Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace poster & wallpaper
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Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Pernilla August ... see more see more... , Frank Oz , Ian McDiarmid , Oliver Ford Davies , Hugh Quarshie , Ahmed Best , Samuel L. Jackson , Ray Park , Ralph Brown , Terence Stamp , Brian Blessed , Sofia Coppola , Kenny Baker , Anthony Daniels , Greg Proops , Keira Knightley , Silas Carson , Oliver Ford

In 1977, George Lucas released Star Wars, the ultimate sci-fi popcorn flick-turned-pop-culture myth machine. It quickly became the biggest money-making film of all time and changed the shape of the fi... read more read more...lm industry. After two successful sequels (1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi) that extended the story of the first film, Lucas took some time off to produce movies for others, with mixed success. In 1999, Lucas returned to the Star Wars saga with a new approach -- instead of picking up where Return of the Jedi left off, Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace would be the first of a trilogy of stories to trace what happened in the intergalactic saga before the first film began. Here, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson); Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who will later father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just a nine-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the planet Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter, but when they arrive on Naboo they are brought to Amidala (Natalie Portman), the Naboo queen, by a friendly but opportunistic Gungan named Jar Jar. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan plan to escort Amidala to a meeting of Republic leaders in Coruscant, but trouble with their spacecraft strands them on the planet Tatooine, where Qui-Gon meets Anakin, the slave of a scrap dealer. Qui-Gon is soon convinced that the boy could be the leader the Jedis have been searching for, and he begins bargaining for his freedom and teaching the boy the lessons of the Force. The supporting cast includes Pernilla August as Anakin's mother, Terence Stamp as Chancellor Valorum, and Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi master Mace Windu. Jackson told a reporter before The Phantom Menace's release that the best part about doing the film was that he got to say "May the Force be with you" onscreen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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62% liked it

997,365 ratings

Critics

57% liked it

186 critics

PG, 2 hr. 11 min.

Directed by: George Lucas

Release Date: May 9, 1999

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DVD Release Date: October 16, 2001

Stats: 49,881 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (49,881)

  • spielberg00
    February 21, 2012
    spielberg00
    An overly-long, often slow and boring start to the saga. It could be better.
  • sicard19
    February 10, 2012
    sicard19
    First off the 3d was mostly disappointing, it looked good at times, the pod race etc. but most of the movie it was barley noticeable. Seeing as this was the main reason for the re-release it seems odd. As for the movie everyone had already seen it. The pod race and lightsaber bat... read moretles are great but not much else. The trade and diplomacy plot seems even more ridiculous and out of place as ever. Jar Jar Binks is ridiculous but seems to be on screen way more then he should. Sure there can be a goofy sidekick but they seem to stick him in scenes that don't need any comic relief and these ruin the flow and tone of the film.The film is still star wars, and enjoyable but the plot seems lazy and the Gungan aliens (Jar Jar's tribe) ruin the movie with terrible dialogue and accents and lame fighting. Probably best to pass on the first three films going to be released and wait until the original trilogy comes to theaters, if only to see how a 70's movie converts to 3d.
  • garyX
    February 10, 2012
    garyX
    If you think that the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise is popular, or that The Dark Knight was hotly anticipated you'd be right, but they are NOTHING compared to the impact of the original Star Wars films at the time they were made. Star Wars was not so much a film franchise, b... read moreut a virtual way of life to a whole generation. The Phantom Menace was THE most anticipated film ever made, and by that measure, George Lucas had one HELL of a lot of expectation to live up to. And, well, we all know what happened...But now all the hype has died down and this film can be looked at rather more objectively, and there's actually a lot to be admired about it. Lucas obviously surrounded himself with some of the best cinematic talent around. The effects are fantastic, the fight choreography excellent and best of all, the production design is magnificent. It starts fairly well jumping straight into a decent action sequence, and it was hard not to feel a collective tingle up our spines when we heard the sound of a light sabre igniting for the first time in 14 years. And then "oh lordy lordy, where am dat warty melon mazzah?" it's Jar Jar f***ing Binks. We then spend the time in which a planet is being invaded by a droid army watching computer generated fish eating each other while a fish-faced Burt Kwouk impersonator talks about trade embargoes. And there's nothing more magical and awe inspiring than a good trade embargo, eh? There are some decent sequences, particularly the exciting Ben Hur-esque pod race and the space battles but it's obvious that Lucas' technical staff were responsible for those because the rest of the film is just a load of dreary sentiment, dull political manoeuvering and feeble slapstick. We know the likes of Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman can act, so to blame them for their performances is like blaming a jockey for not winning a race when he's handed a three legged donkey. All the faults with this film can be laid squarely at the door of Lucas and his feeble script, and the best analogy I can think of when comparing the original Star Wars to The Phantom Menace is it's like comparing Let It Be to The Frog Chorus.
  • deano
    February 2, 2012
    deano
    Very impressive and exciting sci-fi/fantasy/adventure I ever saw since 16 years to know all about future Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker in this prequel. Awesome special effects including an exhilarating desert race (that scene reminded of Ben-Hur in chariot race) and stunnin... read moreg space city vistas. Glad to see George Lucas returned to his own directing on this film.
  • fb1463751009
    December 6, 2011
    fb1463751009
    Kid annoyed the hell out of me and same with Jar Jar Binks, but the action was great. Visually dazzling.
  • aquateen2
    November 1, 2011
    aquateen2
    The Phantom Menace is my least favorite of the overall groundbreaking franchise. It's a disappointing start to the long awaited prequel trilogy.
  • shawnewing92
    October 12, 2011
    shawnewing92
    It's really easy to criticize the first prequel to the legendary star wars trilogy because the original star wars films were absolutely amazing. The few positives about this film are the visuals and the pod racing scene.

