Not the best Star Wars film but it's still Star Wars none-the-less!!! (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (DVD))

Name: dlb74

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Product:	Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (DVD)
Date:	21/07/06 (118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's Star Wars!!! Enough Said!!!

Disadvantages: Flawed but as the trailer said, "Every journey has a first step"...

Well... After a gap of 16 years, George Lucas finally brought us what we'd been waiting for for what seemed like forever... MORE STAR WARS!!! The problem is that when it arrived, the anticipation of the original trilogy had given us too much to hope for.

For some, The Phantom Menace was more of the escapism magic that Lucas had conjured up for us in our younger years... and for others it was a vast, vast disappointment. I personally liked it though it certainly wasn't on par as a whole as the other three films that had preceded it... but then... how could it?!? We tend to forget that we are all a fair bit older than when we first saw the original trilogy and as adults in today's stressful world, we have forgotten what it is to just let go and enjoy the ride.

Phantom Menace is certainly still a thrill ride in places - and in all the right ways for a Star Wars film. There is still more than enough in this installment to make us feel comfortable and familiar in a galaxy that we already know:

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Disc 1:
Episode I: The Phantom Menace

The Plot:

There are certainly lots of familiar faces and names in this film to remind us we are still in Lucas's domain... and it's pretty interesting to find out a little more of some character's origins.

Of course, this is the first step for story of how Anakin Skywalker (Jake Bloody Lloyd) eventually turns to the darkside and becomes Darth Vader... though in this film, Anakin is still a child. I have to say that although I don't despise Jake Lloyd or his representation of Anakin, I have often wondered why George Lucas couldn't have hired a better chikd actor to play him. On the DVD extras, we see both Jake Lloyd's original screen test and that of another boy (whose name I don't know... Sorry, boy who was ALMOST Anakin Skywalker!!! If it's any consolation, I still think you were better than Lloyd!!!) who in my humble opinion would have been a much better Anakin. There's just something about this other kid that makes you think back of how Luke Skywalker will look in Episode IV and you can totally imagine the kind of resemblance that would have existed between Anakin and Luke...

Anyway... I digress!

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is portrayed as a young man - still learning the ways of The Force and is an apprentice Jedi (known as a 'Padawan', you know!) who is being trained by Jedi-Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). There is something very reassuring about Qui-Gon - that makes you feel how wise this character is. Liam Neeson is as good as ever and is one of the best bits of casting in Phantom Menace.

That said, there are still some other strong and reliable examples of the casting. Ian McDiarmid is great as Senator Palpatine. Yoda is also in Phantom Menace - but instead of seeing him hobbling around in a secluded swampland, we see him here at the height of his time in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Frank Oz is as reliable as always at giving Yoda the jumbled up way of speaking that we've all come to know and love. It's great seeing these characters as we know for a majority of them what their future holds - but the real fun is watching it unfold.

Now, I must be absolutely honest and say that this is by no means. There are still lots of areas where Phantom Menace disappoints. Of course one of the most hated additions in this Episode was Jar Jar Binks - the Gungan who's nonsensical way of speaking makes Yoda sound like he's speaking the fluent Queen's English! Jar Jar would have been a better character had he played a more secondary role or at the very least if Lucas had written him and his dialogue to be... well... just more mature. I know the Star Wars movies have always been primarily for kids. Why else do you think lots of us big kids grew to love them? Because we were mostly only kids ourselves when we first saw them! That said though, Lucas really should have considered his older fan base too when writing this. Anyway... getting back to another point where Phantom Menace fails in my opinion...

Yoda.

Yes. Yoda! Okay... as I wrote above, Frank Oz still provides the voice for Yoda. Perfect. He also controlled the puppet in this installment - just as he did in Episodes V and VI. Fantastic! No-one else could have controlled the Yoda puppet like Oz... but the puppet itself is just not quite right. We know that Yoda is meant to be Younger in Episode I than in the later Episodes BUT although it still looks like him, it somehow doesn't feel like this incantation of him could become the Yoda we were introduced to in Empire Strikes Back. He's kind of too green in my opinion and not quite as convincing as the puppet used in Empire and Jedi. The curious thing is that in one of the extras on the Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith DVD, there is a fully realised clip of the computer generated Yoda that was used in Episodes II and III (which WAS totally Yoda... the one we already knew... the one who ends up having to hide away on Dagobah!) saying the stuff he says to Anakin in this one:

"Fear leads to anger. Anger Leads to hate. Hate... leads to suffering."

