Has TPM Aged Well for You?

[tomandshell]

"Yippee!!"

 

[Coorectghosting]

no hasn't aged well for me. better than AOTC though which is kinda strange because i feel like Phantom Menace was sorta like the beginning of the end.

 

[88th division]

For me it was like a very long chapter at the beginning of a book trying to set up all the characters and plot. In 1999 with all the hipe it received it was IMO a let down. But since the release of episodes II and III the book is now complete and I like it much more.
It also has the best duel of any of the movies IMO.

 

[PosterBoyKelly]

I'll say this: I like it more now than I did at release, BUT not much more. Lots of fat should have been trimmed, and re-casting. Mainly Anakin, that kid was way WAY more annoying than Jar Jar ever was.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

Oddly enough it feels very strange that in 2 years it will be the 10 year anniversery for TPM.

wow... it makes me feel very old. i remember camping out in front of the theater for two weeks to see it first.

 

[Rob]

Honestly, TPM is my favorite out of the whole Saga. I can easily tune out Jar Jar and kid Anakin, and trust me, once you do that, it really is a great film. It easily kept my interest unlike some of the other SW films.

 

[BDboystoys]

Honestly, TPM is my favorite out of the whole Saga. I can easily tune out Jar Jar and kid Anakin, and trust me, once you do that, it really is a great film. It easily kept my interest unlike some of the other SW films.

wow.
First Ive ever heard that.

 

[Rook]

If anything, I like and appreciate it more now than I did before.

Jar-jar was obviously the film's comic relief, and Lucas has always been a fan of the comical characters in the Kirosawa films (Artoo and Threepio were based directly on two characters from "The Hidden Fortress." The line, "We seem to be made to suffer, it's our lot in life" is taken directly from that film.)

The trouble is that he overdid it. They (ILM) had created this marvelously detailed CGI creature that looked and moved onscreen like a real living thing. Trouble is, they got so lost in the fact that they could do something and never bothered to ask how much they actually should be doing it. (This happens a lot in the world, by the way. Especially in "Jurassic Park" films.)

Other than that, the film is fine. 8-year-old Anakin acts like an 8-year-old. I got over that the first time I saw it.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

i enjoyed it the first time i saw it. i was just so excited to finally "see" a star wars movie before the Empire rips the galaxy apart. it was also a great to see the Jedi in full effect and in many numbers using their powers. i thought the jar jar part was really lame, but i knew that he was added in to build a new fanbase with the kids.

 

[The Josh]

Other than that, the film is fine. 8-year-old Anakin acts like an 8-year-old. I got over that the first time I saw it.

Right!! I'm not really sure what people that complain about him wanted exactly. I mean he's an 8 year old playing an 8 year old. I know some will say he's a slave but his life as a slave doesn't look all that bad honestly. Now, if he was being treated like slaves in the south during that time period I would agree.

As I said Jar Jar is not to bad in some parts and bad in others. He doesn't bother me that much. The fart joke was a tad much and I thought so while watching it on Saturday. I've said it once and I'll say it again a lot of the PT hate against those three films be it said or not has to do with the "rose" colored glasses of the OT some folks look through.

 

[PosterBoyKelly]

It's not so mcuh the kid, he acts like an 8 year old. But Lucas didn't write the part well. 8 year olds don't talk like that! I realized I don't hate kid actors, I used to, it's not their fault though. It's POOR WRITING! It was written terribly, his lines. They sucked, and so he did what he could with them.

 

[kodiak8658]

Right!! I'm not really sure what people that complain about him wanted exactly. I mean he's an 8 year old playing an 8 year old.

After a long hiatus, I think the prime reason they cast the kid was to attract a new generation of SW fans, a younger fan base. The way he delivered his lines was definitely childlike and amateurist, yet we all have seen kids like Dakota Fanning deliver lines like seasoned professionals.

Watching young Anakin was like watching a film that was kid specific, yet most of the people watching had been long since adults. AOTC got things back on track for us older SW fans.

 

[Darth Madden]

In my eyes its even worse now than when it was released. Jake Lloyd is the 2nd worst kid actor ever behind Ed Furlong in Terminator 2.

 

[The Josh]

Maybe it's just the kid in me that wouldn't let it bother me.

