's leader, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, dispatches Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation's secret benefactor, orders the Viceroy to kill the Jedi and begin their invasion with an army of battle droids. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan escape, however, and flee to Naboo. During the invasion, Qui-Gon rescues a bumbling Gungan outcast, Jar Jar Binks. Indebted to Qui-Gon, Jar Jar leads the Jedi to Otoh Gunga, the Gungans' underwater city. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fail to persuade the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, to aid the planet's surface dwellers, but manage to obtain Jar Jar's guidance and underwater transport to Theed, the capital city of Naboo. After rescuing Queen Padmé Amidala, the group make their escape from Naboo aboard her Royal Starship, intending to reach the Republic capital planet of Coruscant.

Passing through the Federation blockade, the ship is damaged in the crossfire and its hyperdrive malfunctions. The group land for repairs on the outlying desert planet of Tatooine, situated beyond the Republic's jurisdiction. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, astromech droid R2-D2, and Padmé—disguised as one of her handmaidens—visit the settlement of Mos Espa to purchase a new part for the hyperdrive. They encounter a junk dealer, Watto, and his nine-year-old slave, Anakin Skywalker, a gifted pilot and engineer who has built a protocol droid, C-3PO. Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force within Anakin, and is convinced that he is the prophesied "Chosen One," destined to restore balance to the Force. With Watto refusing to accept payment in Republic currency, Qui-Gon wagers both the required hyperdrive part and Anakin's freedom in a podrace. Anakin wins the race and joins the group to be trained as a Jedi, leaving behind his mother, Shmi. En route to their starship, Qui-Gon is attacked by Darth Maul, Sidious's apprentice, who was sent to capture Amidala. After a brief lightsaber duel, Qui-Gon escapes on board the starship with the others.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan escort Padmé to Coruscant so she can plead her people's case to Valorum and the Galactic Senate. Qui-Gon asks the Jedi Council for permission to train Anakin as a Jedi, but the Council refuses, concerned that Anakin is vulnerable to the dark side of the Force. Undaunted, Qui-Gon vows to train Anakin anyway. Meanwhile, Naboo's Senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to call for a vote of no confidence in Valorum to elect a more capable leader and to resolve the crisis. Though she is successful in pushing for the vote, Amidala grows frustrated with the corruption in the Senate and decides to return to Naboo. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are ordered by the Jedi Council to accompany the queen and investigate the return of the Sith, whom they had believed to be extinct for more than a millennium.

On Naboo, Padmé reveals herself as the queen before the Gungans and persuades them to join in an alliance against the Trade Federation. Jar Jar is promoted to general and joins his tribe in a battle against the droid army, while Padmé leads the search for Gunray in Theed. During a battle in a hangar, Anakin flees to a starfighter and accidentally triggers its autopilot, traveling to the battle against the Federation droid control ship and inadvertently causing its destruction from within, which deactivates the droid army. Meanwhile, Darth Maul infiltrates the Theed Palace and engages Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in a lightsaber duel. Maul mortally wounds Qui-Gon before being bisected by Obi-Wan and falling down a shaft.[d] Before Qui-Gon dies, he asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin.

Following the battle, Gunray is arrested by the Republic and Palpatine is elected Chancellor. Grandmaster Yoda promotes Obi-Wan to the rank of Jedi Knight and reluctantly accepts Anakin as Obi-Wan's apprentice. A funeral is held for Qui-Gon, attended by the other Jedi, who contemplate that there is still one Sith remaining. During a celebratory parade on Naboo, Padmé presents a gift of thanks to Boss Nass and the Gungans to establish peace.

Cast edit

Main articles: List of Star Wars characters and List of Star Wars cast members
 
 
 
Left to right: Liam Neeson (pictured in 2012), Ewan McGregor (2012) and Natalie Portman (2015)
  • Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Master who discovers Anakin Skywalker and under the belief that he is destined to bring balance to the force as the prophesied "Chosen One", insists that the boy be trained as a Jedi, despite the Jedi Council's refusal to do so. Lucas originally wanted to cast an American actor in the role but cast Neeson (who is Northern Irish) because he considered that Neeson had great skills and presence. Lucas said Neeson was a "master actor, who the other actors will look up to, who has got the qualities of strength that the character demands."[5]
  • Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon's twenty-five-year-old Jedi Padawan, who holds his master in high regard but questions his motives at times, especially when it seems he is breaking the rules of the Jedi. McGregor was cast from a shortlist of fifty actors, all of whom had to be compared to pictures of young Alec Guinness, who portrayed the elderly Obi-Wan, to make a believable younger version.[6] McGregor had a vocal coach to help his voice sound closer to Guinness's. He also studied several of Guinness's performances, from his early work and the original Star Wars films.[5]
  • Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala, the fourteen-year-old Queen of Naboo, who hopes to protect her planet from the Trade Federation's blockade invasion. Throughout most of the film, she uses her birth name Padmé Naberrie and poses as one of the queen's handmaidens for protection. Over 200 actresses auditioned for the role.[7] The production notes stated that "The role required a young woman who could be believable as the ruler of that planet, but at the same time be vulnerable and open". Portman was chosen especially for her performances in Léon: The Professional (1994) and Beautiful Girls (1996), which impressed Lucas.[5] He stated, "I was looking for someone who was young, strong, along the lines of Leia [and] Natalie embodied all those traits and more".[5] Portman was unfamiliar with Star Wars before being cast,[5] but was enthusiastic about being cast as a character she expected to become a role model. Portman said, "It was wonderful playing a young queen with so much power. I think it will be good for young women to see a strong woman of action who is also smart and a leader."[8]
  • Jake Lloyd as Anakin "Ani" Skywalker, a nine-year-old slave boy and a skilled pilot who dreams of becoming a Jedi. Hundreds of actors were tested across the UK, Ireland, Canada and the United States[5] before the producers settled on Lloyd, who Lucas considered met his requirements of "a good actor, enthusiastic and very energetic". Producer Rick McCallum said that Lloyd was "smart, mischievous, and loves anything mechanical—just like Anakin."[9]
  • Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine, a middle-aged senator of Naboo and a secret Sith Lord who orchestrates the invasion of his home planet to get elected Supreme Chancellor. He is the Trade Federation's mysterious benefactor, and the titular "Phantom Menace". McDiarmid was surprised when Lucas approached him sixteen years after Return of the Jedi to reprise the role of Palpatine, having assumed that a younger actor would play the role in the prequel films.[10]
  • Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks, a clumsy Gungan exiled from his home and taken in by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Best was hired after casting director Robin Gurland saw him on a Stomp performance in San Francisco.[9] Best was originally intended to provide motion capture data, but his offer to voice the character was accepted. On the set, to provide references for the actors, Best was clothed in a suit made of foam and latex and a headpiece. Best's filmed performance was later replaced with the computer-generated character.[11] Best frequently improvised movements to make Jar Jar look as clumsy and comedic as possible.[9]
  • Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, a protocol droid built by Anakin. He lacks a metal covering in this film; R2-D2 humorously refers to it as being "naked". Industrial Light & Magic's Michael Lynch, dressed in a color closely matching the background—in a manner similar to the Japanese puppet theater Bunraku— manipulated a skeletal C-3PO figure attached to his front while Daniels read his lines off-camera. The puppeteer was erased from the film during post-production.[9][12]
  • Kenny Baker as R2-D2, an astromech droid from Naboo that saves Queen Amidala's ship when other astro droids fail. Before the film's production started, fans campaigned on the Internet to retain Baker as R2-D2; Lucas replied that the actor would reprise the role.[13] Baker is used for scenes where R2-D2 bends forwards and backwards and wobbles from side-to-side. Robots and a digital model were used in other shots.[14]
  • Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother, who is concerned for her son's future and allows him to leave with the Jedi. August, a veteran of Swedish cinema, was chosen after auditioning with Liam Neeson. She was afraid of being rejected because of her accent.[11]
  • Frank Oz as Yoda, the centuries-old Jedi Grandmaster and head of the Jedi Council who is apprehensive about allowing Anakin to be trained. Yoda was mostly portrayed as a puppet designed by Nick Dudman based on Stuart Freeborn's original design. Oz controlled the puppet's mouth, and other parts were controlled by puppeteers using remote controls.[11] Lucas fitted Yoda's filming around Oz's schedule as he finished and promoted In & Out.[15] A computer-generated Yoda is featured in two distant shots. Warwick Davis (who played the part of the Ewok Wicket W. Warrick in Return of the Jedi in 1983) portrays him in the scene where Obi-Wan becomes a Jedi Knight.[16] Lucas said he originally wanted to use a full-time digital Yoda, but the attempts did not work well enough at the time. Beginning with the 2011 Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace, which was also used for the 3D reissue, a CG Yoda replaced the puppet entirely.[17]
  • Oliver Ford Davies as Sio Bibble, the governor of Naboo.[18]
  • Hugh Quarshie as Captain Quarsh Panaka, Queen Amidala's chief of security at the Theed Palace.[19]
  • Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, a Jedi Master and high-ranking member of the Jedi Council who opposes training Anakin.
  • Ray Park / Peter Serafinowicz (voice[11]) as Darth Maul, Darth Sidious's Zabrak Sith apprentice, who wields a double-bladed lightsaber.
  • Terence Stamp as Finis Valorum, the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic who commissions Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to negotiate with the Trade Federation viceroy. Lucas described the character as a "good man but he's beleaguered—a bit like [Bill] Clinton".[20]
  • Keira Knightley as Sabé, one of Queen Amidala's handmaidens who serves as her decoy throughout the majority of the film.[21]
  • Silas Carson as:[22]
    • Nute Gunray, the viceroy of the Trade Federation who leads Naboo's invasion and tries to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty to legitimize their occupation of the planet.
    • Ki-Adi-Mundi, a wise and powerful Jedi Master who sits on the council.
    • Lott Dod, a Trade Federation Senator.
    • An ill-fated pilot. This was the role for which Carson originally auditioned.[23]
  • Jerome St. John Blake as:[24]
    • Rune Haako, Gunray's chief lieutenant and Settlement Officer in the Trade Federation.
      • James Taylor as the voice of Rune Haako.[24]
    • Oppo Rancisis, a Jedi Master and member of the council.
    • Orn Free Taa, a Twi-lek senator.
    • Mas Amedda, a Chagrian politician and Vice Chair of the galactic senate.

Additionally, Brian Blessed voiced Boss Nass, the leader of the Gungan tribe who allies with the Naboo surface dwellers; Andy Secombe voiced Watto, a junk dealer on Tatooine who owns Anakin and his mother as slaves; and Lewis MacLeod voiced Sebulba, an aggressive, scheming podracer who is Anakin's main rival at the Boonta Eve podrace. Greg Proops and Scott Capurro voiced Fode and Beed, respectively, the two-headed announcer of the Boonta Eve Race. Alan Ruscoe appears as Jedi Master Plo Koon and Neimoidian Daultay Dofine, commander of the Trade Federation's droid control ships. Ralph Brown plays Ric Olie, commander of the Naboo Royal Space Fighter Corps and chief pilot aboard Queen Amidala's starship, while Matthew Wood appears as the Twi'lek Bib Fortuna alongside a CGI Jabba the Hutt, who is voiced by Scott Schumann. Dominic West plays the role of an unnamed Naboo guard, and Sofia Coppola appears as Saché, one of Amidala's handmaidens. Christian Simpson appears as Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes.[25] Lindsay Duncan voices TC-14, a protocol droid on the Federation ship.[26] Sally Hawkins made her screen debut as an uncredited villager.[27]

Production edit

Development edit

While writing the original Star Wars film,[c] George Lucas decided the story was too vast to be covered in one film. He introduced a wider story arc that could be told in sequels if it became successful.[28][29] He negotiated a contract that allowed him to make two sequels, and over time created an elaborate backstory to aid his writing process.[30] While writing the second film The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas considered directions in which to take the story. In the original trilogy, Darth Vader was revealed to have been Anakin Skywalker, a once-powerful Jedi Knight, and a traitor to the Jedi Order.[31] With this backstory in place, Lucas decided that the movies would work best as a trilogy.[32] In the trilogy's final episode, Return of the Jedi, Vader is redeemed through an act of sacrifice for Luke.[33]

 
Star Wars creator George Lucas (pictured in 2011) decided to return to the series in the 1990s following advancements in computer-generated imagery.

Throughout the 1980s, Lucas said he had no desire to return to Star Wars and had canceled his sequel trilogy by the time of Return of the Jedi. However, because Lucas had developed most of the backstory, the idea of prequels continued to fascinate him.[34] In the early 1990s, Star Wars saw a resurgence in popularity in the wake of Dark Horse's comic line and Timothy Zahn's trilogy of novels. Lucas saw that there was still a large audience for his idea of a prequel trilogy, and with the development of special effects generated with computer-generated imagery (CGI), Lucas considered returning to his saga and directing the film.[35] In October 1993, it was announced in Variety and other sources that he would be making the prequels.[36] Lucas began outlining the story; Anakin Skywalker rather than Obi-Wan Kenobi would be the protagonist, and the series would be a tragedy examining Darth Vader's origins. A relic of the original outline was that Anakin would, like his son, grow up on Tatooine.[37] Lucas also began to change the prequels' timeline relative to the original series; instead of filling in the tangential history, they would form the beginning of a long story that started with Anakin's childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step toward turning the franchise into a saga.[38]

Lucas began writing the Star Wars prequel trilogy on November 1, 1994. The screenplay of Star Wars was adapted from Lucas's 15-page outline that was written in 1976, which he designed to help him keep track of the characters' backstories and events that occurred before the original trilogy.[39] Anakin was first written as a twelve-year-old, but Lucas reduced his age to nine because he felt that the lower age would better fit the plot point of Anakin being affected by his mother's separation from him. Eventually, Anakin's younger age led Lucas to rewrite his participation in the movie's major scenes.[40] The film's working title was The Beginning, with the title not being changed to The Phantom Menace until shortly before the film's completion.[39] Lucas later revealed that the Phantom Menace title was a reference to Palpatine hiding his true identity as an evil Sith Lord behind the facade of a well-intentioned public servant.[41]

The larger budget and possibilities opened up by the use of digital effects made Lucas "think about a much grander, more epic scale—which is what I wanted Star Wars to be".[42] The story ended with five simultaneous, ongoing plots, one leading to another. The central plot is Palpatine's intent to become Chancellor, which leads to the Trade Federation's attack on Naboo, the Jedi being sent there, Anakin being met along the way, and the rise of the Sith Lords. As with the original trilogy, Lucas intended The Phantom Menace to illustrate several themes throughout the narrative. Duality is a frequent theme; Amidala is a queen who passes as a handmaiden, Palpatine plays on both sides of the war, among others. "Balance" is frequently suggested; Anakin is supposedly "the one" chosen to bring balance to the Force—Lucas said, "Anakin needed to have a mother, Obi-Wan needed a Master, Darth Sidious needed an apprentice" as without interaction and dialogue, "you wouldn't have drama".[43]

