Why we all hated the Phantom Menace

[nobody]

I know it's an old topic, but if anyone here is willing to help me out, I'm planning to write up a quick 'review' of sorts on "The Phantom Menace" and why I didn't like it (to send to a 'friend'). I'm doing this all on fuzzy memories from 1999 (or whenever it was released in theaters)... I don't want to watch the movie again.
I'm confident that my memory will be enough, but just in case- I was hoping some of you could help me out. Toss some of your own comments my way. Talk about the things you hated most. Don't worry, my intent isn't to plagerize you. In fact it won't ever be 'published' anywhere anyway.
This is just going to be a friendly flame war between two faceless online personalities. :)

[Ash]

The only thing I hated about this movie was Jake Lloyd's acting....which is probably why we've never seen him in anything since.

Other than that I thought "Phantom Menace" totally rocked!

[Fearless Freep]

I liked Phantom Menace.  The only thing I didn't like between the two was that I can't believe that Anakin was left so unguarded in his development.  I thought the Jedi Council looked fairly incompatent in handling the growth and development of someone with so much potential (and potentially negative) power.

Other than that, I've liked them so far.

I recall being the same age as my son is now, when I first saw Star Wars.  My son has abuot the same reaction to PM as I had to SW so I'll give Lucas credit for doing something well.

What I recall most fondly from the first was a lot of the 'quotable dialog'..."Lock the doors...and hope they don't have blasters..." "She's rich" "No reward is worth this" "I am not the committee!".  I sorta missed that in the prequels, until I realized a lot of that stuff was there, "..the negotiations *were* short" and some of the banter between Obiwan and Anakin early in AofC, but...it was deliverd fairly subtely by the actors and there was a lot more action going on around so it was not as obvious, but it was there if you pay attention


But..I've liked the first two prequels

[nobody]

Really??? That's surprising.

It always sounds bizarre to me when people support this movie. :)

[Fearless Freep]

The only thing I hated about this movie was Jake Lloyd's acting....which is probably why we've never seen him in anything since.

Actually, the actor who played Anakon in AotC made a good point about people getting on Jake Llyod; that being as an actor the kid was only 7 or 8 or something so..give him a break :) Personally, I didn't mind him that much.



Post Edited (06-23-04 16:22)

[ED]

I liked the portrayal of the Republic in the movie, and it showed insights into Jedi life and culture that were interesting, if not what I had imagined (the whole raised from babyhood bit for example).  
I did not like the Walt Disney elements of a supernaturally-competent preteen and the goofy sidekick, (I know it is redeundant to knock Jar Jar, and don't want to set off a stream of Jar Jar hate posts).  Using Anakin as a catalyst seemed OK.  Having him successfuly fly a fighter craft stretched the bounds of belief.  
So I gave the whole thing a C+, if I pretended it had nothing to do with Star Wars, just an expensively made kiddie film.  
-Ed

[Max Gardner]

Like everyone else, I was annoyed by Lucas' pandering to the pre-teen demographic.  Jar-Jar was simply irritating, for obvious reasons.  "Midichlorians" = 'nuff said.  Jake Lloyd is inexperienced as an actor, yes, but Anakin was poorly written.  We didn't see so much as a hint of internal conflict; he was a moon-faced little kid, and his significant role in destroying the Trade Federation's flagship was stretching it a bit.  Haley Joel Osment could have played the part more effectively.  There were other, smaller instances, such as the two-headed announcer at the podrace, but yes, the kiddie kontent was bothersome.

Natalie Portman was also annoying.  This may be due to the fact that she doesn't think girls can enjoy Star Wars and had never watched any of the previous films for that reason, which seems to indicate she's not inclined to put much care or finesse into the role - not to mention the fact that Amidala is not the most interesting character around.  The racism was sort of uncomfortable (Watto = Jewish, in the second film he even had a wide-brimmed black hat; the Gungans = Jamaican/Italian; the Trade Federation Viceroys = French/Chinese), but that's a whole different subject.

On the other hand, I enjoyed most of Attack of the Clones.  It wasn't incredible, but the last hour or so was entertaining, and the rest was passable - more so than Phantom Menace.  The Jedi Council's incompetence was interesting, and I think intentional.  We finally see some connection between the old films and the new.  Hopefully Episode III will see Lucas more confident after the twenty-year hiatus from screenwriting that handicapped him with Phantom Menace.

[Harry]

I'm a star wars mega fan ( I'm a stormtrooper in the 501st legion. Represent)  I enjoy everything starwars and I try not to be too picky about the movies.  Too many people bash the prequels to bantha fodder, they really weren't THAT bad, you're just comparing them to movies that have had 20 years to gain the magic that they have.  I always compare Jar Jar's silly humor to that of C-3PO in ANH, and I compare Hayden Christiansan's bad acting to Mark Hamill's.  Ep.III has an extreme potential to rock.
ONE MEGA COMPLAINT with prequels, and really it's my only one.
TOO MUCH  COMPUTER ANIMATION!!!!
I think alot of the imanginative force behind the original trilogy is the costumes and aliens etc.

