Greetings all and welcome to DEEP/DIVE: Film Bunker’s newest (and greatest) editorial series! Join us for a somewhat regular column, where we will skewer, dissect and gleefully over-analyse a wide selection of fine films without any real need for doing so, because ‘The Internet’. Said films may be approaching, or have surpassed, a particular retrospective milestone. They may have penetrated the cultural zeitgeist in a way that demands increased attention from neurotic and/or caffeine-riddled critics. Or they might just have, like, really dank memes. Whatever the reason, Film Bunker is ready to wade through a sea of hot takes and pop-up browser tabs in order to take the plunge.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Released: May 19 1999 (US)
Directed by: George Lucas
Runtime: 133 minutes
In 2019, the fate of the Star Wars universe is in a precarious position. With fan expectations thoroughly subverted (aka mostly ‘butt hurt’) by the narrative heel-turns handed down by director Rian Johnson’s treatment of Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, there’s a palpable sense of tension in the air and across the Internet, as fans anxiously await the final resolution of the upcoming Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. With this third trilogy ending, the prospect of returning director and nostalgia-aficionado J.J. Abrams hints at more of the same and a likely capitulation to fan pressure and the financial whim of our Disney mega-corporate overlords.
However, it’s still hard to deny that Star Wars is a cultural force unto itself, operating in a space typically reserved for protests, religions and your more devoted, suicide-inclined cults. (Let’s also not forget that calling yourself a ‘Jedi’ is a real-world census phenomenon and practiced philosophy.) For over forty years, the franchise has consumed the collective consciousness of multiple generations and remains an influential, global blockbuster phenomenon. In terms of overall critical and fan reception, however, the prequel trilogy—consisting of Episodes I-III—is often the most maligned. And, if we’re being honest, rightfully so. Across those three films, you’ll find numerous examples of wooden acting, cringe-worthy dialogue, awful green-screen backdrops and narrative beats that land as trite and unnecessary.
But I want to stress here, that, in my honest opinion, it’s not all bad. There are redeeming qualities to these films, and as crucial pieces of the larger whole that is the Star Wars saga and mythos, they serve a valuable role by virtue of making the original trilogy shine brighter and re-contextualising the admirable efforts of the current trilogy. Upon reflection and numerous re-watches, the first entry, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, remains a curious beast. As one of the last blockbuster spectacles of the ’90s, viewing the George Lucas-helmed film experience twenty years on is equal parts enthralling and outright laughable. So, to get a pulse on how this film is received by the others, I’ve extended the reach of this month’s DEEP/DIVE to include my fellow film-loving colleagues, and I’ve included their whimsical thoughts, rants and musings below:
Richard Houlihan – Contributor
I first saw this movie in June of 1999 for my 8th birthday and I loved everything about it. I got caught up in the merchandising with the cards you collect at KFC and chip packets. When I grew up, I began to hear the hate [directed] towards the movie and never understood it. When the Star Wars Blu-ray set came out, I saw The Phantom Menace for the first time in a decade and I found it cringe-worthy. I cannot stand Jake Lloyd’s performance as Anakin; I found his performance wooden and one-note.
I don’t really watch the prequels as much as I use to in high school, but there’s something incredible about the all the hype and anticipation that lead up to The Phantom Menace. There’s an interesting documentary called The People vs. George Lucas (2010), where you see footage from 1998-1999 of Star Wars fans buying tickets to other movies just to see the first The Phantom Menace trailer, and they’re running out of the cinema doors screaming with joy and tears. Fans in the documentary said after the first The Phantom Menace screening, they went back and watched it multiple times because they wanted to “like it more than they did,” but in the end they were disappointed. For me, that’s the movie’s legacy.
Ciaran Kerr – FilmBunker Co-founder
When I was a kid, I caught it on TV. I had just watched the original trilogy, so I think they had an event on or something. Back then, I remember enjoying it enough. I remember mostly just being happy to see R2-D2 again and C-3PO before he got all gold. I was a simple child, with my favourite thing about the franchise being the Ewoks, because they made me just so happy. So, as TPM was lacking in Ewoks and only had some vague images that stuck in my childhood brain, I never felt very passionately about it. I was then coerced into watching the Originals by my partner, who is a Star Wars fan, while I was an adult, and this time, the Ewoks were more annoying and scarier than the little teddies I remembered… Because of this, I never revisited The Phantom Menace—mostly because I couldn’t care less. Funnily enough, I forgot Jar Jar Binks even existed before seeing him joked about on a TV show when I was about 18.
The Phantom Menace is one of cinema’s most glorious disappointments, which is funny since, at the time, I remember kids EATING THAT SHIT UP. The toys were everywhere, Darth Maul entered the collective consciousness, and everyone was talking about it in school. As I was never a Star Wars fan past kinda enjoying the movies, I had no clue that it was so hated until I entered nerd circles in my adolescence. After The Last Jedi debacle, I realise it probably made life-long fans jaded, and that they are now almost relishing in their disappointment with the franchise. I only have vague images in my mind from the film.
