Calm down, I'm being hyperbolic, I know there are many events that are much worse. I was a baby when this was released, but I know it was one of the most anticipated movies of all time, everyone was so excited for it, and most people hate it. Were the days after it was released full of depression?
shareFor me, I was very disappointed but had hope that Episode 2 would be the great movie that would make up for episode 1 since Anakin would be training as a jedi. After episode 2 sucked, I realized the trilogy was mostly a mess and got really bummed after that movie. Most SW fans defended Episode 1 fiercely in 1999 and argued with me about it.
shareWhen it first came out it wasn’t that bad. The negativity really snowballed with the others. Although people did hate jar jar which was hilarious!
share^This.
shareI was really into drawing and sketching at the time. I still have my original sketches of characters. I LOVED Amidala's costumes in Phantom Menace. So yea, I didn't full on hate it. Once the hype down and I started to look at it compared to the original story, I didn't care for certain elements.
shareYeah, it was a weird bit of a film. Some bits were silly, but on the whole, I think it was reasonably entertaining.
And it made sense as I recall, which can't necessarily be said about anything that followed lol.
I managed to mostly enjoy it the first time I saw it, the element of surprise and the delight at being back in the SW Universe carried me over my own critical thinking.
Except for Jake Lloyd. Even on the first, rose-colored, highly enthusiastic viewing, he sucked.
I'm never gonna bash a kid. I still feel sorry for what he was put though with that movie. But that being said, I think it was a huge mistep making Anakin a child in that first movie. We wanted to see the full progressing of his descent to darkness and we only really got 2 movies for it and it was rushed and just not what I thought it should have been. I didn't buy or like what they were trying to do with him in Phantom Menace. That's not Lloyd's fault though.
shareUsing an inexperienced child was also a bad idea for practical reasons, because George Lucas is known to be "the worst actor's director alive", and an inexperienced child isn't going to give a good performance unless the director guides them through every shot. And Lucas was the one who hired a Princess who was making her second film, and gave her exactly one piece of direction in the months of shooting! Seriously, "SW" was Carrie Fisher's second film, and he let her do things like have a semi-Brit accent in some scenes and not in others, so Lloyd's terrible performance wasn't his fault. It was George's.
Seriously, even the young adult actors are lost in the prequels, and I presume it wasn't their fault either, that they just weren't getting any input from their director. Christiansen and Portman had been good in other films, but they were at sea here, because it takes a seasoned old pro like Ian McDiarmuid or even Ewan McGregor to give a good performance with no input from the director.
Very true. Jake Lloyd was good in Jingle All The Way which aired before The Phantom Menace. Me thinketh George Lucas was the one who dropped the ball.
shareThe really odd thing about Lucas's deficits as an actor's director is that he doesn't seem to be aware that working with actors can make his films better!
If he doesn't care about the actors or doesn't think he's any good with them, fine, hire an acting coach just so all the actors are on the same page and the inexperienced ones have some guidance! But Lucas has never done that, he just lets the actors do whatever, even when they have no idea what to do.
I was 15 when it came out. As a huge OT fan, it was really disappointing, and yes, I considered it bad and hated it right as it ended. Up until that point, yes, for me it was the most heartbreaking pop-culture related event in history. Now we have Episodes VIII and IX as well, so... they are strong contenders, but the fact it was created by Lucas and still turned out like this was extra disappointing.
shareThe only real problem (besides a bit TOO much reliance on CGI) that the prequels have, is that Lucas clearly only cared about the big picture, and not something he had clearly already displayed an ability to create: dramatic tension. That is literally, IMO, all the trilogy is missing. His direction of the dialogue are the films' biggest problem. I've argued for years that if you took the exact same actors, exact same scripts, etc., but actually bothered more with the dialogue direction, put dramatic pauses and tension in where they belong, had brooding teenage Anakin's anger and frustration more seething beneath the surface, than boiling over in teenage angst, etc. The movies would have been a LOT better.
And by comparison to the Sequel Trilogy, frankly the Prequels look like masterpieces. They actually have competent, coherent storytelling, and Lucas had a plan from the beginning that he carried through to the end. Nothing will ever compare to the original trilogy, period. Nothing ever was going to. But I feel, personally, very vindicated, that after all the bitching and moaning that people did over the prequels, then for them to get Disney's sequels and see what ACTUAL Bad Star Wars really looks like? Suddenly a lot of the same people were like "Oh...."
