Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
| Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace | |
|---|---|
 i
| |
| Director | George Lucas |
| Writer | George Lucas |
| Producer | Rick McCallum |
| Starring | Liam Neeson Ewan McGregor Natalie Portman Jake Lloyd Ian McDiarmid |
| Music | John Williams |
| Studio | Lucasfilm |
| Distributor | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date | 1999. 05. 19. |
| Running time | 136 minutes |
| Budget | $115 million |
| Box office | Over $1 billion |
The Phantom Menace (full title Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace) is a 1999 film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first chapter of the prequel trilogy, the fourth Star Wars movie released in theaters, and chronologically the first film in the saga. It was the first new Star Wars film in sixteen years, arriving long after Star Wars/Return of the Jedi in 1983.
Set thirty-two years before Star Wars/A New Hope, the film follows two Star Wars/Jedi who discover a gifted slave boy named Anakin Skywalker — the child who will one day become Darth Vader. Its release was one of the biggest movie events of the 1990s. Despite mixed reviews, it earned about $924 million in its original run, and later re-releases pushed its total past $1 billion. Its success launched fifteen years of Star Wars stories set in the prequel era, including The Clone Wars.
1 Plot✎
The greedy Trade Federation has surrounded the peaceful planet Star Wars/Naboo with battleships, cutting off all trade. The Republic secretly sends two Jedi to settle the dispute: Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. But the Federation is taking orders from a hidden Star Wars/Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, who tells them to invade Naboo and kill the Jedi. The Jedi escape to the planet's surface, where they meet the clumsy but kind-hearted Jar Jar Binks and rescue Naboo's young leader, Queen Amidala.
Fleeing to ask the Republic for help, the group's damaged ship is forced to land on the desert planet Star Wars/Tatooine. There Qui-Gon meets Anakin Skywalker, a nine-year-old slave with amazing piloting skills and an unusually strong connection to the Force. Qui-Gon believes Anakin may be the "Chosen One" of an old prophecy, destined to bring balance to the Force. Anakin wins his freedom by winning a dangerous podrace, and joins the Jedi — though he must leave his mother behind. As they depart, a mysterious warrior named Darth Maul attacks Qui-Gon.
On the capital planet Star Wars/Coruscant, the Jedi Council senses fear in Anakin and refuses to train him. Meanwhile, the Senate is too tangled in politics to help Naboo, so Amidala returns home to fight for her people herself. She forms an alliance with the Gungans, Jar Jar's underwater civilization, and together they battle the Federation's droid army. During the fight, young Anakin accidentally flies a starfighter into space and destroys the ship controlling the droids, winning the battle.
In Naboo's palace, Darth Maul duels both Jedi with his double-bladed lightsaber. He strikes down Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan defeats him. With his dying words, Qui-Gon makes Obi-Wan promise to train Anakin. Naboo's senator, Palpatine, is elected the Republic's new leader — and the film closes with the Jedi realizing that the Sith have returned, and that somewhere, a second Sith Lord remains.
2 Cast✎
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Liam Neeson | Qui-Gon Jinn |
| Ewan McGregor | Obi-Wan Kenobi |
| Natalie Portman | Padmé Amidala |
| Jake Lloyd | Anakin Skywalker |
| Ian McDiarmid | Sheev Palpatine |
| Pernilla August | Shmi Skywalker |
| Ray Park | Darth Maul |
| Samuel L. Jackson | Mace Windu |
| Frank Oz | Yoda (voice) |
| Ahmed Best | Jar Jar Binks |
| Anthony Daniels | C-3PO (voice) |
| Kenny Baker | R2-D2 |
3 Production✎
George Lucas began the first draft of the script in November 1994. He originally considered having someone else direct and offered the job to Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Robert Zemeckis, but all three turned it down, feeling the film was Lucas's project to make. Lucas directed it himself — his first time directing since the original 1977 film.
Shooting ran from June to September 1997 on a budget of about $115 million. Like A New Hope, the desert scenes were filmed in Tunisia, with sets built near Oung Jmel to represent the Tatooine city of Mos Espa. Other scenes were filmed at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Italy (as Naboo's palace) and at Leavesden Studios in England. Unlike the two prequels that followed, most of the film was shot on traditional 35mm film rather than digital video.
The movie pushed computer-generated imagery further than any film before it. Industrial Light & Magic created entire armies, cities, and characters digitally, including Jar Jar Binks, one of the first fully computer-generated main characters in a live-action film. John Williams returned to compose the score, introducing new themes such as "Duel of the Fates" and Anakin's theme — which quietly transforms into Darth Vader's Imperial March in the film's final moments.
4 Release✎
Excitement before release was enormous. Fans camped outside theaters up to a month early, and one consulting firm estimated that 2.2 million employees skipped work to see it on opening day. The film opened on 1999. 05. 19. and earned about $924.3 million worldwide in its original run, making it the year's biggest hit. A 3D re-release on 2012. 02. 10. pushed its total past the $1 billion mark, and the film returned to theaters again on 2024. 05. 04. for its 25th anniversary.
The Phantom Menace was the first Star Wars film released on DVD, on 2001. 10. 16. The DVD sold 2.2 million copies in its first week, the fastest-selling DVD in the United States at the time. For the 2011 Blu-ray release, the Yoda puppet used in the original version was replaced with a digital Yoda matching the later films.
5 Reception✎
Reactions ranged from high praise to harsh criticism. Reviewers admired the groundbreaking visual effects, John Williams's music, and the climactic three-way lightsaber duel, which many fans still rank among the saga's best. Critics took aim at the dialogue, the acting of the younger cast members, and especially Jar Jar Binks, who some viewers felt existed mainly to sell toys. Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four, calling it an astonishing feat of imaginative filmmaking, while other major critics dismissed it as a deep disappointment.
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards — Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects — but lost all three to The Matrix, the first time a Star Wars film lost the visual effects category. It won two Saturn Awards, for costume design and special effects. Whatever critics thought, audiences kept coming: the film also generated roughly $2 billion in merchandise sales, more than any other prequel.
6 Adaptations✎
The film was adapted into a novelization by fantasy author Terry Brooks, published on 1999. 04. 21., which added new chapters about Anakin's life on Tatooine and the history of the Sith based on conversations with Lucas himself. Other adaptations included a junior novel, a four-issue comic series from Dark Horse Comics, and a video game from LucasArts released the same year.
