The Phantom Menace at 20: A Defense

[XCV330]

It took him a while to learn how the Jedi afterlife and being a Force spirit worked. His consciousness survived death but it probably took him a while to get from screaming Anakin's name when he witnesses him slaughtering the Tusken Raiders and being a disembodied voice on the physical plane of existence to gaining the ability to manifest to Obi-Wan during the Clone Wars and carrying on full conversations with his former Padawan.

Qui Gon Sloe Gin force-ghost visited every bar in the galaxy and a few others during his settling in period. Then some time off to watch pod racing. By the time he sobered up, he looked up Schmi to see if she'd be interested in having another immaculate baby but she was busy with the sandpeople convention by then so it reminded him he needed to check on his former ward. After telling him NO before he did something bad a couple of times (leaving Anakin never able to enjoy intimacy by himself, or revenge among others) he went on to haunt Yoda more productively.

 

[Nightowl1701]

If I recall, Lucas had originally intended to have the final battle against the Empire with the primitive Wookiees defeating the Empire, but by the time he got to that point, it was realized that Wookiees were not that primitive. So instead of copy/paste another tall furry species, he went short and furry for the primitives….thus Ewoks (the tiny fuzzy Vietcong).

He also became a first-time dad between Empire & Jedi (Amanda), and he wanted his baby girl to have her very own teddy bear from outer space.

 

[fireproof78]

If I recall, Lucas had originally intended to have the final battle against the Empire with the primitive Wookiees defeating the Empire, but by the time he got to that point, it was realized that Wookiees were not that primitive. So instead of copy/paste another tall furry species, he went short and furry for the primitives….thus Ewoks (the tiny fuzzy Vietcong).

I thought it was a cost thing, but fair enough. Lucas had wanted to due VC vs. America since early drafts of Star Wars.

 

[Mach5]

 

[BillJ]

I don't think the prequel trilogy is the crime against humanity some folks do. For me, it fails because of one simple thing: they never made me care about Anakin Skywalker, so I didn't care when he fell. Which was the emotional center of the trilogy.

There are elements of the films that work, Anakin simply isn't one of them.

 

[HugeLobes]

I don't think the prequel trilogy is the crime against humanity some folks do. For me, it fails because of one simple thing: they never made me care about Anakin Skywalker, so I didn't care when he fell. Which was the emotional center of the trilogy.

There are elements of the films that work, Anakin simply isn't one of them.

For me, they're not a crime against humanity but a crime against Star Wars. I know some people enjoy these movies, but I find it sad to see how far the series has fallen, at least in my eyes. Honestly find it tough to think of anything positive to say about those films.

 

[HugeLobes]

The Ewoks were more than some small indication, like them or not they were an indication that SW wouldn't be just or primarily for adults but intentionally be all-ages including elements directly for children

Star Wars was never primarily for adults. They were always family movies, similar to Back to the Future and Indiana Jones. That shouldn't mean including elements 'directly for children', which is why many viewers disliked the Ewoks.

 

[nutshell]

One of my favorite things about TPM is that the Gungan’s parade music at the end is actually the Emperor’s theme. He’s winning, but the heroes don’t even know it.

 

[nutshell]

It’s a fair point. TPM may be my son’s favorite SW film.

 

[Ithekro]

I don't think the prequel trilogy is the crime against humanity some folks do. For me, it fails because of one simple thing: they never made me care about Anakin Skywalker, so I didn't care when he fell. Which was the emotional center of the trilogy.

There are elements of the films that work, Anakin simply isn't one of them.

Probably one of the reasons The Clone Wars did well is that there you can care about what Anakin feels and see more depth to him than in the films.

 

[cooleddie74]

Anakin Skywalker as portrayed by Matt Lanter is the Anakin Skywalker that George probably hoped Hayden Christensen would be but couldn't pull off. TCW turns him into a genuinely sympathetic and interesting character and with the oft-hated Ahsoka Tano at his side helping to flesh him out.

It is ironic that one of the most controversial characters in the Star Wars franchise helped make one of the most ridiculed a full human being. TCW made many aspects of the Prequel Trilogy more tolerable and interesting. By the time Anakin gets to the Battle of Coruscant and his fall to the Dark Side he's had a very interesting journey as a character and I wish more of that were visible in ROTS.

 

[Gavin70]

Part of me thinks that one of the main weaknesses of the prequel trilogy is it's director. George Lucas has/had great vision and was able to come up with an intriguing story. And he nailed the technical and special effects. But I don't think he has the ability to pull the best performance from the actors he was working with. When you're working with actors like Liam Neeson, Ewen McGregor, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, etc. and their performances come of as flat and dull, there's a problem somewhere. Part of that is the difficulty actors face working against a green screen but other directors manage to get better performances under the same conditions. I often wonder what would have happened if George Lucas had set the direction with TPM and then taken a step back like he did with ESB and let someone else take his story to the next stage?

 

[Mach5]

‘All Films Are Personal’: An Oral History of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace

George Lucas, Doug Chiang, John Knoll, and more creators of the first film in the prequel trilogy look back 20 years later.

 

[HugeLobes]

Anakin Skywalker as portrayed by Matt Lanter is the Anakin Skywalker that George probably hoped Hayden Christensen would be but couldn't pull off. TCW turns him into a genuinely sympathetic and interesting character and with the oft-hated Ahsoka Tano at his side helping to flesh him out.

Given the lines and direction in AOTC and ROTS, Anakin was always going to be a dud.

 

[Nightowl1701]

I often wonder what would have happened if George Lucas had set the direction with TPM and then taken a step back like he did with ESB and let someone else take his story to the next stage?

That's exactly what he tried to do, with AOTC/ROTS both. He wanted someone to polish the dialogue and someone to direct, if not the whole film, then at least the dialogue-heavy parts so he could focus on the action. (Part of the reason it took until the last second to get the script finished on both.) Everybody he asked either had other things to do, felt it was 'George's baby' and he should be the one to finish it out, or they just didn't want to deal with being his puppet.

 

[Ithekro]

If anyone knows the limitations of George Lucas' directions style, its George Lucas. He's said he only has two directions ever since the first Star Wars film "Faster" and "More Intense".

 

[fireproof78]

One of my favorite things about TPM is that the Gungan’s parade music at the end is actually the Emperor’s theme. He’s winning, but the heroes don’t even know it.

That is both an excellent thing as well as a difficult thing because heroes never feel like they have a chance.

 

[Set Harth]

Qui-Gon was, though still existing in some sense, probably was only barely conscious until AotC and not able to communicate until near the end of RotS, maybe a copout (abilities probably shouldn't develop over time after death) but that seems what was conveyed.

They could have gone that route if we're going by what's shown in the films alone, but TCW kind of fucked that up.

 

[cooleddie74]

If anyone knows the limitations of George Lucas' directions style, its George Lucas. He's said he only has two directions ever since the first Star Wars film "Faster" and "More Intense".

Ironic considering how wooden most of his lead actors were in AOTC.

 

[Masiral]

That's exactly what he tried to do, with AOTC/ROTS both. He wanted someone to polish the dialogue and someone to direct, if not the whole film, then at least the dialogue-heavy parts so he could focus on the action. (Part of the reason it took until the last second to get the script finished on both.) Everybody he asked either had other things to do, felt it was 'George's baby' and he should be the one to finish it out, or they just didn't want to deal with being his puppet.

He even tried it for TPM, but Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, and Steven Spielberg all turned him down.
http://collider.com/star-wars-episode-1-ron-howard-steven-spielberg-robert-zemeckis/