In November 2015, Ron Howard confirmed that he, Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg were approached by Lucas to direct The Phantom Menace. All three approached directors told Lucas that he should direct the film, as they each found the project "too daunting."[44]

Pre-production and design edit

Before Lucas had started writing, his producing partner Rick McCallum was preparing for the film. McCallum stated that his experience with The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles led to many of his decisions on The Phantom Menace, such as long-term deals with actors and soundstages, the employment of recent graduates with no film experience, and the creation of sets and landscapes with digital technology. In April 1994, McCallum started searching for artists in art, architecture and design schools, and in mid-year he began location scouting with production designer Gavin Bocquet. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) art director Doug Chiang impressed McCallum the most and was hired as the design director.[45][46] Art development on the film began in January 1995.[47]

Within three to four months of Lucas beginning the writing process, Chiang and his design team started a two-year process of reviewing thousands of designs for the film.[48] Chiang stated that Lucas intended Episode I to be stylistically different from the other Star Wars films; it would be "richer and more like a period piece, since it was the history leading up to A New Hope." The story takes place on three planets, some with varied environments such as the human and Gungan cities of Naboo and three buildings in Coruscant. With the exception of the Gungan city, which had an art nouveau-inspired visual, these locations would be given distinctive looks with some basis in the real world. The concept drawings of Ralph McQuarrie for the original trilogy served as the basis for Mos Espa—which was also inspired by old Tunisian hotels and buildings and had touches such as a marketplace to differentiate it from A New Hope's Mos Eisley—and Coruscant, in particular a metropolis design that became the basis for the Senate.[49] Bocquet would later develop the work of Chiang's team and design the interiors, translating the concepts into construction blueprints with environments and architectural styles that had some basis in reality "to give the audience something to key into."[50] Some elements were directly inspired by the original trilogy; Lucas described the battle droids as predecessors to the stormtroopers. Chiang uses that orientation to base the droids on the Imperial soldiers, only in the same style of stylized and elongated features seen in tribal African art.[42]

Terryl Whitlatch, who had a background on zoology and anatomy, was in charge of creature design. Many of the aliens are hybrids, combining features of real animals. At times, entire food chains were developed, even though only a small percentage of them would appear in the film. Whitlatch also designed detailed skeletons for the major characters and facial muscles on Jar Jar Binks as a reference for ILM's animators. Each creature would reflect its environment; those on Naboo were more beautiful because the planet is "lush and more animal-friendly", Tatooine has rough-looking creatures "with weather-beaten leathery skin to protect them from the harsh desert elements", and Coruscant has bipedal, human-looking aliens.[51]

The film made extensive use of the new technique of digital pre-visualization, using computers to essentially create 3-D animated storyboards. This was done for dozens of scenes in the film but was first and primarily used in the pod race sequence. Animatic supervisor David Dozoretz, also an ILM alum, worked on this sequence for nearly three years, and at one point had a 25-minute version of the race, although the film only included a 9-minute version.[52][53]

 
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi dueling Darth Maul. Lucas wanted the lightsaber battles to be fast and more intense than those of the original trilogy, depicting the Jedi in their prime. This scene was highly praised by critics and audiences.

Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard was recruited to create a new Jedi fighting style for the prequel trilogy. Gillard likened the lightsaber battles to a chess game "with every move being a check". Because of their short-range weapons, Gillard thought that the Jedi would have had to develop a fighting style that merged every sword fighting style, such as kendo and other kenjutsu styles, with other swinging techniques, such as tennis swings and tree-chopping. While training Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, Gillard wrote a sequence that lasted around 60 seconds and intended to be around five or six sequences per fight.[54] Lucas later referred to the Jedi as "negotiators" rather than high-casualty soldiers. The preference of hand-to-hand combat was intended to give a spiritual and intellectual role to the Jedi.[54] Because Gillard thought that the stunt jumps with the actors and stuntmen dangling from wires did not look realistic, air rams were used to propel them into the air instead.[55]

Lucas decided to make elaborate costumes, because the film's society was more sophisticated than the one depicted in the original trilogy. Designer Trisha Biggar and her team created over 1,000 costumes that were inspired by various cultures.[56] Biggar worked closely with concept designer Iain McCaig to create a color palette for the inhabitants of each world: Tatooine followed A New Hope with sun-bleached sand colors, Coruscant had grays, browns and blacks, and Naboo had green and gold for humans while Gungans wore "a leathery look, like their skin". The Jedi costumes followed the tradition from the original film;[57] Obi-Wan's costume was inspired by the costume that was worn by Guinness. Lucas said he and Biggar would look at the conceptual art to "translat[e] all of these designs into cloth and fabric and materials that would actually work and not look silly". Biggar also consulted Gillard to ensure that the costumes would accommodate action scenes, and consulted the creature department to find which fabrics "wouldn't wear too heavily" on the alien skins. A huge wardrobe department was set up at Leavesden Film Studios to create over 250 costumes for the main actors and 5,000 for the background ones.[58]

Nute Gunray's Thai accent was chosen after Lucas and McCallum listened to various languages to decide how the Neimoidians would speak.[59] The character design of Watto was an amalgam of rejected ideas; his expressions were based on video footage of Secombe's voice acting, photographs of animation supervisor Rob Coleman imitating the character, and modeler Steve Alpin saying Watto's lines to a mirror.[60] Lucas described Sebulba's design as "a spider crossed with an orangutan crossed with a sloth",[61] with a camel-like face, and clothing inspired by medieval armor.[62]

Casting edit

After Samuel L. Jackson expressed interest in appearing in a Star Wars film, he was approached by casting director Robin Gurland to play Mace Windu.[9] Rapper Tupac Shakur was also considered for the role of Mace Windu.[63] Ray Park, a martial arts champion with experience in gymnastics and sword fighting, was originally a member of the stunt crew.[9] Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard filmed Park to demonstrate his conception of the lightsaber battles. Lucas and McCallum were so impressed with the test tape that they gave Park the role of Maul. His voice was considered "too squeaky" and was dubbed over in post-production by Peter Serafinowicz.[11] Keira Knightley's parents tried to convince her not to audition, but the teenage actress still sought a role since she was a Star Wars fan.[64] The casting was influenced by Knightley's remarkable similarity to Natalie Portman, with the actress admitting their mothers could not tell them apart.[65] Knightley was reported to have "cried every single day" due to finding the wardrobe uncomfortable.[64]

Over 3,000 actors auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker including Haley Joel Osment, Cameron Finley, Justin Berfield and Michael Angarano before Jake Lloyd was selected.[66] Vinette Robinson auditioned for the role of Padmé Amidala.[67] Benicio del Toro was originally cast as Darth Maul but later left the project when the character's lines were cut.[68] Michael Jackson expressed interest in playing Jar Jar Binks, but he wanted to do it in prosthetic make ups while George Lucas wanted to do it in CGI.[69] Joseph Fiennes auditioned for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi and nearly landed the part until George Lucas's young daughter rejected him upon meeting him during the second level of auditioning.[70]

Silas Carson was cast as Nute Gunray because another actor was uncomfortable with the costumes used by the Trade Federation characters, which were hot, exerted a lot of pressure on the bearer, and took about 15 minutes to apply. Hugh Quarshie considered the part of Panaka as "a good career move" and a production that would be fun to make.[71] Brian Blessed originally auditioned for the role of Sio Bibble, the Governor of Naboo,[72] for which he was considered "too loud".[73] Casting director Robin Gurland approached him to play Nass because it was a "bigger than life" character with "a kind of bravado".[74] Blessed described Nass as a "reluctant hero".[73] Sofia Coppola, daughter of Lucas' long-time friend and creative partner Francis Ford Coppola, considers Lucas as "like an uncle to me". As she prepared the script for her directorial debut The Virgin Suicides, Coppola heard Lucas would be making a new Star Wars film and asked him if she could accompany him during filming. Lucas offered Coppola a role in the royal entourage, which she accepted because it "seemed like a good vantage point to watch without getting in the way".[75]

Filming edit

See also: List of Star Wars filming locations
 
Remains of Mos Espa in the Tunisian desert, near Nafta

Filming began on June 26, 1997, and ended on September 30 of that year, primarily taking place at Leavesden Film Studios in England. Leavesden was leased for a two and a half year period so the production company could leave the sets intact and return after principal photography had been completed.[76] The forest scenes on Naboo were filmed at Cassiobury Park in Watford, Hertfordshire.[77][78] Pick-ups were shot between August 1998 and February 1999 after Lucas screened a rough cut of the film for friends and colleagues in May 1998.[79] Most of the action and stunts were filmed by Roger Christian's second unit, which worked alongside the main unit instead of afterwards because of the high number of shots to be completed daily.[55]

The Tunisian desert was again used for the Tatooine scenes;[80] Mos Espa was built outside the city of Tozeur. On the night following the third day of shooting in Tozeur, an unexpected sandstorm destroyed many of the sets and props. The production was quickly rescheduled to allow for repairs and was able to leave Tunisia on the date originally planned.[81] The Italian Caserta Palace was used as the interior of the Theed City Naboo Palace;[80] it was used as a location for four days after it had been closed to visitors. Scenes with explosions were filmed on replica sets in Leavesden.[82]

 
The Palace of Caserta, in Italy, was the location for the Naboo Royal Palace.

A binder with the film's storyboards served as a reference for live-action filming, shots that would be filmed in front of a chroma key blue screen, and shots that would be composed using CGI. The sets were often built with the parts that would be required on screen; often they were built only up to the heights of the actors. Chroma key was extensively used for digital set extensions, backgrounds, or scenes that required cinematographer David Tattersall to seek powerful lamps to light the sets and visual effects supervisor John Knoll to develop software that would remove the blue reflection from shiny floors. Knoll, who remained on set through most of the production, worked closely with Tattersall to ensure that the shots were suitable to add effects later. The cameras were fitted with data capture models to provide technical data for the CGI artists.[83]

The Phantom Menace was the final Star Wars film to be shot on 35mm film until The Force Awakens (2015). Some scenes, mostly of elements filmed by the special effects team, were shot on high definition digital video tapes to test the performance of digital recordings, which Lucas and McCallum considered the next logical step because of the amount of digitizing—an expensive process compared to recording directly on digital media—for the compositing of computer-generated effects. A couple of digitally shot scenes made it into the movie, one of them being of Qui-Gon taking a blood sample of Anakin Skywalker.[84] All future films would be shot using Sony CineAlta high-definition video cameras.[85][86] Greg Proops and Scott Capurro were filmed wearing makeup and blue bodysuits so their heads could be joined in a computer-generated body. The visual effects crew did not like the original results and crafted Fode and Beed as an entirely computer generated alien.[87]

Because of the amount of visual effects produced, editing took two years; Paul Martin Smith started the process in England and focused on dialogue-heavy scenes. Ben Burtt—who was also the film's sound editor—was responsible for action sequences under Lucas's supervision. Non-linear editing systems played a large part in translating Lucas's vision; he constantly tweaked, revised and reworked shots and scenes. The final sound mix was added in March 1999, and the following month, the film was completed after the delivery of the remaining visual effects shots.[88]

Effects edit

"Writing the script was much more enjoyable this time around because I wasn't constrained by anything. You can't write one of these movies without knowing how you're going to accomplish it. With CG at my disposal, I knew I could do whatever I wanted".

 —George Lucas[89]

The film saw a breakthrough in computer generated effects. About 1,950 of the shots in The Phantom Menace have visual effects. The scene in which toxic gas is released on the Jedi is the only sequence with no digital alteration.[61] The work was so extensive that three visual effects supervisors divided the workload among themselves—John Knoll supervised the on-set production and the podrace and space battle sequences, Dennis Muren supervised the underwater sequence and the ground battle, and Scott Squires, alongside teams assigned for miniature effects and character animation, worked on the lightsaber effects.[90]

Until the film's production, many special effects in the film industry were achieved using miniature models, matte paintings and on-set visual effects—although other films had made extensive use of CGI. Knoll previewed 3,500 storyboards for the film; Lucas accompanied him to explain factors of the shots that would be practical and those that would be created through visual effects. Knoll later said that on hearing the explanations of the storyboards, he did not know how to accomplish what he had seen. The result was a mixture of original techniques and the newest digital techniques to make it difficult for the viewer to guess which technique was being used. Knoll and his visual effects team wrote new computer software, including cloth simulators to allow a realistic depiction of the digital characters' clothing, to create certain shots. Another goal was to create computer-generated characters that could act seamlessly with live-action actors. While filming scenes with CGI characters, Lucas would block the characters using their corresponding voice actors on-set. The voice actors were then removed and the live-action actors would perform the same scene alone. A CGI character would later be added into the shot to complete the conversation.[91] Lucas also used CGI to correct the physical presence of actors in certain scenes.[61] Practical models were used when their visuals helped with miniature sceneries for backgrounds, set extensions and model vehicles that would be scanned to create the digital models or filmed to represent spaceships and podraces.[92]

Lucas, who had previously confronted problems with the props used to depict R2-D2, allowed ILM and the production's British special effects department to create their own versions of the robot. Nine R2-D2 models were created; one was for actor Kenny Baker to be dropped into, seven were built by ILM and featured two wheelchair motors capable of moving 440 pounds (200 kg), enabling it to run and be mostly used in stage sets, and the British studio produced a pneumatic R2-D2 that could shift from two to three legs and was mostly used in Tunisia because its motor drive system allowed it to drive over sand.[93]

Lucas originally planned to create many of the aliens with computer graphics, but those that would be more cost-effectively realized with masks and animatronics were created by Nick Dudman's creature effects team. These included the Neimoidians, background characters in Mos Espa, the Jedi Council, and the Galactic Senate. Dudman's team was told where the creatures would be required six months before principal photography begun, and they rushed the production. The Neimodian suits, which were originally intended as digital characters, were delivered one day before they would be required on set. Dudman traveled to Skywalker Ranch to see the original creatures that could be reused, and read the script for a breakdown of scenes with practical creatures, leaving only the more outlandish designs to be created using CGI.[94]

To research for the podrace vehicles, the visual effects crew visited a jet aircraft junkyard outside Phoenix, Arizona and scavenged four Boeing 747 engines.[61] Life-sized replicas of the engines were built and sent to Tunisia to provide reference in the film. Except for Jake Lloyd inside a hydraulically controlled cockpit and a few practical podracer models, the entire podracing scene—which the effects crew designed to be as "out of this world" as possible—is computer-generated.[80][95]

Themes edit

See also: Star Wars sources and analogues

Like previous Star Wars films, The Phantom Menace makes several references to historical events and films that George Lucas watched in his youth. The Star Wars films typically mix several concepts from different mythologies together, drawing heavily from the hero's journey, an archetypical template developed by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell.[96] The film also notably borrows from Ben-Hur (1959), including the podrace sequence, which mirrors the chariot race scene; additionally, the end celebration scene closely resembles a Roman parade in Ben-Hur.[97]

 
The face of Darth Maul drew upon depictions of the devil.

