DVD Review: Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace
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::Movie review
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace wound up being the first Star Wars film to find its way to DVD. Unfortunately, it also happens to be the weakest film of the entire saga. But before getting to that, first a little history:
Prior to the release of Star Wars in 1977, George Lucas supposedly made the claim that he didn't think the film would make any money. It's not that he didn't think it was a good film, just that it wouldn't find an audience.
Well, as someone who remembers standing in lines stretching around the block, I don't think finding and audience was a problem.
Still, Lucas' opinion regarding the success of the film somewhat dictated what part of the story he told first. Star Wars, while part of a greater whole, was released in a form that could stand on its own. When it became hugely successful, Lucas realized he could tell the rest of the story.
Some fans have argued that Lucas cheated regarding the original trilogy in the sense that some plot points from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi contradict the first film. When the announcement came that Lucas was going to finally make the first three films in the saga, the only fair thing to do seemed to be to wait and see if he addressed some of these inconsistencies.
My personal opinion is that many of the most annoying plot holes have not been addressed by The Phantom Menace (or now, the entire prequel trilogy). However, one thing that is clear is that Lucas did stick to the basic story he created way back when. Proof can be found in the some of the earliest drafts for Star Wars. If you're interested, check out The Jedi Bendu Script Site (although I warn you that they are largely unreadable and often cited in screenwriting classes as examples of how not to write a sellable screenplay).
Arguments of consistency aside, the original trilogy remains as some of the most popular and well-known films ever made. Furthermore, Lucas had always let it be known that Star Wars, Empire and Jedi were part of a larger whole that he also wanted to film. The question was when and the answer was that it would take Lucas over 20 years to revisit the series.
In that time, many things changed. Perhaps the important difference now is that the audience first exposed to Star Wars has grown up. Yet, our expectations have not aged. We want to view a new Star Wars film with the same fondness, excitement and sense of awe that we found in the originals.
So, therein lies the problem. I was six years old when Star Wars was first released to theaters. My opinions of the three films were formed before I was even a teenager and all of my opinions of them now reflect back to those earliest impressions. Is it reasonable to expect the latest film, released as I approached my 30's, to affect me in the same way?
When I watch the first three films, they make me feel like a kid again. The Phantom Menace cannot do this because, simply, my only frame of reference for the film is as an adult. Still, what isn't unreasonable is to expect a coherent story.
Of all of the films in the saga, The Phantom Menace easily contains the messiest plot. There is so much back story to fill that the film rarely pauses for a breath. Rather than being treated to the interesting and quirky character interactions from the original trilogy, we're given talking heads delivering exposition.
However, worse than exposition, the biggest failing of the film is with the lack of menace that the title implies. We are shown potentially great villains, but they are given nothing to do except deliver some brief fight sequences in a failed effort to wake up an audience that has been put to sleep by a boring plot. When those fight scenes do occur, they are spectacular in their execution, but ultimately passionless. The lack of character development prevents the audience from caring about the outcome.
This lack of passion and emotional investment also extends to the large scale battles and is made worse by the fact that the largest of the battles doesn't even involve a single human actor. Two computer generated armies clash, generating about as much emotional involvement as watching someone else play a video game.
The story of The Phantom Menace is set 30 some years before the events in Star Wars. The Empire that we all know so well has not yet formed, but we can see its seeds in the Trade Federation.
The film opens with Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and a young Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) on their way to settle a trade dispute on the planet of Naboo. The Trade Federation has placed a blockade around the planet in an effort to strong-arm the government and it's the hope of the Supreme Chancellor that the Jedi can resolve the issue.
As soon becomes apparent to us and the Jedi, there are other more sinister forces pulling the strings of the Trade Federation. Darth Sidious is an evil Sith Lord who seems to have his own plans for the Trade Federation, Naboo and the Old Republic. At his side is Darth Maul (Ray Park), a Sith apprentice with demonic facial tattoos and a wicked dual-bladed lightsaber.
Fearing that the situation on Naboo is beyond their immediate control, the Jedi take the Queen, Amidala (Natalie Portman), into temporary hiding on the planet Tatooine. It's here that Qui-Gon, Ben Kenobi and Amidala meet young Anakin Skywalker, who we know will eventually become Darth Vader. Darth Maul is sent to eliminate the Jedi and he spends much of the film hot on their trail.
This sets up the conflict within the story, but it's all two-dimensional. Take, for example, the character of Darth Maul. George Lucas spent the three films of the original trilogy to not judge characters by their appearances. The giant sasquatch-looking character of Chewbacca is one of the most gentle and loyal friends in the story; meanwhile, the tiny green troll, Yoda, is the powerful jedi in the universe. For the Phantom Menace, Lucas cheats us by presenting a character that we're supposed to identify as evil simply because he has devilish tattoos and horns. Maul is little more than an automaton. He's a wind up toy that is occasionally sent on screen to make trouble for the jedi.
By the time Episode I is over, we have been dazzled by some great special effects and a few cool lightsaber duels, but they have been wrapped up in a story that is, frankly too boring to be deserving of the Star Wars title.
::Video
Lucasfilm and Fox have provided a 2-disc special edition that starts off with a picture that is annoyingly short of perfection. The thing holding this image back from being reference quality is the overuse of edge enhancement. I've seen worse examples of it on other discs, but that fact that it's present at all on this one is frustrating. Studios need to learn that DVDs are perfectly capable of beautifully sharp images without resorting to edge enhancement. That aside, the rest of the picture is practically flawless. Black levels are deep and full of detail, while the colors are rich and show no signs of bleeding. Flesh tones appeared natural and I could spot no signs of digital artifacting.
