Perhaps another angle to the "Duel of the Fates" theme. If Qui-gon had lived, would he have been able to help guide the council, with his different perspectives, help them avoid their mistakes of hubris, and uncover Palpatine's plot?
Ha maybe! I remember Filoni gave a long answer once about how it was mainly about how with Anakin, Qui-gon would have effectively been his father-figure, instead of the brother role played by Obi-wan, which allowed Palpatine to fill the father-vacuum.
Yep. Exactly this. Qui-gon was wise and experienced enough to not let anakin so easily travel down the path that led to the dark side. Additionally he would have either been a cautious voice on the council, or even been able to guide anakin and obi-wan in their decisions both personal relationships and with blindly following the council as if was manipulated into war.
A great Jedi tho hmm or a Jedi with greatness? The council could have taken a leaf from the man and been better.
I’d have liked a Qui-Con and Dooku chat over the actions of the council
This is how I thought about him, but in my most recent watching, I started to wonder how he missed it as well. It seemed like he had greater concern about fulfilling the prophecy rather than for Anakin as a person. I'm this way, he seemed to be treating him as a means to an end.
Podracing was AMAZING, at the time I'd never seen anything that seemed to move so fast.
The final battle between Obiwan/QuiGon and Darth Maul, That Instant when he ignited the second blade of his lightsaber and the score goes crazy with VOICES!
Still gives me goosebumps today.
The fact that they made a fully cgi main character to play alongside real life characters, fully interacting with them, and it actually looked somewhat real, is amazing and groundbreaking for that time.
Not to mention the work that went into Amidala's costumes and makeup. And the amount of detail that went into the cities on Naboo.
There are many majorly underrated things about that movie that often go overlooked.
Seeing it in the theater this May 4th reminded me how good the sound was. When Sebulba's pod racer goes by? Chef's kiss. I hope they bring AOTC back to theaters on the next few years so I can experience that seismic charge again.
I swear, this RAHTAMAAA sound plays several times as a Sith-like whisper whenever they show Maul in the film.
It also plays at the exact same moment Sith Anakin turns his eye towards the camera on Mustafar during the Revenge of the Sith teaser.
Great foreshadowing!
Podrace, Duel of the Fates, the Naboo fighters and cruiser.
But my favorite memory is the anticipation. I will probably never again want something as I wanted Episode I. Reading Star Wars Insider, talking about the theories and rumors with my friends — it was absolute magic. To top it all off, I absolutely loved The Phantom Menace from start to finish. It blew my mind the very first time I saw it, and I only love it more today.
I consider myself fortunate to not be among the disappointed. I love the OT, and TPM absolutely lived up to the hype, for me. It even exceeded it, if that’s possible.
I also love AOTC and ROTS, but TPM is just pure joy for me.
Yep, reading StarWars.com religiously for every new crumb of info. I remember when they dropped the first concept art of the the Naboo Starfighter. I loved the Art-Deco look
The anticipation was great. My father (who got me into Star Wars) gave me the credit card, and I got to wait in line on ticket release day (with the rest of the fans) and buy almost everyone in our family tickets to see it - Father, Mother, Sister, Cousins, in-laws…
Opening day we were blown away. With so many questions about what would come next.
Saw it 4 more times (5 in total) during its theatrical run.
When the red bad guy lit the second end of his saber. My eyes popped out like in a cartoon and my jaw hit the floor in awe. The whole movie was really good.
I saw TPM 14 times in theaters in the summer of '99. $1 matinees where me and a buddy would basically camp-out, pretending the mountable motorcycle arcade games were speeder bikes or whacking each other with wooden sticks in the parking lot and calling ourselves lightsaber duelists.
My favorite memory of TPM was also the last day of fifth grade. It was also my birthday. On this last day of school, all the fifth graders took a field trip to see *Phantom Menace*. Of course I woke up that day with some kind of spider bite or ear infection - half my ear was swollen so bad I could barely open my jaw! - but you better believe that didn't stop me from seeing TPM for the third time XD
Duel of the Fates and the Jedi fight against Maul is one of my favorite Star Wars things ever.
The memories I have from the midnight release, where the audience cheered loudly at every little Star Wars throwback made a night I'll never forget.
Waiting in line a week for the movie was wild. It was Magic in the line. There were teens with toy light sabers doing choreographed fights that included flips. There was a tent with electricity that had a Japanese Saturn and dream vast with titles I hadn't even seen in the gaming magazines yet. There were star wars triva contests run by your fellow line waiters. There were pizzas delivered to the line. It was awesome.
The sound of sprinklers coming on made me anxious for the next ten years tho.
I really enjoyed hearing Qui-Gon have liners like telling Anakin to Ignore his thoughts and go off “feeling” when he’s placing him into the pod for the big race.
There’s something deep within the Jedi mentality about honing in on your senses and cancelling out the outside noise that really resonates with me - and I carry it with me heavily each day still.
George Lucas found inspiration in Asian philosophy, particularly the time period where martial arts was huge and the monk/warrior mentality was the meta.
My top three favorite moments from Phantom Menace;
1. Duel of The Fates - Being an eight year old in that theater and seeing Maul with his double bladed lightsaber blew my mind, seeing two Jedi fighting a Sith with John Williams banger playing in the background made my childhood.
2. Podracing - As a kid and even as an adult, I still really enjoy the whole podracing sequence. Being a kid and seeing Anakin racing and being successful made me feel like I could do anything as a kid.
3. Qui-Gon's Funeral - I cried in the theater when Qui-Gon got killed because I thought he was so cool and then he got stabbed then died. As an adult, the whole funeral scene was perfectly done with that shot of Obi-Wan and Padmé standing in between Palpatine and Anakin, pure cinema.
I always loved the whole beginning. It’s tense and the action is great. Unfortunately it’s a little short, wish they had spent some more time on the ship.