There are many references to Christianity in the film, such as the appearance of Darth Maul, whose design draws heavily from traditional depictions of the devil, complete with red skin and horns.[96] The Star Wars film cycle features a similar Christian narrative involving Anakin Skywalker; he is the "Chosen One"—the individual prophesied to bring balance to the Force—who was conceived of a virgin birth. However, unlike Jesus, Anakin will eventually fall from grace and seemingly fail to fulfill his destiny (until the prophecy comes true in Return of the Jedi).[98]

Japanese films such as Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (1958) influenced the original Star Wars film; scholars say that The Phantom Menace was likewise influenced by Korean and Japanese culture. Film historians Geoff King and Tanya Krzywinska write, "The costume and make-up designs ... favour a mixture of the gothic and the oriental over anything very futuristic. The gothic is most strongly apparent in Darth Maul's demonic horns and the red and black make-up mask that borrows from the facial designs found in depictions of Japanese demons." King and Krzywinska say that "Qui-Gon's pony tail and Obi-Wan's position of apprentice further encourage a reading in terms of the Samurai tradition". They also say "Amidala, in keeping with her status and character, has a number of highly formal outfits ... to go with hair sculpted into a curve that frames make-up of a Japanese cast".[99]

The Jedi practice Zen-like meditation and martial arts, as did the ancient Japanese Samurai warriors. The name "Qui-Gon" adapts the term qigong, which refers to a Chinese discipline involving meditation and cultivation of the flow of the vital energy called "qi" for healing, health, and combat. The words qi (Chinese), gi (Korean), ki (Japanese), and the Indian term "Prana" all refer to the energy that is thought to flow through all living things, from the source of all qi (or power), which is "The Way" or "The Tao" in Chinese philosophy. In Taoist philosophy, from The Way, yin and yang—the opposing but complementary aspects of reality or nature—are born. Unlike Chinese philosophy, in which yin and yang are not moral qualities, the ancient Persian philosophy of Zurvanism taught that the dualism of dark and light forces are locked in an eternal battle while being two sides (or evolutes) of the same "Force", the force of time itself (Zurvan)—the prime mover. These elements derive primarily from Eastern and Iranian religions and myths.[96]

As with other Star Wars films, themes about family and hope are featured prominently. In the Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian episode "Legacy", Dave Filoni explains that the use of "Duel of the Fates" during the lightsaber duel between Darth Maul against Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi represents the fight for the fate of Anakin Skywalker. According to Filoni, Qui-Gon Jinn acts like a father figure towards Anakin because he feels he needs one after taking him from his mother, having realized that the Jedi shouldn't be opposed to love and care. In the end, Qui-Gon dies, and thus Anakin loses his father figure; Obi-Wan Kenobi ultimately becomes his master to honor Jinn's dying wish despite his initial contempt for him, and while he comes to eventually see him like a brother as shown in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, he doesn't act like a father, which coupled with the Jedi's indifference, seals Anakin's fate.[100]

Music edit

Main article: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (soundtrack)

As with previous Star Wars films, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace's score was composed and conducted by John Williams. He started composing the score in October 1998 and began recording the music with the London Voices and London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios on February 10, 1999. Williams decided to use electronic instruments such as synthesizers to enhance the sound and choral pieces to "capture the magical, mystical force that a regular orchestra might not have been able to provide", and create an atmosphere that was "more mysterious and mystical and less military" than those of the original trilogy.[101] One of the most notable tracks is "Duel of the Fates", which uses the chorus to give a religious, temple-like feel to the epic lightsaber duel. The track was made into a music video.[102] While composing Anakin's theme, Williams tried to reflect the innocence of his childhood and to foreshadow his transformation into Darth Vader by using slight suggestions of "The Imperial March" in the melody.[101]

The film's soundtrack was released by Sony Classical Records on May 4, 1999. This album featured the score, which Williams restructured as a listening experience; it is not presented in film order and omits many notable cues from the film because of the space restriction of the compact disc.[103] A two-disc "Ultimate Edition" was released on November 14, 2000. The set features the entire score as it is heard in the film, including all of the edits and loops that were made for the sound mix.[104]

Marketing edit

Promotion edit

Lucasfilm spent US$20 million on the film's advertising campaign and made promotional licensing deals with Hasbro, Lego, Tricon Global Restaurants and PepsiCo.[105] Lucasfilm also helped the Star Wars fan club to organize an event called Star Wars Celebration, which was held in Denver, Colorado, between April 30 and May 2, 1999.[106]

The first teaser trailer was released on selected screens accompanying Meet Joe Black on November 17, 1998,[107] and media reported that people were paying full admission at theaters to see the trailer. Other films that played this trailer included The Waterboy, The Siege and A Bug's Life.[108] To keep fans from leaving before the movie was over, some theaters played the teaser an additional time after the film finished.[109] The second trailer debuted on March 12, 1999, with the film Wing Commander. Again, many fans paid full theater admission to watch the new trailer.[110] A bootlegged version of the preview was leaked to the Internet the same day.[111] The next morning, the trailer was released on the film's official website and shortly afterwards the servers became overloaded.[112] This trailer had over 1 million downloads within its first 24 hours of release, setting a record for the most downloaded trailer until it was surpassed by The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in April 2000.[113][114] The theatrical trailer caused even more media attention because it was premiered in theaters and screened at the ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas,[115] and was aired on Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.[111]

The teaser poster, featuring Anakin with his shadow forming Darth Vader's silhouette, was released on November 10, 1998. After Lucas opted for a drawn theatrical poster, Drew Struzan, the artist responsible for the Special Edition posters, was commissioned to illustrate, and the poster was unveiled on March 11, 1999. Lucasfilm dictated that, contractually, Struzan's illustration was the only art the foreign distributors could use, and other than the text, it could not be modified in any way.[116] The film also reused the Godzilla slogan on teaser posters.[117]

Adaptations edit

A novelization was written by Terry Brooks, who met with Lucas before writing the book and received his approval and guidance. It includes some scenes that are not in the film and foreshadows pending developments in the following two installments of the series.[118] Additionally, a Scholastic junior novelization was written by Patricia C. Wrede.[119] A four-issue comic book adaptation was written by Henry Gilroy and published by Dark Horse Comics.[120] The film was again adapted as part of the all-ages Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy – A Graphic Novel, released by Disney-Lucasfilm Press in 2017.[121]

A LucasArts video game adaptation was released for the PlayStation and PC.[122] The podracing tie-in Star Wars Episode I: Racer was released for Nintendo 64, PC and other platforms. A pinball machine was created by WMS Industries.[123]

Release edit

Theatrical edit

The release of the first new Star Wars film in 16 years was accompanied by a considerable amount of attention.[124] According to The Wall Street Journal, so many workers announced plans to view the premiere that many companies closed on the opening day.[125] Queue areas formed outside cinema theaters over a month before ticket sales began.[126] More theater lines appeared when it was announced that cinemas were not allowed to sell tickets in advance until two weeks into the release. This was because of a fear that family theater-goers would be either unable to receive tickets or would be forced to pay higher prices for them. Instead, tickets were to be sold on a first-come-first-served basis.[127] However, after meetings with the National Association of Theatre Owners, Lucasfilm agreed to allow advance ticket sales on May 12, 1999, provided there was a limit of 12 tickets per customer.[128] As a result, some advance tickets were sold by scalpers at prices as high as US$100 apiece, which a distribution chief called "horrible" and said was exactly what they wanted to avoid.[129] Daily Variety reported that theater owners received strict instructions from Lucasfilm that the film could only play in the cinema's largest auditorium for the first 8–12 weeks, no honor passes were allowed for the first eight weeks, and they were obliged to send their payments to distributor 20th Century Fox within seven days.[130]

Despite worries about the film being finished on time, two weeks before its theatrical release, Lucasfilm moved the release date from May 21 to 19, 1999. At the ShoWest Convention, Lucas said the change was intended to give the fans a "head start" by allowing them to view it during the week and allowing families to view it during weekends. Eleven charity premieres were staged across the United States on May 16, 1999; receipts from the Los Angeles event, where corporate packages were available for between US$5,000 and US$25,000; proceeds were donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.[131] Other charity premieres included the Dallas premiere for the Children's Medical Center, the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at the Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, the Big Brother/Sister Association of the Philadelphia premiere, and the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. A statement said that tickets were sold at US$500 apiece and that certain sections of the theaters were set aside for disadvantaged children.[132]

The film had its UK premiere at the Royal Film Performance, an event held in aid of the Film & TV Charity, on the 14th July, 1999 at the ODEON Leicester Square. This event was attended by Charles III and helped to raise £225,000 for the charity.[133]

The film opened at 12:01 am on Wednesday, May 19, 1999, in 2,010 theaters in the United States and Canada. An additional 960 theaters screened the film later in the day. About 120 theaters showed the film continuously on opening day, including the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City and the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.[134] Foreshadowing his future conversion to digital cinematography, Lucas said the film would be released on four digital projectors (two in New York and two in Los Angeles) on June 18, 1999.[135] Few film studios released films during the same week: DreamWorks and Universal Studios released The Love Letter on May 21 and Notting Hill on May 28, respectively.[136] The Love Letter was a commercial failure but Notting Hill fared better and followed The Phantom Menace closely in second place.[137] Employment consultant firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimated that 2.2 million full-time employees missed work to attend the film, resulting in a US$293 million loss of productivity.[138]

Home media edit

 
Comparison between the puppet of Yoda, present in the original 1999 theatrical and 2001 DVD releases, and the computer-generated model, present in the 2011 Blu-ray Disc and 3D releases

The film was released on VHS on April 4, 2000. There were two versions of the film, which were a standard pan and scan version and a widescreen Collector's Edition version. In its first two days of availability, the regular version sold 4.5 million copies and the limited edition sold 500,000.[139] A year later on June 19, 2001, it was announced that The Phantom Menace would become the first Star Wars film to be officially released on DVD, in a slightly extended cut from the theatrical releases.[140] This THX certified two-disc DVD release debuted on October 16 of the same year.[141] The first disc contains the film and the second disc contains special features. On the first disc, there are three randomized selected menus themed to the planets Naboo, Tatooine and Coruscant.[142] There is an Easter egg located in the options menu. When the THX Optimizer is highlighted, the viewer can press 1-1-3-8. By doing this, some bloopers and DVD credits will be shown.[143] The special features include seven deleted scenes completed specifically for the DVD, a commentary track featuring Lucas and producer Rick McCallum, and several documentaries—including a full-length documentary entitled The Beginning: Making Episode I.[142][144] There are also DVD-ROM features, including trailers for Attack of the Clones.[145] The Phantom Menace became the fastest-selling DVD ever in the United States; 2.2 million copies were sold in its first week after release.[146][147] This surpassed the previous record held by The Mummy Returns, which sold 2 million copies within its first week.[148] Less than a month later, The Phantom Menace's record for being the fastest-selling DVD was taken by Shrek when it sold 2.5 million copies in its first three days.[149] The Phantom Menace was one of the only four films to sell over 2 million DVD copies during their first weeks of release at the time, with the others being The Mummy Returns, Shrek and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.[150] The film would overall earn $45 million from its first week DVD sales, more than the theatrical releases of From Hell, Riding in Cars with Boys, Training Day and other post-9/11 films.[146]

At the 5th Annual DVD awards, The Phantom Menace won four categories: Viewers' Choice Award, Best Menu Design, Best Authoring and Best Audio Presentation, with the latter award being tied with Pearl Harbor.[151]

The DVD version was re-released in a prequel trilogy box set on November 4, 2008.[152] A LaserDisc version of The Phantom Menace was released in Japan on April 7, 2000, a year and a half before it was available on DVD in the U.S.[153] The Star Wars films were released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Disc on September 16, 2011;[154] The Phantom Menace was restored to improve the picture quality and remove the magnification present on the previous DVD release, restoring approximately 8% of the picture to the frame.[155] In the Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace, the Yoda puppet was replaced with a CGI model, making it consistent with the other films of the prequel trilogy.[156]

On April 7, 2015, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films. The Phantom Menace was released through the iTunes Store, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10, 2015.[157]

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment reissued The Phantom Menace on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on September 22, 2019.[158] Additionally, all six films were available for 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos streaming on Disney+ upon the service's launch on November 12, 2019.[159] This version of the film was released by Disney on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray box set on March 31, 2020.[160]

Theatrical re-releases edit

On September 28, 2010, it was announced that all six films in the series would be stereo-converted to 3D. These would be re-released in episode order, beginning with The Phantom Menace, which was released to cinemas on February 10, 2012.[161] Prime Focus Limited did the conversion under the supervision of ILM.[162] However, the 3D re-releases of Episodes II–VI were postponed or canceled after Lucasfilm was bought by The Walt Disney Company, who decided to focus on the development of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[163]

Lucas stated the 3D re-release was "just a conversion" of the film's 2011 Blu-ray release and no additional changes were made.[164] Only a change to Anakin's magnetic wand during the podrace scene—its tip was sharpened to more accurately fit the original 2D photography to the new 3D image—was confirmed.[165]

General Mills and Brisk were promotional partners in North America for the 3D re-release but promotion was limited.[166][167] The film was extensively promoted in Japan; promotional products were sold by 7-Eleven, Domino's Pizza, Pepsi and Gari-Gari Kun.[168] Kellogg's promoted the film internationally,[169][170] and French restaurant Quick launched three Star Wars-themed burgers. Lucasfilm also partnered with Variety, the Children's Charity to raise funds for children through the sale of a special edition badge.[171]

On February 10, 2024, it was announced that The Phantom Menace would be re-released by 20th Century Studios on May 3, 2024, for the film's 25th anniversary. The film's re-release announcement was accompanied by a new poster by artist Matt Ferguson.[172]

Reception edit

Critical response edit

Following an advance screening on Saturday, May 8, 1999, several newspapers broke an agreement with Fox and published reviews of the film on Sunday, May 9. In a front-page review, the Los Angeles Daily News gave it 3½ stars calling it "pretty good" overall and "outstanding in many parts". The New York Daily News was less positive, giving it 2½ stars. Variety also made its review by Todd McCarthy available on the Sunday[173] with McCarthy calling it "the most widely anticipated and heavily hyped film of modern times" but said that the film "can scarcely help being a letdown on some levels, but it's too bad that it disappoints on so many" and that "it is neither captivating nor transporting, for it lacks any emotional pull, as well as the sense of wonder and awe that marks the best works of sci-fi/fantasy".[174]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 237 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Burdened by exposition and populated with stock characters, The Phantom Menace gets the Star Wars prequels off to a bumpy—albeit visually dazzling—start."[175] As of September 2023, the film is the second lowest-rated live-action film of the Star Wars series just ahead of The Rise of Skywalker.[176] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[177] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[178]

