May 19, 1999, in a galaxy not so far away …
Excitement for âStar Warsâ is at an all-time high. The first new film in the beloved series that originally concluded with 1983âs âReturn of the Jediâ is about to be released in 2,970 theaters, with a majority starting their first screenings just after midnight. (Ticket sales opened just the week before.)
Audiences have had 16 long years to dream about what George Lucas has conjured up for this new cinematic adventure. But instead of whatever theyâd imagined, âStar Wars: Episode I â The Phantom Menaceâ involves a nefarious trade dispute, myth-altering midi-chlorians and Jar Jar Binks.
And although it becomes, for a while, the second-highest grossing film of all time, the divisive new chapter gains a reputation as one of the worst âStar Warsâ movies ever.
Today, âThe Phantom Menaceâ returns to theaters in celebration of its 25th anniversary. In the 19 years since 2005âs âStar Wars: Episode III â Revenge of the Sith,â the much maligned prequel trilogy has, in many ways, been redeemed.
Just look at how its stars â including Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen and Ahmed Best â have been re-embraced by fans in their returns to the franchise in television projects such as âObi-Wan Kenobiâ and âAhsoka.â Even the actors themselves have voiced appreciation that their original films seem to be regarded more positively. Becoming âmore aware of the fondness that the generation that we made the prequels for has for those films … [has] meant a lot to me,â McGregor told NBC News in 2022.
And as the âStar Warsâ franchise continues to grow, with upcoming projects including two new series, âThe Acolyteâ and âSkeleton Crew,â the second seasons of âAndorâ and âAhsokaâ and at least two additional films, it has become increasingly apparent just how much of it is built upon a foundation laid down by the prequels. âStar Warsââ most recent successes would not exist if not for âThe Phantom Menace.â
âThe Phantom Menaceâ arrived saddled with many expectations. Audiences who grew up on âStar Warsâ in theaters or on VHS tapes knew how Darth Vaderâs story ended.
âThe Phantom Menaceâ was going to show how it began, something only teased in the original films. Many fans camped outside movie theaters for weeks, just to be among the first to see it. Reports at the time mention that the line outside Westwoodâs Village Theatre included about two dozen regulars ages 14 to 40 equipped with couches, recliners, beach chairs, video games and even satellite TV.
âIt is only a movie,â The Times reported Lucas insisting during a press event during the lead-up to release. âWe have tried hard not to let the film get over-hyped. . . . [Itâs] a film for 12-year-olds . . . a Saturday-afternoon serial for children.â
From left, Natalie Portman, Liam Neeson, Jake Lloyd and Ewan McGregor in the movie âStar Wars: Episode I â The Phantom Menace.â
(Keith Hamshere / Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Set roughly 30 years before the events of the original âStar Warsâ (which was re-christened âA New Hopeâ in 1981 after a re-release), âThe Phantom Menaceâ introduced audiences to a 9-year-old Anakin Skywalker (played by Jake Lloyd), a child who would eventually grow up to become Darth Vader.
Anakinâs story begins when a diplomatic mission gone awry brings Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor), the clumsy and, to some, cringeworthy Jar Jar Binks (Best) and young Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) to his home planet, Tatooine.
Many critics were underwhelmed. In his review, Times film critic Kenneth Turan described the film as a âconsiderable letdownâ but âcertainly adequate.â
Itâs ânot going to change anyoneâs life or method of worship,â wrote Turan. âItâs only a movie, and ⊠a much less impressive one than all the accompanying genuflection would have you believe.â (Lucas, for his part, noted in advance of âPhantomâsâ release that the original trilogy got âgenerally bad reviewsâ and that he expected the same this time around as well.)
What âThe Phantom Menaceâ did have were state-of-the-art visual effects: Lucas was uninterested in revisiting âStar Warsâ until the technology caught up to his vision. The film boasts the first fully computer-generated supporting character in Jar Jar Binks, and regardless of oneâs opinion of the character, that is a landmark, paving the way for âThe Lord of the Ringsââ Gollum and the âAvatarâ films.
