Between the wow factor of the new worlds, and the fantastic closing lightsaber battle - easily still the best across all nine films - it's actually not that surprising to understand why The Phantom Menace opened to such rave reviews, and won over a whole new generation to the franchise, even if time has certainly not been forgiving of its myriad flaws. Stripping away the tiresome tax disputes and horrific dialogue and the basic Jidaigeki/samurai story of young Padawan Jedi Obi-Wan and his mentor Qui-Gon Jinn discovering a powerful new force-user in the galaxy, and encountering the first Sith presence in centuries is actually a pretty decent one.
#STAR WARS EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE STREAMING FULL#
With his full vision unleashed - now that effects had caught up with his imagination - the Star Wars prequels proved something of a world-building extravaganza, and, for all the misguided ideas (like reworking Ben Hur's chariot race with a kid at the wheel), the child-focus and slapstick stupidity of Jar Jar certainly worked to woo an all-new younger audience to this universe. And, actually, George Lucas did a tremendous job with his world-building, at a level considerably more impressive than anything in any of the other movies - old and new - bringing stunning effects to bear when fully realising the colourful worlds of Star Wars: the future-tech cityscape of Coruscant, the rocks-and-desert outreaches of Tatooine, and even the underwater wonders of Naboo.
Despite that, back in 1999, it was actually lovingly received largely due to the fact that nobody had seen anything from this universe in decades and the kids who were brought up on it were now all grown up, able to revisit the wondrous worlds for an all-new (well kind-of) adventure. Often derided as the worst entry, the latest flawed sequels might afford this a reassessment, with Lucas on visionary form in terms of world-building, and seminal moments like the saga-best Duel of the Fates.īanking clans, trade disputes, idiot Roger-Roger droids, midichlorians, Jar Jar Binks and pod racing with annoying kids - The Phantom Menace was absolutely brimming with things that nobody ever wanted to see in a Star Wars film.