Escape to the Movies: The Phantom Menace 13 Years Later

[ph0b0s123]

Wait, wait. We just got Star Wars on Blu-Ray (finally), now there is another version on the way. Put's money for Star Wars Blu-Ray back in pocket.

Same reason I have not brought Avatar yet, because I know there is a 3D extended edition coming at some point.

 

[DoctorM]

Also, Bob, why in the HELL didn't you mention any of the actual 3D bit and review that?

My thought exactly. Didn't Bob get to see a movie to review this week? Oooh, Bob is the peace maker... and is telling us what pretty much everyone else has figured out already.

I'd rather find out what changes have been made and how the 3-D looks now. Nice non-review.

 

[Ukomba]

Bob, I rarely agree with you about anything, but you've got it right on the money here.

Anyways, I was hoping you'd let us know how the 3D conversion was. The over use of CGI in the film seems like it could actually be converted pretty well, unlike Titanic.

 

[YodaUnleashed]

You nailed it on the head bob, no film could have possibly met the inflated expectations of the multi-tudes of fans when TPM was released and those that do still lobby acidic, derisory hate towards it just need to lighten up already and stop being so miserable and hate-filled. I still enjoy the prequel trilogy more than most other films, not because I think their even necessarily all that good films overall, but because despite their many flaws, they still feel like star wars to me and they have brought so much more to the table in the sense of the wider expanded universe allowing for rich and creative connections to the greater mythological lore. In other words, I still greatly appreciate the over-arching story of all six films even if the prequels lacked in their execution.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

If there's one undeniably good thing that the Star Wars prequels brought us it's the fact that light saber fights are now nolonger something you'd see from 50 year old people LARPing in the park.
They're fast, exciting, and exactly how they should be.

 

[TimeLord]

I really really like The Phantom Menace. Suck on that Internet!
I think it was because I had never seen the original trilogy before I saw this in the cinema when I was 8. Thus I was blown away by the Star Wars universe without the pre-conceived notions on what it should or shouldn't have been.

Also, when I was 8. Qui-Gon's death scene got to me way more than it would have at my age now. Which probably made the movie shine for me because that scene embedded itself in my mind forever.

I never want Liam Neeson to die!

 

[Ashoten]

Thank you Bob! After 13 years I finally feel vindicated on the prequels. Considering the original 3 were never as epic as everyone remembers and the way to high expectations, I have always loved every Star Wars movies. Except for bout 3/4 of episode 2.

Anyway science fiction has always been about exploring what hights technology can bring us to. In that sense SW always delivers but then goes a step further by bringing up questions about spirituality in a universe of FTL travel and laser sword. George Lucas I salute you. I only hope one day I can have my own I.P. that makes as much money hand over fist(Salutes). It's the American way!

 

[lord.jeff]

I do think that It is better than Attack of the Clones, I'll give you that.

But if we're talking about the worst Star Wars film, that easily goes to this turd.

Spoiler

By god was this movie bad.

You said it yourself Bob.

Still not the worst Star Wars movie, that honor goes to the holiday special

 

[direkiller]

I'll admit the animations are poorly voiced, drawn, and animated, yet their choreography still conveys an impact on par or exceeding the movies.

There done by the same people who did samurai Jack( and in the same art style). I personalty like the art style as it lends itself well to the chorography.

The CGI Starwars cartoon looks ugly as hell though

 

[anthony87]

Well....this was certainly a preachy "review" wasn't it? Thank goodness you're here Bob to tell people that they're wrong in disliking something as much as they dislike it. What fools we all are eh?

OT: Meh, out of the three prequel films, The Phantom Meance was the one I enjoyed the most. Clone Wars was kinda shite and Revenge of the Sith wasn't much better but I really liked the fight at the end between Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Also, what the hell was wrong with Van Helsing and Independence Day?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I do think that It is better than Attack of the Clones, I'll give you that.

But if we're talking about the worst Star Wars film, that easily goes to this turd.

Spoiler

By god was this movie bad.

You said it yourself Bob.

Still not the worst Star Wars movie, that honor goes to the holiday special

I disagree. The Holiday Special is bad, but it is bad in a funny way. Like bizarre Wookiee's masturbating to weird black ladies, Jefferson Starship, the Boba Fett Cartoon, and a stoned Carrie Fisher singing a christmas carol.

 

[Sudenak]

I've held the same sentiment as Moviebob for a while. Episode I was bad, but visually pleasing and still maintaining a tiny bit of tangibility. The sets had some grit to them, and it felt like a lot of effort had been put into it.

