I didn’t start this blog in time to record my 1999 initial impressions of The Phantom Menace — released 13 years ago today, and also appearing in 3D today.
I did, though, record my 2001 impressions of the movie on DVD. What did I think (and what do I think now)?
Then: Yeah, it’s still a fun movie.
Now: I find it less fun, and more dragging (with hyperkinetic spurts) the more I watch it. Which is not often.
Then: Yeah, the Gungans are goofy. But less goofy than the Ewoks.
Now: I agree. Yes, Jar-Jar is an asinine bumbler of the type I generally hate as a character in a movie (the Woozy Winks of the Star Wars world), but I still prefer the Gungans, as a whole, to the Ewoks.
Then: Yeah, there’s something a little — wrong about the Padme/Annakin relationship.
Now: On the other hand, she’s royalty … maybe arranged marriages and weird age differentials are normal for her. But it’s still disturbing.
Then: Yeah, the Battle of the Dark ‘n’ Light Jedi is still really cool.
Now: The best part of the film. Best music, too. The whole thing is oddly without affect (esp. on Darth Maul’s side), sort of a giant realistic video game. But it’s still really cool.
Then: Yeah, the destruction of the Droid Control Ship is still silly.
Now: Deus ex Bad Ship Design. Of course, that seems to be a weakness of ship design in general in the Star Wars univers.
Then: Yeah, the beginning crawl is still pretty … uninvolving.
Now: Taxes! Trade agreements! Perfectly realistic and legitimate, but not at all engaging. And, ultimately, it comes across just as a lame excuse to get the Jedi to Naboo.
Then: Yeah, the landscapes/cityscapes are still incredible. (Though the Naboo Throne City strangely looks like something that should be at Epcot.)
Now: The landscapes/cityscapes are still incredible, particularly Theed. Lovely.
Then: Yeah, Watto (the flying salvage trader) seems disturbing … Levantine. And the Trade Federation reps sound kind of … Oriental.
Now: I remain of this opinion. And not just those ethnicities, but with all the dark stereotypes of same. Oddly enough, I’ve never gotten the same racist vibe regarding Jar-Jar, though others do.
Then: Yeah, the Naboo cruiser rocks.
Now: Shiny!
Then: Yeah, the droid armies are just ineffective enough to explain why they aren’t around “any more.” But fun to watch, anyway.
Now: Droid armies are just as effective in their designs as the ships are. But they do seem like the kind of thing that a merchant combine would buy on the cheap.
Then: Yeah, Qui-gon seems awfully reckless. Yeah, Obi-wan seems pretty snotty. But, nah, I kind of like Anakin more now than I once did.
Now: In retrospect, I really liked Qui-gon a lot — he was what I expected Jedis to be like, both a big-time fighter but also a lone wolf and risk taker. Obi-wan was annoying, mostly playing Robin to Qui-gon’s Batman. Anakin … has a few endearing moments, strained by bad writing, mediocre acting, and general annoyance about little kids in pivotal roles.
Then: Good movie. I think it will be a re-watcher. Bring on Episode II!
Now: Of the three prequels it’s the one I like the best, both as a story and with the story being told (and if young Anakin is irksome, angsty teen Anakin is a blight on the cinematic universe). But that’s not saying much, and the flaws of the movie stand out more every time I’ve rewatched it — maybe 2-3 times over the last decade, no more than that. I think I’ve rewatched Ep. II once, and I don’t know that I’ve ever been able to bring myself to watch Ep. III since the theater.
(See, this is what I love about having a blog — being able to go back and see how I’ve changed over the years, and how my memory as faded altered evolved.)
My boss asked me what I get out of blogging. Lots of stuff actually but my answer to him wasn’t very articulate. I love having a place to develop ideas. And the tracking thing is important too. I can go back and see how I’ve changed on some very important issues. It helps me to be a little (and I do mean a little) more tolerant of young conservatives.
Phantom Menace is one of my candidates for worst movie of all time, as defined by a movie with a large pretension/execution ratio. Not the kind of bad movie I enjoy, just the kind I re-watch every few years thinking “Hmm, maybe I was unfair” and 3 hours later conclude “Nope.”
@George – I joke about my blog being my extended memory, but, really, it is. I can find out when I did things, details I’ve forgotten, all sorts of bits. It really does serve as a journal, including recording a variety of things that I’m not terribly pleased with myself for believing or supporting.
I’d rank PM as one of the worst movies not so much for pretension as for how it dashed the (doubtless overwrought) expectations of a generation or two.
Oh, and Watto bothered me because he would have had to displace a lot of air to remain aloft. Had his wings been large and fast enough to displace that much air you couldn’t have held a conversation within 50 feet of him. I don’t mind departures from physical reality when there’s a reason for it to move the story forward, but it didn’t. Suspending disbelief for no reason.
And Lucas should have had to pay a large fine for “Misuse of Samuel L. Jackson”. As an alternative to a large fine, we should take ILM away from him and he can’t have it back until he makes three interesting movies with no special effects.
@george – I presumed that Watto originated on some world with light enough gravity that the physics would work — and that he had an anti-grav generator secured somewhere around his person.
Problem with the evolved on low grav planet / anti-grav generator is that if he did evolve on such a planet, his bones would almost certainly not be strong enough to resist gravity on Tatooine. Bad creature design, really
@Louis – Well, if you have anti-grav tech for flight, you should be able to extend it to the effect on the body. Assuming cheap power, it works. Kindasorta.