Jedi Knight and Jar Jar enter the movie…
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Jedi Knight and Jar Jar enter the movie…
Maximum Movies/Alamy
That was 1999. News stations treated it as a breaking news event.
May 19, Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace This is the first film in the series to hit theaters in more than a decade. It promises to tell the origin story of how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader.
Fans were so excited that some camped out for days, sometimes weeks, just to see the movie on opening day.
“The original trilogy is amazing,” said one eager moviegoer. “People have been waiting for this moment for 16 years.” Another even said: “There are eight wonders of the world right now and this movie is one of them.”
When a reporter asked the crowd if they were worried the movie might be bad, they responded with a resounding “no.” Oh, they were wrong.
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consensus?this is a huge failure
NPR sent two film critics to review the film. Neither of them had much to say.
Tom Shales described the film this way: “The new Star Wars movie Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace is a threat. It’s not about storytelling, it’s not about people…it’s about effects and technique. This is a computer movie through and through, made by computers and perhaps for computers.
NPR’s Bob Mondello questions the infamous Jar Jar Binks: “‘What could he be thinking,’ you say to yourself [George Lucas] A race of idolatrous primitives are introduced who speak with Caribbean accents and behave like refugees from the Caribbean. amos and andy”.
The trailer is Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Youtube
The backlash didn’t stop there. People hated nine-year-old Darth Vader. They don’t like all the talk about taxes and trade embargoes.
Hate The Phantom Menace Erich Schwartzel, who covers the film industry, said this has become somewhat of a running joke in Star Wars circles. wall street journal Working on a book about George Lucas and Star Wars.
He told NPR that the hype only intensified the sting of disappointment: “Looking back, I think, this was really the first example that I, and maybe the film industry had, that this movie was almost beside the point.”
25 years later, nostalgia gives film new life
Although the overwhelming consensus is The Phantom Menace Too bad only Sith do absolutes (sorry).
To get a sense of how perceptions of the film have changed, Schwarzel brought up Jar Jar Binks. Schwartzel said most fans who grew up on the original “Star Wars” trilogy were in their late 20s or early 30s when they lined up to watch. The Phantom Menace.
“[Jar Jar] It represents the inherently childish nature of Star Wars and how childish it is,” Schwartzel said. “I think Jar Jar was a little offensive to those fans and kind of reminded us that this is for kids, too.
On May 6, 1999, movie fans lined up to watch the movie at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York. Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace.
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Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images
On May 6, 1999, movie fans lined up to watch the movie at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York. Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace.
Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images
Now those kids, their introduction to the world of Star Wars was The Phantom Menace, are all adults, and it’s no surprise that this movie is remembered by more people.As Schwartzel puts it, “prequel kids” insist The Phantom Menace To them, they are respected like old fans. new Hope.
After a recent anniversary screening of the film in Washington, All circumstances have been considered Host Scott Detrow met 29-year-old Eleni Salyers, who said she had been a fan of the prequels since she was a kid: “For me, it’s very nostalgic. Growing up, I always preferred the prequels, a hit for many Star Wars fans.
For fans like Sayers, the best moments include the lightsaber battles, which are faster and flashier than in the original trilogy. The Phantom Menace Fans were also introduced to podracing and its now-iconic visuals and sound effects.
Schwartzel said the prequel trilogy played a fundamental role in making the Star Wars series a “multi-generational masterpiece.” He noted that if you look at the Star Wars content Disney has released over the past decade, a lot of the themes and characters come from the world created by the prequels.
This episode was produced by Mark Rivers. It is edited by Janet Woods. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