Read into this what you will... Does this mean we can expect Lucas to do what he's infamous for and churn out yet another version of Phantom Menace? I have to be honest and say that I WOULD actually buy it again just to own a version of the film with the far superior CGI Yoda in it... for all my sins! Could I just ask 'Uncle George' and all at Lucasfilm one tiny little favour? It's not even the one that other fans might ask - like killing off Jar Jar. Nope - he's there now and that's that. Like it or not. Anthony Daniels must be pleased though as with the arrival of Jar Jar Binks, C-3PO was no longer the most thoroughly irritating character in the Star Wars galaxy!

Now... Back to my favour to George Lucas. Please if you ever release Episode I with a CGI Yoda, can you please also commision the guys at ILM to create a CGI Anakin too so we don't have to put up with Jake Lloyd's occasionally wooden and forced performance? Thanks!

Anyway... back to the plot before I lose the plot again!

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are sent on behalf of the Jedi Council to attempt negotiations with the corrupt Trade Federation who are locked in a dispute with the peaceful government of Naboo. The Viceroy of the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray, is being coerced into the blockade of Naboo by the mysterious Darth Sideous. Who is Sideous and what are his plans for the pawns in this game of his? Sideous orders Nute Gunray to kill the two visiting Jedi immediately.

After escaping narrowly with their lives, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stow away on seperate Trade Federation attack ships to the surface of Naboo, where Qui-Gon saves the clumsy Jar-Jar and ruins the film for countless fan-boys. The trio end up in the city of Theed, where Queen Amidala of Naboo has been captured. After a daring rescue, the Jedi, Jar-Jar, the Queen and her crew escape the clutches of the Trade Federation but are forced to seek solace on the nearby planet of Tatooine due to damage their ship has taken during their escape.

On Tatooine, they meet a little boy named Anakin who has been sold along with his mother as slaves to an alien junkyard proprietor named Watto, who sees a perfect opportunity to rip-off the Jedi who are looking for replacement parts for their damaged ship.

It turns out that little Anakin is already quite a pilot despite his age and is quite an established pod racer. Qui-Gon manages to free Anakin from slavery by using the influence of the force to rig a roll of chance dice on whether a win for Anakin will speall his freedom or his mother's. Qui-Gon sees potential in the boy and senses The Force is strong in him.

This brings me to another thing I wasn't keen on at all in Phantom Menace. In Episode IV, Obi-Wan explains to Luke that "The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together" whereas in this installment as with all three prequels, The Force is explained away with the mentioning of midi-chlorians - microscopic beings that live inside cells of most living creatures and communicate with The Force. What the?!? This also leads to a ridiculous revelation from Anakin's mother to Qui-Gon when asked who his father is. She tells him there was no father. Okaaay... so a virgin birth?!? Not exactly original... and not fitting somehow to Star Wars. Who are we to throw our hands in the air and wonder just what the hell Lucas is playing at? Star Wars is his baby afterall so we should be used to this kind of weirdness from him by now!

Qui-Gon takes Anakin to the Jedi Council and explains that he feels the boy to be the subject of a prophecy which speaks of one who will bring "balance to The Force"... How wrong can he be?!?

We all know where Anakin's path ultimately leads him but it's intriguing seeing the start of this journey toward the darkside. So to summarise, Phantom Menace isn't awful... it's just nowhere near as good as it could have been. Still - most origin stories drag along at times and Star Wars is by no means infallible.

Every journey has a first step - so said the teaser trailer for Phantom Menace. This was more of a slight stumble but we know better things lie ahead so grin and bear the cringe-inducing elements of this and try to remember what it felt like when you saw your first Star Wars films when you were a youngling!

THE DVD:

Audio Commentary By Writer/Director George Lucas, Producer Rick McCallum, Co-Editor And Sound Designer Ben Burtt, Visual Effects Supervisors Scott Squires, John Knoll And Dennis Muren, And Animation Supervisor Rob Coleman

2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen (PAL)

English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

This version of the film contains seven never-before-seen deleted scenes with full visual effects completed just for the DVD.

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Disc 2:
Bonus Material

- "The Beginning" - An hour-long documentary containing some very insightful information regarding the process of creating a new Star Wars movie - from pre to post production. Offering unprecedented access to both Lucasfilm and ILM during the making of the movie.

- Multi-angle storyboard to animatic to finished film featurette.

- Five further behind-the-scenes featurettes.

- John Williams' "Duel Of The Fates" music video from 1999.

- Galleries of theatrical posters, print campaigns and exclusive previously unreleased production photos.

- Trailers and 7 TV spots.

- Star Wars: Starfighter - The making of the game featurette from Lucasarts.

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MY CONCLUSION:

This DVD set the bench-mark for the kind of presentation that would be expected for any Star Wars movie. Both picture and sound are outstanding and the menus are beautifully animated.

As I said, this is a far from perfect Star Wars outing but it's still first class entertainment despite it's flaws.

Summary: Not great but not awful either... The best is yet to come.