 

[gbtv01]

I have to say that the film aged well for me, yes it may be the weakest out of the series and the scenes with the Gungans and Jar Jar are really annoying at times but it does have one of the most iconic villians (Maul) for the series and one of the most entertaining duels. It did it's job of setting up the story. But I just wish they picked a better actor for Anakin...yippeeee!!

 

[NASEDO]

Worst of movie of the saga, all because of Jar Jar.

 

[007]

Personally, I feel that it's by far the best of the prequel trilogy... but, you know, that's a bit like saying I enjoyed the punch to the stomach over the punch to my face.

None of them of are what they should've been... but to answer the question, if I were to ever watch one of the PT, it'd certainly be this one. I'm not sure if it's because it's a better film, or because there's that nostalgia connected to it... that sad, innocent, naive hope that George Lucas was going to do these the right way. Just like a little kid, it was back in 1999 that you still wanted to believe in the magic, even if it wasn't there.

 

[LOTRFan]

I have effectively blocked out the two-headed announcer, Boss Nass, Jar Jar, the racially driven trade federation (and I suppose Watto too) and all things TPM except :maul he was the sole bright spot for me - and that was even for his "cool factor;" not character development.

 

[King Darkness]

I still enjoy the movie a lot.

 

[Coheteboy]

Please read, don't skim:


TPM is the most Star Wars of the prequels. Eventually, people will see this.

The Phantom Menace is a great movie but with some FIXABLE flaws. All could be done very easily with some editing (less on jar jar flubbery and boss nass slobber... and no farting) and redubbing of some voices (gungans, neimodians, two-headed announcer, whatever). All done in post production. Very very easy fix. Jake Lloyd's a kid. Oh well... that'll be the only problem.

Even taking OUT the sound in a scene can make all the difference. Jar Jar can STILL step in poop but take away the cartoon sound effect and the scene will play entirely different. Instead of going "UGH", your reaction will become "HAW HAW! serves you right, you idiot."


Cinematography in this film is also more iconic than ANY of the other prequels. The exterior setups, the scenic views are all frameable works of art... mostly thanks to the vision of Doug Chiang who really looked at Ralph McQuarrie as inspiration. The newer artists who took over are extremely talented but I don't think they captured 'star wars' as well. Maybe because Ep1 was shot using more set work than bluescreen? Ep1 just feels more REAL.

Here's some scenes that are just stunning:

-view of theed palace
-invasion of theed
-darth maul and sith probes
-shot of maul deactivating lightsaber on tatooine
-first view of the senate
-gungans coming out of the fog
-federation tanks coming over the grassy hills
-the dispatching of all the battle droids
-many more


And why are all the fights just so much better in Ep1? And not just BETTER, but better EXECUTED as well. Ep2 was supposed to be just a geek dream with hundreds of jedi fighting at once. What we got was an amateur freak show that only rivals Star Wars Kid.

Ep1 laid the ground work with how cool a Jedi lightsaber fight was supposed to be with the opening of the film. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan doing their stuff... it was awesome! It was fun! That FUN was very much absent from any future lightsaber battle following.

'Sith' might be the most entertaining overall of all the prequels, but the execution and story just isn't as powerful as it NEEDED to be. It's a hollow shell of what was set up from the original trilogy and Hayden Christensen ruins two star wars films with his horrible acting. I dont' care if he's normally good in other films.. he wasn't good here. He was reading his lines, and acting out the emotions; but he never believed what he was saying for a second. That's the problem with his acting. I just couldn't believe anything he said.


Fixing ep2 and 3 would take considerable re-writes, reshoots, reCASTING, and brand new fights that are actually GOOD. It would require too much work to fix those films... as well as make the star wars world BETTER.

Flo the waitress droid???

poorly rendered female droids in ep3??

general grievous needs a monacle and a mustache

Librarian woman was a beyotch.

snickering vulture droids???

talking super battle droids????

artoo detoo launching himself out of the starfighters in ep3???


And that's not even getting into the fights, the bad rehash of ep1 score in ep2, acting, and everything else.


Ep1 had some flaws (FLAWS, not problems) but it was good, solid, entertainment. A really strong set up for what's to come.

Ep2 and Ep3 had major flaws AND problems. Very disappointing.