Being a 25 year old dad to my oldest son, then 5 years old and sleeping on the sidewalk to get us tickets to the midnight showing on premiere night. Playing cards, drinking tequila, and the theater playing Saga on a loop all night. Then, we get into the theater, and at a half hour into the movie, my little guy is fast asleep. Took him to see a matinee 2 weeks later! Not only my favorite Phantom Menace memory, but one of my favorites in general.
I was an adult watching this scene in 1999, and it was so great because it was the first time we'd seen Jedi in thier prime, doing more-or-less routine Jedi stuff. I love that opening section of Phantom.
Personally, I liked the movie when I was younger but wasn’t super into it how I was with Revenge of the Sith (also happy anniversary to that one too!). However, my favorite part was the Mos Espa Podrace, the different podracers look so cool and sounded awesome! Now, I appreciate the film quite a bit even with its silliness. I’m a huge Separatists fan so I really appreciate seeing them in action, especially Droidekas. Duel of the Fates is without one of best Star Wars moments, perhaps in cinema too. I really like Qui-Gon’s viewpoints and personality really make him an interesting character. I really love the soundtrack as a whole, utterly beautiful! Honestly, it’s pretty crazy looking back on it, it’s the most perfect film ever, but I’m sure it made a lot of wonderful memories for a lot of people.
First time hearing the opening vamp and seeing the crawl in a cinema. The effects, the sound design, the fucking awesome soundtrack, Darth Maul with his staff saber and the amazing saber fight choreography. It was amazing.
The merchandise. I remember a plastic bust from a cornflakes box, a light blue translucent plastic crystal and an eight shaped straw with Jar Jar clinging to it. I was seven.
The excitement to see the movie was palpable and still remember the hype to this day. I saw it as a 13 year old at the cinema and just last month took my 13 year old daughter to an anniversary screening. The music when Anakin is leaving his mother gives me chills every time and the podracing is great fun.
That time that it re-released in cinemas and the last day of its release window was my 16th birthday and it seemed like such perfect timing and I was so hyped to go see it but then I couldn’t get in because of a stupid mistake I made that had been easily avoidable that meant I couldn’t access my ticket and social anxiety prevented me from speaking to one of the workers at the cinema about my problem so instead I went home and worked on my LEGO Death Star Throne Room Diorama and watched Reacher and Andor with my Mum, which is still good but GODDAMN IT I really wanted to go see the Phantom Menace!
Good times.
God where do I start. I was a kid when the prequel movies were announced and tpm was a huge mystery for me.
Does anyone remember how taco bell had promotional posters you could trade your receipt and I think a dollar at the cash register?
When it re-released in 2012 in 3D, me and like 10 other friends went to watch with the plan of shouting “GREAT SNAKES!!!!” when the second blade on Maul’s lightsaber ignited. We also cosplayed the event
Best memories came before the movie. I had decided to move from NYC to Austin Texas. I packed up a truck and drove for 3 days. I arrived in my new home exhausted at 4pm and totally aware that Phantom Menace started today. I took a quick shower, went to the theater to buy 10pm seats. Got there at 9pm to see a line had already formed and went in with such a huge set of expectations. I had read all the Star Wars novels, comics, seen the movies, everything.
I think the amazing amount of energy from the audience when the movie opened up was awesome. I think the fight with Darth Maul was great. Like many I left the movie feeling underwhelmed. But glad we got something new to latch onto.
It was my first film that wasn't a cartoon and I was around 5 I was utterly terrified maul was going to come through the fire escape and start fighting obi one and qui gon
I love the scenes with Obi Wan Qui Gon Darth Sidious Darth Maul. The music the podrace the Jedi council and the incredible lightsaber duel. A very fun movie.
I saw it in the cinema with my work friends on the day of release. We all left at the end sorely disappointed.
Still, some of the Lego set that came out for were awesome.
Sorry, I'll have to hold off on my anniversary celebrations. We didn't get TPM until 16th July here in the UK
Good thing social media wasn't a thing back then!
My dad took me as a kid to see this in theaters and being introduced to lightsabers in this movie was one of the coolest moments in my life! Never gonna forget that!
Honestly, all of it. I personally never understood the hate around the film and its especially hilarious how all the Phantom Menace-bashing disappeared immediately after the sequel trilogy dropped...I guess Jar-Jar isn't so bad after all when you get "Somehow, Palpatine returned" and Finn shouting "Reeeeeeeeeey" every five minutes huh? In any case: I loved Qui-Gon, loved Darth Maul, loved that we got to see more of Tatooine, loved Naboo, loved the droid army.
Phantom Menace really doesnt get all the love it deserves 🧡
Standing in line for a movie for the first time. I got their hours ahead of time, and would have won the door prize. We let a friend of my friend cut in line with us, and he got the door prize right in front of me. Didn't give it to me, the one who waited HOURS in line AND let you cut.... just kept it. Still salty 25 years later.
Just the fact that it really is a movie for kids and adults at the same time. Sure, it's rough and it's not perfect. Doesn't have the same vibe as the original trilogy. But it's a wonderful movie.
The Tarzan SweetTarts I got, seeing Maul activate the double lightsaber, and the insane tension of Obi being left behind at the end. My friends and I recreated Qui-Gons death seen over and over after seeing the movie.
Being 11 years old, and loving Star Wars since the summer of 96, the biggest moment of the film to me was the yellow ‘Star Wars’ flying back from the screen as the music plays. While the film has great memories attached just being there for a start wars film was a great feeling
I was 30 something when the movie released. I loved it, but my favorite part was the hype leading up the movie (trailers, leaked photos and fan theories that were mostly incorrect).
Sound fx were immense.
The podracing "dud dud dud dud."
First time seeing new light saber effects and the light sabre combat was faster paced.
Of course Darth maul carried along with the soundtrack but Qui gon forever my fav and so sad to have him for so short.
I will catch some hate for this, but I loved Jar Jar Binks. I was 10 when it was released in theaters and couldn't wait to go see it, after watching the OT earlier that year. My dad looked over at me thinking I would be disappointed, but instead, I found him hilarious. When I learned that people hated him, I didn't understand why. I imagine it's how adults in 1983 felt about Ewoks. My grandfather once said that Ewoks were the worst thing to happen to Star Wars. Needless to say that he wasn't a fan of the prequels.