Izrin Ariff – Contributor
I had a good time with The Phantom Menace when I was kid; flashy lights and aliens were fun. Now, I get even more enjoyment from the ‘meme’. The Phantom Menace is at once a reminder how easily a movie and a franchise can fall so far, so quickly. But also, there are all kinds of ways to enjoy the film. “I’ll try spinning, that’s a neat trick!”
Nic Musumeci – Co-owner and Content Manager
I did and still do enjoy the film. I already loved Star Wars and The Phantom Menace was geared more towards kids, so when I saw this as a kid I loved it just as much as the originals. Of course, now, as an adult, my love has reduced to more of a like. It holds a weird place in the legacy of the Star Wars films. The Phantom Menace gave us amazing characters in Darth Maul and Qui Gon Jin, as well as “Duel of the Fates” of course. But it also marginally shifted the tone in the Star Wars films, at least for the prequels, to include some political and melodramatic elements that don’t always land. For example, I have always thought the underwater sequence through the core of Naboo was a bit ridiculous. And also, the concept of midichlorians is pretty dumb.
Kelsey Clark – Contributor
I first saw The Phantom Menace when it came out in theatres. On first viewing, I liked some of the characters, but the overall plot was so boring in a franchise that was great! The only real legacy it leaves behind is information about the midichlorians (which is highly controversial), the senate and the creation of pod racing (which was also interesting). The most ridiculous character is obviously Jar Jar Binks and the Gungans, who make a mockery of the Jedi; I also thought the scenes between Padme and Anakin to be weird considering the prominent age gap.
Simon Hall – FilmBunker Co-founder
I watched it in the cinema as a seven-year-old. I had not seen the original trilogy, nor did I have any real understanding of fantasy, sci-fi, drama, characterisation or film in general. I thought Darth Maul was scary and that lightsabers were cool. I remember approximately 90 percent of the film being pod-racing, which may or may not be accurate. I don’t think I had the faculties to not enjoy a film with bright colours and fast movements to some degree. I still enjoy Darth Maul and his involvement with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn. Other than that, it’s a miserable ride.
The Phantom Menace is such a colossal fuck-up of such a profitable franchise—it’s kind of beautiful. It’s a different kind of artwork and the creative decisions are the star of the show. Jar Jar Binks is a one-of-a-kind creation and I hope we never forget him. And Watto, the alien merchant who doubles as a Jewish stereotype, may well be George Lucas’ most unholy creation.
“Yousa tinking yousa people ganna die?”
As for my own thoughts… well, they’re somewhat conflicted. I was one of those nerdy kids that was utterly obsessed with pulpy sci-fi and space operas like Star Trek and Stargate (and now as an adult, Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers is still my favourite film of all time; can you guess the theme here?). So, in 1999, as a wide-eyed 11-year-old, the prospect of seeing a new Star Wars film was overwhelming to me.
As a spoilt youth, I was ground zero for the film’s expansive marketing campaign. I had the hard-cover encyclopedias and visual dictionaries, in order to get the low-down on every new little tidbit of saga lore. I had the cereal boxes and the little Pez toys and the refill cups from Pizza Hut adorned with Jar Jar’s dumb face. I had a treasured figurine of Darth Maul and his speeder bike, complete with droids and dual-lightsaber. My friends and I watched the film premiere together, then bootlegged a VHS copy weeks later (in the dark ages before rampant internet piracy) so we could watch the film every day after school, until the tape began to warp from excessive abuse and we had to recite the film’s dialogue verbatim when the sound cut out.
Suffice to say, I was a fan. And as I followed the prequel trilogy into adolescence, my rapture at the new, larger universe George Lucas had created began to suffer from diminishing returns, slowly dissolving into indifference, boredom and mild contempt. It’s not a controversial opinion to say that The Phantom Menace has some problems. Anakin is a truly unlikeable, annoying little bastard, the co-dependent Naboo/Gungan relationship leaves more questions than answers, and Jar Jar is one of the most tone-deaf caricatures ever committed to film—something so abysmal that it would almost single-handedly ruin any other film or franchise.
But not Star Wars. As much as people continue to re-write the film’s storyline, as much as they re-cut the original footage into new, more streamlined versions that make far more narrative sense, as much as fan theories disperse through the Internet on Jar Jar being a closet Sith mastermind, there’re people like me who think that this film is still redeemable. As Nic rightly points out above, watching the climatic scene at the end of the film, with the epic “Duel of the Fates” and some exemplary lightsaber choreography, it’s hard not to be impressed with certain aspects of Lucas’ vision. And while I might laugh at the film way more than Lucas intended, even with the clear pitch to younger audiences, I can’t bring myself to hate this film. Call me sentimental, or nostalgic, but I enjoy The Phantom Menace.
I still don’t like sand though.
Join us next time for more DEEP/DIVE, where relive our childhood love for profanity and centrist satire with South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
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