::Audio
Where the picture only approaches perfection, the sound mix on this disc easily passes that mark. I feel confident in saying that this stunning mix is one of the best I've ever heard on DVD. To those who berate Fox and Lucasfilm for not including a DTS mix, I say to hell with you because this disc's sound is amazing. First of all, the surround elements are perfectly placed and blend seamlessly between all channels. The effects compliment the visuals perfectly, without overwhelming them as is the case with some surround effects. Dialogue remains crisp and clear and is never overwhelmed by either the sound effects or John Williams' ever impressive music. The bass effects are natural sounding (well, as natural sounding as bass effects can be in an outer space special effects science fantasy film), yet strong enough to warrant checking the foundation of your house after having this baby cranked for 2 hours.
::Special Features
Before talking about anything else, I want to point out that you'll find that the film runs about 2 or 3 minutes longer than the theatrical cut. ILM completed the effects for a series of deleted scenes and a few of them were reinserted into the film (the rest are on disc 2).
My particular favorite new scene is a short, but subtle sequence during the pod race where one of the coupling cables on Anakin's racer comes off. His pod begins spinning out of control and we see Anakin flip a few switches and correct the problem. The spinning and Anakin's reactions almost perfectly mirrors the scene at the end of Episode IV where Anakin (as Vader) is forced to correct his out-of-control TIE Fighter. It's a nice touch.
Also on the first disc is a screen-specific audio commentary by George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires. While it would have been nice to have a solo Lucas commentary, I have to say that this is a good track nonetheless. Lucas, producer McCallum and co-editor Burtt each seem to have recorded their tracks separately while the effects guys, Coleman, Knoll, Muren and Squires recorded as a group. The benefit of this sort of commentary is that there is never a dull moment. The annoying habit of describing the action on-screen is also thankfully absent from this track. There is a lot of information presented by these seven men, but nearly all of it is of a technical nature. That's Ok, though, because the film contains far more technical substance than character substance.
A true Star Wars fan might consider this to be more than enough material, but this DVD doesn't stop there. Disc two packed with just about everything you would want to know about Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
First up are about 2-hour's worth of featurettes and documentaries. The first, and best, of the bunch is called The Beginning and it alone runs about an hour. Documentarian Jon Shenk was given nearly unlimited access to the entire production of Phantom Menace and he filmed literally everything and anything he could. His material alone would probably fill a couple of DVDs, but the best of has been compiled together into this documentary. Bar none, this is the best "behind the scenes" feature I have seen on DVD and you won't want to miss it.
Also interesting are the web documentaries. Much of the material here is stuff Shenk filmed that wasn't included in "The Beginning," so it's also good stuff.
Most of the rest of the featurettes are those released to promote the film and offer little more insight than the standard HBO First Look features.
Next is a deleted scenes gallery that runs about 20 minutes or so. Some of these scenes appear in the main feature, but obviously not all of them. The interesting thing about these scenes is that Lucas gave ILM the go-ahead to finish the effects work on them for the DVD release (otherwise they would have been little more than people standing in front of a lot of blue and green screens). Included in this section is a documentary feature that explains each scene, its place in the film and why it was cut.
Most of you probably remember the teaser trailers for this film. These things received a lot of publicity, mostly due to the fans who were paying full admission to theaters just to see the trailer and then leave. Well, now you'll have them in all their glory. The theatrical teasers are included as well as the television spots.
Perhaps the best and most memorable piece of new music from The Phantom Menace is the track Duel of the Fates. It was released as music video prior to the film's release and is also included on the DVD.
Finally, there is web-based content (from the starwars.com website), animatics, a gallery including never-before-seen production stills, a behind-the-scenes look at the new Star Wars: Starfighter game, really cool film themed animated menus and some bonus Easter Eggs.
::Bottom Line
I don't know if any film in the history of Hollywood has generated as much anticipation as The Phantom Menace. This is part of what makes its failings so much more disappointing. George Lucas made the miscalculation of relying too much on all of the improved technology and in doing so he seemed to forget that we really never cared that effects in the original film were flawed. They were good, solid stories, and that elevated them far above any visual trickery. If nothing else, The Phantom Menace sets an example, by omission, of the value of story.
Buy Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace at DVDEmpire.com
| Movie |  |
2 / 5 |
| Video | |
3.5 / 5 |
| Audio | |
4.5 / 5 |
| Extras | |
4.5 / 5 |
| Family Friendly | |
4 / 5 |
| Of all three prequel films, The Phantom Menace is the most harmless. Furthermore, kids will identify with young Anakin and Jar-Jar, the character adults love to hate, will certainly be a favorite. | ||
| Overall | |
3 / 5 |
- Robert Wurth, ©2005
::Technical Specs
Studio:
Fox Home Entertainment
Year of Theatrical Release:
1999
Disc Format:
1 single-sided, Dual Layer
Image Format:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:
2.35:1
Region Encoding:
1 (North America)
Sound Format:
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 (pro logic)
Running Time:
129 minutes
Director:
George Lucas
Stars:
Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Ray Park, Ian McDiamid, Samuel L. Jackson
MPAA Rating:
PG
Disc Supplements:
- Audio Commentary by director George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, co-producer Ben Burtt, effects crew Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires.
- The Beginning documentary.
- 5 behind-the-scenes featurettes.
- 12 web documentaries.
- Deleted scenes with documentary.
- Animatics.
- Still image galleries.
- "Duel of the Fates" music video.
- Making of Star Wars: Starfighter video game.
- Tone Poems, theatrical trailers and TV spots.
- Hidden featurettes and other "easter eggs."