    The visuals in this movie are fantastic, and are a big le... read moreap from the last star wars films. The space scenes and epic battles look stunning with all the dazzling effects. The few action scenes such as the pod racing bring the film to life. There is so much excitement during the pod race with all the fast shots of racing space cars. The thrills of the pods making near misses and seeing the pods make wrong turns and exploding into shrapnel are a lot of fun to watch.

    Apart from the visuals and action scenes, the plot and character development are disappointing. The use of unnecessary goofy characters seems more annoying than funny. The always clumsy Jar Jar Binks character is the films attempt to reach a younger audience which seems unfitting in a Star Wars film. Even through this films flaws, the film is still plenty watchable with it's appealing visuals and fun nature.
  • phubbs1
    October 11, 2011
    phubbs1
    Looks great, love Mos Eisley, easily recognised as the Star Wars universe and always looks good. There's also an excellent pod race sequence which is the highlight of the film really, apart from that its pretty average but for the exciting Sith lord 'Darth Maul', he really saves ... read morethe flick when it could of been a complete throw away, even though it is too childish in many places, Maul's prescense is golden and the fact he dies in such a meaningless way really sums up the disappointment with this film.
    Not as bad as they say, better than most sci-fi flicks even so but with lame characters like 'Jar Jar' and his alien species and other poor designs like the battle droid army and various spacecraft I wonder how this survived, very off and on.
    It still does well simply due to it being Star Wars, but its heavily flawed.
  • CreedsDelight
    September 27, 2011
    CreedsDelight
    The first movie to be recorded in Dolby Digital Surround EX and was visually one of the coolest films I've seen in my life. Having said that, I wasn't very impressed and walked out of the silent theater in 1999 very disappointed along with many others. After multiple viewings, I ... read morecame to enjoy it though, especially on the mind-blowing Blu-ray.

    After yet another viewing, I fell in love with this film. It's spectacular. Call me crazy, but meesa likes it!
  • lewiskendell
    September 25, 2011
    lewiskendell
    "The chosen one the boy may be. Nevertheless, grave danger I fear in his training."

