While I wish I could have posted this earlier, unanticipated circumstances arose that prevented me from doing so. However, I’m here now, and there’s no time like the present.
As a Star Wars fan, I’m excited to finally be making my first post regarding the “galaxy far, far away.”
This wasn’t my first opportunity to write about Star Wars, given the recent announcement of the Episode VII cast, but I felt the anniversary of the original film’s release was the best time to introduce this blog to Star Wars commentary.
Despite the buzz surrounding the upcoming film, I won’t be discussing Episode VII. The future holds plenty of opportunities to discuss that subject, so I’ll be devoting this post to subjects regarding the other films, and Star Wars Day itself.
Star Wars Day
I reached a predicament concerning Star Wars Day in April as I prepared this piece for May 4—the date most refer to as Star Wars Day due to the phrase, “May the Fourth be with you.” The Star Wars Facebook page frequently posted images counting down the days to May 4, which is where I came across a complaint against the May 4 Star Wars Day celebration.
In the comments for one of the photos, someone mentioned the true origin of the phrase, “May the Fourth be with you,” which to my surprise, has more to do with politics than Star Wars itself.
The iconic phrase was first used May 4, 1979 after Margaret Thatcher was elected the first female prime minister of the U.K. Thatcher’s party bought an ad in the London Evening News reading, “May the Fourth be with you, Maggie. Congratulations,” after the election.
I know this fact isn’t news to most, but it was to me, and I must admit I was rather surprised the phrase wasn’t originally coined by Star Wars fans for a Star Wars-related reason.
The first organized celebration of the May 4 recognition of Star Wars Day wasn’t until 2011 in Toronto, Canada. I wasn’t surprised upon learning this fact considering the first time the unofficial holiday, or “May the Fourth be with you,” came to my attention was that same year when the cover designs for the Star Wars Bluray sets were officially released.
As a fan, I don’t find much significance pertaining to the celebration of May 4 since these discoveries. Sure, May 4 gives us a catchy phrase we can sputter all day long, but what does the day really mean for Star Wars?
There are others who recognize May 25 as the true Star Wars Day, and I have to say I agree with this view. The anniversary of the original film’s release is a much more significant basis for a day of recognition than a simple play on words.
Now, to get into the bulk of this post, I’m going to discuss Phantom Menace’s status as a Star Wars film.
I’ll probably be reamed by most who read this for what I’m about to say, but I figure since most people spend their time slamming this movie, I’ll spend mine defending it.
OK, first I’m going to just put it out there and say Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) isn’t as bad as everyone has made it out to be in the last 15 years, especially compared to the latter two films of the Prequel Trilogy. The consensus is Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) is the “best” prequel, but I respectfully disagree.
I’ll admit Phantom Menace’s plot is shakier compared to its sequels, but there are other elements that give all three films advantages and disadvantages in terms of quality.
Jar Jar
I’m going to start by getting this guy off the table.
It’s obvious no one likes Jar Jar Binks, and I’m not going to dispute that. While we would have liked to see Jar Jar get an exit more along these lines, cutting his screen time down to practically nothing by Revenge of the Sith wasn’t a bad alternative.
The character technically serves a purpose (inspiring Amidala to revolt against the Trade Federation and “starting” the Clone Wars), but the distraction and annoyance he brings to the films outweigh any purpose his character could provide.
Jar Jar is featured in the majority of Phantom Menace, reducing the film’s appeal since his screen time is reduced to less than half in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and even less in Revenge of the Sith. Unfortunately, the latter two prequels contain other problems that make Jar Jar’s irritancy seem somewhat irrelevant, nullifying the character’s existence as a reason to disown Phantom Menace.
Romance
Let’s be honest. The dialogue (and chemistry) between Anakin and Padmé concerning their romance in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith is pretty damn terrible. It’s the cringiest element of the latter two prequels for me, but that’s not because I’m uncomfortable with onscreen romance. Take The Empire Strikes Back for example. The romance between Han and Leia couldn’t have been done any better, and I’m sure many agree.
Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman ) in Episode III
“I felt I needed a love story, and yet I couldn’t have a lot of smooching and kissing and all that stuff, and it had to all be more implied.” – Director Irvin Kershner on the Han/Leia romance in Empire, from Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004)
We can say, “If only they’d gone the Empire route for the love story,” all day long, but we have to deal with what we have, and what we have for a love story in the prequels does neither the franchise, nor the significance of the romance justice.
A connection between Anakin and Padmé is present in Phantom Menace, but it’s far more subtle than that of its sequels due to the characters’ age difference, and isn’t even the film’s focus. The Anakin/Padmé romance plays a bigger role in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, serving as the catalyst for Anakin’s corruption and fall to the dark side. One would think the love story would have been done better if love was responsible for Darth Vader’s existence, but that shouldn’t be any surprise considering how the prequels fell short in a number of areas.
I’m not sure which line bothered me most, but two from Revenge of the Sith—“Hold me…like you did by the lake on Naboo,” (Natalie Portman) and “No, it’s because I’m so in love with you.” (Hayden Christensen)—are strong contenders for 1st place.
This romance is just one element among many placing Phantom Menace above the other prequels. We may watch Phantom Menace dreading Jar Jar entering the frame, but we can sit soundly knowing the lovey-dovey material is an entire film away.
Podracing
This is more of a nostalgia bit than anything else.
As unnecessary as the podracing sequence may have been in Phantom Menace, it was still one of the more exciting parts of the film, along with the climactic lightsaber duel. I’ll even say that for 1999, the computer animation in this sequence isn’t half bad. Oddly, the vehicles look better than their drivers, with the exception of Anakin since he’s a human actor.
Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith obviously have no podracing, but it’s not like they needed it since the storytelling gets heavier. Attack of the Clones gives us the speeder chase on Coruscant, which is as close as we’ll get to a second podrace, but the hokey dialogue during the speeder chase makes it difficult to like the sequence as much.
The main reason to be thankful for the podrace actually has nothing to do with the Phantom Menace film, but a video game, and anyone who grew up playing N64 in the late 90’s and early 2000’s knows what I’m talking about.
Star Wars Episode I: Racer (1999) was probably one of the best commercial products to come out of Phantom Menace. It was the most fun racing game I ever played growing up, next to Mario Kart 64 (1996), but not only that, Racer to date holds the record for best-selling sci-fi racing game with worldwide sales of 3.2 million, according to Guinness World Records 2011 – Gamer’s Edition. The game also received mostly positive reviews for both N64 and PC versions.
So why give a hoot about podracing? Well, because it was a fun, exciting and memorable action sequence set on a planet we all know and love. Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, of course, have action sequences of their own, but to me personally, none stuck out as much as the podrace, with the exception of the lightsaber duel in the third film.
Like I said, it’s mainly nostalgia talking here, but it’s still another reason for me to rank Phantom Menace higher.
Villains
One of the reasons I feel the prequels were weaker than the originals is because of their lacking a consistent antagonist. Yes, Palpatine is there, but he’s always lurking in the shadows. He’s not the in-your-face villain until Revenge of the Sith, and he splits that role with Vader.
The originals gave us Vader as a consistent villain to identify with throughout all three films, which is what we needed with the prequels. Darth Maul could have been a worthy candidate, but they decided to kill him instead. My preference would have been establishing Grievous as the main antagonist with Palpatine in the background, but that’s a discussion for another time.
The three sub-villains of the Prequel Trilogy (left to right): Darth Maul, Count Dooku and General Grievous
So without a consistent villain, it boils down to who does the better job.
In my opinion, Maul is the clear winner because Dooku and General Grievous were nothing but laughable due to their dialogue. Plus, Maul was the only villain in the film saga to wield a double-blade, which come on, is badass. The concept of Grievous is good, but anyone who saw Revenge of the Sith knows the character was underdeveloped and not well-executed. Grievous was killed off too early, given the character’s total screen time, and in an anti-climactic way. Dealing with a new villain can be a problem when you’re supposed to have both Vader and the Emperor in the closer, but then why have Grievous at all?