âThe Phantom Menaceâ also included such memorable sequences as Anakinâs podrace and a lightsaber showdown (referred to by the John Williams theme that accompanies it, the âDuel of the Fatesâ) between our Jedi heroes and the filmâs fantastically designed villain, Darth Maul.
From left, Liam Neeson, Ray Park and Ewan McGregor in the climactic lightsaber duel of âStar Wars: Episode I â The Phantom Menace.â
(Keith Hamshere / Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Still, audiences were much more vocal about the ways âThe Phantom Menaceâ was a disappointment. Criticism of the film included concerns that certain new aliens like the Neimoidians and Gungans appeared to reflect racist tropes. (Lucasfilm rejected those claims as âabsurd.â) Any thoughtful responses were drowned out by more vitriolic pushback on everything from the characters and acting to the story and execution.
It was an early glimpse into the darker side of the âStar Warsâ fandom â and maybe self-entitled fandom in general. Jar Jar Binks actor Best has been candid about how the negative responses to his character led to his receiving online abuse and death threats. Such bad behavior intensified 16 years later, beginning with the release of the sequel trilogy, which saw stars John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran becoming targets of racist backlash.
And the newer shows are arriving at a time when âanti-wokeâ superfans who canât imagine a âStar Warsâ galaxy (one already populated with nonhumanoid aliens) as diverse and inclusive have been increasingly emboldened to make racist and sexist remarks.
Luckily, the âStar Warsâ fandom is not defined by that vocal minority.
In recent years, appreciation for âThe Phantom Menaceâ has grown. The 2022 arrival of âObi-Wan Kenobi,â in particular, had even skeptics reassessing the significance of the prequel trilogy.
âThe nostalgia for the prequels canât redeem those movies in full … But theyâre quotable, theyâre memeable, and theyâre fun to rant against and argue about and rally around,â wrote the Ringerâs Justin Charity.
Part of the reason âThe Phantom Menaceâ has been increasingly embraced is because for a generation of fans, âEpisode Iâ was their first âStar Warsâ experience. Theyâre now old enough to defend what was to them just as foundational as seeing âStar Warsâ in a theater was for kids in 1977.
The prequel films have also been further recontextualized by additional storytelling. Series like the animated âStar Wars: The Clone Wars,â set in the years between the events of âAttack of the Clonesâ (2002) and âRevenge of the Sith,â have fleshed out the universe. Live-action shows like âThe Mandalorianâ and âThe Book of Boba Fettâ have drawn on lore established in the prequel-era stories â with success.
The âObi-Wan Kenobiâ series revisits McGregorâs version of the title character for a glimpse at how the man at the end of âRevenge of the Sithâ became the one in âA New Hopeâ (portrayed by Alec Guinness). Concepts like cloning and even midi-chlorians, the micro-organisms with ties to the Force first mentioned in âThe Phantom Menace,â have also endured: The only reason the Mandalorian and Grogu even cross paths is because the remnants of the Empire are so interested in the latterâs midi-chlorian count.
Jake Lloyd and Pernilla August in âStar Wars: Episode I â The Phantom Menace.â
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
In a larger sense, even shows like âAndorâ can trace their DNA to the prequels, by being unafraid to enter into what is considered canon and challenge the assumptions of what is expected of a âStar Warsâ story. The franchise has increasingly become one large tapestry where new titles build upon and reframe what came before â not a collection of three classics âownedâ by gatekeeping fans. And while subsequent projects do not actually change the quality of past installments, they do sometimes lead to reassessment.
âThe Phantom Menaceâ is also a precursor â for good and ill â of todayâs modern media landscape of sprawling IP and interconnected universes like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Universe and even Godzillaâs Monsterverse. Lucasâ enormous box office success not only made an eventual sequel series an inevitability but it also signaled to others that there were possibilities in revisiting dormant worlds to attract new audiences.
The bar for âThe Phantom Menaceâ was set impossibly high â not necessarily by the films of the original trilogy but the audienceâs relationship with them. But âStar Warsâ movies are special because of their potential to make people fall in love with storytelling just as much as the world itself.
And for a generation that grew up on the prequels, âThe Phantom Menaceâ did just that.