Best Phantom Menace Review

[karamazov80]

Lucas still made an ass load of money off that piece of crap, so what does he care?

 

[IrishJedi]

George needs to sit on his ass and watch this.

Why? He knew it was a disaster. They all did. Their expressions and comments after watching the first rough cut said it all. The guy didn't even need to extrapolate anything in that part of his video review. I'm actually still stunned they let that pass and get out on THE BEGINNING doc on the DVD. It's so extremely revealing.

 

[pixletwin]

Best review I have ever wasted my time watching. So hilarious and sound.

 

[OSCORP]

Why?

For a piece of humble pie.

(Probably wouldn't do any good, but still. Just cause he knew makes it even worse)

I wonder if in the years to come more people involved will speak out and let their feelings at the time come out more openly. (but just didn't say anything at the time)

 

[Khev]

I'm sure he's had his fair share of humble pie the last 10 years.

 

[OSCORP]

I dunno, part of me thinks he doesn't "get it"

 

[TURINS~BANE]

I dont care what anyone says about Phantom i love the film.the dialogue and characterization are maybe not as good as the previous films. It was one of my first memories of Star wars saw it with the fam when I was 15. Never forget the impact it had on me of seeing the Duel of fates for the first time probably my favorite of the Saga, real feeling and emotion to it the duel. liam neeson did a excellent job as Qui gon, Ewen peaked with Sith. Pod Race was Wicked. I prefer it to latter Clones.

It has things going for it pod race,Yoda,Duel of Fates, Qui gon,Young bad ass Obi wan,BIG Fish,Darth Maul,..Jar...I dont think so.

 

[wookster]

That was funny, however comedy editing can damn the best of intentions... but for heavens sake don't think I'm defending Lucas... god forbid, the fabulously wealthy man dropped the ball big time!
Trouble is Lucas lost the plot quite literally, a long time ago in a galaxy... etc.
The funny thing is he obiously wanted this to be his big opus, adding to the classic trilogy, I mean, the guy made so many cultural references in the first three films. Being a student of anthropology he took the classic Greek/Arthurian hero quest, as used by Tolkein, JK Rowling, POTC and every other ?????*er thats had the gumption to see how ripe it is for the picking.
But he made the basic mistake of looking at the new trilogy as one huge story arc, he forgot his own cardinal rule of making each 'episode' work in it's own way (faster more intense) and just made it all an over complicated mess.

I still maintain that TPM is the 'purest' of the new movies, though flawed it has its heart in the right place. AOTC was a messy disaster, horrible, horrible movie and ROTS was just laclustre and an unfulfilling climax to what should be a classic series of movies... oh well, at least Peter Jackson kept us sane!

 

[thenammagazine]

I dunno, part of me thinks he doesn't "get it"

Part of me, well, most of me thinks you don't get it. Why the hell would George give two s**ts or a **** about what you or anyone else who's into bashing TPM thinks? The ****ing film grossed $431,088,301 domestically and $493,229,257 in the foreign market for a grand total of $924,317,558 worldwide. How many "haters" contributed to that? Better question, to rake in that much, how many "haters" contributed to that more than once? That's almost a billion dollars. It's also not counting the billions he's raked in with merchandise, VHS and DVD sales from TPM.

The Phantom Menace was released in May 19, 1999, almost sixteen years after the previous film in the series, Return of the Jedi (1983), and was accompanied by extensive media coverage and great anticipation. Despite mixed reviews by critics, who praised the visuals and action sequences but criticized the writing, characterization and acting, it grossed $924.3 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Star Wars film, the 10th highest-grossing film of all time and the highest-grossing film of 1999. It is also the 6th highest-grossing film of all time at the US box office.

 

[wookster]

Part of me, well, most of me thinks you don't get it. Why the hell would George give two s**ts or a **** about what you or anyone else who's into bashing TPM thinks? The ****ing film grossed $431,088,301 domestically and $493,229,257 in the foreign market for a grand total of $924,317,558 worldwide. How many "haters" contributed to that? Better question, to rake in that much, how many "haters" contributed to that more than once? That's almost a billion dollars. It's also not counting the billions he's raked in with merchandise, VHS and DVD sales from TPM.

I think what Krayt is trying to say, is that Lucas couldn't fail on a financial basis, he gave a lot of kids from the video game generation (a group he had been nurturing for quite some time with Lucas Arts) exactly what they wanted. But his original vision got lost in a quasi political over complicated miasma. What he turned out were three reasonably well made, but very flawed movies, there is no touch of genius there at all, just corporate Hollywood functionality, the very corporate functionality he tried to fight at the begining of his career... and thats the shame, and I agree with Krayt in that I dont think Lucas 'gets' that, but I also agree with you Nam that he doesn't care... and thats an even bigger shame, on him!