    In the years since I've seen Episode I, I had forgotten how close Jar Jar Binks comes to ruining this entire movie. I was even looking forward to seeing it again, since I've only watched it once ... read morebefore and had forgotten most of it. But then, Jar Jar popped up on the screen and opened his mouth, and I was re-introduced to the single most stupid and annoying character in the history of science fiction. I can't imagine even young children enjoying his insufferable shrieking. Sigh.

    As for the rest of the movie (other than some occasionally suspect acting), it's actually okay. The pod racing is still fun to watch today, there was some exciting action scenes, and Darth Maul was cool enough to almost make up for all the Jar Jar. The story isn't the best the series has to offer, but it's good enough to be a worthy addition to the Star Wars mythos. If the blatant efforts to make Episode I as appealing to kids as possible could have been toned down some (trust me, they would have liked it anyway), this probably wouldn't have been considered the ugly step-child of the Star Wars franchise. As it is, though, The Phantom Menace is a flawed movie that manages to overcome that and be entertaining, anyway. I guess that's the power of the Star Wars legacy; this universe is so rich that even lesser entries are hard to not like.

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Critic Reviews

Roger Moore
March 23, 2012
Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

We don't want to remember it's pretty bad. Then we do. Full Review

John Anderson
February 10, 2012
John Anderson, Newsday

"Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace" got dismissive reviews in 1999, and it deserves the same today. But you probably know that. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
February 10, 2012
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

You realize how much humor Harrison Ford brought to things; without him, at times the movie itself feels frozen in Carbonite. Full Review

(CNN.com) Paul Clinton
November 15, 2002
(CNN.com) Paul Clinton, CNN.com

There are no romance, no humor, ultimately nobody to care about in this oddly sterile movie. Full Review

Rick Groen
March 22, 2002
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

It does the job just fine. That job, as director George Lucas freely admits, is quite simply to thrill the beating hearts and the inquiring minds of 12-year-old boys. Full Review

John Podhoretz
January 1, 2000
John Podhoretz, New York Post

The Phantom Menace takes twists and turns you don't expect.

Peter Rainer
January 1, 2000
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

Creating a so-called modern legend, droning on about The Force and all the rest of it, is no substitute for the full engagement of our senses. Full Review

Jeffrey Wells
January 1, 2000
Jeffrey Wells, Mr. Showbiz

This is a franchise in deep spiritual trouble! Full Review

Bruce Westbrook
January 1, 2000
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle

The wow-factor action is irresistible, and Lloyd is no less appealing than '60s Disney star Kevin Corcoran! Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
January 1, 2000
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Though I've been bored senseless by the Star Wars phenomenon for over two decades, I found The Phantom Menace something of a pleasant surprise. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts

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    • Anakin Skywalker: Are you an angel?
    • Queen Amidala / Padmé Naberrie: What?
    • Anakin Skywalker: An angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the moons of Lego, I think. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe.
    • Queen Amidala / Padmé Naberrie: You're a funny little boy. How do you know so much?
    • Anakin Skywalker: I listen to all the traders and star pilots who come through here. I'm a pilot, you know, and someday I'm going to fly away from this place.
    • Obi-Wan Kenobi: I wonder what it would be like to be a ghost.
    • Obi-Wan Kenobi: I have a bad feeling about this.
    • Shmi Skywalker: There was no father, that I know of...I carried him, I gave him birth...I can't explain what happened.
    • Qui-Gon Jinn: There's always a bigger fish.
    • Qui-Gon Jinn: Credits will do fine..
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Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Trivia

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phanto... Trivia

  • The first movie to be recorded in Dolby Digital Surround EX?  Answer »
  • This movie was shipped to theatres as "The Doll House" to stop piracy attempts.  Answer »
  • Mace Windu first appeared in what Star Wars movie.  Answer »
  • Which movie has the tagline: " Every generation has a legend. Every journey has a first step. Every saga has a beginning " ?  Answer »
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