Absolutely agree with your point about the lack of dramatic tension throughout Episodes I, II and III (III was a bit more improved in this regard, but far from good), but I would still say that there are a million instances of carelessness and laziness to be found in almost all departments of Episode I in particular. Besides the lack of tension, there are huge flaws in direction, pacing, dialogue, consistency, VFX - you name it. I am planning to create a thread about them soon.
"And by comparison to the Sequel Trilogy, frankly the Prequels look like masterpieces. They actually have competent, coherent storytelling, and Lucas had a plan from the beginning that he carried through to the end. Nothing will ever compare to the original trilogy, period. Nothing ever was going to. But I feel, personally, very vindicated, that after all the bitching and moaning that people did over the prequels, then for them to get Disney's sequels and see what ACTUAL Bad Star Wars really looks like? Suddenly a lot of the same people were like "Oh...."
I wasn't, and I most categorically am not. I will never let any movie off the hook just because a worse sequel / prequel exists. No, the prequels deserve all the flak they can get from me. The sequel trilogy was bad, yes, but a different kind of bad. My assessment of the prequels was not affected by a tiny bit after the sequel trilogy came out. And I don't condone this kind of relativization.
All movies should be assessed as unique works. Yes, I still compare EP I to the OT sometimes, but only to cite a good example of the criticized element in question, but it doesn't change the fact that EP I does that particular thing badly. Comparison does not equal relativization. These are two different things and I think the latter one is not warranted in this situation, and frankly... ever.
Agree %100
This is what I can remember from watching it the first time:
-Trade Federation had accents like Bruce Lee
-Pointless action sequences like Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon being attacked by Godzilla while in the sub; Queen Amida's ship could have fled the planet in any direction, but chose to go directly at the enemy ship instead.
-Pacing doesn't really calm down until the Pod Race.
-4 simultaneous battles at the end of the movie, and only the lightsabre fight felt like a live-or-die situation. Everything else was just things blowing up.
-Jar Jar sucked.
Thinking back thought, I want to say the following:
-Jar Jar Really sucked. All he added to the story was to introduce Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to the gungas (sp?). After that he's dead weight to the plot.
-The entire end sequence is pointless when you realize the Trade Federation tried to kill the Queen of Naboo and 2 Jedi, but neither the Senate nor the Jedi council did anything about it. Um... why the apathy?
it was one of the most anticipated movies of all time
I'd say that yeah . so if there was ever a time to release a movie worldwide all at once , instead of the marketing bullshit timed staged regional releases - this was it.
but no .
So many of us in the rest of the world couldnt wait and watched bad pirate copies on the newly invented peer to peer file sharing networks.
Which didnt help.
It really was quite mind blowing at the time how bad this film was.
I pre-booked tickets to see it three times over the course of the first week it was out.
I think most people left the premier night in a state of shock over what they'd just seen. However I guess maybe most folks would also have a bit of time to digest what they'd seen and convince themselves that maybe it wasn't as bad as they'd believed.
I, on the other hand, was back in again on the third night watching the horrible child acting, Jar Jar Binks stepping in doo doo, etc in utter disbelief.
Still, bad as it was at least it wasn't actually deliberate self parody like TLJ. That was hitting the self destruct button on a whole different level...
How "awful" Phantom Menace is, has been severely, almost laughably overplayed. "Most people" don't hate it. I think "most people" are fairly ambivalent towards it. The popular take, even for people who haven't seen it, is "it's awful". But it isn't. That's subjective, of course. But the truth is, the people screaming to the heavens about how it "ruined their childhood" and "tarnishes the series" were a vocal minority.
I for one grew up a massive Star Wars fan in the 80s, with the movies, the Ewok specials, the Ewok and Droid cartoons, the games, etc. I was SUPER hyped for Episode 1 just like a lot of people were. And honestly, outside of a couple of things, I wasn't really disappointed. Could it have been better? Absolutely. Should it have used less CGI? Definitely. But Jar Jar? The same people moaning to the heavens about Jar Jar as goofy comic relief, were probably the same type of folks complaining about cute/goofy Ewoks in their "SERIOUS" Star Wars back in the 80s. Jar Jar is fine. He is what he was meant to be.