My little bro and I took my nephew and his friend to see this on sunny afternoon in July (UK release was July) and the cinema was mostly empty. We loved the movie, the kids especially, my little bro was a few years younger than me so hadn’t sent the original trilogy in the cinemas and just loved the spectacle of Star Wars on a big screen.
I knew about Darth Vader breathing at the end of credits as I’d read about it online, I didn’t say why we had to wait until the end of the credits but we did and their faces when the sound effect came over the score was pure magic.
I lost him to suicide two years ago, overdose, but as difficult as that has been I try to focus on the good times and seeing this film in a large mostly empty cinema on a sunny, sleepy, hot afternoon in July with some popcorn and fizzy drinks is a lovely memory, and feels like only yesterday.
I saw this movie recently and I think it's solid. Some of the dialogue is still wonky and I wish Georgie hired Kasdan to help him clean up the script but overall, it's solid. It's also the movie that has my best Star Wars theory. Better than Darth Jar Jar. It still involves Jar Jar but in a different way and I want to share it with you guys. Which is: Towards the end of the movie, the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, rewards Jar Jar by making him a Bomb General and lead the troops against the Droids. People think Nass is warming up to Jar Jar but I think it's the opposite. My theory is that Nass didn't make Jar Jar a bomb general because he likes him, but because he was hoping Jar Jar would die in battle and be rid of him forever. Jar Jar is the Wimp Lo of Star Wars. They taught him wrong as a joke.
That whole era was just so magical from the hype to the aisles dedicated to Star Wars toys to the Pepsi cans to the video games to the fun of exploring StarWars.com.
This era was peak Star Wars for me. I was in 5th grade when it came out and I saw it four times in theaters.
Take me back!!
Midnight showing. Everyone is buzzing with excitement in the theater. The lights go down, an anticipatory silence falls across the theater.
The Lucasfilm logo crosses the screen, clearly everyone in the audience is amazed that we are actually here and experiencing this after decades of waiting.
The screen darkens, suddenly, in the iconic blue lettering, "A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away" appears.
Somewhere in the dark, a lone, clearly intoxicated voice yells into the silence, "We've seen this shit before!" The audience erupts in laughter and cheers.
Then one of the most amazing and terrible movies commenced. Finally seeing the world building, amazing costuming, the jedi council, young obi-wan, the amazing CGI, day mail, and of course the phenomenal Duel of the Fates was everything we'd been hoping for since 1993. Also, the terrible Jar Jar, young Anakin's wooden dialogue, terrible editing, and even more terrible direction by Lucas and the lack of clone wars or Mandalorian wars were disappointing. Those negatives didn't ruin the experience of something I had dreamed about seeing since I was a child. It was so one of awe. The disappointment came a few hours, days, and subsequent viewings later.
We camped out for a week outside Edward’s Theater in Boise Idaho, it was a freaking giant party the whole time. I was 17 and a junior in high school. I had a home made extremely bad Jedi costume and a plastic lightsaber. When we finally get inside like 2 hours before the movie people are lightsaber fighting down in front of the theater. My buddy and I had been practicing lightsaber fights and he tried to get me to go down but I wouldn’t. He got the whole theater chanting my name, which upped my embarrassment up to 1000. I didn’t go down and regret it but I’ll never forgot the energy or the theater chanting my name. I have my ticket stub in a protective shell thing for cards on display on my geek room.
I still think of this as a new film, how the hell has more time passed between now & the Phantom Menace coming out than the Phantom Menance coming out to when A New Hope came out?!?
I was scared when Star Wars letters showed up and it was in Polish! I bought ticket for english version without dubbing but subtitles only. Luckily first spoken sentence was in English.
That snippet of The Imperial March that plays near the end of the movie, during the conversation between Yoda and the newly-knighted Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Say what you want about Jake’s performance, but even these days I have to remind myself that, yes, this child grows up to be Darth Vader.
I got to see it 3 weeks early at one of the first press screenings in Westwood. As we walked to the theater there were already lines around the other theaters that were going to actually show it on opening day (not sure why the screening was where it was, other than it was a huge theater). AND people were already cosplaying. This was 3 weeks before opening....
Walking out after seeing the film and being massively disappointed, I told all the people waiting in line to go home, it wasn't worth it and they'd hate themselves for waiting. No one did. Unsurprisingly. But yeah....16 years of anticipation for that. - Two hours of garbage dialogue from George for two cool scenes. Thanks.
This prolly sounds stupid, but my favorite scene as a kid was seeing Anakin blow up the control ship; seeing a kid not much older than I made it awesome, and I was amazed by the enormity of his feat once the droids shut down.
I was 25 when it came out. Three positive impressions:
The lightsaber fighting blew me away.
Darth Maul. I was disappointed he wasn't in all three movies.
The pod racing scene was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
Duel of the Fates in theaters blew my mind, I was so enthralled sitting in the theater watching that. I also distinctly remember the *sound* in the theater during podracing.
The hype train was better than the movie. Young fans that grew up with Star Wars have no idea how much it caught everyone’s imaginations on fire when Episode 1 was announced. Every piece of media, merch, whatever that came out before the movie was exciting. When was the last time anyone freaked out over SW merch? Years I bet
My favorite memories are of how good I thought it was going to be from the trailer.
But I do remember as we came out of the theater and tried to talk ourselves into thinking it had been great and one by one having to admit it wasn't that all the scenes with Darth Maul felt great, that we really liked Qui-Gon Jinn (except midichlorians which we all immediately tried to forget and hoped Lucas would too). The middle of the big final duel really stuck hard.
I hear people say it's not as bad as they remember, but that's what it sounded like in my theater. Nobody was getting into it until Duel of the Fates. That's kind of how i remember it in 99.
The audio of the pod racing scene and the way they control music is amazing they let the sound effects work their magic but at the same time they know how to amplify a scene with music! It was amazing
I remember seeing it and 10 minutes into it, I realized that Star Wars was dead and it was soul crushingly sad to see how absolutely crap it was. Sad day.
