Turmoil has engulfed
the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star
systems is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade
of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all
shipping to the small planet of Naboo. While the congress of the
Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme
Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of
peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict....
STAR WARS EPISODE I -
THE PHANTOM MENACE
Star
Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 film by George Lucas
starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, and
Ray Park. It is the first in a trilogy of films that functions as a
prequel to the original classic end trilogy of Star Wars films and,
in chronological story order, the first in what formed a six-part
saga with the completion of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the
Sith on May 19, 2005.
Here, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan
McGregor) is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of
Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson); Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who will
later father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just
a nine-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to
the planet Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the
matter, but when they arrive on Naboo they are brought to Amidala,
the Naboo Queen (Natalie Portman), by a friendly but opportunistic
Gungan named Jar Jar. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan plan to escort Amidala to a
meeting of Republic leaders in Coruscant, but trouble with their
spacecraft strands them on the planet Tatooine, where Qui-Gon meets
Anakin, the slave of a scrap dealer. Qui-Gon is soon convinced that
the boy could be the leader the Jedis have been searching for, and he
begins bargaining for his freedom and teaching the boy the lessons of
The Force.
The
supporting cast includes Pernilla August as Anakin's mother, Terence
Stamp as Chancellor Valorum, and Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi master
Mace Windu; Jackson told a reporter before The Phantom Menace's
release that the best part about doing the film was that he got to
say "May The Force be with you" on screen.
The budget of Menace was
US$115 million. Filming was primarily done at Leavesden Studios in
England, with additional location shooting in the Tunisian desert and
the Italian palace Palazzo Reale, Caserta. Filming started on June
26, 1997, and ended on September 30, 1997.
Unlike the latter two films
in the series which were shot on digital video, most of this film was
shot in 35 mm, with a few scenes shot in digital video. After an
enormous marketing campaign, with the distinctive artwork of Star
Wars series artist Drew Struzan gracing the movie poster and other
advertising, there was almost unprecedented interest amongst both
fans and the wider community in the return of one of the most
successful movie series of all time. However, critical and fan
reaction ranged from guarded praise to outright derision.
The
much-hyped special effects, while generally viewed as groundbreaking
in their sheer scope, were perhaps less impressive than anticipated
simply because of high expectations. This attitude was confirmed with
the rival film, The Matrix, winning the visual effects Academy Award
for that year over the Star Wars film. It was the first time a Star
Wars film lost in that Oscar competition category. Many critics
heavily criticized the direction and the acting of Portman and
especially Jake Lloyd as the young Anakin Skywalker (personally I
think he should have been 14 years old not 9). Some aspects of
the scripting were also criticized. Extra venom was directed at the
character of Jar Jar Binks, who was regarded by much of the older fan
community as purely a merchandising opportunity rather than a serious
character in the film. It's worth noting, however, that the criticism
of Jar Jar was always of his character, never of his digital
integration into the movie, which was largely a success. Fan reaction
was mixed, with some fans opposing the critics' views while others
agreed with the negative opinions. Still Jar Jar remains popular with
younger fans who were not even born when the first movies were
released much to the shagrin of their original Star Wars trilogy
loving parents.
Another source of
dissatisfaction comes from the decision to explain the Force in terms
of hard science, hence the introduction of midi-chlorians. Many fans
felt this was unnecessary and ruins an aspect of the saga which sets
it apart from other popular sci-fi titles in which religion and
spirituality are of little importance or totally absent.
George
Lucas began writing the new Star Wars trilogy on November 1, 1994.
The screenplay for The Phantom Menace was adapted from Lucas' 15-page
outline that was written in 1976. The early outline was originally
designed to help Lucas track the character backstories and what
events had taken place before the original trilogy. While the working
title for the film was The Beginning, Lucas later revealed the true
title to be The Phantom Menace; a title which, in contrast to the
more self-explanatory titles of the other films, is ambiguous.
Within
three to four months of Lucas beginning the writing process, Doug
Chiang and his design team started a two-year process of reviewing
thousands of designs for the film. Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard was
recruited to create a new Jedi fighting style for the new trilogy.
Gillard referred to the lightsaber battles as akin to a chess game
"with every move being a check." Because of their short-range
weapons, Gillard theorized that the Jedi would have had to develop a
fighting style that merged every swordfighting style, such as kendo
and samurai, with other swinging techniques, such as tennis and
tree-chopping. While training Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, Gillard
would write a sequence to be an estimated 60 seconds in length, meant
to be among five to six sequences per fight. Lucas later referred to
Jedi as being "negotiators", rather than high-casualty
soldiers. The preference of hand-to-hand combat was implemented to
give a more spiritual and intellectual role to the Jedi.
