3. "Yeah, I agree about Jedi alot" In response to Reply # 0 Sun May-05-24 10:41 PM by obsidianchrysalis
I think because Empire had more legitimate drama, the notion of "Care Bears" in space was a step too far from people. But, Jedi is the first movie I ever really liked or maybe even saw as a kid, and it will always hold a strong place in my movie heart.
The space scenes and action overall are exciting and I thought the resolution of Anakin and Luke was rewarding, as an adult.
--EDIT--
I don't know if I will see The Phantom Menace again. I think I saw the movie at least four times in the theater (oh, to have that much discretionary time and income again). I didn't loathe the prequels as much as some, but outside of the pod race, the Darth Maul scene, and Duel of the Fates, I don't know if anything really holds up in this movie.
4. "This is such a frustrating movie" In response to Reply # 0
Like, I respect George's vision and the political storyline hits much harder cause that's exactly how shit goes down in real life. Podracing rules. The Duel of the Fates lightsaber fight is high on the list for lightsaber fights.
But holy shit does this need another pass at the script. And damn, does the CG clash with the practical sets and puppets. Like, I remember Yoda being a puppet in the first cut, why replace him with CG?
Anywyas, all the kids in the auditorium had fun. Including my goddaughter.
5. "Definitely frustrating..." In response to Reply # 4
The Clone Wars show was able to much more successfully handle much of the political conflict that kicked off in Phantom Menace.
There was a LOT of politics in TPM. You have the galactic politics with the Trade Federation acting as the precursor to the Separatist Alliance, the Coruscant politics with Chancellor Valorum and the Senate, with him ending up getting voted out, the Naboo politics with the relationship between the Gungans and the humans on the surface, and the Jedi's politics in dealing with the Council leading and making decisions while taking orders from the Republic and being put in positions in conflict with their nature as Jedi.
All of that had to be balanced with George wanting to keep the feeling of Star Wars being for kids. And all the sitting and talking of the politics had to have some action thrown in there.
All while introducing most of these characters and settings for the first time, worldbuilding going across the galaxy, and oh yeah introducing a kid Darth Vader and his background as a child slave leaving his mom.
Regarding the Yoda puppet - that puppet they used in the original cut looked weird. I remember reading or hearing somewhere that they'd tried to make the puppet Yoda look younger than the OT puppet version, but it just didn't come off right. So George redid him in CG.