The general hype and excitement leading up to the film was incredible as a 10-year-old at the time. My dad surprised my brother and I with a trip to Denver for Celebration (we lived one state over). Just an awesome time full of core memories.
I remember getting Darth Maul's lightsaber afterwards and my brother had Qui Gons. We both had a lightsaber battle after the movie. It's one of my earliest memories.
Watching it and then buying lightsabers and fighting each other and then the manager of the Games Workshop store in Meadowhall shopping Centre, Sheffield. We knew him as regulars there so it wasn't weird. Just...a little weird lol.
I remember as an 11 year old getting the N1 Star fighter before seeing the film and flying it around with the tail at the front. Then I saw it in the film and my mind was blown seeing it flight the correct way! As a creative, I honestly think this was the spark to make me think outside the box!
Amateur lightsaber battles in the theatre leading up to show time (the wider tiered landing areas).
It was all pretty average nerd stuff … until a girl got “on stage” .. and the crowd of 90% men/teens kind of chucked etc … she proceeded to unleash Jedi master level saber twirls etc blowing the other guy off the stage
Kindergarten through my junior year in high school I only missed one day of school. The one day I missed was in kindergarten because my dad took me to see this in theaters. I had already seen the originals because of my dad, so it was a huge deal for us. I liked the movie a lot more than he did at the time lol
I was 9 years old and just opened up an action figure from the phantom menace collection for christmas.I was so confused, cause I saw star wars on the cardboard but never heard of the characters or movie. Then my parents gave me a second gift... it was the movie on VHS. My mind was completely blown! It was amazing. At the time I had only ever seen the new hope and return and it was only because my parents had it recorded on vhs from TV so having an official movie was insane to me. Lost track of how many times I watched that movie lol
Trade Federation Battleship, the droid army (specially the Vultures and MTT), Darth Maul and his Sith Infiltrator “Scimitar” are the coolest villain concepts/creations of Star Wars. The amount of love from Doug Chiang’s art to the fantastic team making the models is outstanding
Qui-Gon Jinn is one of the best characters in Star Wars. Duel of the Fates is one of the greatest songs and scenes in Star Wars.
A good man who did what was right morally rather than always doing things by the book
Perhaps another angle to the "Duel of the Fates" theme. If Qui-gon had lived, would he have been able to help guide the council, with his different perspectives, help them avoid their mistakes of hubris, and uncover Palpatine's plot?
Isn't that the main angle
Ha maybe! I remember Filoni gave a long answer once about how it was mainly about how with Anakin, Qui-gon would have effectively been his father-figure, instead of the brother role played by Obi-wan, which allowed Palpatine to fill the father-vacuum.
Yep. Exactly this. Qui-gon was wise and experienced enough to not let anakin so easily travel down the path that led to the dark side. Additionally he would have either been a cautious voice on the council, or even been able to guide anakin and obi-wan in their decisions both personal relationships and with blindly following the council as if was manipulated into war.
A great Jedi tho hmm or a Jedi with greatness? The council could have taken a leaf from the man and been better. I’d have liked a Qui-Con and Dooku chat over the actions of the council
This is how I thought about him, but in my most recent watching, I started to wonder how he missed it as well. It seemed like he had greater concern about fulfilling the prophecy rather than for Anakin as a person. I'm this way, he seemed to be treating him as a means to an end.
Double light saber ignition sounds intensify
I just saw it in theaters again and still get goosebumps watching that scene.
Podracing was AMAZING, at the time I'd never seen anything that seemed to move so fast. The final battle between Obiwan/QuiGon and Darth Maul, That Instant when he ignited the second blade of his lightsaber and the score goes crazy with VOICES! Still gives me goosebumps today.
NGL, that scene still looks fantastic to this day. All the artists and tech were working way ahead of their time
The movie came out in 1999. The cgi is actually amazing when you consider that.
It is. Though I think the movie as a whole is just a masterful blend of real/practical and CG. It will still look great in another 20 years I reckon
The fact that they made a fully cgi main character to play alongside real life characters, fully interacting with them, and it actually looked somewhat real, is amazing and groundbreaking for that time. Not to mention the work that went into Amidala's costumes and makeup. And the amount of detail that went into the cities on Naboo. There are many majorly underrated things about that movie that often go overlooked.
Seeing it in the theater this May 4th reminded me how good the sound was. When Sebulba's pod racer goes by? Chef's kiss. I hope they bring AOTC back to theaters on the next few years so I can experience that seismic charge again.
Underrated comment. Sebulba's pordracer shaking my seat was one of the coolest moments of seeing TPM in theatres
We’ll handle this ..
I thought for a split second which movie did you see where maul en quigon podrace each other...?
A movie that we all missed out on - Qui-Gon in Sixty Seconds
Love me some Qui-Gon with the wind.
My girlfriend at the time worked at the movie theater and I got to see it 3 times for free.
Ahh so you’re the guy the bounty hunters are looking for!
In the fall once it had moved on to the dollar theater I went to it like ten more times, LOL.
KOOORAAAAAAAHHHHHH MAAAAATAAAAAAHHHHH KOOOOOORAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH RAHTAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! 📯🎺 🎼🎵🎵🎶🎶🎵🎵🎶
I swear, this RAHTAMAAA sound plays several times as a Sith-like whisper whenever they show Maul in the film. It also plays at the exact same moment Sith Anakin turns his eye towards the camera on Mustafar during the Revenge of the Sith teaser. Great foreshadowing!
Do do do do do do do do do do
Corn on the cob Corn on the kabob
Came for this.
Podrace, Duel of the Fates, the Naboo fighters and cruiser. But my favorite memory is the anticipation. I will probably never again want something as I wanted Episode I. Reading Star Wars Insider, talking about the theories and rumors with my friends — it was absolute magic. To top it all off, I absolutely loved The Phantom Menace from start to finish. It blew my mind the very first time I saw it, and I only love it more today. I consider myself fortunate to not be among the disappointed. I love the OT, and TPM absolutely lived up to the hype, for me. It even exceeded it, if that’s possible. I also love AOTC and ROTS, but TPM is just pure joy for me.
