The Phantom Bomb

I hear so many bad things about episode 1, yet it’s still among the top movies of all time. Is it just coasting on the success of the original trilogy or is it not as good only when compared to its predecessors? It’s my least favorite of the 5 & I think it’s safe to go ahead and include the last episode in that grouping, but it’s still a part of my favorite movie/series ever. In other words, maybe it’s not as strong as the other chapters, but it’s still a great movie; the others wouldn’t be what they are without it.

What is so good about Star Wars? It’s unbelievable because it’s a sci-fi with lots of odd looking aliens, impossible machines, and super-human Jedi powers. But most people overlook if not embrace that (I’m one of the latter) because of the depth and detail of the story, characters, technology, societies, species, and virtually every other element of the universe. The style doesn’t hold to any trend so it doesn’t feel dated, and the models and props look realistic. It’s an adventure story, but it’s also a love story, a war story, a political intrigue story, and more. The heroes are noble, the villains treacherous. It’s a true modern epic.

So why is Ep1 not as good? I think it’s too light-hearted. The Gungans (Jar Jar’s people) are silly, one of the stars is a young boy, and overall it has a happy feel. That makes it seem less intense. I think if the whole movie had had more of the feel of the Jedi/Sith conflict there would be far fewer people complaining about it. Most of the original movies took place in battle stations, a smuggling freighter, war ships and fighters, a swamp, a frozen wasteland, and other such dangerous places. That’s not to say there aren’t some dangerous locations in Ep1, but a great deal of it is a palace, a royal cruiser, a cozy homestead, Senate offices, and meeting halls. The immediate danger is less therefore the adrenaline rush is, too.

Keep in mind, though, that the point of this trilogy is to show how a young Anakin with the potential to become the galaxy’s greatest hero instead becomes the most fearsome villain in history. In order to do that properly Anakin needs to be introduced as an innocent child which makes for a more innocent story than what Star Wars fans are used to.

I love the story overall. It’s complex and mysterious. Maybe part of its downfall for many people is that the plot leaves you hanging. Even after Episode 2 we’re just starting to get a grasp on how deep Darth Sidious’ manipulation runs. Less familiar fans may not even know who Sidious is (who he REALLY is, I mean. I won’t tell you, but I think it’s more fun to know.) The more serious fan realizes how much more there is going on under the surface of the Trade Federation invasion, Palpatine’s political moves, and the paths of the Jedi. I think part of its lack of appeal is the ignorance of the layers of intrigue. Hopefully when all is revealed fans serious and moderate will be able to reevaluate this movie with the new information and enjoy it more.

The acting is mostly very good. Ewan McGregor plays Obi-Wan in a way that would surely make Sir Alec proud. That was probably the hardest role since Ewan has to emulate the other actor so much. Some of the actors reprise their earlier roles doing every bit as fine a job as they ever have. Ray Park has the moves and intensity to make a fearsome Darth Maul, Natalie Portman has the innocent beauty needed for Padme, Liam Neeson the strong nobility for Qui-Gon, and so many of the smaller characters like Watto are terrific. Sam Jackson is great as Mace Windu, but he doesn’t really shine until Ep2. Jake Lloyd as young Anakin does great at times and lacks at other times; I guess only so much expectation can be put on so young an actor. Some of the minor characters are good but not necessarily impressive.

Special effects are awesome. ILM has always been the leader in that field, so it’s no surprise that they raise the bar yet again under the leadership of the man responsible for their spawning. The ships look beautiful, the creatures like Watto and Sebulba are realistic, and the droids have great detail.

I love the music, especially the Darth Maul theme. Some of it is familiar while most of it is new. The great music has been a part of what has entranced me with the franchise for so long and was therefore an immediately important part. I don’t care for the sweeter themes as much as say Han and Leia’s love theme, but mostly it’s good stuff. I love the slightly goofy end celebration march.

Content:
The series has always been marketable to young audiences. There is violence, but the majority of it is against robots and ships. Even when it is against humans they are typically either clad in armor or it’s done with a lightsaber which cauterizes the wound. The result is very little blood and no gore even though people do die and get cut up. There is no sex, no nudity, and, at most, one or two words that might be considered questionable.

DVD:
The DVD is very nice. As far as I know there are only Widecreen and Pan & Scan versions of the same release. The case is plastic with a small tray inside a regular-sized box. The art on the cover, DVD’s, and insert is exceptional. The art on the insert is particularly stunning.