 

[OSCORP]

I see an Apologist.

Part of me, well, most of me thinks you don't get it. Why the hell would George give two s**ts or a **** about what you or anyone else who's into bashing TPM thinks? The ****ing film grossed $431,088,301 domestically and $493,229,257 in the foreign market for a grand total of $924,317,558 worldwide. How many "haters" contributed to that? Better question, to rake in that much, how many "haters" contributed to that more than once? That's almost a billion dollars. It's also not counting the billions he's raked in with merchandise, VHS and DVD sales from TPM.

I think what Krayt is trying to say, is that Lucas couldn't fail on a financial basis, he gave a lot of kids from the video game generation (a group he had been nurturing for quite some time with Lucas Arts) exactly what they wanted. But his original vision got lost in a quasi political over complicated miasma. What he turned out were three reasonably well made, but very flawed movies, there is no touch of genius there at all, just corporate Hollywood functionality, the very corporate functionality he tried to fight at the begining of his career... and thats the shame, and I agree with Krayt in that I dont think Lucas 'gets' that, but I also agree with you Nam that he doesn't care... and thats an even bigger shame, on him!

You got it Wook. I love SW and i actually enjoy PM, i just don't love it blindly like some. Some people ass lick Lucas so blindly they can't even enjoy these reviews and STILL like TPM. I can do both because i know what i like and don't need anyone telling me this or that. TPM Had some epic parts to it, it just had some parts that were so ????ed, it kinda took away the good epic parts so to speak.

"A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing." -GL


When all is said and done the title of the thread is fitting.

 

[Khev]

I don't think George really gets it either but now we have have LOTR and Avatar (plus the SW OT of course) so who really cares?

 

[OSCORP]

(plus the SW OT of course)

 

[thenammagazine]

You got it Wook. I love SW and i actually enjoy PM, i just don't love it blindly like some. Some people ass lick Lucas so blindly they can't even enjoy these reviews and STILL like TPM. I can do both because i know what i like and don't need anyone telling me this or that. TPM Had some epic parts to it, it just had some parts that were so ????ed, it kinda took away the good epic parts so to speak.

"A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing." -GL


When all is said and done the title of the thread is fitting.

I think if 99% of the people here were honest with themselves instead of boarding the douchemobile for that "trendy" Summer's Eve ride, they'd agree.

ESB was better than Star wars, but nevertheless, SW still has it's rightful place, just as TMP has in the PT. People just need to have a good cry, get over it, do some crunches, bathe and get out more.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Yes, I agree that he doesn't get it or that he doesn't care. But I wonder if someday he will. Any of us that does anything creative can tell you that something they worked on many years ago isn't up to snuff anymore. You as a person have grown and your viewpoint changes. You also have enough distance from the work that you can look at it objectively. I wonder if someday Lucas will re-watch the prequels and say, "what was I thinking?" But most likely he will remain oblivious, thinking the Box Office cash validates the "artistic" success of the movies.

 

[karamazov80]

it grossed $924.3 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Star Wars film, the 10th highest-grossing film of all time and the highest-grossing film of 1999. It is also the 6th highest-grossing film of all time at the US box office.

I think those stats are a bit misleading. You have to account for inflation. At Box Office Mojo, they have an inflation adjusted ranking of all time money-grossing films domestically, and Phantom Menace is 19th. Still pretty damn impressive, but a lot less so than saying 6th overall. Of course, the biggest part of that film's success is the fact that the original Star Wars is, adjusted for inflation, the 2nd highest grossing film ever domestically (Empire is 12th, Jedi is 14th). It would have been damn difficult for Phantom Menace to fail, given the existing Star Wars fan base and track record at the time of release.

 

[jkno]

I say only this: if the Prequels would have been released today and with no Original Trilogy behind them (let's say OT was never released), the 3 movies would be lost among other sci-fi movies in less than a couple of months.

People were interested in Prequels because of the OT.

No OT = No PT.

No PT = Better OT.

 

[thenammagazine]

I say only this: if the Prequels would have been released today and with no Original Trilogy behind them (let's say OT was never released), the 3 movies would be lost among other sci-fi movies in less than a couple of months.

People were interested in Prequels because of the OT.

No OT = No PT.

No PT = Better OT.

Well, that's your opinion anyway that's maybe shared by a small minority of close-minded people.

 

[karamazov80]

In my mind, I completely disassociate the two trilogies. I just think of the prequels as glorified fan fiction, and don't really think or care much about it. So, I think the new ones suck and I dislike them, but I'm not driven to dislike the originals more because they exist.

 

[Darthrazz]

I have to say, he really does put the "old , slow" ANH saber fight into perspective, he makes some valid points.