Many aspects of the script and characters were criticized, especially that of Jar Jar Binks, who was regarded by many members of the older fan community as toyetic—a merchandising opportunity rather than a serious character.[179][180] Ahmed Best had later said that he contemplated suicide after receiving backlash for his portrayal.[181] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described Binks as "a major miscue, a comic-relief character who's frankly not funny".[182] Drew Grant of Salon wrote, "Perhaps the absolute creative freedom director George Lucas enjoyed while dreaming up the flick's 'comic' relief—with no studio execs and not many an independently minded actor involved—is a path to the dark side."[183]

Conversely, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it "an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking" and said, "Lucas tells a good story." Ebert also wrote that, "If some of the characters are less than compelling, perhaps that's inevitable" because it is the opening film in the new trilogy. He concluded his review by saying that rather than Star Trek films, filmmakers could "[g]ive me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day".[184] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" grade and complimented Liam Neeson's performance and the action scenes.[185] In an Entertainment Weekly review for the DVD release, Marc Bernardin gave the film a "C−", calling it "haplessly plotted, horribly written, and juvenile".[186] ReelViews' James Berardinelli wrote, "Looking at the big picture, in spite of all its flaws, The Phantom Menace is still among the best 'bang for a buck' fun that can be had in a movie theater," and said the film was a "distinct improvement" over Return of the Jedi.[187]

Andrew Johnston of Time Out New York wrote, "Let's face it: no film could ever match the expectations some have for Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Which isn't to say it's a disappointment: on the contrary, it's awesomely entertaining, provided you accept it on its own terms ... Like the original film, it's a Boy's Own adventure yarn with a corny but irresistible spiritual subtext. The effects and production design are stunning, but they always serve the story, not the other way around."[188] Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today said that the film does "plenty right" and praised the characters Darth Maul and Watto.[189] David Cornelius of efilmcritic.com said that the film's better moments "don't merely balance out the weaker ones—they topple them".[190] Colin Kennedy of Empire magazine said that despite problems with pacing and writing, "there is still much pleasure to be had watching our full-blown Jedi guides in action". He praised the visuals and Liam Neeson's performance and said that the duel between Darth Maul and the Jedi is "the saga's very best lightsaber battle".[191]

Empire magazine ranked The Phantom Menace on its list of "500 Greatest Movies of All Time",[192] while Entertainment Weekly and Comcast included the film on their lists of the worst movie sequels.[193][194] James Berardinelli wrote, "The Phantom Menace was probably the most overhyped motion picture of the last decade (if not longer), and its reputation suffered as a result of its inability to satisfy unreasonable expectations."[195] William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer agreed that the film's massive hype caused many of the negative reactions, saying, "it built expectations that can't possibly be matched and scuttled [the] element of storytelling surprise". He also said that the film was "well made and entertaining" and was much better than similar box office fare released around that year, such as The Mummy and The Matrix.[196] Ewan McGregor said in 2002 that he was "slightly disappointed" that the film was "kind of flat" and believed the next film in the franchise would have "much more humor and...color."[197]

The introduction of midi-chlorians—microscopic organisms that mediate use of the Force—has been regarded as controversial.[198] Some viewed it as a concept that negates the Force's spiritual quality. Film historian Daniel Dinello says, "Anathema to Star Wars fanatics who thought they reduced the Force to a kind of viral infection, midi-chlorians provide a biological interface, the link between physical bodies and spiritual energy."[199] Religion expert John D. Caputo writes, "In the 'Gospel according to Lucas', a world is conjured up in which the intractable oppositions that have tormented religious thinkers for centuries are reconciled ... The gifts that the Jedi masters enjoy have a perfectly plausible scientific basis, even if its ways are mysterious: their bodily cells have a heavier than usual concentration of 'midi-chlorians'."[200]

There has been some controversy over whether several alien characters reflect racial stereotypes. For example, the oafish, slow-witted Jar Jar Binks has long droopy ears reminiscent of dreadlocks and spoke with what many perceived as a Caribbean patois reminiscent of Jamaican Creole.[201] Andrew Howe rejects most such connections, arguing that only Jar Jar's accent links him to the Caribbean and no other factor.[202] However, Nicholas Wanberg argues that linguistic analysis of Jar Jar's accent shows no common features with Caribbean English save those it also shares with American English,[203] although he concedes that Jar Jar is constructed with tropes typical of ethnically stereotyped characters.[204] Similarly, Drew Grant describes the character as "[s]ervile and cowardly ... a black minstrel-ish stereotype on par with Stepin Fetchit."[183] Georgetown University professor of African-American studies Michael Eric Dyson says that the entire Gungan species seems suggestive of a primitive African tribe, with Boss Nass portrayed as "a fat, bumbling ... caricature of a stereotypical African tribal chieftain."[179] The greedy and corrupt Neimoidians of the Trade Federation have been noted as resembling East Asian stereotypes,[205] and the unprincipled trader Watto has been interpreted as a Jewish stereotype reminiscent of Charles Dickens' character Fagin.[206] Lucas has denied all of these implications,[179] instead criticizing the American media for using opinions from the Internet as a reliable source for news stories. Lucas added that it reflects more the racism of the commenters than it does the movie;[207] however, animator Rob Coleman said ahead of the film's release that Watto's mannerisms were inspired by footage of Alec Guinness as Fagin in Oliver Twist.[208]

Box office edit

Even though it received mixed reviews, The Phantom Menace was a financial success, breaking many box office records in its debut, and beating out The Mummy by taking number 1. The film broke The Lost World: Jurassic Park's records for the largest single-day gross for taking more than $28 million in the opening day and fastest to gross $100 million in five days. Additionally, it grossed $64.8 million in its opening weekend, the second highest ever at the time, behind The Lost World: Jurassic Park.[209] It also became the quickest film to reach the $200 million and $300 million marks, surpassing Independence Day (1996) and Titanic (1997), respectively.[210][211] The Phantom Menace held both records before Spider-Man took them in 2002.[212][213] It would go on to earn $105.7 million, making it the highest five-day Wednesday opening weekend of all time.[209] The film had the biggest opening weekend for any 20th Century Fox film for two years until 2001 when it was taken by Planet of the Apes.[214] Its opening day record was handed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone that same year.[215] Two years later in 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King surpassed The Phantom Menace for having the largest five-day Wednesday opening weekend.[216] During its second weekend, The Phantom Menace made $51.3 million, making it the highest-grossing second weekend at the time, surpassing Jurassic Park. The film would hold this record until it was surpassed a year later by How the Grinch Stole Christmas.[217] In total, the film stayed at the top of the box office for three weeks until it was overtaken by Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me during its fourth weekend.[218] The Phantom Menace was 1999's most successful film, staying in the Top 10 until August 5 (11 weeks total), earning $431.1 million in the United States and Canada.[219] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 84.8 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.[220]

The film set an opening record in Japan, grossing $12.2 million in its first two days from 403 screens.[221] In the UK, the film also set an opening record with £9.5 million in its opening weekend (including previews), surpassing Men in Black.[222][223] It would go on to hold this record until it was taken by Toy Story 2 a few months later.[224] The Phantom Menace also grossed a record $11 million in its opening weekend in Germany.[225] Outside the United States and Canada, the film grossed over $10 million in Australia ($25.9 million), Brazil ($10.4 million), France and Algeria ($43 million), Germany ($53.9 million), Italy ($12.9 million), Japan ($109.9 million), Mexico ($12 million), Spain ($25 million), and the United Kingdom and Ireland ($81.9 million).[226] Its overseas total was $493.2 million, taking its worldwide total to $924.3 million.[219] At that time, the film was the third-highest-grossing film in North America behind Titanic and Star Wars (1977),[227] and the second-highest-grossing film worldwide behind Titanic without adjusting for inflation of ticket prices.[228]

After its 3D re-release in 2012, the worldwide box office gross exceeded $1 billion,[229] making it the first Star Wars film and the 11th film in history—excluding inflation—to do so.[229][230] Although in the intervening years, the film had lost some of its rankings in the lists of highest-grossing films, the 3D re-release returned it to the worldwide all-time Top 10 for several months.[231] In North America, its revenues overtook those of the original Star Wars as the saga's highest-grossing film when not adjusting for inflation of ticket prices, and is the tenth-highest-grossing film in North America as of August 2017.[232] In North America, its ranking on the Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation list climbed to 16th place—one place behind Return of the Jedi.[233] The 3D re-release, which premiered in February 2012, earned $43 million—$22.5 million of which was in North America—worldwide.[234] The 3D re-release earned US$102,727,119 worldwide—including $43.5 million in North America—and has increased the film's overall box office takings to $474.5 million domestically, and $552.5 million in other territories.[230]

Accolades edit

The Phantom Menace was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Shawn Murphy and John Midgley); all three awards went to The Matrix.[235][236] The film won Saturn Awards for Best Costumes and Best Special Effects,[237] the MTV Movie Award for Best Action Scene,[238] and a Young Artist Award for Jake Lloyd's performance.[239] It was also nominated for—among others—the BAFTAs for Visual Effects and Sound,[240] and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.[241] However, the film did receive seven Golden Raspberry Award (Razzie) nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (Jake Lloyd as Anakin), Worst Supporting Actress (Sofia Coppola as Saché), Worst Screen Couple (Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman), and Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best won the Worst Supporting Actor category.[242]

Legacy edit

See also: Cultural impact of Star Wars

A month after the film's release, "Weird Al" Yankovic released the parody song and music video "The Saga Begins", in which he interprets the film's plot from Obi-Wan's point of view to the tune of "American Pie";[243] this was included as a bonus feature on a 2011 Star Wars Blu-ray.[244] June 1999 also had South Park parodying Jar Jar Binks in the episode "Jakovasaurs", which had the townspeople of South Park getting annoyed at extraterrestrials who spoke and behaved similarly to Jar Jar to reflect the hatred of writers Matt Stone and Trey Parker for the character.[245]

The film is known for starting the Lego Star Wars toyline, which has become one of Lego's most successful licensed brands.[246] Darth Maul's lightsaber-fighting style served as the inspiration for the 2003 viral video Star Wars Kid.[247] Maul, who appears to die in The Phantom Menace, was resurrected for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and he also appears in Star Wars Rebels and in Solo: A Star Wars Story. In 2012, IGN named Maul the 16th-greatest Star Wars character.[248] A similar weapon to his dual-bladed lightsaber appears in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.[249]

Sequels edit

A sequel, Attack of the Clones, was released in 2002.[250] The story continues a decade later with Anakin grown to adulthood, played by Hayden Christensen.[251][252] A second sequel, Revenge of the Sith, was released in 2005 and culminates with Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader.[253]

Critical reassessment edit

Since the release of The Phantom Menace, many people who have worked on the Star Wars films and viewers have defended the prequel trilogy.[254] Ewan McGregor said that his opinion of the prequels improved as he met fans who grew up with them and "realized how important our films have been to them”, stating that critics "just wanted to feel like they were seven or eight again, and they didn't get that,”, and defending how George Lucas attempted to do something different rather than just "make another three Star Wars films that felt like the original ones".[255] [256] Such a point of view was reflected by Richard Newby of The Hollywood Reporter, on the 20th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, who acknowledged that "the film didn't live up to the lofty expectations that many fans of the original trilogy held for 16 years", but that the fan backlash never changed his own appreciation of the film, that he first saw as child and even as Newby started to notice the film's flaws as he grew up, "they expanded the Star Wars universe in a way that kept me interested."[257] Hayden Christensen, who plays Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, reflected that by going back to the character as a child in The Phantom Menace, "George Lucas subverted our expectations and understanding of this character" and made it a good starting point for Anakin's character development throughout the trilogy.[258][259][260] In a 2018 Saturday Night Live comedy rap video, Natalie Portman dresses up as Queen Amidala and threatens an interviewer who tries to mock the prequels.[261]

Many members of the prequel production team have defended the character of Jar Jar Binks and its portrayer Ahmed Best. In an interview with Andy Cohen, Liam Neeson said that he was proud of his involvement with the film, and expressed how he was distressed at the backlash at Best, "one of the funniest and most talented guys [he's] ever worked with."[262][263] Visual effects supervisor John Knoll reflected that "George took a lot of the criticism pretty harshly", down to reducing Jar Jar's role in the following two movies, and that he was happy to see Best received with a standing ovation at the 2019 edition of Star Wars Celebration.[254] Animation director Rob Coleman said that twenty years later he still has younger people coming up to him and telling him that Jar Jar is their favorite character,[254] and digital model designer Jean Bolte, who cited Jar Jar Binks as one of her favorite characters to work with alongside Sebulba and Yoda, added that "seeing and hearing the fans so interested in which one was our contribution…. It really completely changed my point of view about being privileged to have had anything to do with these films."[254][264][265] Best himself said he was moved by the newfound appreciation given the previous backlash, adding that it was possible because for the ones who saw the movie as children, "the prequels, that's theirs, and they defend the prequels. So I see the same thing. I see the resurgence of The Phantom Menace."[254][265]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ The DVD released in 2001 extends the film by about three minutes, giving it a run time of 136 minutes.[2]
  2. ^ Known as 20th Century Studios for 2024 theatrical re-release[4]
  3. ^ a b Later titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
  4. ^ The 2008 animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars establishes that Maul survived.

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Sources edit

  • Bouzereau, Laurent (1997). The Annotated Screenplays. Del Rey. ISBN 0-345-40981-7.
  • Bouzereau, Laurent; Duncan, Jody (1999). The Making of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-43111-1.
  • Bowen, Jonathan L. (2005). Anticipation: The Real Life Story of Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace. iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-34732-0. from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
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  • Rinzler, J.W. (2007). The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film (Star Wars). Del Rey. ISBN 978-0-345-49476-4.