Filming began June 26, 1997
and ended on September 30, 1997, primarily taking place at Leavesden
Studios in England, with additional location shooting in the Tunisian
desert for the Tatooine scenes and the Italian palace Palazzo Reale,
Caserta for the Theed City Naboo Palace interior. The city of Mos
Espa was built in the desert outside Tozeur. The night following the
third day of shooting in Tozeur, an unexpected sandstorm destroyed
many sets and props. With a quick rescheduling to allow for repairs,
production was able to leave Tunisia the exact day it had originally
planned to.
A previously unseen
technological milestone occurred when the mechanical R2-D2 refused to
operate in the sand of the Tunisian desert. Nine R2-D2 models were
created; seven could run in the sand or on the stage, one was for
Kenny Baker to be dropped into, and one was a "pneumatic"
R2 that was able to shift from two to three legs. During filming in
Tunisia and on sets to replicate the environment, the standard model
was prone to skidding off in strange directions and having its motors
lock up from the sand. Having confronted similar problems before,
Lucas allowed two companies, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and
the production's British special effects department, to create their
own versions of the perfect R2-D2. The finished product needed to
navigate deep sand, light sand and door jambs. ILM's R2-D2 featured
two wheelchair motors capable of pushing 440 pounds (or 198
kilograms) of weight. The British effects company produced a new foot
and motor drive system, allowing R2 to drive over sand. The ILM
version was primarily used on stage sets, whereas the British version
was used in Tunisia.
The
special effects were groundbreaking in their scope (roughly 2,000
effects shots), and their quality and innovation, such as co-starring
computer graphics characters, completely computer-generated
environments, and armies of CGI droids. This was accomplished through
advancing digital technology that gave Lucas unprecedented freedom in
storytelling. Up until the production of The Phantom Menace, many
special effects in the film industry were achieved by the use of
miniature models, matte paintings, and on-set visual effects,
although other films had made extensive use of computer-generated
imagery. Visual effects supervisor John Knoll previewed 3,500
storyboards for the film, with Lucas accompanying him to explain what
factors of the shots would be practical and what would be created
through visual effects. Knoll later recounted that on hearing the
explanations of the storyboards, he was unaware of any way to
accomplish what he had seen. The result was to mix original
techniques with the newest digital techniques to make it difficult
for the viewer to guess which technique was being used. New computer
software was
written by Knoll and his visual effects team to create certain shots
of in the film. Another goal was to create computer-generated
characters that could act seamlessly with live-action actors. While
filming scenes with CGI characters, Lucas would block the characters
using their corresponding voice actor on-set. The voice actors were
then removed and the live-action actors would perform the same scene
alone. A CGI character would later be added into the shot, completing
the conversation.
The budget of The Phantom
Menace was US$115 million, which, after adjusting for inflation,
makes it the most expensive film in the prequel trilogy. Whereas the
other two films in the trilogy were shot on digital video, all but
two scenes of this film was shot on 35 mm film.
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and copyright holders.
The
supporting cast includes Pernilla August as Anakin's mother, Terence
Stamp as Chancellor Valorum, and Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi master
Mace Windu; Jackson told a reporter before The Phantom Menace's
release that the best part about doing the film was that he got to
say "May The Force be with you" on screen.
Within
three to four months of Lucas beginning the writing process, Doug
Chiang and his design team started a two-year process of reviewing
thousands of designs for the film. Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard was
recruited to create a new Jedi fighting style for the new trilogy.
Gillard referred to the lightsaber battles as akin to a chess game
"with every move being a check." Because of their short-range
weapons, Gillard theorized that the Jedi would have had to develop a
fighting style that merged every swordfighting style, such as kendo
and samurai, with other swinging techniques, such as tennis and
tree-chopping. While training Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, Gillard
would write a sequence to be an estimated 60 seconds in length, meant
to be among five to six sequences per fight. Lucas later referred to
Jedi as being "negotiators", rather than high-casualty
soldiers. The preference of hand-to-hand combat was implemented to
give a more spiritual and intellectual role to the Jedi.
was
written by Knoll and his visual effects team to create certain shots
of in the film. Another goal was to create computer-generated
characters that could act seamlessly with live-action actors. While
filming scenes with CGI characters, Lucas would block the characters
using their corresponding voice actor on-set. The voice actors were
then removed and the live-action actors would perform the same scene
alone. A CGI character would later be added into the shot, completing
the conversation.