[trekgeezer]

I really like the way people forget that Luke was a  whiny ass little punk when Obi-Wan got hold of him. In fact he remained just as annoying through the Empire Strikes Back.

People are always knocking Lucas, but I admire the guy. His movies and the accompanying merchandise have made him enough money that he can do what no other producer-director can do. Make his own damned movies the way he wants with no  interference from anyone.  It is his story and he can make it the way he wants.

If you don't like it , don't watch.

[raj]

I think the biggest problem for Phantom Menace was the build up.  When the original Star Wars came out, there was no frame of reference, so we were all suitably wowed.  Now, after a successful trilogy, we're all expecting something as wowing.  It's basically impossible to recreate that.
That said, the acting of Anikin in Phantom Menace was far better than the Anikin in Attack of the Clones.  I still haven't been able to finish that movie.

Oh, and Jar-Jar sucks, but then so do the Ewoks.

[StatCat]

the CGI destroyed it not that it was anything good to begin with

[Zombie Movie Fan]

trek_geezer: "I really like the way people forget that Luke was a whiny ass little punk when Obi-Wan got hold of him. In fact he remained just as annoying through the Empire Strikes Back."

Luke was annoying because his character was written to be annoying. Baby Annie from Phantom Menace was annoying because he was a horrible actor and made George's dry dialog even drier.

trek_geezer: "People are always knocking Lucas, but I admire the guy."

I admire the Star Wars universe. I liked the original movies. And I even like some of the spin-off projects that other people have created. And I understand that George is to thank for all of it. But I don't admire the man at all, not with his sleazy money grubbing "I need all the cash I can carry and then some" tactics. I'm sure I don't have to list any examples of those. We all know how George can be. It's pathetic.  

trek_geezer: "His movies and the accompanying merchandise have made him enough money that he can do what no other producer-director can do. Make his own damned movies the way he wants with no interference from anyone. It is his story and he can make it the way he wants."

Granted, he can (and should be able to) make his movies any way he wants . But since I've put some of my hard earned money into George's pockets I'm at least entitled to give my opinion of his work. As is everyone else who likes or dislikes it, also.

trek_geezer: "If you don't like it , don't watch."

That's not so easy to say about a movie- at least not Phantom Menace, anyway. I went into the theater expecting to like it. I was very disappointed. I decided to give George's prequels a second chance by renting Attack of the Clones. I didn't like that movie either. So now I will take your advice and decline from seeing the third installment.

...BTW, trek_geezer, I didn't really mean to single you out and attack your entire post. It was just the one that I felt I could respond to the best. No hard feelings, right? This is all just my opinion. :)

[Gecko Brothers]

I only thought that Jar-Jar and the whole queen and Annie thing sucked. The space battle was okay. The settings were nice, but the real treat was the lightsaber duels. That's probably why the second one sucked more because the tense Jedi battles weren't there.

[Zombie Movie Fan]

Alright, we all know Jar-Jar sucked. He's easy to rip apart, so I won't even bother to get into annoying Jar-Jar specifics.

What I don't understand, though, is how someone can say "Jar-Jar was terrible, but the rest of Phantom Menace was okay." Jar-Jar was such a huge portion of Phantom Menace that he can't be overlooked that easily.

Take away Jar-Jar and you take away more than half the movie.

Were the Jar-Jar-less parts of Phantom Menace good enough to overshadow Jar-Jar completely? Or better yet, would they have been able to stand alone if Jar-Jar wasn't a part of the story at all?

I love the LOTR trilogy. But I wouldn't if J.R.R. Tolken put a fluffy, cuddly, walking, talking pink teddybear type character into at least 50% of his story.

I enjoyed Spielberg's Minority Report. But I wouldn't have if Spielberg cast a soft, squishy, giant purple dinosaur as Tom Cruise's Pre-Crime assistant.

[trekgeezer]

Ain't a problem, that 's why we post things, to get a reaction.  I know the prequels aren't what was expected, but I think more of the blame lies with the fact that the original  trilogy was just that, original for it's time.  We're so used to the FX and stuff now it's hard to WoW people anymore.

As far as the characters,  I think George should have been smart enough to hire  some good directing talent. Everything  written about him says that he is not an actors director.  Which may be one reason little Jake Lloyd didn't come across so well.  Wasn't  The Empire Strikes Back  way better than Star Wars?  Georgie didn't direct it .

I will be seeing the next one, because it does look  pretty kick ass from what I've seen.