Further reading edit

  • Grimes, Caleb; Winship, George (2006). "Episode I: The Phantom Menace". Star Wars Jesus: A spiritual commentary on the reality of the Force. WinePress Publishing. ISBN 1579218849.
  • Michael J. Hanson, Michael J. & Kay, Max S. (2000). Star Wars: The New Myth. Xlibris, ISBN 978-1401039899
  • McDonald, Paul F. (2013). The Star Wars Heresies: Interpreting The Themes, Symbols and Philosophies of Episodes I-III. McFarland, ISBN 978-0786471812
  • Bortolin, Matthew (2005). The Dharma of Star Wars. Wisdom Publications, ISBN 978-1614292869

External links edit

 
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April 08, 2024
star, wars, episode, phantom, menace, this, article, about, film, video, game, video, game, soundtrack, soundtrack, novelization, novel, star, wars, redirects, here, first, star, wars, film, star, wars, film, 1999, american, epic, space, opera, film, written, . This article is about the film For the video game see Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace video game For the soundtrack see Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace soundtrack For the novelization see Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace novel Star Wars 1 redirects here For the first Star Wars film see Star Wars film Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas It stars Liam Neeson Ewan McGregor Natalie Portman Jake Lloyd Ahmed Best Ian McDiarmid Anthony Daniels Kenny Baker Pernilla August and Frank Oz It is the fourth film in the Star Wars film series the first film of the prequel trilogy and the first chronological chapter of the Skywalker Saga Set 32 years before the original trilogy 13 years before the formation of the Galactic Empire during the era of the Galactic Republic the plot follows Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi Wan Kenobi as they try to protect Queen Padme Amidala of Naboo in hopes of securing a peaceful end to an interplanetary trade dispute Joined by Anakin Skywalker a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of the Force they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the Sith The film was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox b Star Wars Episode I The Phantom MenaceTheatrical release poster by Drew StruzanDirected byGeorge LucasWritten byGeorge LucasProduced byRick McCallumStarringLiam Neeson Ewan McGregor Natalie Portman Jake Lloyd Ian McDiarmid Anthony Daniels Kenny Baker Pernilla August Frank OzCinematographyDavid TattersallEdited byPaul Martin Smith Ben BurttMusic byJohn WilliamsProductioncompanyLucasfilm Ltd Distributed by20th Century FoxRelease datesMay 16 1999 1999 05 16 Los Angeles May 19 1999 1999 05 19 United States Running time133 minutes 1 a CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 115 million 3 Box office 1 027 billion 3 Following the release of Return of the Jedi 1983 talks of a follow up were proposed but Lucas was unmotivated to return to the franchise During the hiatus the backstories he created for the characters particularly Anakin s own backstory sparked interest in him to develop a prequel trilogy during the 1990s After he determined that computer generated imagery CGI had advanced to the level he wanted for the prequel trilogy s visual effects Lucas began writing The Phantom Menace in 1993 and production began in 1994 Filming started in June 1997 at locations at Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert and ended in September The film marked Lucas s first directorial effort after a 22 year hiatus following the original Star Wars c in 1977 The Phantom Menace was released in theaters on May 19 1999 almost 16 years after the premiere of Return of the Jedi The film s premiere was extensively covered by media and was widely anticipated because of the large cultural following the Star Wars saga had cultivated Upon its release The Phantom Menace received mixed reviews from critics While the visual effects were praised its exposition and characters particularly Jar Jar Binks received criticism The movie was a box office success and broke numerous box office records during its debut It grossed more than 924 3 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run becoming the highest grossing film of 1999 the second highest grossing film worldwide and in North America behind Titanic and the highest grossing Star Wars film at the time inflation notwithstanding A 3D reissue was released in 2012 and brought the film s overall worldwide takings to over 1 billion Attack of the Clones 2002 and Revenge of the Sith 2005 followed The Phantom Menace rounding out the Star Wars prequel trilogy Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3 1 Development 3 2 Pre production and design 3 3 Casting 3 4 Filming 3 5 Effects 3 6 Themes 4 Music 5 Marketing 5 1 Promotion 5 2 Adaptations 6 Release 6 1 Theatrical 6 2 Home media 6 3 Theatrical re releases 7 Reception 7 1 Critical response 7 2 Box office 7 3 Accolades 8 Legacy 8 1 Sequels 8 2 Critical reassessment 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Sources 13 Further reading 14 External linksPlot editThe Trade Federation has upset order in the Galactic Republic by blockading the planet Naboo in secret preparation for a full scale invasion The Republic s leader Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum dispatches Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi Wan Kenobi to negotiate with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray Darth Sidious a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation s secret benefactor orders the Viceroy to kill the Jedi and begin their invasion with an army of battle droids Qui Gon and Obi Wan escape however and flee to Naboo During the invasion Qui Gon rescues a bumbling Gungan outcast Jar Jar Binks Indebted to Qui Gon Jar Jar leads the Jedi to Otoh Gunga the Gungans underwater city Qui Gon and Obi Wan fail to persuade the Gungan leader Boss Nass to aid the planet s surface dwellers but manage to obtain Jar Jar s guidance and underwater transport to Theed the capital city of Naboo After rescuing Queen Padme Amidala the group make their escape from Naboo aboard her Royal Starship intending to reach the Republic capital planet of Coruscant Passing through the Federation blockade the ship is damaged in the crossfire and its hyperdrive malfunctions The group land for repairs on the outlying desert planet of Tatooine situated beyond the Republic s jurisdiction Qui Gon Jar Jar astromech droid R2 D2 and Padme disguised as one of her handmaidens visit the settlement of Mos Espa to purchase a new part for the hyperdrive They encounter a junk dealer Watto and his nine year old slave Anakin Skywalker a gifted pilot and engineer who has built a protocol droid C 3PO Qui Gon senses a strong presence of the Force within Anakin and is convinced that he is the prophesied Chosen One destined to restore balance to the Force With Watto refusing to accept payment in Republic currency Qui Gon wagers both the required hyperdrive part and Anakin s freedom in a podrace Anakin wins the race and joins the group to be trained as a Jedi leaving behind his mother Shmi En route to their starship Qui Gon is attacked by Darth Maul Sidious s apprentice who was sent to capture Amidala After a brief lightsaber duel Qui Gon escapes on board the starship with the others Qui Gon and Obi Wan escort Padme to Coruscant so she can plead her people s case to Valorum and the Galactic Senate Qui Gon asks the Jedi Council for permission to train Anakin as a Jedi but the Council refuses concerned that Anakin is vulnerable to the dark side of the Force Undaunted Qui Gon vows to train Anakin anyway Meanwhile Naboo s Senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to call for a vote of no confidence in Valorum to elect a more capable leader and to resolve the crisis Though she is successful in pushing for the vote Amidala grows frustrated with the corruption in the Senate and decides to return to Naboo Qui Gon and Obi Wan are ordered by the Jedi Council to accompany the queen and investigate the return of the Sith whom they had believed to be extinct for more than a millennium On Naboo Padme reveals herself as the queen before the Gungans and persuades them to join in an alliance against the Trade Federation Jar Jar is promoted to general and joins his tribe in a battle against the droid army while Padme leads the search for Gunray in Theed During a battle in a hangar Anakin flees to a starfighter and accidentally triggers its autopilot traveling to the battle against the Federation droid control ship and inadvertently causing its destruction from within which deactivates the droid army Meanwhile Darth Maul infiltrates the Theed Palace and engages Qui Gon and Obi Wan in a lightsaber duel Maul mortally wounds Qui Gon before being bisected by Obi Wan and falling down a shaft d Before Qui Gon dies he asks Obi Wan to train Anakin Following the battle Gunray is arrested by the Republic and Palpatine is elected Chancellor Grandmaster Yoda promotes Obi Wan to the rank of Jedi Knight and reluctantly accepts Anakin as Obi Wan s apprentice A funeral is held for Qui Gon attended by the other Jedi who contemplate that there is still one Sith remaining During a celebratory parade on Naboo Padme presents a gift of thanks to Boss Nass and the Gungans to establish peace Cast editMain articles List of Star Wars characters and List of Star Wars cast members nbsp nbsp nbsp Left to right Liam Neeson pictured in 2012 Ewan McGregor 2012 and Natalie Portman 2015 Liam Neeson as Qui Gon Jinn a Jedi Master who discovers Anakin Skywalker and under the belief that he is destined to bring balance to the force as the prophesied Chosen One insists that the boy be trained as a Jedi despite the Jedi Council s refusal to do so Lucas originally wanted to cast an American actor in the role but cast Neeson who is Northern Irish because he considered that Neeson had great skills and presence Lucas said Neeson was a master actor who the other actors will look up to who has got the qualities of strength that the character demands 5 Ewan McGregor as Obi Wan Kenobi Qui Gon s twenty five year old Jedi Padawan who holds his master in high regard but questions his motives at times especially when it seems he is breaking the rules of the Jedi McGregor was cast from a shortlist of fifty actors all of whom had to be compared to pictures of young Alec Guinness who portrayed the elderly Obi Wan to make a believable younger version 6 McGregor had a vocal coach to help his voice sound closer to Guinness s He also studied several of Guinness s performances from his early work and the original Star Wars films 5 Natalie Portman as Padme Amidala the fourteen year old Queen of Naboo who hopes to protect her planet from the Trade Federation s blockade invasion Throughout most of the film she uses her birth name Padme Naberrie and poses as one of the queen s handmaidens for protection Over 200 actresses auditioned for the role 7 The production notes stated that The role required a young woman who could be believable as the ruler of that planet but at the same time be vulnerable and open Portman was chosen especially for her performances in Leon The Professional 1994 and Beautiful Girls 1996 which impressed Lucas 5 He stated I was looking for someone who was young strong along the lines of Leia and Natalie embodied all those traits and more 5 Portman was unfamiliar with Star Wars before being cast 5 but was enthusiastic about being cast as a character she expected to become a role model Portman said It was wonderful playing a young queen with so much power I think it will be good for young women to see a strong woman of action who is also smart and a leader 8 Jake Lloyd as Anakin Ani Skywalker a nine year old slave boy and a skilled pilot who dreams of becoming a Jedi Hundreds of actors were tested across the UK Ireland Canada and the United States 5 before the producers settled on Lloyd who Lucas considered met his requirements of a good actor enthusiastic and very energetic Producer Rick McCallum said that Lloyd was smart mischievous and loves anything mechanical just like Anakin 9 Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine a middle aged senator of Naboo and a secret Sith Lord who orchestrates the invasion of his home planet to get elected Supreme Chancellor He is the Trade Federation s mysterious benefactor and the titular Phantom Menace McDiarmid was surprised when Lucas approached him sixteen years after Return of the Jedi to reprise the role of Palpatine having assumed that a younger actor would play the role in the prequel films 10 Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks a clumsy Gungan exiled from his home and taken in by Qui Gon and Obi Wan Best was hired after casting director Robin Gurland saw him on a Stomp performance in San Francisco 9 Best was originally intended to provide motion capture data but his offer to voice the character was accepted On the set to provide references for the actors Best was clothed in a suit made of foam and latex and a headpiece Best s filmed performance was later replaced with the computer generated character 11 Best frequently improvised movements to make Jar Jar look as clumsy and comedic as possible 9 Anthony Daniels as C 3PO a protocol droid built by Anakin He lacks a metal covering in this film R2 D2 humorously refers to it as being naked Industrial Light amp Magic s Michael Lynch dressed in a color closely matching the background in a manner similar to the Japanese puppet theater Bunraku manipulated a skeletal C 3PO figure attached to his front while Daniels read his lines off camera The puppeteer was erased from the film during post production 9 12 Kenny Baker as R2 D2 an astromech droid from Naboo that saves Queen Amidala s ship when other astro droids fail Before the film s production started fans campaigned on the Internet to retain Baker as R2 D2 Lucas replied that the actor would reprise the role 13 Baker is used for scenes where R2 D2 bends forwards and backwards and wobbles from side to side Robots and a digital model were used in other shots 14 Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker Anakin s mother who is concerned for her son s future and allows him to leave with the Jedi August a veteran of Swedish cinema was chosen after auditioning with Liam Neeson She was afraid of being rejected because of her accent 11 Frank Oz as Yoda the centuries old Jedi Grandmaster and head of the Jedi Council who is apprehensive about allowing Anakin to be trained Yoda was mostly portrayed as a puppet designed by Nick Dudman based on Stuart Freeborn s original design Oz controlled the puppet s mouth and other parts were controlled by puppeteers using remote controls 11 Lucas fitted Yoda s filming around Oz s schedule as he finished and promoted In amp Out 15 A computer generated Yoda is featured in two distant shots Warwick Davis who played the part of the Ewok Wicket W Warrick in Return of the Jedi in 1983 portrays him in the scene where Obi Wan becomes a Jedi Knight 16 Lucas said he originally wanted to use a full time digital Yoda but the attempts did not work well enough at the time Beginning with the 2011 Blu ray release of The Phantom Menace which was also used for the 3D reissue a CG Yoda replaced the puppet entirely 17 Oliver Ford Davies as Sio Bibble the governor of Naboo 18 Hugh Quarshie as Captain Quarsh Panaka Queen Amidala s chief of security at the Theed Palace 19 Samuel L Jackson as Mace Windu a Jedi Master and high ranking member of the Jedi Council who opposes training Anakin Ray Park Peter Serafinowicz voice 11 as Darth Maul Darth Sidious s Zabrak Sith apprentice who wields a double bladed lightsaber Terence Stamp as Finis Valorum the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic who commissions Obi Wan and Qui Gon to negotiate with the Trade Federation viceroy Lucas described the character as a good man but he s beleaguered a bit like Bill Clinton 20 Keira Knightley as Sabe one of Queen Amidala s handmaidens who serves as her decoy throughout the majority of the film 21 Silas Carson as 22 Nute Gunray the viceroy of the Trade Federation who leads Naboo s invasion and tries to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty to legitimize their occupation of the planet Ki Adi Mundi a wise and powerful Jedi Master who sits on the council Lott Dod a Trade Federation Senator An ill fated pilot This was the role for which Carson originally auditioned 23 Jerome St John Blake as 24 Rune Haako Gunray s chief lieutenant and Settlement Officer in the Trade Federation James Taylor as the voice of Rune Haako 24 Oppo Rancisis a Jedi Master and member of the council Orn Free Taa a Twi lek senator Mas Amedda a Chagrian politician and Vice Chair of the galactic senate Additionally Brian Blessed voiced Boss Nass the leader of the Gungan tribe who allies with the Naboo surface dwellers Andy Secombe voiced Watto a junk dealer on Tatooine who owns Anakin and his mother as slaves and Lewis MacLeod voiced Sebulba an aggressive scheming podracer who is Anakin s main rival at the Boonta Eve podrace Greg Proops and Scott Capurro voiced Fode and Beed respectively the two headed announcer of the Boonta Eve Race Alan Ruscoe appears as Jedi Master Plo Koon and Neimoidian Daultay Dofine commander of the Trade Federation s droid control ships Ralph Brown plays Ric Olie commander of the Naboo Royal Space Fighter Corps and chief pilot aboard Queen Amidala s starship while Matthew Wood appears as the Twi lek Bib Fortuna alongside a CGI Jabba the Hutt who is voiced by Scott Schumann Dominic West plays the role of an unnamed Naboo guard and Sofia Coppola appears as Sache one of Amidala s handmaidens Christian Simpson appears as Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes 25 Lindsay Duncan voices TC 14 a protocol droid on the Federation ship 26 Sally Hawkins made her screen debut as an uncredited villager 27 Production editDevelopment edit While writing the original Star Wars film c George Lucas decided the story was too vast to be covered in one film He introduced a wider story arc that could be told in sequels if it became successful 28 29 He negotiated a contract that allowed him to make two sequels and over time created an elaborate backstory to aid his writing process 30 While writing the second film The Empire Strikes Back Lucas considered directions in which to take the story In the original trilogy Darth Vader was revealed to have been Anakin Skywalker a once powerful Jedi Knight and a traitor to the Jedi Order 31 With this backstory in place Lucas decided that the movies would work best as a trilogy 32 In the trilogy s final episode Return of the Jedi Vader is redeemed through an act of sacrifice for Luke 33 nbsp Star Wars creator George Lucas pictured in 2011 decided to return to the series in the 1990s following advancements in computer generated imagery Throughout the 1980s Lucas said he had no desire to return to Star Wars and had canceled his sequel trilogy by the time of Return of the Jedi However because Lucas had developed