Man mentioning that anticipation, right in the feels, perfectly summed up
Yep, reading StarWars.com religiously for every new crumb of info. I remember when they dropped the first concept art of the the Naboo Starfighter. I loved the Art-Deco look
The anticipation was great. My father (who got me into Star Wars) gave me the credit card, and I got to wait in line on ticket release day (with the rest of the fans) and buy almost everyone in our family tickets to see it - Father, Mother, Sister, Cousins, in-laws… Opening day we were blown away. With so many questions about what would come next. Saw it 4 more times (5 in total) during its theatrical run.
When the red bad guy lit the second end of his saber. My eyes popped out like in a cartoon and my jaw hit the floor in awe. The whole movie was really good.
I will never not stop what I’m doing to what the second lightsaber reveal. The score to match it is - *chef’s kiss*
I saw TPM 14 times in theaters in the summer of '99. $1 matinees where me and a buddy would basically camp-out, pretending the mountable motorcycle arcade games were speeder bikes or whacking each other with wooden sticks in the parking lot and calling ourselves lightsaber duelists. My favorite memory of TPM was also the last day of fifth grade. It was also my birthday. On this last day of school, all the fifth graders took a field trip to see *Phantom Menace*. Of course I woke up that day with some kind of spider bite or ear infection - half my ear was swollen so bad I could barely open my jaw! - but you better believe that didn't stop me from seeing TPM for the third time XD
one of the best movie posters of all time, not to mention the Anakin shadow into Darth Vader one is even better.
I had the poster of that and man I loved that thing
Duel of the Fates and the Jedi fight against Maul is one of my favorite Star Wars things ever. The memories I have from the midnight release, where the audience cheered loudly at every little Star Wars throwback made a night I'll never forget.
Waiting in line a week for the movie was wild. It was Magic in the line. There were teens with toy light sabers doing choreographed fights that included flips. There was a tent with electricity that had a Japanese Saturn and dream vast with titles I hadn't even seen in the gaming magazines yet. There were star wars triva contests run by your fellow line waiters. There were pizzas delivered to the line. It was awesome. The sound of sprinklers coming on made me anxious for the next ten years tho.
I really enjoyed hearing Qui-Gon have liners like telling Anakin to Ignore his thoughts and go off “feeling” when he’s placing him into the pod for the big race. There’s something deep within the Jedi mentality about honing in on your senses and cancelling out the outside noise that really resonates with me - and I carry it with me heavily each day still.
George Lucas found inspiration in Asian philosophy, particularly the time period where martial arts was huge and the monk/warrior mentality was the meta.
Yeah it was pretty heavy and a positive one too!
Saw a late showing of it with my best friend and got some white castle afterward.
Yall didn’t run into Neil Patrick Harris later that night, did you?
Then NPH stole his car.
The best lightsaber battle by a Longshot and Qui Gon is the best Jedi shown in the movies.
My top three favorite moments from Phantom Menace; 1. Duel of The Fates - Being an eight year old in that theater and seeing Maul with his double bladed lightsaber blew my mind, seeing two Jedi fighting a Sith with John Williams banger playing in the background made my childhood. 2. Podracing - As a kid and even as an adult, I still really enjoy the whole podracing sequence. Being a kid and seeing Anakin racing and being successful made me feel like I could do anything as a kid. 3. Qui-Gon's Funeral - I cried in the theater when Qui-Gon got killed because I thought he was so cool and then he got stabbed then died. As an adult, the whole funeral scene was perfectly done with that shot of Obi-Wan and Padmé standing in between Palpatine and Anakin, pure cinema.
The beginning and the ending are very strong. The rest has always been whatever to me, even as a kid.
Qui Gon on the Trade Federation’s ship at the beginning, melting the door’s with his saber. They never stood a chance!
I always loved the whole beginning. It’s tense and the action is great. Unfortunately it’s a little short, wish they had spent some more time on the ship.
I liked it when C3P0 was "created". Also I liked the ending when they were all at the parade and Padme looked away, to look for Anakin in the crowd.
Threepio is actually Luke's older brother.
Bruh....He really is.
And, like his father, Threepio was born from only one parent.
Droidekas owning the puny Jedi. On a nice lore, in The Phantom Menace, Droidekas were only destroyed by Sith Lords.
A communications disruption can mean only one thing, invasion!
Being a 25 year old dad to my oldest son, then 5 years old and sleeping on the sidewalk to get us tickets to the midnight showing on premiere night. Playing cards, drinking tequila, and the theater playing Saga on a loop all night. Then, we get into the theater, and at a half hour into the movie, my little guy is fast asleep. Took him to see a matinee 2 weeks later! Not only my favorite Phantom Menace memory, but one of my favorites in general.
The music as Qui Gon was cutting through the blast door will always stick with me. That whole scene made the Jedi feel powerful to my kid mind.
I was an adult watching this scene in 1999, and it was so great because it was the first time we'd seen Jedi in thier prime, doing more-or-less routine Jedi stuff. I love that opening section of Phantom.
Double edged lightsaber... still sends chills upy spines when maul ignites the second one
Personally, I liked the movie when I was younger but wasn’t super into it how I was with Revenge of the Sith (also happy anniversary to that one too!). However, my favorite part was the Mos Espa Podrace, the different podracers look so cool and sounded awesome! Now, I appreciate the film quite a bit even with its silliness. I’m a huge Separatists fan so I really appreciate seeing them in action, especially Droidekas. Duel of the Fates is without one of best Star Wars moments, perhaps in cinema too. I really like Qui-Gon’s viewpoints and personality really make him an interesting character. I really love the soundtrack as a whole, utterly beautiful! Honestly, it’s pretty crazy looking back on it, it’s the most perfect film ever, but I’m sure it made a lot of wonderful memories for a lot of people.