The pod racing was some of the most well done CGI of its time, and it was a good display of just how "in tune" little Anakin was as a child. The dude was a little kid, doing what supposedly even experienced ADULT humans couldn't do (pod race). It displayed his excellent Force-enabled piloting abilities, as well as us seeing him built his own pod racer, and building/rebuilding C-3PO from scraps. Which showed us he was exceptional in many ways, for a little kid. Which was, after all, the entire point of the film. To show us what Vader was like as a child, as the extreme dichotomy of just what a sweet, innocent kid he really was, versus what he would tragically become.
But no, Episode 1 had a lot going for it. It wasn't GREAT, but young Obi Wan was cool, Qui Gon Jin and Darth Maul were bad ass, seeing the Jedi Council and Coruscant at their height was great. It should have been better, but I left satisfied and excited for what was next.
it really is awful.
"he same people moaning to the heavens about Jar Jar as goofy comic relief, were probably the same type of folks complaining about cute/goofy Ewoks in their "SERIOUS" Star Wars back in the 80s. Jar Jar is fine. He is what he was meant to be. "
what alternative reality are you living in? the fact you enjoyed the ewoks (Lucas infantilizing Star Wars, sacrificing the story to sell toys) shows anything you say shouldn't be taken seriously. There are other problems with it, but the Ewoks are one of the major well recognize problem with ROTJ.
ya Star Wars did have some pretty serious parts..
you don't remember his uncle Dana aunt being burnt to a crisp?
or his hand cut off?
Agreed. In fact, I remember telling a friend that after what I'd heard about Binks before my own viewing, that I found him tolerable.
No! People LOVED this film when it first came out! They went crazy over it. Interest in Star Wars flourished during this time and got a whole new generation interested. The whining about the prequels didn't start until after Episode II came out, but it didn't get really pathetic until a few years after Episode III was released.
You want a heartbreaking Star Wars event, that was when that horrible "Last Jedi" film darkened the cinema.
totally agree, being a prequel hater didnt become cool until years later. and I have proven many times that people dont like the prequels because they were not made like the OT. one thing they complain about is too much CGI, really? what Lucas was doing in the late 90's was groundbreaking. but people would rather see puppets and stop motion animation...
the prequels still have the best cinematography and the best light saber fights in any Star Wars movie. Episode III has the best opening of any SW movie ever.
I was hopeful for the Disney movies but I was greatly disappointed with a rehash and a reboot. supposedly the past was supposed to die but they lied.
Disney is going to milk the SW franchise until its dead and no one will care anymore.
If you take a look at the behind the scenes filming, particularly with Episode I, they used a surprising amount of physical stuff for the sets, though the green/blue screens were used more extensively. I don't have complaints about the space battles because the CGI ones look a lot better than the original space battles. Don't get me wrong, the space battles in the OT were epic, but it's a teensy bit distracting seeing the film cells floating around the different ship models as they're flying around. You need sharp eyes to see them, and even the remastered versions of the OT movies didn't quite fix that.
shareThe best parts about the prequels, specifically PM for me, was all the production elements. I LOVED Naboo; Thebes is probably one of my favorite all time Star Wars locations (I'm a girl and it's pretty, lol). Amidala had some of the coolest and exotic costumes in a movie I had ever scene. I still can't get over that white beaded Senate dress she wears. John Williams music is just as beautiful and iconic as the OT. I don't remember much about the other two film's sound tracks but pieces like Duel of the Fates, the Tatooine pre-pod race parade music and the ending parade music are some of my favorite SW pieces.
And yea, I remember seeing behind the scenes clips when the movie was just coming out. Specifically them showing how they did the water falls for the palace on Naboo....it wasn't CGI, I believe they used...salt? I thought that was cool. I never get too upset with effects. I can still go watch 1950s Superman and 'not see the strings'. But I do wish they had used a darker more realistic style lighting. The movie DID look like a cartoon on some parts.
Even though I am not a prequel fan by any means...I do think I still hold some part of this movie a little more positively than the other two.
John Williams music is always amazing
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