most of the backstory the idea of prequels continued to fascinate him 34 In the early 1990s Star Wars saw a resurgence in popularity in the wake of Dark Horse s comic line and Timothy Zahn s trilogy of novels Lucas saw that there was still a large audience for his idea of a prequel trilogy and with the development of special effects generated with computer generated imagery CGI Lucas considered returning to his saga and directing the film 35 In October 1993 it was announced in Variety and other sources that he would be making the prequels 36 Lucas began outlining the story Anakin Skywalker rather than Obi Wan Kenobi would be the protagonist and the series would be a tragedy examining Darth Vader s origins A relic of the original outline was that Anakin would like his son grow up on Tatooine 37 Lucas also began to change the prequels timeline relative to the original series instead of filling in the tangential history they would form the beginning of a long story that started with Anakin s childhood and ended with his death This was the final step toward turning the franchise into a saga 38 Lucas began writing the Star Wars prequel trilogy on November 1 1994 The screenplay of Star Wars was adapted from Lucas s 15 page outline that was written in 1976 which he designed to help him keep track of the characters backstories and events that occurred before the original trilogy 39 Anakin was first written as a twelve year old but Lucas reduced his age to nine because he felt that the lower age would better fit the plot point of Anakin being affected by his mother s separation from him Eventually Anakin s younger age led Lucas to rewrite his participation in the movie s major scenes 40 The film s working title was The Beginning with the title not being changed to The Phantom Menace until shortly before the film s completion 39 Lucas later revealed that the Phantom Menace title was a reference to Palpatine hiding his true identity as an evil Sith Lord behind the facade of a well intentioned public servant 41 The larger budget and possibilities opened up by the use of digital effects made Lucas think about a much grander more epic scale which is what I wanted Star Wars to be 42 The story ended with five simultaneous ongoing plots one leading to another The central plot is Palpatine s intent to become Chancellor which leads to the Trade Federation s attack on Naboo the Jedi being sent there Anakin being met along the way and the rise of the Sith Lords As with the original trilogy Lucas intended The Phantom Menace to illustrate several themes throughout the narrative Duality is a frequent theme Amidala is a queen who passes as a handmaiden Palpatine plays on both sides of the war among others Balance is frequently suggested Anakin is supposedly the one chosen to bring balance to the Force Lucas said Anakin needed to have a mother Obi Wan needed a Master Darth Sidious needed an apprentice as without interaction and dialogue you wouldn t have drama 43 In November 2015 Ron Howard confirmed that he Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg were approached by Lucas to direct The Phantom Menace All three approached directors told Lucas that he should direct the film as they each found the project too daunting 44 Pre production and design edit Before Lucas had started writing his producing partner Rick McCallum was preparing for the film McCallum stated that his experience with The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles led to many of his decisions on The Phantom Menace such as long term deals with actors and soundstages the employment of recent graduates with no film experience and the creation of sets and landscapes with digital technology In April 1994 McCallum started searching for artists in art architecture and design schools and in mid year he began location scouting with production designer Gavin Bocquet Industrial Light amp Magic ILM art director Doug Chiang impressed McCallum the most and was hired as the design director 45 46 Art development on the film began in January 1995 47 Within three to four months of Lucas beginning the writing process Chiang and his design team started a two year process of reviewing thousands of designs for the film 48 Chiang stated that Lucas intended Episode I to be stylistically different from the other Star Wars films it would be richer and more like a period piece since it was the history leading up to A New Hope The story takes place on three planets some with varied environments such as the human and Gungan cities of Naboo and three buildings in Coruscant With the exception of the Gungan city which had an art nouveau inspired visual these locations would be given distinctive looks with some basis in the real world The concept drawings of Ralph McQuarrie for the original trilogy served as the basis for Mos Espa which was also inspired by old Tunisian hotels and buildings and had touches such as a marketplace to differentiate it from A New Hope s Mos Eisley and Coruscant in particular a metropolis design that became the basis for the Senate 49 Bocquet would later develop the work of Chiang s team and design the interiors translating the concepts into construction blueprints with environments and architectural styles that had some basis in reality to give the audience something to key into 50 Some elements were directly inspired by the original trilogy Lucas described the battle droids as predecessors to the stormtroopers Chiang uses that orientation to base the droids on the Imperial soldiers only in the same style of stylized and elongated features seen in tribal African art 42 Terryl Whitlatch who had a background on zoology and anatomy was in charge of creature design Many of the aliens are hybrids combining features of real animals At times entire food chains were developed even though only a small percentage of them would appear in the film Whitlatch also designed detailed skeletons for the major characters and facial muscles on Jar Jar Binks as a reference for ILM s animators Each creature would reflect its environment those on Naboo were more beautiful because the planet is lush and more animal friendly Tatooine has rough looking creatures with weather beaten leathery skin to protect them from the harsh desert elements and Coruscant has bipedal human looking aliens 51 The film made extensive use of the new technique of digital pre visualization using computers to essentially create 3 D animated storyboards This was done for dozens of scenes in the film but was first and primarily used in the pod race sequence Animatic supervisor David Dozoretz also an ILM alum worked on this sequence for nearly three years and at one point had a 25 minute version of the race although the film only included a 9 minute version 52 53 nbsp Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi dueling Darth Maul Lucas wanted the lightsaber battles to be fast and more intense than those of the original trilogy depicting the Jedi in their prime This scene was highly praised by critics and audiences Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard was recruited to create a new Jedi fighting style for the prequel trilogy Gillard likened the lightsaber battles to a chess game with every move being a check Because of their short range weapons Gillard thought that the Jedi would have had to develop a fighting style that merged every sword fighting style such as kendo and other kenjutsu styles with other swinging techniques such as tennis swings and tree chopping While training Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor Gillard wrote a sequence that lasted around 60 seconds and intended to be around five or six sequences per fight 54 Lucas later referred to the Jedi as negotiators rather than high casualty soldiers The preference of hand to hand combat was intended to give a spiritual and intellectual role to the Jedi 54 Because Gillard thought that the stunt jumps with the actors and stuntmen dangling from wires did not look realistic air rams were used to propel them into the air instead 55 Lucas decided to make elaborate costumes because the film s society was more sophisticated than the one depicted in the original trilogy Designer Trisha Biggar and her team created over 1 000 costumes that were inspired by various cultures 56 Biggar worked closely with concept designer Iain McCaig to create a color palette for the inhabitants of each world Tatooine followed A New Hope with sun bleached sand colors Coruscant had grays browns and blacks and Naboo had green and gold for humans while Gungans wore a leathery look like their skin The Jedi costumes followed the tradition from the original film 57 Obi Wan s costume was inspired by the costume that was worn by Guinness Lucas said he and Biggar would look at the conceptual art to translat e all of these designs into cloth and fabric and materials that would actually work and not look silly Biggar also consulted Gillard to ensure that the costumes would accommodate action scenes and consulted the creature department to find which fabrics wouldn t wear too heavily on the alien skins A huge wardrobe department was set up at Leavesden Film Studios to create over 250 costumes for the main actors and 5 000 for the background ones 58 Nute Gunray s Thai accent was chosen after Lucas and McCallum listened to various languages to decide how the Neimoidians would speak 59 The character design of Watto was an amalgam of rejected ideas his expressions were based on video footage of Secombe s voice acting photographs of animation supervisor Rob Coleman imitating the character and modeler Steve Alpin saying Watto s lines to a mirror 60 Lucas described Sebulba s design as a spider crossed with an orangutan crossed with a sloth 61 with a camel like face and clothing inspired by medieval armor 62 Casting edit After Samuel L Jackson expressed interest in appearing in a Star Wars film he was approached by casting director Robin Gurland to play Mace Windu 9 Rapper Tupac Shakur was also considered for the role of Mace Windu 63 Ray Park a martial arts champion with experience in gymnastics and sword fighting was originally a member of the stunt crew 9 Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard filmed Park to demonstrate his conception of the lightsaber battles Lucas and McCallum were so impressed with the test tape that they gave Park the role of Maul His voice was considered too squeaky and was dubbed over in post production by Peter Serafinowicz 11 Keira Knightley s parents tried to convince her not to audition but the teenage actress still sought a role since she was a Star Wars fan 64 The casting was influenced by Knightley s remarkable similarity to Natalie Portman with the actress admitting their mothers could not tell them apart 65 Knightley was reported to have cried every single day due to finding the wardrobe uncomfortable 64 Over 3 000 actors auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker including Haley Joel Osment Cameron Finley Justin Berfield and Michael Angarano before Jake Lloyd was selected 66 Vinette Robinson auditioned for the role of Padme Amidala 67 Benicio del Toro was originally cast as Darth Maul but later left the project when the character s lines were cut 68 Michael Jackson expressed interest in playing Jar Jar Binks but he wanted to do it in prosthetic make ups while George Lucas wanted to do it in CGI 69 Joseph Fiennes auditioned for the role of Obi Wan Kenobi and nearly landed the part until George Lucas s young daughter rejected him upon meeting him during the second level of auditioning 70 Silas Carson was cast as Nute Gunray because another actor was uncomfortable with the costumes used by the Trade Federation characters which were hot exerted a lot of pressure on the bearer and took about 15 minutes to apply Hugh Quarshie considered the part of Panaka as a good career move and a production that would be fun to make 71 Brian Blessed originally auditioned for the role of Sio Bibble the Governor of Naboo 72 for which he was considered too loud 73 Casting director Robin Gurland approached him to play Nass because it was a bigger than life character with a kind of bravado 74 Blessed described Nass as a reluctant hero 73 Sofia Coppola daughter of Lucas long time friend and creative partner Francis Ford Coppola considers Lucas as like an uncle to me As she prepared the script for her directorial debut The Virgin Suicides Coppola heard Lucas would be making a new Star Wars film and asked him if she could accompany him during filming Lucas offered Coppola a role in the royal entourage which she accepted because it seemed like a good vantage point to watch without getting in the way 75 Filming edit See also List of Star Wars filming locations nbsp Remains of Mos Espa in the Tunisian desert near NaftaFilming began on June 26 1997 and ended on September 30 of that year primarily taking place at Leavesden Film Studios in England Leavesden was leased for a two and a half year period so the production company could leave the sets intact and return after principal photography had been completed 76 The forest scenes on Naboo were filmed at Cassiobury Park in Watford Hertfordshire 77 78 Pick ups were shot between August 1998 and February 1999 after Lucas screened a rough cut of the film for friends and colleagues in May 1998 79 Most of the action and stunts were filmed by Roger Christian s second unit which worked alongside the main unit instead of afterwards because of the high number of shots to be completed daily 55 The Tunisian desert was again used for the Tatooine scenes 80 Mos Espa was built outside the city of Tozeur On the night following the third day of shooting in Tozeur an unexpected sandstorm destroyed many of the sets and props The production was quickly rescheduled to allow for repairs and was able to leave Tunisia on the date originally planned 81 The Italian Caserta Palace was used as the interior of the Theed City Naboo Palace 80 it was used as a location for four days after it had been closed to visitors Scenes with explosions were filmed on replica sets in Leavesden 82 nbsp The Palace of Caserta in Italy was the location for the Naboo Royal Palace A binder with the film s storyboards served as a reference for live action filming shots that would be filmed in front of a chroma key blue screen and shots that would be composed using CGI The sets were often built with the parts that would be required on screen often they were built only up to the heights of the actors Chroma key was extensively used for digital set extensions backgrounds or scenes that required cinematographer David Tattersall to seek powerful lamps to light the sets and visual effects supervisor John Knoll to develop software that would remove the blue reflection from shiny floors Knoll who remained on set through most of the production worked closely with Tattersall to ensure that the shots were suitable to add effects later The cameras were fitted with data capture models to provide technical data for the CGI artists 83 The Phantom Menace was the final Star Wars film to be shot on 35mm film until The Force Awakens 2015 Some scenes mostly of elements filmed by the special effects team were shot on high definition digital video tapes to test the performance of digital recordings which Lucas and McCallum considered the next logical step because of the amount of digitizing an expensive process compared to recording directly on digital media for the compositing of computer generated effects A couple of digitally shot scenes made it into the movie one of them being of Qui Gon taking a blood sample of Anakin Skywalker 84 All future films would be shot using Sony CineAlta high definition video cameras 85 86 Greg Proops and Scott Capurro were filmed wearing makeup and blue bodysuits so their heads could be joined in a computer generated body The visual effects crew did not like the original results and crafted Fode and Beed as an entirely computer generated alien 87 Because of the amount of visual effects produced editing took two years Paul Martin Smith started the process in England and focused on dialogue heavy scenes Ben Burtt who was also the film s sound editor was responsible for action sequences under Lucas s supervision Non linear editing systems played a large part in translating Lucas s vision he constantly tweaked revised and reworked shots and scenes The final sound mix was added in March 1999 and the following month the film was completed after the delivery of the remaining visual effects shots 88 Effects edit Writing the script was much more enjoyable this time around because I wasn t constrained by anything You can t write one of these movies without knowing how you re going to accomplish it With CG at my disposal I knew I could do whatever I wanted George Lucas 89 The film saw a breakthrough in computer generated effects About 1 950 of the shots in The Phantom Menace have visual effects The scene in which toxic gas is released on the Jedi is the only sequence with no digital alteration 61 The work was so extensive that three visual effects supervisors divided the workload among themselves John Knoll supervised the on set production and the podrace and space battle sequences Dennis Muren supervised the underwater sequence and the ground battle and Scott Squires alongside teams assigned for miniature effects and character animation worked on the lightsaber effects 90 Until the film s production many special effects in the film industry were achieved using miniature models matte paintings and on set visual effects although other films had made extensive use of CGI Knoll previewed 3 500 storyboards for the film Lucas accompanied him to explain factors of the shots that would be practical and those that would be created through visual effects Knoll later said that on hearing the explanations of the storyboards he did not know how to accomplish what he had seen The result was a mixture of original techniques and the newest digital techniques to make it difficult for the viewer to guess which technique was being used Knoll and his visual effects team wrote new computer software including cloth simulators to allow a realistic depiction of the digital characters clothing to create certain shots Another goal was to create computer generated characters that could act seamlessly with live action actors While filming scenes with CGI characters Lucas would block the characters using their corresponding voice actors on set The voice actors were then removed and the live action actors would perform the same scene alone A CGI character would later be added into the shot to complete the conversation 91 Lucas also used CGI to correct the physical presence of actors in certain scenes 61 Practical models were used when their visuals helped with miniature sceneries for backgrounds set extensions and model vehicles that would be scanned to create the digital models or filmed to represent spaceships and podraces 92 Lucas who had previously confronted problems with the props used to depict R2 D2 allowed ILM and the production s British special