Maul was also the only villain to not spout the whole “join me” gag—the only villain this worked with was Vader in Empire. One could argue we only got to see Maul kick ass and look cool, but compared to Dooku and Grievous, is that a bad trade-off?
And I’m obviously not the only one who thinks this since Maul was resurrected (outside the films) years later.
Liam Neeson
The best part of Phantom Menace is this man.
Known at the time for his lead roles in gripping dramas such as Schindler’s List (1993) and Michael Collins (1996), and now for fast-paced action thrillers like Taken (2008), Liam Neeson brought the same acting potential to Phantom Menace as the late Sir Alec Guinness in Star Wars. Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn is definitely the best element of the film, even above Darth Maul, which is why folks often say things like, “Not even Liam Neeson could have saved this trash.”
It’s just fun to see him provide a sense of wit and humor, sometimes unintentional, throughout the movie, also like Guinness. He has that “I don’t give a shit” mentality about him, which is one of the elements that make his character missed in the next two installments.
And what a letdown it was when we all thought we’d be revisited by Mr. Neeson in the end of Revenge of the Sith that first time we saw it. Only if, right?
However, we have Neeson in Phantom Menace, which is a major help in distilling Jar Jar’s potency. Be thankful.
Battle Droids
Battle droids and super battle droids fighting during the Battle of Geonosis in Episode II
This one’s just stupid. When you have hordes of droids built specifically for combat, it makes no sense to give them personality of any sort. What’s the point if the majority of them are going to be destroyed?
This presents the question as to why battle droids talk at all. One could argue speech is needed for one droid to relay an order to another, so I’ll give them that. But here’s an even bigger question: Why keep the voices the same in the first two films, but then drastically change them for the third?
To put it bluntly, the battle droids sound like something out of a toddlers’ paradise in Revenge of the Sith. Is the ridiculous way they speak supposed to be intimidating to the Republic forces? If so, I don’t see it. And to make it worse, the super battle droids’ (introduced in Attack of the Clones) voices are even more cartoonish.
Anyone who played Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005) knows the super battle droids were given deep, menacing and threatening voices, which weren’t present in Revenge of the Sith.
Speech sample at 0:35
Speech sample at 0:10
Honestly, Attack of the Clones did the best job with the battle droids. The battle droids were hardly featured, but even during the climactic battle the super battle droids didn’t speak and a handful of standard battle droids only spoke a few words. The battle droids do speak in Phantom Menace, and are featured more prominently, but if they’re going to speak, the 60’s robots style in Phantom Menace is the better choice. I’d choose 60’s robots over toddlers’ paradise any day of the week.
Speech sample at 0:54
Speech sample at 5:49
The destroyer droids were obviously done the best because they don’t speak once throughout the Prequel Trilogy. The rest of the Trade Federation’s forces were just made into a joke by the third film. The droids hardly speaking is one of the perks of Attack of the Clones, but in situations when battle droids speak, Phantom Menace wins.
Anakin / Darth Vader
I know some accept Hayden Christensen’s portrayal of Anakin and Vader, but I’m not one of them. I still watch and enjoy the films in which he stars, but at the end of the day I’d prefer another actor in his place.
Evolution of Darth Vader (left to right, top to bottom): Jake Lloyd in Phantom Menace, Hayden Christensen in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, David Prowse (suited) in the Original Trilogy, Sebastian Shaw (unmasked) in Return of the Jedi
Christensen’s poor chemistry with Natalie Portman is what I’d call a major contribution to his inability to handle the role, and the overall delivery of his dialogue doesn’t gain him any sympathy votes. I’ve recently come to feel an older and more mature actor was needed to show off Anakin’s military and authoritative personality traits. Think about it this way. Imagine Christensen speaking any of Vader’s lines from the Original Trilogy. Do you buy it?
This next part may sound ridiculous, but I actually feel it’s one of the more important points.