The video is an incredible looking 2.35 and the audio a beautiful 5.1 extended (or 2.0 surround). There are 50 chapters set up so precisely that if you want to watch nothing but the Jedi/Darth Maul battle you can skip over the Naboo and Gungan scenes there at the end (when it is swapping between the 4 battles every few minutes). There is a little bit of lead in to the movie (mostly logos and interface animation), but there are no trailers or any of that mess that you have to sit through.

The interfaces are among the best I’ve ever seen. Besides incredible animation and graphics there are 3 different themed interfaces for disc 1. Each one visits a different planet, and everything from the main interface to the scene selection fits together in some way. For example, one is Naboo. We see the palace at the main interface then go to the Gungan city for the scenes with the scene frames being Gungan bubble buildings. Each interface features unique animation before and after it. The disc 2 interfaces are impressive, also. Each section has a theme like the Gungan battlefield or the droid storage with unique animation and sounds.

There are lots of great extras. Not much of it is interactive, but most of it is fun to watch. George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren, and Scott Squires provide us with an informative commentary. I can’t help but think there’s more to it than what we’re hearing, but at least there’s not a dull moment.

One of my favorite features is the insanely funny Gag Reel/DVD Credits. Some of them are true gags like R2 falling over during scenes; others are animators jokes like Jar Jar sneezing himself off his feet. It’s terrific! Problem is, it can be a pain to access. Go to the Options menu then on the number pad on your remote enter +10, 1, pause, 3, pause, 8. You should also be able to get to it by selecting title 3 if you have that capability.

The THX Test is available on both DVD’s. It gives you test sounds and visual patterns to optimize the setup of your system and can be very handy.

The last feature on disc 1 (disc 2, also) is DVD-ROM web links to StarWars.com. It’s a pretty nice site, but I wasn’t as impressed with it as I am the DVD.

Of course, disc 2 is where the vast majority of the extras are found. They aren’t necessarily grouped as I list them here, but for the most part there are distinct sections for each type of feature.

There is a John Williams music video called Duel Of The Fates. This is the Darth Maul music I mentioned earlier. It has some nice visuals, but it kind of blurs the line between music video and promo spot. I would have preferred music only with movie shots mixed with orchestra/conducting shots leaving out the dialogue and behind the scenes shots.

The deleted scenes are great if for no other reason than because so much effort was put into completing the CG and special effects. They look almost as good as the movie itself unlike the rough versions usually shown. There are 7 with 2 of them being much longer versions of the podrace scenes. We meet many more characters and get more humor.

The promotional material is way better then most releases. There are 4 trailers that are more artistic than most, but the poem trailers are really unique. There are 5 of them each recited by a different character and, of course, featuring clips from the movie.

There are lots of behind the scenes features. One group deals with the deleted scenes. The first segment talks about why scenes are deleted and the Star Wars editing process. Then a segment precedes each deleted scene to look at it in more detail. The Waterfall Sequence segment is especially interesting since it looks at the CG composite process in great detail. There are also a couple of hidden ones that talk about the podrace and the salvage droids. On the 2 podrace deleted scenes menus highlight Doc Menu then move right to highlight a little rectangle.

The Making Of feature is extensive covering everything from casting to rehearsals to filming to editing. It’s long but held my interest.

The Web Documentaries are behind the scenes segments that were featured on the web site. They are included on the regular DVD here not a DVD-ROM or anything. There are 12. Each picks a particular topic (like casting Anakin, practicing the lightsaber duels, and building the sets) and spends several minutes looking closely at it. They can be a little dull from time to time, but they are well done and mostly very good.

There’s also a BTS feature for the Starfighter game. It’s OK, but not being able to play the game myself I didn’t have a lot of interest in it.

There are 2 animatics and an intro for them. Each features angle selections for storyboard to final edit as well as a split screen to watch them at the same time. The podrace one is especially fun to watch.

There are 3 unique galleries. Each includes an intro screen to tell you about its features. The Production gallery can be viewed full-screen or with captions. There are lots of good images in it. The Print Ads feature different angles to show variations of each concept. The Posters include many foreign language images and feature close-ups of various areas of interest.

The last feature is a funny greeting by Watto. Go to the Animatics & Still Galleries and let it run for a few minutes.

Is Phantom Menace the weakest chapter in the Star Wars saga? I think so. Is it a bomb? Not at all. People are more harsh on it because they are often comparing it to the other Star Wars movies. Put it up against other movies, and it more than holds its own. It’s definitely worth seeing and has enough good stuff and an impressive enough package to make it a worthy purchase. It gets a 5. What little there really is weak about it is not enough to spoil it.