effects department to create their own versions of the robot Nine R2 D2 models were created one was for actor Kenny Baker to be dropped into seven were built by ILM and featured two wheelchair motors capable of moving 440 pounds 200 kg enabling it to run and be mostly used in stage sets and the British studio produced a pneumatic R2 D2 that could shift from two to three legs and was mostly used in Tunisia because its motor drive system allowed it to drive over sand 93 Lucas originally planned to create many of the aliens with computer graphics but those that would be more cost effectively realized with masks and animatronics were created by Nick Dudman s creature effects team These included the Neimoidians background characters in Mos Espa the Jedi Council and the Galactic Senate Dudman s team was told where the creatures would be required six months before principal photography begun and they rushed the production The Neimodian suits which were originally intended as digital characters were delivered one day before they would be required on set Dudman traveled to Skywalker Ranch to see the original creatures that could be reused and read the script for a breakdown of scenes with practical creatures leaving only the more outlandish designs to be created using CGI 94 To research for the podrace vehicles the visual effects crew visited a jet aircraft junkyard outside Phoenix Arizona and scavenged four Boeing 747 engines 61 Life sized replicas of the engines were built and sent to Tunisia to provide reference in the film Except for Jake Lloyd inside a hydraulically controlled cockpit and a few practical podracer models the entire podracing scene which the effects crew designed to be as out of this world as possible is computer generated 80 95 Themes edit See also Star Wars sources and analogues Like previous Star Wars films The Phantom Menace makes several references to historical events and films that George Lucas watched in his youth The Star Wars films typically mix several concepts from different mythologies together drawing heavily from the hero s journey an archetypical template developed by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell 96 The film also notably borrows from Ben Hur 1959 including the podrace sequence which mirrors the chariot race scene additionally the end celebration scene closely resembles a Roman parade in Ben Hur 97 nbsp The face of Darth Maul drew upon depictions of the devil There are many references to Christianity in the film such as the appearance of Darth Maul whose design draws heavily from traditional depictions of the devil complete with red skin and horns 96 The Star Wars film cycle features a similar Christian narrative involving Anakin Skywalker he is the Chosen One the individual prophesied to bring balance to the Force who was conceived of a virgin birth However unlike Jesus Anakin will eventually fall from grace and seemingly fail to fulfill his destiny until the prophecy comes true in Return of the Jedi 98 Japanese films such as Akira Kurosawa s The Hidden Fortress 1958 influenced the original Star Wars film scholars say that The Phantom Menace was likewise influenced by Korean and Japanese culture Film historians Geoff King and Tanya Krzywinska write The costume and make up designs favour a mixture of the gothic and the oriental over anything very futuristic The gothic is most strongly apparent in Darth Maul s demonic horns and the red and black make up mask that borrows from the facial designs found in depictions of Japanese demons King and Krzywinska say that Qui Gon s pony tail and Obi Wan s position of apprentice further encourage a reading in terms of the Samurai tradition They also say Amidala in keeping with her status and character has a number of highly formal outfits to go with hair sculpted into a curve that frames make up of a Japanese cast 99 The Jedi practice Zen like meditation and martial arts as did the ancient Japanese Samurai warriors The name Qui Gon adapts the term qigong which refers to a Chinese discipline involving meditation and cultivation of the flow of the vital energy called qi for healing health and combat The words qi Chinese gi Korean ki Japanese and the Indian term Prana all refer to the energy that is thought to flow through all living things from the source of all qi or power which is The Way or The Tao in Chinese philosophy In Taoist philosophy from The Way yin and yang the opposing but complementary aspects of reality or nature are born Unlike Chinese philosophy in which yin and yang are not moral qualities the ancient Persian philosophy of Zurvanism taught that the dualism of dark and light forces are locked in an eternal battle while being two sides or evolutes of the same Force the force of time itself Zurvan the prime mover These elements derive primarily from Eastern and Iranian religions and myths 96 As with other Star Wars films themes about family and hope are featured prominently In the Disney Gallery The Mandalorian episode Legacy Dave Filoni explains that the use of Duel of the Fates during the lightsaber duel between Darth Maul against Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi represents the fight for the fate of Anakin Skywalker According to Filoni Qui Gon Jinn acts like a father figure towards Anakin because he feels he needs one after taking him from his mother having realized that the Jedi shouldn t be opposed to love and care In the end Qui Gon dies and thus Anakin loses his father figure Obi Wan Kenobi ultimately becomes his master to honor Jinn s dying wish despite his initial contempt for him and while he comes to eventually see him like a brother as shown in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith he doesn t act like a father which coupled with the Jedi s indifference seals Anakin s fate 100 Music editMain article Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace soundtrack As with previous Star Wars films Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace s score was composed and conducted by John Williams He started composing the score in October 1998 and began recording the music with the London Voices and London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios on February 10 1999 Williams decided to use electronic instruments such as synthesizers to enhance the sound and choral pieces to capture the magical mystical force that a regular orchestra might not have been able to provide and create an atmosphere that was more mysterious and mystical and less military than those of the original trilogy 101 One of the most notable tracks is Duel of the Fates which uses the chorus to give a religious temple like feel to the epic lightsaber duel The track was made into a music video 102 While composing Anakin s theme Williams tried to reflect the innocence of his childhood and to foreshadow his transformation into Darth Vader by using slight suggestions of The Imperial March in the melody 101 The film s soundtrack was released by Sony Classical Records on May 4 1999 This album featured the score which Williams restructured as a listening experience it is not presented in film order and omits many notable cues from the film because of the space restriction of the compact disc 103 A two disc Ultimate Edition was released on November 14 2000 The set features the entire score as it is heard in the film including all of the edits and loops that were made for the sound mix 104 Marketing editPromotion edit Lucasfilm spent US 20 million on the film s advertising campaign and made promotional licensing deals with Hasbro Lego Tricon Global Restaurants and PepsiCo 105 Lucasfilm also helped the Star Wars fan club to organize an event called Star Wars Celebration which was held in Denver Colorado between April 30 and May 2 1999 106 The first teaser trailer was released on selected screens accompanying Meet Joe Black on November 17 1998 107 and media reported that people were paying full admission at theaters to see the trailer Other films that played this trailer included The Waterboy The Siege and A Bug s Life 108 To keep fans from leaving before the movie was over some theaters played the teaser an additional time after the film finished 109 The second trailer debuted on March 12 1999 with the film Wing Commander Again many fans paid full theater admission to watch the new trailer 110 A bootlegged version of the preview was leaked to the Internet the same day 111 The next morning the trailer was released on the film s official website and shortly afterwards the servers became overloaded 112 This trailer had over 1 million downloads within its first 24 hours of release setting a record for the most downloaded trailer until it was surpassed by The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring in April 2000 113 114 The theatrical trailer caused even more media attention because it was premiered in theaters and screened at the ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas 115 and was aired on Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood 111 The teaser poster featuring Anakin with his shadow forming Darth Vader s silhouette was released on November 10 1998 After Lucas opted for a drawn theatrical poster Drew Struzan the artist responsible for the Special Edition posters was commissioned to illustrate and the poster was unveiled on March 11 1999 Lucasfilm dictated that contractually Struzan s illustration was the only art the foreign distributors could use and other than the text it could not be modified in any way 116 The film also reused the Godzilla slogan on teaser posters 117 Adaptations edit A novelization was written by Terry Brooks who met with Lucas before writing the book and received his approval and guidance It includes some scenes that are not in the film and foreshadows pending developments in the following two installments of the series 118 Additionally a Scholastic junior novelization was written by Patricia C Wrede 119 A four issue comic book adaptation was written by Henry Gilroy and published by Dark Horse Comics 120 The film was again adapted as part of the all ages Star Wars The Prequel Trilogy A Graphic Novel released by Disney Lucasfilm Press in 2017 121 A LucasArts video game adaptation was released for the PlayStation and PC 122 The podracing tie in Star Wars Episode I Racer was released for Nintendo 64 PC and other platforms A pinball machine was created by WMS Industries 123 Release editTheatrical edit The release of the first new Star Wars film in 16 years was accompanied by a considerable amount of attention 124 According to The Wall Street Journal so many workers announced plans to view the premiere that many companies closed on the opening day 125 Queue areas formed outside cinema theaters over a month before ticket sales began 126 More theater lines appeared when it was announced that cinemas were not allowed to sell tickets in advance until two weeks into the release This was because of a fear that family theater goers would be either unable to receive tickets or would be forced to pay higher prices for them Instead tickets were to be sold on a first come first served basis 127 However after meetings with the National Association of Theatre Owners Lucasfilm agreed to allow advance ticket sales on May 12 1999 provided there was a limit of 12 tickets per customer 128 As a result some advance tickets were sold by scalpers at prices as high as US 100 apiece which a distribution chief called horrible and said was exactly what they wanted to avoid 129 Daily Variety reported that theater owners received strict instructions from Lucasfilm that the film could only play in the cinema s largest auditorium for the first 8 12 weeks no honor passes were allowed for the first eight weeks and they were obliged to send their payments to distributor 20th Century Fox within seven days 130 Despite worries about the film being finished on time two weeks before its theatrical release Lucasfilm moved the release date from May 21 to 19 1999 At the ShoWest Convention Lucas said the change was intended to give the fans a head start by allowing them to view it during the week and allowing families to view it during weekends Eleven charity premieres were staged across the United States on May 16 1999 receipts from the Los Angeles event where corporate packages were available for between US 5 000 and US 25 000 proceeds were donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation 131 Other charity premieres included the Dallas premiere for the Children s Medical Center the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at the Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York the Big Brother Sister Association of the Philadelphia premiere and the Children s National Medical Center in Washington D C A statement said that tickets were sold at US 500 apiece and that certain sections of the theaters were set aside for disadvantaged children 132 The film had its UK premiere at the Royal Film Performance an event held in aid of the Film amp TV Charity on the 14th July 1999 at the ODEON Leicester Square This event was attended by Charles III and helped to raise 225 000 for the charity 133 The film opened at 12 01 am on Wednesday May 19 1999 in 2 010 theaters in the United States and Canada An additional 960 theaters screened the film later in the day About 120 theaters showed the film continuously on opening day including the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City and the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles 134 Foreshadowing his future conversion to digital cinematography Lucas said the film would be released on four digital projectors two in New York and two in Los Angeles on June 18 1999 135 Few film studios released films during the same week DreamWorks and Universal Studios released The Love Letter on May 21 and Notting Hill on May 28 respectively 136 The Love Letter was a commercial failure but Notting Hill fared better and followed The Phantom Menace closely in second place 137 Employment consultant firm Challenger Gray amp Christmas estimated that 2 2 million full time employees missed work to attend the film resulting in a US 293 million loss of productivity 138 Home media edit nbsp Comparison between the puppet of Yoda present in the original 1999 theatrical and 2001 DVD releases and the computer generated model present in the 2011 Blu ray Disc and 3D releasesThe film was released on VHS on April 4 2000 There were two versions of the film which were a standard pan and scan version and a widescreen Collector s Edition version In its first two days of availability the regular version sold 4 5 million copies and the limited edition sold 500 000 139 A year later on June 19 2001 it was announced that The Phantom Menace would become the first Star Wars film to be officially released on DVD in a slightly extended cut from the theatrical releases 140 This THX certified two disc DVD release debuted on October 16 of the same year 141 The first disc contains the film and the second disc contains special features On the first disc there are three randomized selected menus themed to the planets Naboo Tatooine and Coruscant 142 There is an Easter egg located in the options menu When the THX Optimizer is highlighted the viewer can press 1 1 3 8 By doing this some bloopers and DVD credits will be shown 143 The special features include seven deleted scenes completed specifically for the DVD a commentary track featuring Lucas and producer Rick McCallum and several documentaries including a full length documentary entitled The Beginning Making Episode I 142 144 There are also DVD ROM features including trailers for Attack of the Clones 145 The Phantom Menace became the fastest selling DVD ever in the United States 2 2 million copies were sold in its first week after release 146 147 This surpassed the previous record held by The Mummy Returns which sold 2 million copies within its first week 148 Less than a month later The Phantom Menace s record for being the fastest selling DVD was taken by Shrek when it sold 2 5 million copies in its first three days 149 The Phantom Menace was one of the only four films to sell over 2 million DVD copies during their first weeks of release at the time with the others being The Mummy Returns Shrek and How the Grinch Stole Christmas 150 The film would overall earn 45 million from its first week DVD sales more than the theatrical releases of From Hell Riding in Cars with Boys Training Day and other post 9 11 films 146 At the 5th Annual DVD awards The Phantom Menace won four categories Viewers Choice Award Best Menu Design Best Authoring and Best Audio Presentation with the latter award being tied with Pearl Harbor 151 The DVD version was re released in a prequel trilogy box set on November 4 2008 152 A LaserDisc version of The Phantom Menace was released in Japan on April 7 2000 a year and a half before it was available on DVD in the U S 153 The Star Wars films were released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on Blu ray Disc on September 16 2011 154 The Phantom Menace was restored to improve the picture quality and remove the magnification present on the previous DVD release restoring approximately 8 of the picture to the frame 155 In the Blu ray release of The Phantom Menace the Yoda puppet was replaced with a CGI model making it consistent with the other films of the prequel trilogy 156 On April 7 2015 Walt Disney Studios 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films The Phantom Menace was released through the iTunes Store Amazon Video Vudu Google Play and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10 2015 157 Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment reissued The Phantom Menace on Blu ray DVD and digital download on September 22 2019 158 Additionally all six films were available for 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos streaming on Disney upon the service s launch on November 12 2019 159 This version of the film was released by Disney on 4K Ultra HD Blu ray box set on March 31 2020 160 Theatrical re releases edit On September 28 2010 it was announced that all six films in the series would be stereo converted to 3D These would be re released in episode order beginning with The Phantom Menace which was released to cinemas on February 10 2012 161 Prime Focus Limited did the conversion under the supervision of ILM 162 However the 3D re releases of Episodes II VI were postponed or canceled after Lucasfilm was bought by The Walt Disney Company who decided to focus on the development of Star Wars The Force Awakens 163 Lucas stated the 3D re release was just a conversion of the film s 2011 Blu ray release and no additional changes were made 164 Only a change to Anakin s magnetic wand during the podrace scene its tip was sharpened to more accurately fit the original 2D photography to the new 3D image was confirmed 165 General Mills and Brisk were promotional partners in North America for the 3D re release but promotion was limited 166 167 The film was extensively promoted in Japan promotional products were sold by 7 Eleven