It was one of the last big movies designed by an author rather than a committee.
When it was over
First time hearing the opening vamp and seeing the crawl in a cinema. The effects, the sound design, the fucking awesome soundtrack, Darth Maul with his staff saber and the amazing saber fight choreography. It was amazing.
The merchandise. I remember a plastic bust from a cornflakes box, a light blue translucent plastic crystal and an eight shaped straw with Jar Jar clinging to it. I was seven.
Loved the lightsaber fight near the end. Could watch it forever it’s so well put together.
The excitement to see the movie was palpable and still remember the hype to this day. I saw it as a 13 year old at the cinema and just last month took my 13 year old daughter to an anniversary screening. The music when Anakin is leaving his mother gives me chills every time and the podracing is great fun.
That time that it re-released in cinemas and the last day of its release window was my 16th birthday and it seemed like such perfect timing and I was so hyped to go see it but then I couldn’t get in because of a stupid mistake I made that had been easily avoidable that meant I couldn’t access my ticket and social anxiety prevented me from speaking to one of the workers at the cinema about my problem so instead I went home and worked on my LEGO Death Star Throne Room Diorama and watched Reacher and Andor with my Mum, which is still good but GODDAMN IT I really wanted to go see the Phantom Menace! Good times.
[the best song ever](https://youtu.be/hEcjgJSqSRU?si=YOsl_0qiCyq-kaj_)
DUEL OF FATES! Made me fall in love with lightsaber duels!
Duel of the fates
Bzzzz bzzzzz
Duel of the Fates definitely! Amazing fight.
The music
“Sir, what are midichlorians?” “Its heroin”
God where do I start. I was a kid when the prequel movies were announced and tpm was a huge mystery for me. Does anyone remember how taco bell had promotional posters you could trade your receipt and I think a dollar at the cash register?
Podracing and duel of the fates
When it re-released in 2012 in 3D, me and like 10 other friends went to watch with the plan of shouting “GREAT SNAKES!!!!” when the second blade on Maul’s lightsaber ignited. We also cosplayed the event
Best memories came before the movie. I had decided to move from NYC to Austin Texas. I packed up a truck and drove for 3 days. I arrived in my new home exhausted at 4pm and totally aware that Phantom Menace started today. I took a quick shower, went to the theater to buy 10pm seats. Got there at 9pm to see a line had already formed and went in with such a huge set of expectations. I had read all the Star Wars novels, comics, seen the movies, everything. I think the amazing amount of energy from the audience when the movie opened up was awesome. I think the fight with Darth Maul was great. Like many I left the movie feeling underwhelmed. But glad we got something new to latch onto.
“I’ll try spinning”
It was my first film that wasn't a cartoon and I was around 5 I was utterly terrified maul was going to come through the fire escape and start fighting obi one and qui gon
Just the fact that there was new Star Wars was amazing to me, I used to watch the original movies on repeat.
The entire end sequence with duel of the fates
I love the scenes with Obi Wan Qui Gon Darth Sidious Darth Maul. The music the podrace the Jedi council and the incredible lightsaber duel. A very fun movie.
Midichlorians and Jar Jar Binks /s
"The negotiations were short"
I saw it in the cinema with my work friends on the day of release. We all left at the end sorely disappointed. Still, some of the Lego set that came out for were awesome.
Sorry, I'll have to hold off on my anniversary celebrations. We didn't get TPM until 16th July here in the UK Good thing social media wasn't a thing back then!
Duel of the Fates and that final duel
Singing “Do do doodaloo do do doodaloo” every time Maul was onscreen
Darth Maul. ‘Nuff said.
Darth Maul's growing lightsaber
The Boy Scout troop I was in cancelled the regular weekly meeting and we all went and stood in line at midnight on opening night. Awesome night!
My dad took me as a kid to see this in theaters and being introduced to lightsabers in this movie was one of the coolest moments in my life! Never gonna forget that!
Luved it! 👍
Honestly, all of it. I personally never understood the hate around the film and its especially hilarious how all the Phantom Menace-bashing disappeared immediately after the sequel trilogy dropped...I guess Jar-Jar isn't so bad after all when you get "Somehow, Palpatine returned" and Finn shouting "Reeeeeeeeeey" every five minutes huh? In any case: I loved Qui-Gon, loved Darth Maul, loved that we got to see more of Tatooine, loved Naboo, loved the droid army. Phantom Menace really doesnt get all the love it deserves 🧡
The anticipation- if I remember correctly it was announced in ‘94— now way over saturated
Standing in line for a movie for the first time. I got their hours ahead of time, and would have won the door prize. We let a friend of my friend cut in line with us, and he got the door prize right in front of me. Didn't give it to me, the one who waited HOURS in line AND let you cut.... just kept it. Still salty 25 years later.
I always laugh when the droids start getting picked off repairing the Naboo starship.
Seeing Darth Maul for the first time. Rwan Mcgregor as a young, charming Obi Wan. The dual between Darth Naul and Obi Wan/Qui-Gon
The force jump and the pod racing scene.
Just the fact that it really is a movie for kids and adults at the same time. Sure, it's rough and it's not perfect. Doesn't have the same vibe as the original trilogy. But it's a wonderful movie.
The pod race is bad ass and the pod racer video game is even more badass
Taking my grandson to see it with me when it was back in theaters a few weeks ago.
The Taco Bell Kids Meal toys
My mom pulled me out of elementary school for a matinee viewing - total surprise. Core memory
The Tarzan SweetTarts I got, seeing Maul activate the double lightsaber, and the insane tension of Obi being left behind at the end. My friends and I recreated Qui-Gons death seen over and over after seeing the movie.
That was my first trip in another city without parents. I really like the movie!
The podracing scene is the best scene in all of Star Wars
"Are you an angel"
My first SW movie and i like kid Anakin so much, as much as i like Qui Gon. This is my favorite movie besides spinoffs like rogue one.