Vader (in the suit) crossing his arms at the end of Revenge of the Sith distorted the illusion of Darth Vader onscreen because he never once crosses his arms in the originals. His trademark stance in the original films was placing his hands on his belt. If Lucas wanted to properly bridge the two trilogies, carrying this body language over to the prequels, I feel, was crucial in depicting the character.
Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back (left) compared to Revenge of the Sith (right)
The scene where Vader dawns the suit in Revenge of the Sith was also severely rushed, and in the film’s last minutes too, so we couldn’t even really take it all in. And I’m sure the “Nooooooooooo” was something we all could have done without—and that’s all I’ll say about that.
So, my point?
Phantom Menace may have given us Jake Lloyd as a young Anakin, but Christensen was guilty of far more offenses in portraying the character in the latter two prequels. Because we’re spared Christensen, Phantom Menace, yet again, stands as the more rewarding film.
Soundtrack
John Williams at the 50th Academy Awards in 1978 where he won the Oscar for Best Original Score
As one fond of film scores, this is probably the issue that bothers me the most.
It’s obvious various musical themes are reused throughout the Star Wars saga, such as “The Imperial March.” I say reused and not recycled because while composer John Williams uses the same melodies and patterns in all the films, he uses them in different ways. “The Imperial March” is the perfect example because Williams prominently uses this theme throughout the saga, and no two times are the same.
If one listens to the complete soundtracks of the Original Trilogy, they’ll hear changes in the manner in which the march is performed from scene to scene. In Return of the Jedi (1983), a different emphasis is placed on the notes for the scene in which the Emperor arrives at the Death Star II, as opposed to the first time the march is heard in The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
The original Imperial March
Another variation of the march
[Fun fact: Contrary to what people might think, Star Wars (1977)—a.k.a. Episode IV: A New Hope—is the only film in the entire saga to not feature “The Imperial March.” This is because the march wasn’t written until Williams composed the score for Empire.
If one goes back and watches Star Wars (any version) and focuses on the music, they’ll notice the infamous selection commonly known as “Darth Vader’s theme” is nowhere to be heard.]
John Williams and George Lucas going over the original Star Wars score in 1977
To add to the point of the Original Trilogy soundtracks, all three are completely original, meaning not one specific piece of music from any film shows up in another—not counting the main themes of the films’ opening and closing sequences.
When I say “piece of music,” I mean the specific composition itself, not a melody. So while we may hear different interpretations of “The Imperial March” from Empire to Jedi, we never hear the same version twice. This was an element that gave all three original films a unique identity, and this element disappeared, to an extent, in the prequels.
The only prequel with a unique musical identity was Phantom Menace. Not a single piece of music from the Original Trilogy, meaning specific compositions and not the notes themselves, is present in Phantom Menace. For the start of the prequels we’re given a fresh musical score with slight hints to what we’ve previously heard. The same can’t be said, however, for the other two films.
In both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, specific musical selections from the Phantom Menace score were used, or “recycled.” Basically like copy and paste.
The “Duel of the Fates” piece from Phantom Menace being used during the Anakin/Obi-Wan duel in Revenge of the Sith is one incident, with the Battle of Geonosis sequence in Attack of the Clones featuring musical moments Phantom Menace’s opening being another.
Phantom Menace selection at 5:56
Phantom Menace selection at 4:17
I’m confident in thinking this decision wasn’t up to Williams, but more likely George Lucas, as Williams has provided numerous complete and original scores throughout the past several decades.
So Phantom Menace has the upper hand here as it’s the only prequel to feature an original soundtrack from start to finish.
In no way are these topics the limit regarding Star Wars prequel discussion, but I think my point is clear. Is Phantom Menace worthy of Best Picture? No, but when it comes down to it, Phantom Menace is the lesser of three evils concerning the prequels.
Jar Jar may have been bad (to some that’s putting it lightly), but I think he can be tolerated given everything else we have to deal with in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. This is, of course, all my opinion, and every Star Wars fan is entitled to view the films however they choose.
Happy (belated) Star Wars Day.
Frame by Frame 