Episode II replaced just about everything with CGI, filled it up with a vapid, God awful love story, and made everything look too clean. Episode III tripled all of that, attempted to be 'grittier' while still having toy-robot death cries, and utterly collapsed in on itself. I fell asleep in those movies.

This could have a lot to do with Lucas admitting that he looked at old creationism/deity stories to come up with the plot, too. Anakin was a whiny, spoiled brat that pretty much just got a wife because that's how it goes in those old stories; a highly unlikeable character gets a wife just because a wife is a possession and would fall in love with the character even if he was a giant festering boil.

I guess I was never a fan of Star Wars, though, and that's why I never felt enraged at Episode I. It was just...bad. Not horrible, but not good.

Honestly, I thought the series fell apart when tiny teddy bears were beating storm troopers with pointy sticks, but maybe I just don't 'get' it.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

The Phantom Menace isn't atrocious, just boring. Actual problem is that Lucas never seems to have accepted his own limitations and insists he knew what he was doing as a writer and director. He shoulda just contracted other directors and writers to do the prequel trilogy. Seriously, I can't imagine what a Star Wars Trilogy done by Ridley Scott, Peter Jackson, and Bryan Singer would have been like. I'm not exactly bitter, but I'll never accept the Prequels as cannon. Or Lucas as the end-all, be-all for the universe.

 

[Best of the 3]

I hope even more people watch the Plinkett reviews now thanks to you

I tried too, but just like Jar Jar, I could not stand his fucking voice... oh by spongebob, I could not stand his awful, awful, stereotypical voice.

I listened to at least 7 minutes, and he made sense... But that could not keep his voice away.

Please do a cover of it, haha. ^^

I love his voice, especially because it's so stereotypical. I dunno, I thought it just added to the humour of his reviews. Still makes me giggle after all these years whenever her offers up pizza rolls or for someone to milk his cat.

OT: I pretty much agree. As a kid I loved Phantom for it's looks. The story I didn't care so much about. I wanted to see the force. I wanted to see light saber fights. I wanted to see space battles. And it pulled them off really well. Nowerdays I want a good story and characters from a movie so I can understand why there was so much hate.

 

[Spirit356]

Well I agree and yet disagree with the points brought up in this video. I do dislike the prequel trilogy but I was always going to dislike the prequel trilogy since it is a prequel, there was no way to answer any questions ("What were the clone wars?" "What were the Jedi Knights like?" "What was Darth Vader like before he became the Darth and what was his relationship like with Ol' Ben?") without disappointing someone. However, the trilogy did disappoint me and it always will. However, I am generally silent about my dislike unless the subject is brought up by a third party.

The odd thing is though that even though I dislike the Phantom Menace I hate all the Plinkett reviews of the prequel trilogy, although he can bring up a good point now and again, his 'deconstruction' is simply far too long and unwieldy and he either misses points or completely confuses them in order to make a humourous point. What annoys me more however is the fact that like Bob said the review is used as an argument all the time with no real original thought, it's simply regurgitation.

 

[badmunky64]

wait people hate van helsing? I loved that movie. Yeah it was corny, but it was grade a corn.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

So, to have a strong opinion is being "butthurt"?

Remind me, how bad were the Transformers films again?

 

[Inkidu]

Thank you! Thank you for explaining what I've been trying to for years. I actually liked Phantom Menace, you know why? Because I saw it when I was ten! You know why a lot of people like the original Star Wars films? Because they saw them when they were ten!

I would actually be so bold as to say that four, five, and six aren't as good as most fans remember them to be. Certainly, they're a big part of Twentieth Century film. They're certainly better than the prequels, but not by the astronomical, near-mythical margin that fans have built them up. Lucas was just going to fail, it was predetermined.

If a fan could take off the rosy glasses of nostalgia, and we all know you can't, if they could they would see some of this, maybe not all of it because it's my opinion. I'm just glad someone with some film credentials finally said, "Stop spewing the bile."

 

[DrOswald]

wait people hate van helsing? I loved that movie. Yeah it was corny, but it was grade a corn.

I agree. I am pretty sure it is a similar situation. The movie didn't live up to the original character and lore so people raged all day and said it was a travesty when it was really a decent corny action movie. Everyone I know who didn't know who Van Helsing was before the movie liked it. I am convinced this is just a raging fanboy situation and no one has been able to give me a real reason it isn't.

I think it is kind of ironic that he would bring up Van Helsing as an example of a truly bad movie in a video about not being a blind raging fanboy.

 

[Random Argument Man]

Good points Bob....By the way, how was the 3D? I can understand every point of the haters and the "We're tired of haters guys". However, I kinda want to hear about the only thing they added to this movie.