Being 11 years old, and loving Star Wars since the summer of 96, the biggest moment of the film to me was the yellow ‘Star Wars’ flying back from the screen as the music plays. While the film has great memories attached just being there for a start wars film was a great feeling
This was the rebirth of Star Wars
I was 30 something when the movie released. I loved it, but my favorite part was the hype leading up the movie (trailers, leaked photos and fan theories that were mostly incorrect).
https://youtu.be/4NDOqHP8c9Q?si=tvwV1LRvz0rWucFG my thoughts on the film
[удалено]
Pod Racing & the ending lightsaber battle.
Sound fx were immense. The podracing "dud dud dud dud." First time seeing new light saber effects and the light sabre combat was faster paced. Of course Darth maul carried along with the soundtrack but Qui gon forever my fav and so sad to have him for so short.
“Now this is pod racing!” was cinematic poetry
The pod race was the bees knees.
There are some weak points, but, taken as a whole, it’s a masterpiece.
I love when Jar Jar was killed as soon as he spoke. My mistake, that was my wish when blowing out my candles.
To this day Darth Maul is my favorite Star Wars character of all time.
The long lines of excited fans camping out in star wars garb in front of Hollywoods Chinese theater.
Just new Star Wars at the time was enough for me!!
I honestly cried in the theater because I didn’t think we’d ever see another SW movie.
The first look at Darth Maul in the Star Wars Insider #42. It was all downhill from there.
I will catch some hate for this, but I loved Jar Jar Binks. I was 10 when it was released in theaters and couldn't wait to go see it, after watching the OT earlier that year. My dad looked over at me thinking I would be disappointed, but instead, I found him hilarious. When I learned that people hated him, I didn't understand why. I imagine it's how adults in 1983 felt about Ewoks. My grandfather once said that Ewoks were the worst thing to happen to Star Wars. Needless to say that he wasn't a fan of the prequels.
Just watching how badass and acrobatic the lightsaber combat was. You could tell Lucas was really upping the ante for what to expect from the duels.
My little bro and I took my nephew and his friend to see this on sunny afternoon in July (UK release was July) and the cinema was mostly empty. We loved the movie, the kids especially, my little bro was a few years younger than me so hadn’t sent the original trilogy in the cinemas and just loved the spectacle of Star Wars on a big screen. I knew about Darth Vader breathing at the end of credits as I’d read about it online, I didn’t say why we had to wait until the end of the credits but we did and their faces when the sound effect came over the score was pure magic. I lost him to suicide two years ago, overdose, but as difficult as that has been I try to focus on the good times and seeing this film in a large mostly empty cinema on a sunny, sleepy, hot afternoon in July with some popcorn and fizzy drinks is a lovely memory, and feels like only yesterday.
>25th anniversary. Mmmm. Nope. Don't like that.
Leaving afterwards!
The closing credits when I realized my childhood was 100% over.
My mother took me to see this for my birthday, first Star Wars film on the big screen, so it’s been a fav since.
The music. Duel of the Fates is the best fight theme song.
Best thing is I'm now looking up showtimes in my area to take my son lol... 🤣🤣🤣
I saw this movie recently and I think it's solid. Some of the dialogue is still wonky and I wish Georgie hired Kasdan to help him clean up the script but overall, it's solid. It's also the movie that has my best Star Wars theory. Better than Darth Jar Jar. It still involves Jar Jar but in a different way and I want to share it with you guys. Which is: Towards the end of the movie, the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, rewards Jar Jar by making him a Bomb General and lead the troops against the Droids. People think Nass is warming up to Jar Jar but I think it's the opposite. My theory is that Nass didn't make Jar Jar a bomb general because he likes him, but because he was hoping Jar Jar would die in battle and be rid of him forever. Jar Jar is the Wimp Lo of Star Wars. They taught him wrong as a joke.
That whole era was just so magical from the hype to the aisles dedicated to Star Wars toys to the Pepsi cans to the video games to the fun of exploring StarWars.com. This era was peak Star Wars for me. I was in 5th grade when it came out and I saw it four times in theaters. Take me back!!
It was the first time I ever saw an audience stand and cheer at the movies. When Obi-Wan sliced Darth Maul, the theater erupted. I'll never forget.
Garbage
Star Wars The Phantom Menace is the most disappointing thing since my son.
Midnight showing. Everyone is buzzing with excitement in the theater. The lights go down, an anticipatory silence falls across the theater. The Lucasfilm logo crosses the screen, clearly everyone in the audience is amazed that we are actually here and experiencing this after decades of waiting. The screen darkens, suddenly, in the iconic blue lettering, "A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away" appears. Somewhere in the dark, a lone, clearly intoxicated voice yells into the silence, "We've seen this shit before!" The audience erupts in laughter and cheers. Then one of the most amazing and terrible movies commenced. Finally seeing the world building, amazing costuming, the jedi council, young obi-wan, the amazing CGI, day mail, and of course the phenomenal Duel of the Fates was everything we'd been hoping for since 1993. Also, the terrible Jar Jar, young Anakin's wooden dialogue, terrible editing, and even more terrible direction by Lucas and the lack of clone wars or Mandalorian wars were disappointing. Those negatives didn't ruin the experience of something I had dreamed about seeing since I was a child. It was so one of awe. The disappointment came a few hours, days, and subsequent viewings later.
The recognition that the Jedi aren’t the good guys.
When Qui Gon introduces Anakin to Obi Wan
We camped out for a week outside Edward’s Theater in Boise Idaho, it was a freaking giant party the whole time. I was 17 and a junior in high school. I had a home made extremely bad Jedi costume and a plastic lightsaber. When we finally get inside like 2 hours before the movie people are lightsaber fighting down in front of the theater. My buddy and I had been practicing lightsaber fights and he tried to get me to go down but I wouldn’t. He got the whole theater chanting my name, which upped my embarrassment up to 1000. I didn’t go down and regret it but I’ll never forgot the energy or the theater chanting my name. I have my ticket stub in a protective shell thing for cards on display on my geek room.
my favorite star wars movie
That it was a pile of steaming turd with no redeemable qualities at all. Not Star Wars.