Domino s Pizza Pepsi and Gari Gari Kun 168 Kellogg s promoted the film internationally 169 170 and French restaurant Quick launched three Star Wars themed burgers Lucasfilm also partnered with Variety the Children s Charity to raise funds for children through the sale of a special edition badge 171 On February 10 2024 it was announced that The Phantom Menace would be re released by 20th Century Studios on May 3 2024 for the film s 25th anniversary The film s re release announcement was accompanied by a new poster by artist Matt Ferguson 172 Reception editCritical response edit Following an advance screening on Saturday May 8 1999 several newspapers broke an agreement with Fox and published reviews of the film on Sunday May 9 In a front page review the Los Angeles Daily News gave it 3 stars calling it pretty good overall and outstanding in many parts The New York Daily News was less positive giving it 2 stars Variety also made its review by Todd McCarthy available on the Sunday 173 with McCarthy calling it the most widely anticipated and heavily hyped film of modern times but said that the film can scarcely help being a letdown on some levels but it s too bad that it disappoints on so many and that it is neither captivating nor transporting for it lacks any emotional pull as well as the sense of wonder and awe that marks the best works of sci fi fantasy 174 On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 52 based on 237 reviews with an average rating of 5 9 10 The site s critical consensus reads Burdened by exposition and populated with stock characters The Phantom Menace gets the Star Wars prequels off to a bumpy albeit visually dazzling start 175 As of September 2023 the film is the second lowest rated live action film of the Star Wars series just ahead of The Rise of Skywalker 176 On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on 36 critics indicating mixed or average reviews 177 Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of A on an A to F scale 178 Many aspects of the script and characters were criticized especially that of Jar Jar Binks who was regarded by many members of the older fan community as toyetic a merchandising opportunity rather than a serious character 179 180 Ahmed Best had later said that he contemplated suicide after receiving backlash for his portrayal 181 Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described Binks as a major miscue a comic relief character who s frankly not funny 182 Drew Grant of Salon wrote Perhaps the absolute creative freedom director George Lucas enjoyed while dreaming up the flick s comic relief with no studio execs and not many an independently minded actor involved is a path to the dark side 183 Conversely Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave it three and a half stars out of four and called it an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking and said Lucas tells a good story Ebert also wrote that If some of the characters are less than compelling perhaps that s inevitable because it is the opening film in the new trilogy He concluded his review by saying that rather than Star Trek films filmmakers could g ive me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day 184 Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B grade and complimented Liam Neeson s performance and the action scenes 185 In an Entertainment Weekly review for the DVD release Marc Bernardin gave the film a C calling it haplessly plotted horribly written and juvenile 186 ReelViews James Berardinelli wrote Looking at the big picture in spite of all its flaws The Phantom Menace is still among the best bang for a buck fun that can be had in a movie theater and said the film was a distinct improvement over Return of the Jedi 187 Andrew Johnston of Time Out New York wrote Let s face it no film could ever match the expectations some have for Episode I The Phantom Menace Which isn t to say it s a disappointment on the contrary it s awesomely entertaining provided you accept it on its own terms Like the original film it s a Boy s Own adventure yarn with a corny but irresistible spiritual subtext The effects and production design are stunning but they always serve the story not the other way around 188 Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today said that the film does plenty right and praised the characters Darth Maul and Watto 189 David Cornelius of efilmcritic com said that the film s better moments don t merely balance out the weaker ones they topple them 190 Colin Kennedy of Empire magazine said that despite problems with pacing and writing there is still much pleasure to be had watching our full blown Jedi guides in action He praised the visuals and Liam Neeson s performance and said that the duel between Darth Maul and the Jedi is the saga s very best lightsaber battle 191 Empire magazine ranked The Phantom Menace on its list of 500 Greatest Movies of All Time 192 while Entertainment Weekly and Comcast included the film on their lists of the worst movie sequels 193 194 James Berardinelli wrote The Phantom Menace was probably the most overhyped motion picture of the last decade if not longer and its reputation suffered as a result of its inability to satisfy unreasonable expectations 195 William Arnold of the Seattle Post Intelligencer agreed that the film s massive hype caused many of the negative reactions saying it built expectations that can t possibly be matched and scuttled the element of storytelling surprise He also said that the film was well made and entertaining and was much better than similar box office fare released around that year such as The Mummy and The Matrix 196 Ewan McGregor said in 2002 that he was slightly disappointed that the film was kind of flat and believed the next film in the franchise would have much more humor and color 197 The introduction of midi chlorians microscopic organisms that mediate use of the Force has been regarded as controversial 198 Some viewed it as a concept that negates the Force s spiritual quality Film historian Daniel Dinello says Anathema to Star Wars fanatics who thought they reduced the Force to a kind of viral infection midi chlorians provide a biological interface the link between physical bodies and spiritual energy 199 Religion expert John D Caputo writes In the Gospel according to Lucas a world is conjured up in which the intractable oppositions that have tormented religious thinkers for centuries are reconciled The gifts that the Jedi masters enjoy have a perfectly plausible scientific basis even if its ways are mysterious their bodily cells have a heavier than usual concentration of midi chlorians 200 There has been some controversy over whether several alien characters reflect racial stereotypes For example the oafish slow witted Jar Jar Binks has long droopy ears reminiscent of dreadlocks and spoke with what many perceived as a Caribbean patois reminiscent of Jamaican Creole 201 Andrew Howe rejects most such connections arguing that only Jar Jar s accent links him to the Caribbean and no other factor 202 However Nicholas Wanberg argues that linguistic analysis of Jar Jar s accent shows no common features with Caribbean English save those it also shares with American English 203 although he concedes that Jar Jar is constructed with tropes typical of ethnically stereotyped characters 204 Similarly Drew Grant describes the character as s ervile and cowardly a black minstrel ish stereotype on par with Stepin Fetchit 183 Georgetown University professor of African American studies Michael Eric Dyson says that the entire Gungan species seems suggestive of a primitive African tribe with Boss Nass portrayed as a fat bumbling caricature of a stereotypical African tribal chieftain 179 The greedy and corrupt Neimoidians of the Trade Federation have been noted as resembling East Asian stereotypes 205 and the unprincipled trader Watto has been interpreted as a Jewish stereotype reminiscent of Charles Dickens character Fagin 206 Lucas has denied all of these implications 179 instead criticizing the American media for using opinions from the Internet as a reliable source for news stories Lucas added that it reflects more the racism of the commenters than it does the movie 207 however animator Rob Coleman said ahead of the film s release that Watto s mannerisms were inspired by footage of Alec Guinness as Fagin in Oliver Twist 208 Box office edit Even though it received mixed reviews The Phantom Menace was a financial success breaking many box office records in its debut and beating out The Mummy by taking number 1 The film broke The Lost World Jurassic Park s records for the largest single day gross for taking more than 28 million in the opening day and fastest to gross 100 million in five days Additionally it grossed 64 8 million in its opening weekend the second highest ever at the time behind The Lost World Jurassic Park 209 It also became the quickest film to reach the 200 million and 300 million marks surpassing Independence Day 1996 and Titanic 1997 respectively 210 211 The Phantom Menace held both records before Spider Man took them in 2002 212 213 It would go on to earn 105 7 million making it the highest five day Wednesday opening weekend of all time 209 The film had the biggest opening weekend for any 20th Century Fox film for two years until 2001 when it was taken by Planet of the Apes 214 Its opening day record was handed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone that same year 215 Two years later in 2003 The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King surpassed The Phantom Menace for having the largest five day Wednesday opening weekend 216 During its second weekend The Phantom Menace made 51 3 million making it the highest grossing second weekend at the time surpassing Jurassic Park The film would hold this record until it was surpassed a year later by How the Grinch Stole Christmas 217 In total the film stayed at the top of the box office for three weeks until it was overtaken by Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me during its fourth weekend 218 The Phantom Menace was 1999 s most successful film staying in the Top 10 until August 5 11 weeks total earning 431 1 million in the United States and Canada 219 Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 84 8 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run 220 The film set an opening record in Japan grossing 12 2 million in its first two days from 403 screens 221 In the UK the film also set an opening record with 9 5 million in its opening weekend including previews surpassing Men in Black 222 223 It would go on to hold this record until it was taken by Toy Story 2 a few months later 224 The Phantom Menace also grossed a record 11 million in its opening weekend in Germany 225 Outside the United States and Canada the film grossed over 10 million in Australia 25 9 million Brazil 10 4 million France and Algeria 43 million Germany 53 9 million Italy 12 9 million Japan 109 9 million Mexico 12 million Spain 25 million and the United Kingdom and Ireland 81 9 million 226 Its overseas total was 493 2 million taking its worldwide total to 924 3 million 219 At that time the film was the third highest grossing film in North America behind Titanic and Star Wars 1977 227 and the second highest grossing film worldwide behind Titanic without adjusting for inflation of ticket prices 228 After its 3D re release in 2012 the worldwide box office gross exceeded 1 billion 229 making it the first Star Wars film and the 11th film in history excluding inflation to do so 229 230 Although in the intervening years the film had lost some of its rankings in the lists of highest grossing films the 3D re release returned it to the worldwide all time Top 10 for several months 231 In North America its revenues overtook those of the original Star Wars as the saga s highest grossing film when not adjusting for inflation of ticket prices and is the tenth highest grossing film in North America as of August 2017 update 232 In North America its ranking on the Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation list climbed to 16th place one place behind Return of the Jedi 233 The 3D re release which premiered in February 2012 earned 43 million 22 5 million of which was in North America worldwide 234 The 3D re release earned US 102 727 119 worldwide including 43 5 million in North America and has increased the film s overall box office takings to 474 5 million domestically and 552 5 million in other territories 230 Accolades edit The Phantom Menace was nominated for three Academy Awards Best Sound Effects Editing Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Gary Rydstrom Tom Johnson Shawn Murphy and John Midgley all three awards went to The Matrix 235 236 The film won Saturn Awards for Best Costumes and Best Special Effects 237 the MTV Movie Award for Best Action Scene 238 and a Young Artist Award for Jake Lloyd s performance 239 It was also nominated for among others the BAFTAs for Visual Effects and Sound 240 and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media 241 However the film did receive seven Golden Raspberry Award Razzie nominations for Worst Picture Worst Director Worst Screenplay Worst Supporting Actor Jake Lloyd as Anakin Worst Supporting Actress Sofia Coppola as Sache Worst Screen Couple Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman and Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best won the Worst Supporting Actor category 242 Legacy editSee also Cultural impact of Star Wars A month after the film s release Weird Al Yankovic released the parody song and music video The Saga Begins in which he interprets the film s plot from Obi Wan s point of view to the tune of American Pie 243 this was included as a bonus feature on a 2011 Star Wars Blu ray 244 June 1999 also had South Park parodying Jar Jar Binks in the episode Jakovasaurs which had the townspeople of South Park getting annoyed at extraterrestrials who spoke and behaved similarly to Jar Jar to reflect the hatred of writers Matt Stone and Trey Parker for the character 245 The film is known for starting the Lego Star Wars toyline which has become one of Lego s most successful licensed brands 246 Darth Maul s lightsaber fighting style served as the inspiration for the 2003 viral video Star Wars Kid 247 Maul who appears to die in The Phantom Menace was resurrected for the animated series Star Wars The Clone Wars and he also appears in Star Wars Rebels and in Solo A Star Wars Story In 2012 IGN named Maul the 16th greatest Star Wars character 248 A similar weapon to his dual bladed lightsaber appears in Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker 249 Sequels edit A sequel Attack of the Clones was released in 2002 250 The story continues a decade later with Anakin grown to adulthood played by Hayden Christensen 251 252 A second sequel Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005 and culminates with Anakin s transformation into Darth Vader 253 Critical reassessment edit Since the release of The Phantom Menace many people who have worked on the Star Wars films and viewers have defended the prequel trilogy 254 Ewan McGregor said that his opinion of the prequels improved as he met fans who grew up with them and realized how important our films have been to them stating that critics just wanted to feel like they were seven or eight again and they didn t get that and defending how George Lucas attempted to do something different rather than just make another three Star Wars films that felt like the original ones 255 256 Such a point of view was reflected by Richard Newby of The Hollywood Reporter on the 20th anniversary of The Phantom Menace who acknowledged that the film didn t live up to the lofty expectations that many fans of the original trilogy held for 16 years but that the fan backlash never changed his own appreciation of the film that he first saw as child and even as Newby started to notice the film s flaws as he grew up they expanded the Star Wars universe in a way that kept me interested 257 Hayden Christensen who plays Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith reflected that by going back to the character as a child in The Phantom Menace George Lucas subverted our expectations and understanding of this character and made it a good starting point for Anakin s character development throughout the trilogy 258 259 260 In a 2018 Saturday Night Live comedy rap video Natalie Portman dresses up as Queen Amidala and threatens an interviewer who tries to mock the prequels 261 Many members of the prequel production team have defended the character of Jar Jar Binks and its portrayer Ahmed Best In an interview with Andy Cohen Liam Neeson said that he was proud of his involvement with the film and expressed how he was distressed at the backlash at Best one of the funniest and most talented guys he s ever worked with 262 263 Visual effects supervisor John Knoll reflected that George took a lot of the criticism pretty harshly down to reducing Jar Jar s role in the following two movies and that he was happy to see Best received with a standing ovation at the 2019 edition of Star Wars Celebration 254 Animation director Rob Coleman said that twenty years later he still has younger people coming up to him and telling him that Jar Jar is their favorite character 254 and digital model designer Jean Bolte who cited Jar Jar Binks as one of her favorite characters to work with alongside Sebulba and Yoda added that seeing and hearing the fans so interested in which one was our contribution It really completely changed my point of view about being privileged to have had anything to do with these films 254 264 265 Best himself said he was moved by the newfound appreciation given the previous backlash adding that it was possible because for the ones who saw the movie as children the prequels that s theirs and they defend the prequels So I see the same thing I see the resurgence of The Phantom Menace 254 265 See also editList of underwater science fiction worksNotes edit The DVD released in 2001 extends the film by about three minutes giving it a run time of 136 minutes 2 Known as 20th Century Studios for 2024 theatrical re release 4 a b Later titled Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope The 2008 animated television series Star Wars The Clone Wars establishes that Maul survived References edit Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace British Board of Film Classification Archived from the original on June 12 2016 Retrieved February 26 2015 Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace DVD 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 2001 a b Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace Box Office Mojo IMDb Archived from the original on April 2 2021 Retrieved April 2 2021 Travis Ben February 10 2024 Star Wars The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Cinema Release Confirmed For May The 4th Weekend Exclusive Empire Archived from the original on February 11 2024 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