Some movies have revolutionized the way we watch movies. One such movie is star wars. In ’77 it pioneered a new wave of movies : special effects and space movies. From the international fame of star wars, i feel there is no way that one can duplicate the sheer force of movie-watching nature that is the original 1977 star wars! But i’m here to tell you: the phantom menace is a pretty fun flick in it’s own right! Phantom menace, which is one of the top-10 grossing movies ever, is definitely one of the best sfx movies ever made. It reveals the directing strengths and foolishness of george lucas.
Plot : following in the footsteps of star wars iv: a new hope, this film actually copies that formula very well. An assortment of heroes (human, alien, and droids) band together to save a queen (in star wars it was a princess) from a galactic terror the trade federation (in star wars it was the evil empire). Phantom menace gets off to a promising and exciting start with 2 jedi knights qui-gon jinn (played reliably by liam neeson, who does a good job carrying the film as its nominal lead) and young obi-wan kenobi (finely played by ewan mcgregor, who would obviously continue the role in the other 2 prequels) landing on the federation ship to discuss the terms of a treaty between the federation and the imperial senate, but the evil federation leader tries to have them killed. The federation is also holding the planet naboo hostage, so the jedi rescue the queen amidala (a captivating young natalie portman) and hide her out in the remote planet of tatooine, the home of young anakin skywalker (we all know who he becomes!).
On tatooine, qui-gon and obi-wan learn that this boy skywalker (played by the very young jake lloyd) is blessed with the powers of the force and enlist him in a pod race to win money to payfor their ship parts and repairs. This pod race scene is one of the most exciting modern-day action sequences ever put to film. An example of when cgi totally works! I never tire of seeing it. If you don’t like any other scene in this film, you’ve got to like this one! Unbeknowst to the jedis, there is a more evil force pulling the strings of the federation, a dark knight darth sidius who compels them to get the treaty signed. Baddie sidius enlists an apprentice, darth maul, to help move things along. The jedi (bringing anakin with them to be trained as a jedi) get the queen to coruscant, the home planet of the imperial senate and the jedi council. Residing at the head of the jedi is none other than our good friend yoda! The 2nd-in-command on the council is mace windu (effectively played by samuel l. Jackson), who is leery about the boy skywalker becoming a jedi. Senator palpatine (well played by ian mcdiarmid) from the queen’s planet naboo gets her to call for the expulsion of senator valorum (good work by the veteran actor terence stamp) as the head of the senate. Finally the queen decides to face anything - even death for her people, arrives at her home planet and defeats the trade federation allied with sith, with the help of the jedi.
Sfx, the achilles heel of episode i :
the tale is actually simple, although it all sounds convoluted and complex. What i like about the phantom menace is that it is much like the first star wars in that it used massive cgi: i heard that the video technicians @ industrial light and magic(ilm...owned by producer george lucas) processed the images of this movie on 70 workstations which was a huge thing in 1999. Proof: the special effects in pod race , the fight scenes between the jedi and mau l, theboomer-fish chase ("there is always a bigger fish!") and the gungans’ underwater city , the pronged finale of amidala’s royal guard fighting the federation soldiers, the gungans fighting the droids in the cgi-created green battlefield etc. The japanese cameramen recruited by the director have done a brilliant job in this movie. Also music by john Williams and thx certified labs complement these eye-candy video-sequences very very well. If you are a sfx fan and own a home theater home, this movie with eye candy scenes is the perfect feast for the eyes ! Every scene is eye candy ! It’s better you watch it on a plasma/LCD display home theater to enjoy the best sfx (i watched the original DVD on my Sony trinitron - it was mind blowing).
Of course there are some noticeable minuses :
the editing in this movie is sick. In many parts of the movie, there is no continuity between 2 scenes.
Because jake lloyd is featured as young anakin and has quite a bit to do, it is somewhat hard to take that he is going to be darth vader one day. But he’s just a kid, and he’s not that bad, but his lack of acting skill is rather noticeable.
The story, the novelty, the pacing, the adventure sold us on the ’original’. The cgi pod-race was best sequence of the film. At least phantom menace has at least got these elements working in it’s favor enough to make it an enjoyable film experience!
Conclusion : Star wars episode i: tpm is not a sfx movie to be missed !