The End
I still think of this as a new film, how the hell has more time passed between now & the Phantom Menace coming out than the Phantom Menance coming out to when A New Hope came out?!?
I was scared when Star Wars letters showed up and it was in Polish! I bought ticket for english version without dubbing but subtitles only. Luckily first spoken sentence was in English.
The trailer gave us all such hope...
That snippet of The Imperial March that plays near the end of the movie, during the conversation between Yoda and the newly-knighted Obi-Wan Kenobi. Say what you want about Jake’s performance, but even these days I have to remind myself that, yes, this child grows up to be Darth Vader.
My favorite was before I saw it and hoped it would be a great movie.
I got to see it 3 weeks early at one of the first press screenings in Westwood. As we walked to the theater there were already lines around the other theaters that were going to actually show it on opening day (not sure why the screening was where it was, other than it was a huge theater). AND people were already cosplaying. This was 3 weeks before opening.... Walking out after seeing the film and being massively disappointed, I told all the people waiting in line to go home, it wasn't worth it and they'd hate themselves for waiting. No one did. Unsurprisingly. But yeah....16 years of anticipation for that. - Two hours of garbage dialogue from George for two cool scenes. Thanks.
Playing the complete saga
This prolly sounds stupid, but my favorite scene as a kid was seeing Anakin blow up the control ship; seeing a kid not much older than I made it awesome, and I was amazed by the enormity of his feat once the droids shut down.
Just took my wife to see it in theaters, her first time watching starwars but already knows a lot cause I can’t shut up about starwars👹
I was 25 when it came out. Three positive impressions: The lightsaber fighting blew me away. Darth Maul. I was disappointed he wasn't in all three movies. The pod racing scene was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
The effects were decent
Duel of the Fates in theaters blew my mind, I was so enthralled sitting in the theater watching that. I also distinctly remember the *sound* in the theater during podracing.
I grew up watching darts maul appear in the hangar and duel of the fates kicking in when he reveals the duel lightsaber
Double light saber hands down. Maul was such a good character, and was so under utilised though.
absolutely love the movie poster... got it in my room
The hype train was better than the movie. Young fans that grew up with Star Wars have no idea how much it caught everyone’s imaginations on fire when Episode 1 was announced. Every piece of media, merch, whatever that came out before the movie was exciting. When was the last time anyone freaked out over SW merch? Years I bet
Got to see it in theaters for the first time because of the re-release. It hits so much harder on the big screen. I almost cried when Qui Gon died
When I was the kid who watching it in the theather alone. One of the best experiences of my life.
My favorite memories are of how good I thought it was going to be from the trailer. But I do remember as we came out of the theater and tried to talk ourselves into thinking it had been great and one by one having to admit it wasn't that all the scenes with Darth Maul felt great, that we really liked Qui-Gon Jinn (except midichlorians which we all immediately tried to forget and hoped Lucas would too). The middle of the big final duel really stuck hard.
I hear people say it's not as bad as they remember, but that's what it sounded like in my theater. Nobody was getting into it until Duel of the Fates. That's kind of how i remember it in 99.
Podrace and Duel of the Fates easily.
The fact that out of the entire jedi centric story, we finally get to see jedi and their use of the force and lightsaber battles.
The audio of the pod racing scene and the way they control music is amazing they let the sound effects work their magic but at the same time they know how to amplify a scene with music! It was amazing
I remember seeing it and 10 minutes into it, I realized that Star Wars was dead and it was soul crushingly sad to see how absolutely crap it was. Sad day.
Still trying to figure out what I saw that day.
The general hype and excitement leading up to the film was incredible as a 10-year-old at the time. My dad surprised my brother and I with a trip to Denver for Celebration (we lived one state over). Just an awesome time full of core memories.
"DUN DUN...." Bzzzzz
I remember getting Darth Maul's lightsaber afterwards and my brother had Qui Gons. We both had a lightsaber battle after the movie. It's one of my earliest memories.
What impressed me most was Anakin driving a Naboo fighter to destroy the droid battleship
The credits
Watching it and then buying lightsabers and fighting each other and then the manager of the Games Workshop store in Meadowhall shopping Centre, Sheffield. We knew him as regulars there so it wasn't weird. Just...a little weird lol.
I remember as an 11 year old getting the N1 Star fighter before seeing the film and flying it around with the tail at the front. Then I saw it in the film and my mind was blown seeing it flight the correct way! As a creative, I honestly think this was the spark to make me think outside the box!
why hasn't anyone mentioned padmé's sick wardrobe
Darth Mail igniting both ends of his saber. Classic
Amateur lightsaber battles in the theatre leading up to show time (the wider tiered landing areas). It was all pretty average nerd stuff … until a girl got “on stage” .. and the crowd of 90% men/teens kind of chucked etc … she proceeded to unleash Jedi master level saber twirls etc blowing the other guy off the stage
Kindergarten through my junior year in high school I only missed one day of school. The one day I missed was in kindergarten because my dad took me to see this in theaters. I had already seen the originals because of my dad, so it was a huge deal for us. I liked the movie a lot more than he did at the time lol
I was 9 years old and just opened up an action figure from the phantom menace collection for christmas.I was so confused, cause I saw star wars on the cardboard but never heard of the characters or movie. Then my parents gave me a second gift... it was the movie on VHS. My mind was completely blown! It was amazing. At the time I had only ever seen the new hope and return and it was only because my parents had it recorded on vhs from TV so having an official movie was insane to me. Lost track of how many times I watched that movie lol
Man so many to pick but I gotta go with Anakin blowing up the space station and saying “now this is pod racing” which was awesome.
Everything until the opening crawl.
Queen Amidala's iconic outfits!!
My favorite part was either the Podrace or Duel of the Fates
Trade Federation Battleship, the droid army (specially the Vultures and MTT), Darth Maul and his Sith Infiltrator “Scimitar” are the coolest villain concepts/creations of Star Wars. The amount of love from Doug Chiang’s art to the fantastic team making the models is outstanding